Monthly Archives: December 2013
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has paid tribute to the extraordinary life and unselfish contribution to the establishment of a united South Africa, of former President, Nelson Mandela.
Mr Mandela passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday. He was 95.
Springbok wing Bryan Habana will be sidelined for around three weeks after suffering a thigh strain in Toulon’s 14-9 European Cup win at Exeter on Saturday.
The George 7’sPremier League tournament, due to be played at Outeniqua Park on 14 & 15 December, has been moved to January due to the countrywide week of mourning and Sunday’s funeral of Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Thursday.
The teams, kick off times, venues and match officials have been announced for this weekend’s Heineken Cup third round clashes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Should weather conditions or travel difficulties prevent matches from going ahead as scheduled, ERC will work with the clubs and match officials to ensure that fixtures are completed as close to the original kick-off time as possible.
The Sharks will play a warm-up match against English Premiership club Saracens at Allianz Park in London on January 25 next year.
Ireland will tackle South Africa and Australia in next year’s November international Test series, the Irish Rugby Football Union announced on Friday.
British and Irish Lions hooker Richard Hibbard and Wales flyhalf Rhys Priestland have joined the exodus of Wales players leaving the Welsh regions and joined the growing contingent of Wales internationals playing in England.
Lions hooker Hibbard has agreed to join Gloucester at the end of this season while Scarlets pivot Priestland has agreed to move to Wasps.
A proposal to expand the Currie Cup to eight teams in 2014 was withdrawn before being put to the vote at a SARU Special General Council meeting in Cape Town on Friday.
Maybe it’s fitting that the South African leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series tournament of 2013 / 2014 takes place a couple of days after the passing of the world’s biggest ever statesman, Nelson Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) at the stadium named in his honor, the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
It is the last sevens action in the HSBC Sevens World series of 2013.
The South African Blitzbokke will be eager to tribute this tournament to Madiba.
We bring you all you need to know about the 16 teams who will be vying for top honours in the Nelson Mandela Bay SA Sevens, the third round of the IRB Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth this weekend.
English clubs are set for at least one season without any European rugby after they confirmed their refusal to take part in a revamped Heineken Cup next season, despite last week’s decision by their French counterparts to return to the fold.
The chairmen of the 12 Premiership clubs, as well as representatives from Leeds and Bristol, met in London on Thursday.
Former Southern Kings utility forward Daniel Adongo has earned a place on the Indianapolis Colts roster and could make his NFL debut in Cincinnati on Sunday.
New Zealand rugby saluted Nelson Mandela on Friday, saying the sport had lost “a champion of our game” with the passing of the former South African president.
Only players who make a Test appearance will be given a Springbok number and regarded as full Springboks.
adidas ‘unlocked’ the DHL Stormers home and away kit for the 2014 season at a launch event held today (Thursday, December 5) at the adidas Performance store in the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.
Three teams of adidas Storm Chasers – made up of a DHL Stormers player, media personality and a Super Fan (selected from the adidas 3Stripes loyalty programme) – raced around Cape Town looking for clues to help them complete challenges akin to The Amazing Race, in order to reveal the 2014 kits.
South Africa and India did battle in the 1st ODI at Wanderers, Johannesburg.
India won the toss and elected to field first on on overcast day with chances of rain interupting the match.
The South African Proteas wore PINK today in support of breast cancer awareness.
South Africa won the match by 141 runs.
Wales will have an opportunity to break their SANZAR bogey when they face the world’s top three sides in next year’s November internationals.
The International Rugby Board’s (IRB) top three ranked sides, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia will visit the Millennium Stadium along with Pacific Island nation Fiji.
The Varsity Cup matches in 2014 will be played with two referees on the field. It’s not a new idea but the use of it is moving up a notch with the Varsity Cup.
The South African Rugby Union’s executive committee is set to hold a meeting here on Thursday to discuss the future structure of the Super Rugby competition.
More teams will to be added from 2016, when a new TV broadcast deal will come into effect.
Forgotten Western Province and Lions utility back Earl Rose has been given another chance to resurrect his rugby career.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has confirmed that he would be interested in coaching the British and Irish Lions when they tour his country of birth New Zealand in 2017.
Quade Cooper is set to meet with Reds CEO Jim Carmichael to discuss the future of the flyhalf’s budding boxing career.
In preparation of the 2014 Super Rugby season, the pre-season is underway before the Christmas / New Year break later in December.
So, what happens to the remaining Southern Kings players, who now have to sit out of Super Rugby again? Whilst a lot have already found franchises like the Bulls, Sharks, Cheetahs to sign for and others are available on loan to these other franchises, there is still a number of players who want to find a spot to play Super Rugby in 2014. Sergeal Petersen, young wing sensation of the EP Kings and Southern Kings is one such player.
Then we move over to up-and-coming youngsters who have now played Currie Cup rugby and questions are asked whether they will step up and rock Super Rugby the way they did the Currie Cup. We specifically look at Cheslin Kolbe, who set the world alight at Western Province in the Currie Cup.
All Blacks and Crusaders vice captain Kieran Read has been named the International Rugby Board’s Player of the Year for 2013.
New Zealand rugby claimed a triple scoop on the awards as the All Blacks were also named team of the year while coach of the year went to Steve Hansen.
Brumbies centre Christian Lealiifano will undergo ankle surgery that will rule him out of the start of next year’s Super Rugby season.
The Springbok Sevens have called up Steven Hunt, Kwagga Smith and Rosco Speckman as injury cover for Stephan Dippenaar, Jamba Ulengo and Frankie Horne.
The South Africans will be in action over the weekend in the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth.
The South African Blitzbokke and the other 15 international teams participating in this weekend’s Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens arrived at the Port Elizabeth International Airport on Monday evening.
The 16 teams arrived on two flights from Johannesburg, with the second flight about half an hour after the first flight.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens tournament marks the last leg of the 2013 part of the 2013 / 2014 HSBC Sevens World series, to be resumed well into 2014.
SANZAR have announced the draw for the 2014 Rugby Championship which will start on the 16th of August when Australia host New Zealand in Sydney.
The 2014 Super Rugby season ends on August the 2nd and then the Southern Hemisphere’s best players will get the weekend of August the 9th off and then the Rugby Championship starts a week later on the 16th.
The New Zealand Rugby Union have confirmed their Test schedule for 2014 which starts with a four match tour of New Zealand by England.
England will tour New Zealand for the first time since 2008 and along with three Test matches they will also play a midweek match against the Crusaders.
Wales dropped out of the top five on the IRB World Rankings following their 26-30 loss to the Wallabies in Cardiff on Saturday.
With only three international fixtures over the weekend, the focus was on the pulsating encounter between Wales and the touring Australians at Millennium Stadium.
Civil rights organisation AfriForum has warned SARU in a letter that its decision to implement racial quotas in the Vodacom Cup would constitute a violation of the IRB’s prohibition on racial discrimination.
SARU was also informed in the letter that the Olympic Charter, with which rugby has to comply as Olympic sport, explicitly prohibits racial discrimination.
England’s Premiership Rugby teams could miss out on playing European Rugby next year following the latest developments in Northern Hemisphere rugby row that has gone on for over a year.
Premiership Rugby bosses will meet this week to try and find a solution after French teams back tracked and pulled out of the proposes Rugby Champions Cup.
Despite being axed as Wallabies skipper, James Horwill will not reliquish captaincy of the Reds according to coach Richard Graham.
On the European and UK rugby front preparations for the Six Nations tournament of 2014 is gathering momentum, with news trickling through of injuries at this stage ruling some players out of the start of the Six Nations whilst others might miss the whole tournament.
England fullback / wing Ben Foden will likely miss only the start of the Six Nations, with a knee injury suffered for Northampton on the weekend against Newcastle.
England and Wasps wing, Christian Wade is out for 6 months after suffering a foot injury against London Irish over the past weekend.
Wales scrumhalf and “naughty boy” who was axed by Bayonne, Mike Phillips has reportedly signed a two and a half year deal with Racing Metro in France and will be available from Tuesday 3 December 2013.
Call it Federer Syndrome.
It is the condition, common in every era of sport, where journalists and fans stampede through the town square in a headlong rush to proclaim Jonny Rackets as the greatest player of all time. It is a very human instinct. If we are living in exceptional times, then maybe we are also somehow special, too.
A rip-roaring contest and magnificent entertainment it may have been, but Welsh faces after yet another defeat by Australia spoke only of more misery and another missed opportunity.