Monthly Archives: February 2013
The Sharks will take on the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in their Vodacom Super Rugby campaign with arguably the strongest side available to them and will be captained by Francois Steyn.
Coach John Plumtree said that he had very tough decisions to make in naming the team and of course to find the right balance as some positions had atleast two players fighting it out for the jersey.
Geoff Cross, the 30-year-old Edinburgh Rugby prop, returns to the Scotland starting line-up for Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship meeting with Ireland at Murrayfield.
The Toyota Cheetahs team to take on the Sharks in Bloemfontein on Saturday at 17h05 has been named.
Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones are set to make their Wales returns off the bench when they take on Italy in the Six Nations in Rome on Saturday.
This weekend sees a return to action in the 2013 RBS 6 Nations Championship with the third round of games to be played, following a week’s break. Two matches will be played on Saturday, one in Rome and the other in London. The third and final match of the weekend takes place on Sunday in Edinburgh.
Naka Drotskè has finally shown his cards, when he announced the squad that will go on tour after this weekend’s match versus the Sharks. The Cheetahs have a gruelling tour facing the current Super 15 champions, the Chiefs, the Highlanders and the Waratahs on consecutive weekends, before winding down their tour with a match against the Western Force. Naka has selected a squad of 26 players to go on tour, with the versatility and experience seemingly the decider in some positions. As expected, bok hooker Adriaan Strauss will captain the side.
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named an experienced outfit to face the Stormers on Friday at Loftus Versfeld in the opening match of the local 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby competition.
The Southern Kings team to take on the Western Force in their debut Super Rugby game in Port Elizabeth on Saturday does not feature any foreign players in the starting line-up.
The Toyota Cheetahs have received a timely boost with the news that both Springboks Coenie Oosthuizen and Johan Goosen will be ready for their Vodacom Super Rugby opener against the Sharks in Bloemfontein.
He’s the one that got away, but it seems suspicion is mounting in the Western Force camp that a spy intent on aiding new Super Rugby franchise the Southern Kings filmed some of their training on Tuesday.
Hurricanes openside flanker Ardie Savea has been suspended for four weeks following a judicial hearing but he will be out of Super Rugby until the end of March.
The Crusaders have revealed that they will play with a more expansive style in 2013 as they look to win their eighth Super Rugby title.
The last time these teams met the Chiefs secured their place in the playoff’s beating the Highlanders on their own paddock. The men from Otago will be looking for revenge, as usual. Shame, they’re always looking for revenge having won just 2 of their previous 10 encounters with the warriors from Waikato. They’ll be hoping this time things will be different.
The Sharks squad to play in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby tournament shows no great surprises, with two players drafted in from outside, a couple of new faces that have been in the system and the familiar faces we all know.
The Sharks are again being hampered by numerous injury setbacks before the Super Rugby season officially kicks off, no less than seven stars out for anything between 4 weeks and 8 weeks.
Maties (8) 13 / 8 (8) NMMU (Final Score)
Ther University of Stellenbosch FNB Maties and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University FNB NMMU did battle in the Varsity Cup at Danie Craven Stadium at 19:00 SA 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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Jean DeVilliers has been named as the Stormers captain for Friday’s Super Rugby opener against the Bulls at Loftus.
Shimlas (4) 12 / 23 (10) Tuks (Final Score)
FNB Shimlas and FNB UP-Tuks did battle in the Varsity Cup at Xerox Shimla Park at 16:45 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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South Africa and Pakistan did battle in the 2nd 5-Day Test at Newlands, Cape Town which started at 10:30 SA Time on Thursday 14 February and which was supposed to run till Monday 18 February 2013.
This is the Live Game Article for the Match.
South Africa won the toss and elected to field.
Pakistan managed 338 All Out in the 1st innings and South Africa 12 runs less with their 326. In the 2nd Innings, Pakistan were all out for 169 on the 4th Day and South Africa were required to get 182 to win the Test.
South Africa reached 182 / 6 near the end of day 4, winning the Test and the Series, with 1 Test still to come (Friday 22 to Tuesday 26 February 2013 at Centurion Park).
As pointed out by Scrumdown, one of our knowledgeable contributors, yesterday Saracens played their first Premiership game at their new home ground, the Allianz Park, in Barnet Copthall. The match was played on an artificial surface and although it is the second game that has been played there it was the first one that they played in front of ten thousand people which is a capacity crowd for the stadium.
After my tribute to Jan Ellis I thought I just have to write something about the man who was a big part of Jan’s success as a Springbok rugby player, Piet Greyling.
Currie Cup-winning Transvaal captain in 1971 and 1972, former Springbok flanker Piet Greyling, was arguably one of the best, but certainly one of the toughest.
The picture below shows Piet Greyling with his Transvaal side who got a share of the Currie Cup for the first time in 19 years – having previously won it in 1952 – when they shared the cup with Northern Transvaal in an epic final and controversial 14-14 draw at Ellis Park in 1971. The next year Greyling led his Transvaal side to a 25-19 win over Eastern Transvaal at Pam Brink Stadium in Springs to win the cup with the help of Gerald Bosch who dropped the winning points in the final minutes. It was back in 1972, before the Currie Cup final against Eastern Transvaal in Springs that the former Bok captain uttered these famous words to his Transvaal team-mates: “Eighty minutes of agony for an eternity of pleasure.”
Brumbies (8) 24 / 6 (6) Reds (Final Score)
The ACT Brumbies and Queensland Reds did battle in Super Rugby at Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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With a pause in the international matches, the Pro12 takes centre stage again this weekend with games in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
First up on Friday night table toppers Ulster welcome Zebre to Ravenhill. The leaders will be keen to get back to their winning ways having suffered only their second defeat in this season’s campaign at the hands of Ospreys last week.
Rebels (10) 30 / 23 (11) Force (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels and Western Force kicked off Super Rugby 2013 at AAMI Park, Melbourne at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Melbourne Time, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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The Lions’ next scheduled MTN Lions Challenge match against Namibia in Windhoek, has been cancelled.
GWK Griquas have beaten the Southern Kings 30 -27, in what was the Kings final warm up match. This result raises yet more questions as to the Kings preparedness for this years Super 15. Simon Westraadt scored a try five minutes from the final whistle to seal the Kings loss. Burton Francis converted, bringing his personal haul to 20 for the match. Burton Francis must have been left smiling, after he was left out of the Kings group earlier this year.
Match facts: February 14-18, 2013
Start time: 10:30 local (08:30 GMT)
“The more accolades there are, the more expectation there is on me. I woke up before the Wanderers Test at 4am dreaming I had got a pair.”
Cape Town – Schalk Burger may be a surprise starter against the Bulls if he comes through fitness tests this week.
Emerging Test referee Lourens van der Merwe will make history when he officiates in the first Vodacom Super Rugby match involving the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth next Saturday.
New scrum laws to make amateur rugby safer will come into effect at club and schools level as the season gets under way this month, following an initiative introduced by the South African Rugby Union (Saru). A new scrum engagement sequence has been devised for amateur rugby to minimise the risks of serious injury suffered in this facet of play.
The Crusaders have called up all their big guns, including captain Kieran Read, for their third and final pre-season game, against the Waratahs in Sydney on Thursday.
Wales interim head coach Rob Howley has taken a bold move by naming his team to face Italy in Rome next Saturday a week early but rewarding the players that beat France 6-16 last week.
British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland says that he is wary of selecting too many English players for the Lions tour to Australia in June.
All Black and Chiefs midfielder has announced he will leave New Zealand rugby to play rugby in Japan after the current Super Rugby season.