Monthly Archives: March 2011
The Sharks made only one change to the starting line up for their match against the Force this coming weekend, with JP Pietersen who gets a start as Lwazi Mvovo drops to the bench after a slight twist of his ankle last weekend.
Blues coach Pat Lam has made six changes to his team to face the Lions with Luke McAlister coming in for Stephen Brett who has been dropped to the bench.
Allister Coetzee, coach of the DHL Stormers, on Wednesday named his team to take on the Toyota Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday. Kick-off is at 17:05.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has chosen to rest Bakkies Botha and play Danie Rossouw alongside Victor Matfield against the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Os du Randt has been axed as the Springboks’ scrumming consultant.Os du Randt confirmed to Sport24 on Tuesday that he had been informed in writing by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) that his contract as scrumming consultant will not be renewed and that he will therefore not be part of the Boks’ World Cup management team.
Yip, it's a dirty business
The South African rugby public knows very little about scrumming… fact. The reason for this is twofold, firstly SuperSport’s so-called forward experts, being Bob Skinstadt and Owen Nkumane have throughout their brief careers managed to steer well clear of the physical stuff, Bob, because he was a basically a slower centre and Nkumane, because he was basically a quota. The second reason, and perhaps the more pertinent one, is the new law interpretations, which causes so many reset scrums throughout the game, that no-one can stand watching them anymore.
Elton Jantjies capped of an impressive 2010 with a call-up to the Springbok squad, so why does the 2011 version seem so out of his depth? Continue reading
Schalk Burger has only suffered a strain on his medial ligament and will be back in rugby inside the next month — maybe even in time for the Stormers’ important north/south derby against the Bulls at Loftus on 19 March.
The Cheetahs will not field Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow against the Stormers in their Vodacom Super Rugby clash in Cape Town on Saturday.
Sonny Bill Williams is expected to make his Vodacom Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders against the Waratahs on Friday.
Vodacom Bulls utility back, Francois Hougaard, has lost the moonboot, but also the race against time to play against the Highlanders on Saturday.
Cheetahs captain Juan Smith will miss the rest of the Super rugby season but could play for the Springboks at the Rugby World cup.
The Bok flank had surgery on his Achilles on Monday after he injured it playing in the Cheetahs second round clash against the Bulls.
SANZAR have released the match officials for the third Round in the 2011 Super Rugby tournament and Chris Pollock starts the action on Friday.
This weekend has seven matches and the final match will be the Bulls against the Highlanders.
Melbourne Rebels star flyhalf has been fined one match payment for his role in a nightclub incident involving a bottle of Vodka.
Cipriani allegedly reached over and helped himself to a bottle of Vodka in a Melbourne nightclub and was then asked to leave the club.
The Waratahs have lost Berrick Barnes in the run up to their clash against the Crusaders in Nelson on Friday but Phil Waugh has been named in the team.
Phil Waugh will take his place in the team after sustaining a biceps injury against the Reds, and in doing so will become the first player to captain NSW 50 times at Super Rugby level.
Amateur Test selectors rejoice. In a World Cup year – with its truncated Tri Nations tournament – every Super weekend has an influence on a certain tournament in New Zealand later in the year. So discard the ‘one week at a time cliches’ pedalled by the coaches join RugbyHeaven as we track the form, injuries and talking points among the Super sides with one eye on firmly on World Cup fortunes.
The ACT Brumbies have sensationally sacked coach Andy Friend after only two matches of the season.The Canberra Times understands Friend has just been told he no longer has the club’s support.
Defence coach Tony Rea will take over as coach immediately.