Super Rugby
South Africa on Monday played down injury concerns in the camp, despite confirmation that veteran lock Bakkies Botha is not responding to treatment for his Achilles problem.
A stack of injuries in the opening weekend’s action at the World Cup has underlined how important squad strength will be in deciding which teams will go deep into the marathon, six-week tournament.
Injured All Black Kieran Read has declared that he will be fit to start the Rugby World Cup and play against Canada in New Zealand’s final Pool game. Continue reading
Springbok vice-captain Victor Matfield and centre Jean de Villiers have been ruled out of South Africa’s match against Fiji due to injury.
The Wallabies have suffered their first real Rugby World Cup blow as winger Digby Ioane has fractured his right thumb and will have an operation.
England lock Courtney Lawes has become the first player at the 2011 Rugby World Cup to be cited after allegedly kneed Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma in the head. Continue reading
The top three teams on the Currie Cup Premier Division log have opened a gap on the chasing pack with five rounds left before the playoffs next month.
South Africa
The adrenaline seemed to be still pumping for South Africa coach Peter de Villiers the day after his team’s 17-16 victory over Wales in their opening Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool D match at Wellington Regional Stadium.
De Villiers was at his animated, playful best at the team press conference in their Wellington hotel on Monday, cracking jokes and expounding on team tactics and rugby trends.
South Africa’s three greatest exponents of line out play and masters of the tight phases are now injured.
The Scottish and Georgian teams have been announced for their clash on Wednesday.
Springboks (10) 17 / Wales (6) 16 (Final Score)
The Springboks and Wales did battle in Wellington at 10:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ Time).
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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The Springboks squeeked a win by one solitary point.
Not a good performance by the Springboks, with replacement players like Bismarck du Plessis, Willem Alberts and Francois Hougaard made a real difference!
Ireland (10) 22 / USA (0) 10 (Final Score)
Ireland and the USA did battle at New Plymouth at 08:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
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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Ireland win and had a massive advantage in the set pieces, but the USA defence was resolute and only allowed in three Irish tries.
Wallabies (6) 32 / Italy (6) 6 (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies did battle with the Italian Azurri in Albany at 05:30 SA Time (15:30 NZ Time).
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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The Wallabies suddenly sprinted into life in the second half with a blitz of 4 tries, to put it well beyond the gutsy Italians.
I wrote a piece after the 2010 match and started by stating that between the referee, Habana and the box kicks we nearly lost the match. I also said that the score line was flattering to the Welsh. After watching the game again I’ll stick with those sentiments. Not that Wales were bad, they actually played some good footy in that match but the South African players made it easy for them. The Springboks lacked concentration and were without a doubt tired after a long S14 a tough tri-nations and an extremely physical encounter the previous weekend in wet in cold conditions against Ireland.
[youtube]3d0Sf8dYu1s[/youtube]
England (3) 13 / Argentina (6) 9 (Final Score)
England did battle with Argentina in Dunedin at 10:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ Time).
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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Argentina made England sweat and work very hard for their win.
The worst aspect of this match was poor goal kicking by both sides.
France 47 / Japan 21 (Final Score)
France and Japan did battle in Auckland at 08:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
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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Job done for France but not until after Japan gave them a good run for their money and a massive scare in the second half.
Fiji (32) 49 / Namibia (15) 25 (Final Score)
Fiji and Namibia did battle at Rotorua at 05:30 SA Time (15:30 NZ Time).
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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Highlight of this match must be the 4 tries by Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva. Fiji was far more accurate in finishing their moves and kicks. It was a entertaining game with some sublime handling from Fiji.
Scotland (18) 34 / Romania (11) 24 (Final Score)
Scotland and Romania did battle in Invercargill on 10 September 2011 at 03:00 SA Time (13:00 NZ Time).
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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Romania gave Scotland a massive scare, with the scores in favour of Romania by 3 points, with 6 minutes to go. Scotland suddenly woke up and scored 2 quick tries via Simon Danielli.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry gave his team a bare pass mark after they battled their way to beating Tonga 41-10 in the Rugby World Cup opener.
The Springboks have named the most experienced team in South African history for the opening match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup against Wales in Wellington on Sunday.
All Blacks (29) 41 / Tonga (3) 10 (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks hosted Tonga in the opener of Rugby World Cup 2011 at Eden Park, Auckland at 10:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ Time).
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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The game can be summed up as Moments of brilliance by the All Blacks in the 1st half and dogged forwards attack by Tonga in the 2nd half.
It is mission accomplished for the New Zealand All Blacks, 5 Log Points in the bag.
Rugby World Cup finally kicks off on 9 September 2011, but we also must not forget about the Currie Cup, now in it’s mid stages.
Here’s the lineup of Rugby on TV in SA for Friday 9 September 2011.
Bakkies Botha
Reports are surfacing across the internet that Springbok lock Bakkies Botha’s Achilles tendon injury is worse than expected and may be ruled out of Rugby World Cup.
Herewith the teams to play in Pool B’s opening round.
Three of the five teams in this pool are good enough to make it through to the quarter finals. England should make it leaving Scotland and Argentina to fight for the second place in this group.
Wales flyhalf Stephen Jones remains in doubt for his team’s opening Rugby World Cup match against South Africa because of a calf injury.
The All Blacks have jettisoned their controversial player rotation policy and say they will stick with the hardcore of their first XV through the World Cup starting on Friday.
France have named Toulouse hooker William Servat in their starting Rugby World Cup line up against Japan in North Harbour even though he has not played since June the 4th.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made just one change to his Rugby World Cup starting lineup which lost 28.13 to Wales for their match against England.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has retained the starting team that secured the Tri-Nations title two weeks ago and named James O’Connor on the bench.
Springboks
Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield are injured ahead of Sunday’s opening game against Wales.
Lewis Moody
England Captain Lewis Moody will miss his team’s Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday as he has not recovered from a knee injury.
Shaun Edwards, Wales defence coach
Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards has welcomed the IRB’s move to be more stringent with policing of the breakdown and offside during the World Cup.
Ireland
Ireland’s Rugby World Cup squad have been given a boost as Cian Healy and Gordon D’Arcy joined up with the rest of the squad in Queenstown New Zealand after a delayed departure.
Bokke!
It is often said that combinations are key to winning rugby. Now this article is mostly about statistics, so if you are not a statistic minded person it would most likely bore you to death, I did however find some telling stats looking at which combinations seemed to have worked for the Springboks.