Daily Archives: 25 May 2014
Trouble is brewing for the Cell C Sharks rugby team after a forensic investigation into their finances was ordered following concerns raised by the brand’s auditing company KPMG.
According to reports, the team’s top brass is keeping mum on the issue but have confirmed that such an investigation is being conducted.
Jean de Villiers
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers will miss the Castle Lager Incoming Series next month after he was ruled out for approximately eight weeks with a knee injury.
After experiencing some discomfort in his left knee on Saturday morning, De Villiers was pulled out of the DHL Stormers’ Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Toyota Cheetahs.
De Villiers underwent a scope in Cape Town on Sunday morning and the prognosis is that he will be out of action for almost two months. He will hopefully be back by the start of Castle Lager Rugby Championship in August.
Daniel du Preez
Injured Sharks lock Daniel du Preez has been withdrawn from the South African Under-20 squad that will travel to New Zealand on Monday for the upcoming IRB Junior World Championship (JWC).
The 18-year old former SA Schools player is replaced by Johannes Vermeulen of Western Province.
Adriaan Strauss
Cheetahs captain Adriaan Strauss has been cited for a lifted tackle in his sides loss against the Stormers.
Strauss was Yellow Carded by referee Stuart Berry for the incident that happened in the 23rd minute of the Cheetahs dismissal display at wet and windy Newlands.
Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson & Matt Giteau celebrates
Jonny Wilkinson said playing alongside ‘inspirational’ former Australian centre Matt Giteau had convinced him now was the right time to retire.
Giteau will find himself back on South African soil in June when he faces the Springboks as part of Nick Mallett’s World XV.
Wilkinson and Giteau – ‘the ultimate professional’ in the eyes of the England great – were both members of the star-studded Toulon side that retained the European Cup with a 23-6 win over Saracens in the European Cup Final.
Michael Foley
Western Force coach Michael Foley is angry at the fact that his team will play in three different countries inside the space of 14 days.
Foley has slammed the Super Rugby scheduling which sees the Force play in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in three consecutive games.
That stretch started on May 17 when the Force lost to the Stormers in Cape Town.
The Chiefs’ two-year reign as Super Rugby champions is under threat after their 45-8 loss to the Hurricanes during the Round 15 clash, in which tournament standings underwent seismic transformation.
South Africa’s Sharks provided an element of stability by beating the Auckland-based Blues 29-23 to remain atop the championships ladder, five points clear of the New South Wales Waratahs.
The Chiefs and ACT Brumbies, who were beaten 44-23 by the Pretoria-based Bulls, not only gave up their places atop the New Zealand and Australian conferences but entirely dropped out of the top six.
It is a measure of the closeness of this season’s playoffs race that a single round can so thoroughly change the leading standings and a single defeat can impinge so heavily on any team’s title hopes.
Patrick Osborne’s disallowed try in the final moments of the Crusaders game could have gone either way according to Jamie Josephs.
The Highlanders coach, while not giving it away directly, clearly believes TMO Vinnie Munro’s decision to not allow the try that would give them the victory was wrong.
The Western Force scored their eighth win of the season and moved into second spot on the Australian Vodacom Super Rugby conference but the Lions can feel aggrieved at the circumstances that led to their 29-19 defeat in Perth on Saturday.
That scoreline doesn’t tell you how close it was for most of the way as the Lions simply refused to lie down in the second half against a Western Force team that was given a significant leg up by yet another diabolical TMO decision before halftime.
The Lions, determined to get one win on the road before heading back to Johannesburg, were leading 9-3 and looking well in control after a wet start to the game when loosehead prop Corne Fourie was yellow carded for what the TMO saw as a no arms tackle. The replay suggested it was a dubious call and even the Australian commentators were in agreement that it was a “soft” yellow card.
Toulon celebrates the 2014 Heineken Cup win against Saracens
Comic magnate Mourad Boudjellal’s Toulon retained the Heineken Cup trophy with a comprehensive victory, by seventeen points, over English club Saracens at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff yesterday. The final score was Saracens 6/23 Toulon.
This victory proved that in the modern era of sports it is most often the team who has the biggest pot of gold available to it who will win the trophy as on the same day Toulon’s football equivalent Real Madrid lifted the Champions League trophy just hours later in Lisbon. The final score of 4/1 to Real Madrid may make their victory seem as comprehensive as Toulon’s.