SA Rugby
Heinrich Brüssow is not just hype, he is the ultimate openside flank.
The 27-year-old Cheetahs star, who played the last of his 20 Tests in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal, returned to Super Rugby for the Cheetahs against the Sharks last week after missing the first half of the season with a fractured toe – suffered while playing for his Japanese club.
And while the Cheetahs lost 8-19, the influence and value of Brüssow was there for all to see.
Cheetahs lock Lood de Jager says he’ll be ready should Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer call on his services for the June Test matches.
De Jager, 21, broke his finger in the Cheetahs’ 19-8 loss to the Sharks in Durban at the weekend.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has said that South Africa’s Super Rugby conference is significantly weaker than their Australasian rivals.
In his role of guest speaker on SuperSport, Mallett said he had been disappointed by South Africa’s poor performance in the tournament thus far, particularly their lack of ability to create opportunities on attack and score tries.
“Our conference is definitely the weakest and our teams aren’t performing,” Mallett said.
As we head into Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014, an alarming stat for South African fans is the lack of tries on display from teams from these shores.
Four South African teams currently comprise the bottom six in the tries scored category.
A Junior Springbok squad bolstered by several players with Vodacom Super Rugby experience was named by SARU in Cape Town on Tuesday for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship to be hosted by New Zealand from June 2 to 22.
Handré Pollard (flyhalf, Vodacom Bulls), André Esterhuizen (centre, Cell C Sharks), Sergeal Petersen and Aidon Davis (both Southern Kings) as well as Malcolm Marx (hooker, Lions) have all either played Vodacom Super Rugby or have been part of their respective franchise’s Super Rugby training groups.
The squad also sees the return of several players who did duty for the South Africa Under-20’s in France last year, where they claimed the bronze medal.
The Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers were victorious on a weekend where all five South African Vodacom Super Rugby franchises were involved in low-scoring matches.
In all three matches involving teams from the Republic, the most points the different teams on the winning side in any of the encounters could score were 19. Only five tries were scored in these matches.
The Vodacom Bulls lost to the Waratahs for the first time since the 2005 semi-final when they were beaten by 19-12, with a try in the opening minute by Israel Folau the difference between the two sides in Sydney.
Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe was cited after the match. He is alleged to have contravened Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking when he made contact with the Waratahs’ Paddy Ryan in the 75th minute of the match.
In Durban, the Cell C Sharks ground out a victory in a tough derby for the second successive week when they beat the Toyota Cheetahs by 19-8, with each side scoring only one try each.
The final match of the weekend saw the DHL Stormers end a five-match losing streak when they beat the Lions by 18-3 after leading 18-0 at the break in Cape Town.
When the next 4 Springboks who are due to head overseas to earn their keep in Euro and Yen depart, it will be the first time since the inception of professional rugby that more Springboks will be playing rugby overseas than in South Africa, it was reported on the weekend.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014.
Chris Pollock starts the weekend action in the game between the Blues and Waratahs, in Auckland.
This weekend sees 3 games on Friday and 3 games on Saturday.
The Crusaders, Lions and Melbourne Rebels have BYE weekends.
DHL Western Province Vodacom Cup star Devon Williams will make his first start for the DHL Stormers when the team travels to Bloemfontein to take on the Cheetahs in Super Rugby action on Saturday (kick-off 17:05 SA Time).
This talk of moving away from South Africa in Super Rugby is madness, says Jeff Wilson, ex All Black fullback.
This is the best international competition outside of test rugby and it would be foolhardy to mess with its essential formula.
My old All Black team-mate Andrew Mehrtens certainly ruffled a few feathers last week when he suggested it would be in New Zealand’s interests to move away from South Africa and align closer with Australia.
The Cheetahs are hoping to have two key players available for their Super Rugby clash against the Stormers in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
According to reports, flyhalf Johan Goosen (concussion) and flank Lappies Labuschagné (groin) could be ready to face the Capetonians.
Vodacom Bulls titness Report after Round 10:
Vodacom Bulls scrumhalf Piet van Zyl picked up a knee injury and will not play against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday, the last tour match of their 2014 overseas tour for the Pretoria team.
Van Zyl left the field against the Waratahs in Sydney last weekend and will be out of action for two weeks, Vodacom Bulls team doctor, Org Strauss, said on Monday.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says he will meet with Stuart Berry to discuss his side’s discipline after the referee heavily punished them in their Super Rugby win over the Lions at Newlands last Saturday.
Despite winning the game 18-3, the Stormers were penalised 20 times by Berry, while Deon Fourie was also yellow-carded.
Following initial consideration by the SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC, Flip van der Merwe of the Bulls will appear at a SANZAR Judicial Hearing after being cited for alleged foul play during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Rustenburg Impala on Monday held their nerve in a tense Cell C Community Cup final in soaking rain at Outeniqua Park in George to win the second edition of the Easter Playoffs and the historic Gold Cup.
The 13-11 victory over Roodepoort marked their third back-to-back win in the 2014 Cell C Community Cup Easter Playoffs, and followed an impressive showing in the pool stages of the competition in which they registered victories in three of their four matches.
In the other matches, tournament debutantes Hamiltons registered a 27-18 victory against 2013 runners up College Rovers in light rain to finish in third place, and in the dry matches GAP Management Despatch thumped Roses United 57-21 for their fifth-place finish and Refreshhh! Centurion defeated Kempston Old Selbornians 42-14.
There are suggestions that Pat Lambie could still make a comeback before the play-offs in July.
Sharks director of rugby Jake White conceded his team’s lacklustre victory over the struggling Cheetahs in Durban on Saturday was evidence enough that there are no “free games” in Super Rugby.
The coastal side stretched their lead at the top of the tournament standings to six points with an unimpressive 19-8 victory at Kings Park.
“It wasn’t pretty,” White said after the game.
On the weekend, the battling Stormers had reason to smile again after they returned to winning ways against the Lions.
Allister Coetzee, head coach declared he was happy with the win.
Jean de Villiers revealed he defied instructions from the coach to play defensive when they had a 15-point lead.
Schalk Burger and Oli Kebble will be back this weekend, returning from injury, while Pat Cilliers and Demetri Catrakilis is sidelined with injuries.
Michael Rhodes of the Stormers has been issued with an off-field yellow card for contravening Law 10.4 (j) Lifting Tackle during their Super Rugby match on Saturday.
Stormers (18) 18 / 3 (0) Lions (Final Score)
The Dhl Stormers and Lions did battle in Super Rugby at
Newlands, Cape Town at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Sharks (3) 19 / 8 (3) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Growthpoint Kings Park at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Waratahs (13) 19 / 12 (6) Bulls (Final Score)
The Waratahs and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at
Allianz Stadium, Sydney at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 09:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Ospreys flanker Justin Tipuric is a doubt for Wales’ summer tour of South Africa, says coach Warren Gatland.
The British and Irish Lions flanker has a shoulder problem and there is a possibility he will miss the tour to have an operation.
It is Round 10 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 6 games in Round 10, with 2 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday.
The Brumbies, Highlanders & Reds have bye weekends.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his 23-man team to take on the DHL Stormers at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
In the forwards, Robbie Coetzee will start at hooker, in place of Willie Wepener. Jaco Kriel returns to the starting line-up at flank.
Meanwhile, in the backline, Ross Cronje will start at scrumhalf, Anthony Volmink makes his first Vodacom Super Rugby start of the year at left wing and Chrysander Botha will start at fullback.
The Cell C Sharks backline shows two injury-enforced changes for this Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby derby clash against the visiting Cheetahs at Growthpoint KINGS PARK.
Odwa Ndungane’s upper shoulder knock sustained against the Lions in their victory over the Joburg side last week sees him replaced by Tonderai Chavhanga who has been getting game time for the Cell C Sharks XV in the Vodacom Cup following his return from injury and makes his debut for the Cell C Sharks at this level.
Demetri Catrakilis – and not Peter Grant – will be entrusted with the goal-kicking duties when the Stormers tackle the Lions in a Super Rugby game at Newlands on Saturday.
Coach Allister Coetzee on Wednesday picked Grant at fullback for the clash with Catrakilis taking the No 10 jersey.
Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe has been passed fit to face the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday and will lead the team for their third tour match to Australasia.
This will be the first of two matches the Vodacom Bulls will play in Australia as part of their Vodacom Super Rugby tour.
Van der Merwe got injured in last weekend’s bonus point loss to the Highlanders in Dunedin, but has recovered sufficiently from his arm injury to lead the team.
Cell C Sharks loose-forward Jean Deysel will depart the franchise at the end of the Vodacom Super Rugby season to join Japanese top league club, Toyota Verblitz on a two-year deal.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann may be forced to change a third of his team as mounting injuries and a looming four week Vodacom Super Rugby tour compound his headaches ahead of Saturday’s clash against the DHL Stormers at Newlands.
Ackermann has already lost fullback Andries Coetzee (knee) and midfielder Alwyn Hollenbach (lip) and could lose another three players before he names his team on Thursday.
While some of the players are on the borderline whether or not they can play, Ackermann will need to weigh up whether or not to risk them this week or give them a rest to ensure they are ready for the team’s tour in a fortnight.
The Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) is open to again discuss a possible move away from Newlands to Cape Town Stadium.
This comes after the union suspended talks in February this year after it was upset when then-Mayoral Committee Member Grant Pascoe said talks ‘were taking place behind closed doors’ to secure WP as the anchor tenant for the stadium.
Former Springbok flyhalf Braam van Straaten has given struggling Stormers goal-kicker Peter Grant a few kicking tips.
Grant’s goal-kicking has been way off line this season, with the pivot missing six out of 14 attempts at goal in 2014.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers is back in the DHL Stormers line-up in one five changes to the team for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Lions at DHL Newlands (kick-off 17h05).
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 10 of Super Rugby 2014.
Nick Bryant starts off proceedings this weekend in the game between the Hurricanes and Blues on Friday at 09:35 SA Time.
This weekend sees 6 games, with 2 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday.
The Brumbies, Highlanders and Reds have BYE weekends.
The Eastern Province Kings are chasing the signature of Springbok prop Brian Mujati ahead of the start of the Currie Cup.
The Kings have already been bolstered by the recent signings of lock Izak van der Westhuizen (Edinburgh), hooker Michael van Vuuren (Stade Français), centre Tim Whitehead (Sharks), scrumhalf Kevin Luiters (Cheetahs) and wing Paul Perez (Samoa).