Yearly Archives: 2011
We can look forward to the following rugby on TV this weekend in SA:
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.
FNB UCT and FNB UJ are still unbeaten after four rounds of 2011 Varsity Cup action, with just one change on the log this week – at the bottom of the standings – as FNB Pukke finally scored their first league point of the season.
Shimlas (20) 20 / Tuks (5) 15 (Final Score)
Shimlas hosted Tuks at Shimla Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
UCT (26) 45 / TUT (7) 16 (Final Score)
UCT hosted TUT at the UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
Veteran flyhalf Tony Brown has been drafted into the injury-depleted Highlanders’ Vodacom Super Rugby squad and will join the team in South Africa on Tuesday.
I am probably starting to sound like an agony aunt, but Rugby Press in general really leave so much to be desired, it seems more in place at a kindergarden party. I am not pretending to be above the board, because what I do can hardly be described as journalism, partially biased social commentary more like. Everyone knows I am a Stormers supporter, I never pretended to be anything else, however, in the interest of all bloggers and other people who have to read my ramblings, I try to be as honest as possible in my assessments, and I will never decapitate someone for not agreeing with my stance on a subject, and lastly I try to be entertaining…even ridiculous at times…
Four Varsity Cup matches take place today, 28 February 2011. They are:
- UCT vs TUT – 17:00 (Live on TV and Live Game Thread here)
- Shimlas vs Tuks – 19:00 (Live on TV and Live Game Thread here)
- UJ vs Pukke – 19:00
- Maties vs NMMU – 19:00
Hands up if you picked the Highlanders to be two from two with wins over the Hurricanes and Chiefs under their belts after the opening two rounds of the Super Rugby season?
This week we lost great players with injuries in the Super Rugby competition. To make it worse there is long term injuries ending some players World Cup aspirations. National coaches will have sleepless nights over some of their stalwarts injuries.
Scotland (9) 18/ Ireland (14) 21 (Final Score)
Ireland ran in three tries to set up a 21-18 victory over Scotland in their Six Nations clash at Murrayfield on Sunday.
The result left the Scots still without a point from three games. Ireland joined Wales and France on four points, two behind leaders England.
Another weekend of great rugby. Provincial rivalry made for a competitive and tight weekend. Read on my view of the Player of the week, the try of the week, Biggest blunder, the most disappointing player of the week. Go ahead add your views and many more.
In their opening Super Rugby match of 2011, the Stormers prevailed over a valiant Lions side at Newlands yesterday.
See the famous Joggie Jansen tackle, the Sid Nomis interception, the third test of 1965 which shows Brynard diving over two defenders to score, the Tiny Naude penalty and much more.
A total of 62 video’s can be viewed on the McLook Collection.
Click on these links.
“It was a great result for us against a quality team,” said Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche. “If you’d have given us two wins to kick off the campaign we would have taken it.”
Stormers (9) 19 / Lions (8) 16 (Final Score)
The DHL Stormers hosted the MTN Lions at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Stormers escaped jail with a very late comeback to eventually win by 3 points and with a number of their old stalwarts not firing. Guys like Bryan Habana, Conrad Jantjes, Ricky Januarie and Andries Bekker seem to be playing on hype and reputation only.
The gutsy Lions tried till 4 minutes into injury time to slowly move upfield and score, which they nearly did, only to be denied by a desperate steal by the Stormers.
Sharks (16) 26 / Blues (9) 12 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Blues at Mr Price Kings Park, Durban at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Sharks started fast but then the game became scrappy, all the way through… not a memorable game but won nonetheless by the Sharks, before their trek accross the big waters.
2 Wins from 2 for the Sharks, this is what matters, I suppose.