Player Movements
All Black wing Cory Jane is set to make his return to rugby after a long term injury.
He will be starting with baby steps and join up with his club Wellington to face Auckland this coming Saturday in the ITM Cup.
The All Blacks are flying Chiefs prop Ben Afeaki over to South Africa for their match against the Springboks this coming weekend.
Afeaki will be standing in for injured Owen Franks.
The Pumas have made six changes for their clash against the All Blacks this weekend.
One of the six changes will see veteran Patricio Albacete slotting in at lock.
Ali Williams says he enjoyed being on the same side as South African Bakkies Botha for a change, having locked horns with the giant former Springbok on numerous occasions for club and country.
DHL Western Province have probably lost Juan de Jongh for their next two matches after the centre was called up by the Springboks on Sunday, but they should be significantly boosted for Friday’s crucial Absa Currie Cup clash with the Toyota Free State Cheetahs.
WP were set back before their match against the GWK Griquas at Newlands at the start of the weekend by the late withdrawal of big blindside flanker Rynhardt Elstadt.
Lourens Adriaanse has signed a two year deal with the Sharks.
Springbok Coach Heyneke Meyer has recalled two players into the Springbok group for the final two matches of The Rugby Championship against the Wallabies and the All Blacks.
Pieter-Steph du Toit(Sharks) and Juan de Jongh(WP) are the two players who find themselves in the Springbok group for the final stages of The Rugby Championship. Continue reading
Ruan Pienaar seems to be the latest interest for French side Toulon.
According to reports from France it seems that Toulon is chasing Pienaar’s signiture.
Cheetahs lock Lood de Jager has recovered from a concussion to take his place in the team to face the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
The young De Jager, who made a big impression in Super Rugby this year, replaces Teboho Mohoje in the only change to the side that beat the Golden Lions last week.
Two more Southern Kings players have decided to make their futures elsewhere, bringing the tally to 10 so far. Cornell du Preez will join Solly (Alan Solomons) in Edinburgh, and Nicolas Vergallo will join French club, Lyon.
The players who have now already left the Southern Kings are: Nicolas Vergallo, Cornell du Preez, Daniel Adongo, Waylon Murray, Bandise Maku, Jacques Engelbrecht, David Bulbring, SP Marais, Wesley Dunlop and Dimetri Catrakilis. Alan Solomons of course has also jumped ship to Edinburgh.
The Lions took a giant leap in the right direction with the bulk resigning of a core group that includes their Springboks, as they start looking towards their re-entry into Super Rugby.
Springboks Elton Jantjies, Franco van der Merwe and Lionel Mapoe headline the group that will remain with the Lions through till 2015.
The Stormers are looking to bolster their second row stocks by signing Argentine lock Manuel Carizza for next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Apparently the Capetonians are busy negotiating a deal with the 29-year-old.
The Barbarians have confirmed that Schalk Burger will join Springbok captain Jean de Villiers in the team to take on Fiji at Twickenham in November.
The World Cup-winning Springbok flank has been sidelined through injury and illness since the start of last year, but it appears he is set to make his return to the international stage in what will be his fourth appearance for the Barbarians.
Western Province flank Michael Rhodes has been suspended for one match for stamping on Blue Bulls captain Jono Ross in their Currie Cup clash on Saturday.
The Springboks will be happy to have the services of scrumhalf Fourie du Preez back for their final two Rugby Championship Tests.
Japan-based Du Preez was not available for the away leg in the competition but will be in the mix for the Tests against Australia at Newlands (September 28) and Ellis Park (October 5).
The recall of Waratahs prop Benn Robinson is one of the main features of a 28-man Wallaby squad for their two-match tour to South Africa and Argentina.
Australia tackle the Springboks in Cape Town on Septemver 28 and the Pumas in Rossario a week later.
Another South African is set to ply his trade at French Top 14 club Toulon, with Sharks hooker Craig Burden reportedly set to leave Durban.
Andrew Hore joined Ma’a Nonu Tuesday as an All Black without a Super Rugby home, fuelling speculation he is on the verge of retirement.
The Highlanders confirmed they have not re-signed Hore for the 2014 season, and said they wished the 79-Test All Blacks hooker well “with whatever future endeavours he undertakes”.
Western Province’s Springbok hooker Tiaan Liebenberg could be out of action for the rest of the Currie Cup season.
Although he announced last Wednesday the five-times capped Bok, who was battling with back spasms, could be out for two or three weeks, WP coach Allister Coetzee said in Cape Town on Monday that latest scans show that Liebenberg may have suffered spinal disc damage.
Four members of the Springboks’ 30-man Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad have been released to their provinces for Absa Currie Cup duty this weekend.
Australian coach Ewen McKenzie will give regular captain Horwill till Saturday to prove his fitness, ahead of a two-match Rugby Championship tour.
Horwill, who missed the last two Tests with a hamstring strain, is given a good chance of being passed fit for the Tests against South Africa (in Cape Town on September 28) and Argentina (in Rosario a week later).
The Sharks welcome back Pieter-Steph du Toit to match action where he will line-up for his first start in this year’s Absa Currie Cup campaign for Saturday’s clash with Griquas at GWK Park in Kimberley.
Jean Deysel, who was nursing a few bruises, has been passed fit and will take his place at flank with Jacques Botes retaining the captaincy for this important game.
Schalk Burger has been set to resume training today after a long term injury.
He recently underwent minor tendon surgery which delayed his return.
This would a be a year the Sharks would like to forget as they have been plagued with injuries and it seems that their injury woes are not over yet.
It would seem the newest victim is 34 year old lock Marco Wentzel, who suffered a shoulder dislocation. There has been no time frame linked with his recovery.
The Blue Bulls have confirmed that scrumhalf Ruan Snyman has been released with immediate effect to join his new club Racing Metro in France.
The transfer fee has already been paid and Snyman will be able to play as soon as he is selected.
With All Black captain Richie McCaw potentially ruled out for the rest of The Rugby Championship, coach Steve Hansen has called up Crusader flanker Matt Todd.
Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has been forced to make a late change at hooker ahead of Saturday’s Currie Cup clash against the Sharks at Newlands.
Tiaan Liebenberg has been ruled out with a back spasm, meaning Siyabonga Ntubeni will start in the No.2 jersey and young Michael Willemse will warm the bench.
The Western Force have re-signed powerful prop Salesi Manu for the 2014 Super Rugby season as part of their efforts to assemble an increasingly physical forward pack.
Manu will add to a Western Australian forward pack already featuring increased size and physicality in 2014, with the recruitment of Bulls lock Wilhelm Steenkamp and Western Province prop Chris Heiberg.
The Melbourne Rebels have added Highlanders centre Tamati Ellison to their Super Rugby for the 2014 season.
Flyhalf Daniel Carter will return to the New Zealand side for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against Argentina after recovering from a calf strain, while centre Francis Saili will make his test debut.
The 31-year-old Carter had been expected to play the first Rugby Championship match against Australia in Sydney last month but pulled up with the injury at training and missed the return fixture in Wellington.
Griquas lock Rory Arnold (with the nickname “Big Dog”) has been suspended from all rugby for seven matches for biting Cheetahs hooker Ethienne Reynecke in Bloemfontein.
Griquas coach Pote Human wasted no time in drafting in his latest recruit, Leopards lock Victor Kruger, for the Currie Cup crunch match against the Golden Lions in Kimberley on Saturday.
The 24-year-old PUK (Potchefstroom University) Varsity Cup captain, who is affectionately known as Strand, comes in for Australian import Rory Arnold – who is still awaiting the outcome of his disciplinary hearing, after having been charged with biting in the 20-40 loss to the Free State Cheetahs last week.
As anticipated, Butch James will be back at No 10 for the Sharks when the Durban team travels to DHL Newlands on Saturday to play DHL Western Province in the Absa Currie Cup match that represents the halfway point in their respective campaigns.
Argentina will welcome back a key figure, in one of four changes to the starting fifteen to take on New Zealand in a Rugby Championship Round Three match in Hamilton on Saturday.
Having missed the opening games of the competition captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe returns at blindside flank, with Pablo Matera shifting to openside and Juan Manual Leguizamon moving to No.8.
Wallabies wing Lachie Turner has left the Waratahs and signed a two-year deal with the Reds.
After earning 71 Super rugby caps for the Sydney side and 15 Test caps for the Wallabies, Turner heads to Brisbane to further his career.