SA Rugby
The EP Kings have confirmed three new signings ahead of their preparations for the Currie Cup Premier Division.
EP Kings CEO, Charl Crous confirmed that Michael van Vuuren, Tim Whitehead and Hansie Graaff will all be joining the Kings over the coming months, along with Izak van der Westhuizen whose signing has already been announced.
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke made one change to his team to face defending Vodacom Super Rugby champions, the Chiefs, at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. Akona Ndungane, who missed last week’s win over the Sharks because of compassionate leave, is back in the team in place of Sampie Mastriet and will play in his 101st match of Super Rugby for the franchise.
Mastriet drops out of the match 23 altogether.
Head coach Allister Coetzee has announced a team showing seven changes for the DHL Stormers’ final Vodacom Super Rugby tour match on Saturday – against the Reds in Brisbane (kick-off 10:40 SA Time).
Springbok centre Juan de Jongh has been restored to the starting line-up, following his return from injury via the bench last weekend, whilst WP Under-21 star Jurie van Vuuren will make his first Super Rugby start after being named to partner Michael Rhodes at lock.
The process to select the SA Under-20 squad to represent South Africa at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand will begin on Sunday when the expanded training group gathers in Stellenbosch for an intensive two-month training camp.
The group, consisting of almost 70 of the country’s most promising Under-20 players, will play trial matches on Monday, 31 March and Wednesday 2 April in Stellenbosch. Following the trials, the squad will be reduced to approximately 40 players to continue with preparations ahead of the JWC 2014.
The Junior World Championship will be held in Auckland from June 2 to 20, 2014.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann has given the Stormers a few tips on how to beat the Reds when they meet in a Super Rugby clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
Ackermann’s Lions beat the Reds 23-20 at Ellis Park last week and the Lions mentor says he knows how to floor the Australian side.
FNB NWU-Pukke will host FNB UCT in their first home FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International final after both teams secured semifinal victories on Monday night.
The Potchefstroom outfit, who topped the standings after losing just one game all season, left it late to edge a valiant FNB NMMU Madibaz side in a pulsating play-off that was in the balance until the final whistle.
They will face an impressive Ikey Tigers side that handed old rivals FNB Maties a 20-8 defeat in wet and windy conditions on the Green Mile in Cape Town.
The Cape derby was scoreless at half-time, but the supremacy of the Ikeys pack told in the second half as they did the season double over Maties to qualify for their first final since they took the title back in 2011.
The Lions medical staff have released an injury update, following the Vodacom Super Rugby outfit’s 23-20 victory over the Reds at Ellis Park on Saturday evening.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann will be enjoying the fact his team has a bye this week but you could almost hear the relief in his voice when he said “the bye couldn’t come at a better time.”
According to reports, Ackermann’s team have surprised all in the competition with their four wins in six games thus far and their fourth spot on the Vodacom Super Rugby log, and while many don’t expect them to be there when the competition reaches its business end, for now the Lions are simply enjoying themselves.
They know they got the rub of the green with refereeing decisions in the last two games, but the luck they created for themselves also plays a major part in the self-belief of a team that everyone has written off thus far this season.
Saturday’s game against the Reds was a special win for Ackermann and his sidekick Swys de Bruin.
The Springbok Experience rugby museum here at the V&A Waterfront has been shortlisted for an international museums award.
The South African Rugby Union’s world-class installation has been bracketed with museums from Lausanne, Antwerp, The Hague and Amsterdam in the annual Museum + Heritage Awards in the UK.
The Lions and Vodacom Bulls flew the South African flag in Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend when they scored come-from-behind home victories on Saturday.
The side from Johannesburg scored two late tries to deny the Reds by 23-20 after they were still behind by 20-3 shortly before the break at Ellis Park.
In the process, Lions flyhalf and kicking ace Marnitz Boshoff became the first player this season to reach 100 points when he kicked his second penalty goal in the 40th minute of the match.
In the final match of the weekend, the Cell C Sharks lost their first encounter of 2014 when they went down 23-19 to a determined Vodacom Bulls side at Loftus Versfeld.
The Cell C Sharks half-back pairing of Pat Lambie and Cobus Reinach will not feature in the near future of the Vodacom Super Rugby tournament after sustaining injuries against the Bulls on Saturday night.
Gert Smal is set to be installed as the Western Province director of rugby as the union prepares to overhaul the much maligned Stormers management team.
According to reports, it is understood that Smal, who is a big favourite of Wakefield and was first sounded out about the role last August, could be announced in his new position as early as next week, with Wakefield now assured of the ratification of his proposal by the board, who he says support him 100%.
Cecil Afrika will join the Springbok Sevens rugby squad in Hong Kong after the former IRB Sevens Player of the Year passed his fitness test over the weekend.
Afrika, who has now recovered fully from a hamstring niggle, replaces Steven Hunt.
Pukke (13) 19 / 18 (8) NMMU (Final Score)
FNB NWU-Pukke (North West University) and FNB NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)
did battle in Super Rugby at Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds, Potchefstroom at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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DHL Stormers hooker Tiaan Liebenberg has also flown home from his team’s Vodacom Super Rugby tour of Australia, joining Schalk Burger who returned to Cape Town on Sunday.
UCT (0) 20 / 8 (0) Maties (Final Score)
FNB UCT (University of Cape Town) and FNB Maties (University of Stellenbosch)
did battle in the Varsity Cup at UCT Sports Grounds, Cape Town at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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There will be some scores to settle for the away teams in the 2014 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International semifinals on Monday.
Both FNB Maties and FNB NMMU were humbled in front of their home crowds in their respective regular season clashes with FNB UCT and FNB NWU-Pukke, so they will be out to return the favour and book a spot in the final in the process.
The table-topping NWU-Pukke have lost just one game this season, and they showed the Madibaz no mercy in their 52-16 demolition of the Eastern Cape side back in Round Four, so coach Robert du Preez’s men will be full of confidence heading into this one – knowing that a first-ever home final is within reach.
The other semifinal will see old rivals UCT and Maties do battle on the Green Mile in Cape Town, with the visitors out for revenge after the Ikeys notched up an impressive 33-16 win in Stellenbosch in Round Two.
Victor Matfield is still valuable, but definitely not the player he was, says Sharks director of rugby Jake White.
White was speaking after his side lost 23-19 to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
Jake White has never been one of those coaches who makes excuses, and he refused to use injuries as an excuse for his Cell C Sharks team’s defeat to the Vodacom Bulls as an excuse, but if he was honest he would probably agree that the disruption has come in the area he can least afford it as his team heads into a critical stage of the Vodacom Super Rugby campaign.
Before the season kicked off, White could well have pinpointed flyhalf and No 5 lock as the areas where depth was a concern. He needed Patrick Lambie to be fit for as many games as possible, and Pieter-Steph du Toit was so far ahead of the rest when it came to leading the lineout and posing a threat to opposition ball that he was near to indispensable.
Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe’s hamstring strain will keep him out of Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld, team doctor Org Strauss confirmed on Monday.
The South African-based three-time past champions against defending title holders from New Zealand who are on the hunt for a hat-trick in 2014.
That is the appealing clash awaiting the Loftus faithful next Saturday (15:00), when the thoroughly resurgent Bulls – three from three at their home ground this season – entertain the Chiefs.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann was left speechless after his side came from behind to beat the Reds 23-20 at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Lions scored right at the death to secure victory against a Reds team reduced to 13 players after two yellow cards from referee Stuart Berry.
“What makes this one (victory) special is the fight and the comeback, the composure the guys showed,” Ackermann said after the match.
It is being widely reported that the Stormers coaching team of Allister Coetzee, Robbie Fleck and Matthew Proudfoot may be under threat of losing their positions following a meeting between Thelo Wakefield and the coaching team over the weekend.
SANZAR wishes to advise two referee appointment changes for the forthcoming round of Super Rugby.
Nick Briant will officiate Crusaders v Hurricanes on Friday night while Steve Walsh will oversee the Blues v Highlanders clash in Auckland on Saturday night.
Veteran DHL WP and DHL Stormers wing/fullback Gio Aplon will further his career abroad at the end of the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season, but two young backline talents have been signed to make up for his departure
The Springbok Sevens lost 33-26 to Fiji in a thrilling, epic Tokyo Sevens Cup Final after the Pacific Islanders managed to score a brilliant and trademark long range winning try with just second remaining on the clock.
However, despite the disappointment of losing their tournament title in what must surely rank as one of the all-time great HSBC Sevens World Series Cup Finals, the South Africans did manage to regain the lead on the overall standings.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said that a few key ajustments made by Victor Matfield have been central to their recent success.
The Bulls beat the Sharks in their return match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, handing the visitors their first defeat of the season.
Reds coach Richard Graham admitted that he felt ‘aggrieved’ at the manner of his team’s 23-20 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
A late try saw the hosts snatch a dramatic victory from the Reds who finished the match with only 13 players on the field as referee Stuart Berry issued two yellow cards.
The Cheetahs are demanding an explanation from referees boss Lyndon Bray after two controversial decisions in their 40-30 Super 15 loss to the Blues on Saturday.
The Cheetahs’ outrage comes after Bray, the SANZAR referees co-ordinator warned officials they had to be accountable and faced being dropped for making blunders.
The DHL Stormers’ 15-25 Vodacom Super Rugby loss to the Brumbies in Canberra was a bitter pill to swallow for head coach Allister Coetzee on Saturday.
Another nine players in this competition were eliminated this weekend. The Lions proved to be their downfall and the way the Lions team came back from their year out in the cold has already cost many players in this game their life.
Some reprieve to all the other non-believers, the Lions have a bye this coming weekend.
Bulls (6) 23 / 19 (13) Sharks (Final Score)
THe Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks did battle in Super Rugby at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 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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Lions (6) 23 / 20 (20) Reds (Final Score)
The Lions and Reds did battle in Super Rugby at
Ellis Park, Johannesburg at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, 01:05 Sunday AEST).
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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Brumbies (13) 25 / 15 (10) Stormers (Final Score)
The Brumbies and DHL Stormers do battle in Super Rugby at
Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time 08:40 GMT).
This is the live match discussion Article.
The match is broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Blues (30) 40 / 30 (16) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Blues and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Eden Park, Auckland at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 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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