SA Rugby
Head coach Allister Coetzee has announced his starting line-up for the DHL Stormers’ first game of the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season – against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday (kick-off 19:10).
Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers will lead the DHL Stormers in their season-opener, with deputy Schalk Burger lining up in the No 7 jersey.
Top-14 outfit Grenoble are confident that they will have Stormers and Springbok wing Gio Aplon on their books for next season, club sources have said on Wednesday.
The Vodacom Bulls confirmed on Wednesday that regular captain, Pierre Spies, has been withdrawn from the team to play the Toyota Cheetahs in a Vodacom Super Rugby match in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Spies suffered a blow to the elbow in last weekend’s match against the Cell C Sharks and it did not recover as hoped. He will be replaced by Jacques Engelbrecht, who moves up from the bench. Wiaan Liebenberg will replace Engelbrecht on the bench.
Should he take to the field, Liebenberg will make his Super Rugby debut.
Flip van der Merwe takes over the captaincy.
Vodacom Bulls lock Grant Hattingh will make his first appearance for his team this season on Friday against the Toyota Cheetahs after being included in the side for the Bloemfontein clash.
Hattingh replaces Paul Willemse in the only change to the side that came up short against the Sharks in Durban last weekend.
Flanker Deon Stegmann remains unavailable for selection due to a groin strain and will again miss the match, with Jono Ross donning the number six jersey.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has picked the same starting team that lost to the Lions for their Super Rugby clash against the Bulls in Bloemfontein on Friday night.
The South African Rugby (SARU) Union announced a group of 76 players on Tuesday for the start of the SA Under-20 preparations for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship tournament to be hosted in Auckland, New Zealand, in June.
SARU also unveiled a comprehensive preparation plan aimed at ensuring the Junior Springboks are battle ready for the 2014 JWC showpiece.
The Lions medical staff have released an injury update, following the Lions’ 20 / 21 victory over the Cheetahs on Saturday.
You can’t get better than a four try bonus point win over the Bulls to start your Vodacom Super Rugby campaign, but judging from the talk coming out of the Cell C Sharks camp, the thirst for perfection is a long way from being quenched.
Springbok flyhalf Johan Goosen should be ready to play for the Cheetahs when they host the Bulls in Bloemfontein on Friday night.
Goosen went for a scan after slightly injuring his arm in the Cheetahs’ 21 / 20 home defeat to the Lions at the weekend.
The DHL Stormers have been the South African side to be hit with the most pre-season injuries of all 5 Super Rugby Franchises. It has left them lean at lock and in the backline at wing and fullback.
Jaco Taute is rported to be out for 2 more weeks,as a result of which the Stormers have had to scramble to sign more depth, which now comes in the form of signing Shakes Soyizwapi from the EP Kings.
In addition, speculation is rife around what the constitution of the back three will be to run out against the Lions in Super Rugby on the weekend and the likelyhood is that Allister Coetzee would entrust a midfield spot next to Jean de Villiers to Michael van der Spuy.
Former England and British & Irish Lions prop Matt Stevens has agreed to return home to Durban and play Super Rugby for the Sharks at the end of this season.
Jason Jaftha, one of SANZAR’s panel of Super Rugby referees, has suffered what seems to be a serious knee injury.
Alan Solomons has lured former IRB Junior World Championship-winning Baby Bok prop Allan Dell to Edinburgh.
Educated at Queens College in Eastern Cape, the promising young prop, who can play on both sides of the scrum, qualifies for Scotland through his grandmother, Joan Carmichael, who was born in Paisley and brought up in Edinburgh.
Tuks (8) 26 / 0 (0) Shimlas (Final Score)
FNB UP-Tuks (University of Pretoria) and FNB-UFS Shimlas (University of the Free State)
did battle in Super Rugby at Tuks Rugby Stadium, Pretoria 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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UJ (24) 32 / 15 (2) Wits (Final Score)
FNB UJ (University of Johannesburg) and FNB Wits (University of Witwatersrand)
did battle in the Varsity Cup at UJ Stadium, Johannesburg at 16:45 SA Time (14:45 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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Governing body Sanzar has confirmed that Television Match Official Deon van Blommenstein made a critical error in awarding Cobus Reinach his try during the Cell C Sharks’ 31 / 16 win over the Vodacom Bulls in their Vodacom Super Rugby match in Durban on the weekend.
Sanzar referees boss Lyndon Bray confirmed the try – which led to repeated replays – should not have been awarded as the ball was knocked-on by Sharks lock Anton Bresler.
The Lions celebrated their return to Vodacom Super Rugby with a good win over the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein before the Cell C Sharks showed they mean business in 2014 with a bonus-point victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Durban.
For the Cell C Sharks, under a new coach in former Springbok mentor Jake White, it was a perfect start to the season. They got their 4th try at the death of their 31 / 16 win after scoring 3 five-pointers in the first 40 minutes.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann knows that his young team’s gritty victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein was worth more than just the four log points.
The Johannesburg side made an ideal return to Super Rugby, with a late drop-goal from flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff giving them a dramatic 21 / 20 victory over the home side.
The DHL Stormers still have to get into the action and will have other intentions, but the first two matches of Vodacom Super Rugby reinforced the pre-season view that the Cell C Sharks will be the team to beat in the South African conference.
Certainly the other three sides that played this weekend were light years behind the Sharks, and that confirms the view picked up in the last Absa Currie Cup season, when the understrength sides of the Sharks and Western Province dominated the league season before contesting the final: there really are only two strong unions in South Africa at the moment.
The unavailability of fullback Jaco Taute for the Vodacom Super Rugby opener is just one of the many things that have given DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee reasons to be thoughtful ahead of the trip to Johannesburg on Saturday.
As the Lions were sounding a warning ahead of Ellis Park by shocking the Toyota Cheetahs 21 / 20 in Bloemfontein, a scratch Stormers team that included several youngsters who were still at school last year was on the way to a 29 / 24 defeat to the Boland Cavaliers in searing heat in Wellington.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské says their performance against the Lions was the worst by them in three years.
Legendary Australian wing David Campese wasn’t impressed by what the Bulls dished up in their Super Rugby opener against the Cell C Sharks in Durban over the weekend.
“Campo” studied the Super Rugby clash which the Sharks won 31 / 16 to go to the top of the Super Rugby standings.
Three teams remain unbeaten in the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International, and they will all be on home turf in Round Three on Monday.
FNB NWU-Pukke lead the way after claiming bonus-point victories in both their matches, and they will host a desperate FNB Maties side that have just a single bonus point to show for their efforts so far this season.
The three-time champions are coming off a demoralising defeat to Cape rivals FNB UCT in front of their home crowd in Stellenbosch and now face a tough follow-up assignment against the well-drilled NWU-Pukke outfit in Potchefstroom.
Springbok fullback Jaco Taute has been ruled out of the Stormers fixture against the Lions in Johannesburg next week.
Taute was an 11th hour withdrawal from the Stormers side which went down 29-24 to Boland in Wellington on Saturday.
French champions Castres’ scrumhalf Rory Kockott told Canal Plus on Saturday he had changed his mind over a move to Heineken Cup champions Toulon and wished to remain at his present club.
The 27-year-old South African – the Top 14 player of last season after finishing leading points scorer – said that despite signing a pre-contract with Toulon he had decided it was a move not in the best interests of him or his family.
Delmas Rugbyklub, een van die Valke Platteland rugbyklubs, ‘n ou en gevestigde maar klein rugbyklub, hou weer hierdie jaar ‘n rugbydag, hierdie een die 5de in ‘n ry.
Rugby-Talk tree met trots op as borg en media vennoot van die wonderlinge geleentheid.
Oos Rand Stereo (93.9 FM) en Big Bang Events & Marketing Solutions sal ook by die dag betrokke wees en die nodige kleur aan die geleentheid verskaf.
Die gemeenskap van Delmas het ‘n sterk Afrikaanse inslag en daar is versoek dat Rugby-Talk die geleentheid in Afrikaans sal dek en hanteer, vandaar die feit dat hierdie berig in Afrikaans verskyn. Geen poging word hiermee gemaak om die Engelse en internasionale lesers kwaad te maak of te vervreem nie, tewens, ons nooi julle uit om jou krakerige Afrikaans af te stof vir die dag, en indien jy nie by magte is om dit te doen nie, om in jou beste Engels deel te neem aan die gesprek.
(The community of Delmas and surrounds has a strong Afrikaans component and it was requested that Rugby-Talk cover the event in Afrikaans, thus the fact that this article is largely in Afrikaans. No attempt is made to anger or alienate English and international readers, in fact you are invited to dust off your Shoddy Afrikaans for the day, and if you are not in a position to do so, to take part in the conversations in your best English).
Soos ons almal bewus is, kry rugbyklubs weinig bystand en finansiële steun van hul moeder-unies, van die Suid-Afrikaanse Rugbyraad en van die owerhede.
Spelers by van die klubs speel gereeld met tweedehandse tokse en klubs is van rugbydae soos hierdie afhanklik vir hul enigste inkomste van die jaar.
Vrywilligers en toegewyde rugbyondersteuners maak die bestuur van hierdie klubs op, teen hoegenaamd geen vergoeding nie, inteendeel betaal hierdie ware rugbygeesdriftiges gereeld gelde uit eie sak, sny gras en herstel wat nodig is om die rugbyklubs aan die lewe te hou.
The Boland Cavaliers gave the Stormers plenty to ponder as they beat them 29-24 in a pre-season friendly in Wellington on Saturday.
It may have been a young and experimental Stormers side, which showed plenty of guts, but it would not have been the way coach Allister Coetzee would have wanted to end the pre-season.
Cheetahs (10) 20 / 21 (9) Lions (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Lions did battle in Super Rugby at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 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.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84FxGreFTeM[/youtube]
Herewith a Full Media Guide, detailing ALL Super Rugby 2014 Teams, Players, Management, Staff and Statistics, for all the Super Rugby participating teams, from all 3 countries.
Stormers fullback Jaco Taute’s knee is giving him problems again as they prepare to face Boland in a pre-season friendly in Wellington on Saturday.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union is pleased to welcome Jonsson Workwear, Africa’s leading workwear brand, on board as an official associate sponsor.
The 2014 Super Rugby season kicks off this weekend with an all South African round of action featuring the Cheetahs vs the Lions and the Sharks vs the Bulls.
Here we take a brief look at the South African teams and what could lie ahead for the South African Super Rugby franchises.
Former Treviso coach, Franco Smith has been appointed as Assistant Coach for the Currie Cup. Smith gained a wealth of experience whilst coaching Treviso.
Super Rugby is finally upon us, with Round 1 of the 2014 season starting this weekend. Only 2 games are played in Round 1, and only 4 South African sides are involved in Round 1.
The DHL Stormers have a bye weekend, right at the outset, but of course Bye Points fall away in 2014.
The New Zealand and Australian sides will only join up as from Round 2, as the South African sides will only be hauled in in June when the New Zealand and Australians play a Round where the South African sides sit out.
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.
SANZAR has decided to do away with the hugely unpopular system whereby teams get awarded ‘bonus’ points when they have a bye in Super Rugby.
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters said on Thursday they listened to “feedback from the fans” and trust this makes it easier for all to track their team’s log progress throughout the season.
The ABSA Currie Cup will feature an eight-team Premier Division and a new qualification round, following the decision to expand the top flight, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) announced on Thursday.
A Special General Council meeting of the 14 member unions gave the required 75% majority to a resolution to go to an eight-team Premier Division and six-team First Division for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.