Yearly Archives: 2011
The MTN Golden Lions have retained the same run on side that beat DHL Western Province last Saturday, to face the Sharks this coming Saturday.
When last was Coka-Cola Park SOLD OUT for a rugby match?
Well, I can’t remember that far back!
This Saturday however, the Stadium is SOLD OUT for the Currie Cup Final between the MTN Golden Lions and The Sharks.
The first Currie Cup Final was played in 1939 (before that the Currie Cup did not have a Final Game), at Newlands when Transvaal beat Western Province. The Sharks (a.k.a. Natal) are back in the Final for the second year in a row and will be playing the Golden Lions (a.k.a. Transvaal) for the fourth time in a Currie Cup Final.
Samoan captain Mahroni Schwalger has blamed his team’s World Cup failure on a lack of professionalism and a culture of alcohol abuse in the team management.
The South African Rugby Union has congratulated Springbok Sevens player Cecil Afrika on capturing the IRB Sevens Player of the Year Award for the 2010/11 season.
The experienced Bryce Lawrence will referee the Absa Currie Cup Final when he takes charge of the match between the MTN Golden Lions and The Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday.
John Smit and Victor Matfield have been vital cogs in the engine room of the Springbok team for more than a decade; will their contributions in the Green and Gold jersey ever be matched?
Former Springbok flyhalf legend Naas Botha will join Hoërskool Waterkloof’s coaching staff for 2012.
New Zealand media have accused a French player of head-butting and eye gouging All Black captain Richie McCaw in the Rugby World Cup final.
Vodacom Bulls stalwart Jaco Pretorius has retired from rugby. The 32 year old outside centre has been battling a back injury all season and acting on medical advice, decided to call it a day.
Ian Jones made an interesting remark the other night on TV during pre-match run-up to the RWC final. The panel were debating Graham Henry’s tenure as All Black coach and what makes him so successful. Jake White over emphasized –for understandable reasons- the fact that NZRU stuck with Henry and gave him another change, which brought that experience of having been there and knowing what it’s all about into the team environment. Jake has a good point to which I’ll return a little later in my dialogue, but Ian Jones took a different angle.
Rugby World Cup winning coach Graham Henry and his assistant Steve Hansen have accepted invitations to coach the Barbarians against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday 26 November.
Despite a trophy cabinet which has remained empty for a full decade and after the Western Province pack’s reputation took another battering against the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup semi-final on Saturday, Western Province Rugby’s Senior Professional Coach Rassie Erasmus has already indicated he is not of the intention to buy a single forward player.
The New Zealand Rugby Union is already inviting applications for All Blacks coach, though Rugby World Cup-winning head coach Graham Henry remains tight-lipped about his future.
All Blacks manager Darren Shand says the French rugby team should not have been fined for confronting New Zealand’s Maori haka or ceremonial challenge in the tense moments before kick-off in Sunday’s Rugby World Cup final.
Modern rugby with all its complexities and the number of people involved with the game today can be compared to modern society in many ways.
Each year I dread the Rugby Off-season at the end of the year!
We are almost at the end of an arduous, yet much shorter rugby season here in the Southern Hemisphere for 2011.
We can still look forward to the Currie Cup Final, the finals of the two junior groups (Under 21 and Under 19), the Barbarians game on 26 November (if memory serves me well) and a Wallaby / Wales game around the same time.
In addition we have the scraps of the first IRB Sevens Tournament of the new season, in South Africa, to be held in Port Elizabeth in the beginning of December.
… but that is about it…
The Western Province duo of Rassie Erasmus and Allister Coetzee have declared themselves unavailable for the Springbok coaching job and have no interest in the position at this time.
Springbok and Western Province centre Jaque Fourie has announced that he will be joining Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights.
Vodacom Bulls and Vodacom Blue Bulls utility player Gerhard van den Heever has transferred to Western Province and the Stormers.
Hundreds of thousands of jubilant New Zealanders packed central Auckland for the All Blacks victory parade on Monday, celebrating their “ultimate achievement” in winning the Rugby World Cup.
Five members of the Springboks’ World Cup squad have been nominated for the SA Rugby Player of the Year Award, with the winner due to be announced at a function at Gold Reef City on November 3.
France captain Thierry Dusautoir was named the International Rugby Board (IRB) player of the year for 2011 at a ceremony in Aucklad on Monday.
Wallabies and Reds playmaker Quade Cooper will be sidelined for at least six months due to knee surgery after he collapsed playing in the Rugby World Cup’s third place play off.
It may be New Zealand’s moment in the limelight, but the Springbok victories in 1995 and 2007 will be honoured as the captains and coaches of World Cup winning teams are inducted into the International Rugby Board’s Hall of Fame tonight.
International Rugby Board chairman Bernard Lapasset says that Wales cannot be certain of hosting Rugby World Cup matches when the tournament moves to England in 2015.
England captain Lewis Moody has announced his retirement from international rugby following England’s disappointing Rugby World Cup.
According to the Sunday Times, the Lions Rugby Union have turned to their own vice-president as the new investor in the union since their deal with the Guma Group turned sour.
So the world cup is over, and what have we learnt?There were some controversial issues, some very close matches and some really angry fans.
All Blacks (5) 8 / France (0) 7 (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and France did battle in the Final of Rugby World Cup 2011 at Eden Park, Auckland at 10:00 SA Time (21:00 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 All Blacks held out a very galant and determined France side… and wins Rugby World Cup 2011 by 1 point.
Yip, that’s right… only 1 point!
Lions (19) 29 / WP (12) 20 (Final Score)
The MTN Golden Lions hosted DHL Western Province at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg in the Second Semi-Final for the Currie Cup at 17:00 SA 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 MTN Lions laid the foundation for the win in the first half, going ahead 19 / 12 at the break.
However desperate and dedicated DHL Western Province’s attacks were in the second stanze, equally desperate and resolute was the MTN Lions defence.
Sharks (3) 20 / Cheetahs (13) 13 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Toyota Free State Cheetahs at Kings Park, Durban in the First Semi-Final of the Currie Cup at 14:30 SA 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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After the Free State Cheetahs started really well and whilst the Sharks kicking to goal was abysmal, the Cheetahs built up a 13 / 3 lead at halftime, only to watch the Sharks score all the points in the second half.
The Sharks advance and the Cheetahs join the Blue Bulls on the sidelines.
The concept of the X-factor actually comes from racehorses, specifically from a horse called Eclipse. An extremely large heart is a trait that occasionally occurs in Thoroughbreds, linked to a genetic condition passed down via the dam line, known as the “x-factor”.
Eclipse, the horse, was necropsied after his death in 1789. Because Eclipse’s heart appeared to be much larger than other horses, it was weighed, and found to be 14 pounds (6.4 kg), almost twice the normal weight. Eclipse is believed to have passed the trait on via his daughters, and pedigree research verified that arguably the best racehorse ever, namely Secretariat can trace in his dam line to a daughter of Eclipse.
In the 20th century, the heart of Phar Lap was weighed and also documented to be 6.35 kilograms (14.0 lb), or essentially the same size as that of Eclipse.
Now you might ask what this has got to do with the All Blacks and the Rugby World Cup final.
This is it. Eight teams worked hard during the 2011 season to reach this stage, but only four – the MTN Golden Lions, The Sharks, Toyota Free State Cheetahs and DHL Western Province – have qualified for the Absa Currie Cup semi-finals.