Monthly Archives: October 2014
Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira
South Africa finished second overall courtesy of their Ellis Park derring-do against New Zealand, and for but five points, the collective margin of defeat against the Wallabies in Perth and All Blacks in Wellington, it could have been a massive celebration for the team.
Admittedly the eventual champions boasted a 49-point difference advantage over the Springboks, but if the South African’s 4-2 ledger had been 5-1 (bonus points wouldn’t have come into the equation), the trophy would be theirs.
The victory is Meyer’s 24th in 33 Tests (a 73% winning mark), closes the gap in the IRB rankings (versus one and two) to just over two points, while the Republic boasts nearly a five point advantage over newly promoted England in third.
South Africa’s four wins and two losses equalled their return from last season, and their overall ten victories in The Rugby Championship’s history over 18 Tests gives them a three win lead over Australia (from 2012-2014) and second over the last three years (All Blacks 16-1-1).
All Blacks Haka
The All Blacks second defeat in 44 Test matches was met with mixed reaction throughout the rugby world, not enough to prevent New Zealand from claiming The Rugby Championship, but it did stop a tournament whitewash for the third straight season.
Generally Kiwis did not panic, the consistency of Steve Hansen’s results deservedly have built up some emotional credit.
Some quarters of the media almost ridiculously hailed it as the beginning of the end for the World Champions, most were restrained wary to feed the wounded beast.
The All Blacks finished first overall, winning their 13th title since 1996, winning four Tests, drawing one and losing their final match – which was their first tournament defeat in 18 fixtures.
The International Rugby Board has announced the match official appointments for upcoming November internationals.
Appointments were made by the IRB Match Official Selection Committee at its recent meeting in Dublin and follow a detailed review of recent performances during the June international window, The Rugby Championship and other matches.
South Africa’s Craig Joubert will kick off a busy month of Tests as teams and officials begin the countdown to Rugby World Cup 2015, when he takes charge of the New Zealand v USA fixture at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 1.
Steve Walsh will be the man in the middle for England’s match with the Springboks and Nigel Owens will officiate at Stade de France when Les Bleus take on Australia, as well as refereeing New Zealand’s visit to Twickenham. Wayne Barnes has been appointed to Wales v New Zealand in Cardiff, while Ireland v Australia in Dublin will be refereed by Glen Jackson. Jérôme Garces will be in charge when the Wallabies take on England and will be in Padova on November 22 to referee Italy v South Africa.
There will be no promotion-relegation matches in 2014, but the the winners of this year’s Currie Cup First Division will bag R1,054m for their efforts.
The First Division final will be contested between the Griffons and Falcons in Welkom next Friday evening.
The runners up will receive R527 000.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has confirmed that there will be no promotion-relegation matches this year, but should Griquas or the Pumas finish in seventh spot on the Currie Cup Premier Division log, then there will again be a qualifying competition in 2015 between the six First Division teams as well as the seventh-place team in the Premier Division.
The Cell C Sharks play their final pool match of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup ahead of the play-offs when they take on Western Province at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, aiming for a big performance.
Enjoying some great form at the moment, they will want to maintain that continuity as the competition heads into next week’s semi-finals, a place in the knock-outs already guaranteed.
They will be bolstered by the return of Cobus Reinach who featured in the Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign. The lightening quick scrum-half is one of a number of changes this week.
The unfortunately season-ending injury to Paul Jordaan necessitates a midfield reshuffle, with S’bura Sithole shifting from wing to outside centre to form a powerful partnership with Andre Esterhuizen.
Free State Cheetahs coach Rory Duncan has named three of his returning Springboks in his Currie Cup team to play the Golden Lions on Saturday.
In order to qualify for the Semi-finals the Free State Cheetahs have to beat the Golden Lions this weekend and also hope that Griquas beat the Blue Bulls at Loftus.
A host of injuries has forced Griquas coach Hawies Fourie to select players out of position ahead of their final round-robin Currie Cup fixture against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
“Injuries have plagued us this year,” Fourie said.
“It is a problem with which any union struggles, but we’ve gotten the short end of the stick this year. It makes preparations very difficult and it disrupts any momentum we might have had.”
Locks Hilton Lobberts and Boela Serfontein, prop Steph Roberts, flank Carel Greeff and captain Wayne Stevens have all been ruled out with injuries.
After 9 straight defeats, the EP Kings are desperate to end their return to the Currie Cup premier rugby division on a high when they host the Pumas in their final clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
It has been a sobering experience for the Kings players, who have been competitive at times but have not managed to produce the sort of consistency throughout the 80 minutes needed to match, much less beat, the big guns.
Now they face another team who have had lean pickings lately, but they know the Pumas, still with an outside chance of making the semis, will produce a massive onslaught to try to stay in the running.
Kings forwards coach Shaun Sowerby said it was essential for the Kings to put together a complete performance for the entire match to have any chance of winning.
“At times we have been good this season but we need a consistent effort throughout the match to pull off a victory,” Sowerby said.
Jaco Taute
Western Province have reacted quickly to a drunken episode in Bloemfontein at the weekend, following their 34-29 victory over the Cheetahs.
Centre Jaco Taute is believed to have over-indulged in the fruits of the vine and went on a rampage that included harassing hotel guests as well as breaking a computer in the hotel’s lobby.
On Thursday, WP Media Manager Howard Kahn, said that the incident had been investigated and the necessary steps were taken.
Star DHL Western Province loose-forward Nizaam Carr won’t be playing in his team’s final Absa Currie Cup league match, but there is good reason for him to want to pull out something special for the play-off matches that will follow.
While the contracted Springboks won’t be playing in the deciding stages of the domestic competition, that does not mean that Bok coach Heyneke Meyer and national selectors Peter Jooste and Ian McIntosh won’t be studying the games closely.
The days may be gone where you select Boks out of the Currie Cup, but it can be used to confirm form shown in Super Rugby earlier in the year, and it just so happens that there will be a window of opportunity for new players on the upcoming November tour.
A squad of 36 will be selected in the week of the Currie Cup final for the four match tour, which starts on 8 November with a match against Ireland in Dublin and concludes three weeks later with a test against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. For that last match, the Boks will be losing as many as eight or nine overseas-based players from the selection equation because it falls outside of the IRB’s stipulated international window.
Nigel Owens
Having been involved in the professional game for the best part of 20 years now, I fully appreciate the hard work that goes in on a daily basis for players to perform and the challenges they face mentally and physically throughout the season.
Since becoming a coach, I also know the hours, which all those that support the players put in behind the scenes, whether they are coaches, medics or performance staff. However, I reckon that the toughest job in professional rugby might not be that of the players or management, but that of our referees.
The game’s officials often perform a thankless task and don’t get the chance to share a victory with others like we do. And, in the context of our fast-moving collision-based sport, which has a number of intricate laws, it is very difficult to get everything right.
Coaches and players make many mistakes during 80 minutes of rugby, so it is understandable that referees will also make errors. A lot of these errors are frequently viewed as great decisions by the opposing team, which makes things even more difficult for the man in the middle to get things right.
The race to become the 18th Super Rugby franchise in 2016 took an intriguing twist on Wednesday.
According to media reports Japan and Singapore, the contestants in the two-horse race, are going to put their names in the same hat and share the games.
If the reports, quoting various sources, are to be believed, Japan have stolen the march on rival Singapore – but only because they offered to host matches in Singapore.
This, they believe, will negate concerns from South Africa about additional travel times.
Tawera Kerr-Barlow
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has confirmed that Tawera Kerr-Barlow faces a six to nine month recovery period.
Kerr-Barlow suffered a nasty injury in the second half after coming against the Springboks at Ellis Park.
The Chiefs scrum-half may possibly need two surgeries to correct the injuries to his leg.
“He’s done his ACL,” Hansen said.
David Hill
Former All Black David Hill will join the coaching team at the Blues for the forthcoming Super Rugby season.
Hill will take up the role as backs skills coach for the Blues, to complete their coaching group for the 2015 season under head coach Sir John Kirwan and assistant coaches Grant Doorey and Glenn Moore.
He has enjoyed a long career including representation for the All Blacks, Maori All Blacks, Junior All Blacks, more than 50 games for the Chiefs and the 2010 Super Rugby season for the Force.
Kurtley Beale in MORE Trouble
Troubled Wallaby Kurtley Beale faces new allegations of having breached the players’ code of conduct.
It is almost certain the latest revelations will result in Beale not being offered a new contract by the Australian Rugby Union.
It was revealed by ARU the that a new disciplinary allegation involving the utility back, Beale, will be referred to a tribunal.
Beale was dropped for the last Rugby Championship Test against Argentina last Saturday, after an ugly in-flight public spat with members of the team management.
ARU Chief Executive Bill Pulver said Thursday that while investigating the incident, during the flight from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo, officials were made aware of another matter involving Beale and text messages he sent in June.
The ARU said Beale will not be considered for Australian selection until the tribunal concludes.
Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke recalled two Springboks and a Junior Springbok to his starting backline to play GWK Griquas in Pretoria on Saturday, whilst also including Bok pivot Handré Pollard on the bench.
In a re-jigged backline Junior Bok William Small-Smith (for Bok contracted JJ Engelbrecht), Bjorn Basson (for Sampie Mastriet) and Piet van Zyl (rotating with Rudy Paige) will start, while Marcel van der Merwe will wear the number three jersey in place of Werner Kruger in one of three changes from the pack that beat Steval Pumas last weekend.
Bongi Mbonambi is back again in the two jumper with Callie Visagie benched and Morne Mellett will start at loosehead in place of Dean Greyling.
Pollard will be brought into the game when needed, Ludeke said.
Experienced prop Brok Harris will captain DHL Western Province in their final league match of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup season – against the Sharks at DHL Newlands on Saturday (kick-off 17:05 SA Time).
DHL Western Province have already qualified for a home semifinal, by virtue of their top of the log finish with a game in hand, and head coach Allister Coetzee has handed starts to captain Harris, fit-again Springbok hooker Tiaan Liebenberg and flyhalf Kurt Coleman, who will make his 50th appearance for Province.
Harris, who will be leaving Western Province at the end of the season – after eight years in the Cape, has played 117 matches for DHL Western Province and 93 for the DHL Stormers.
Xerox Golden Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his team to take on the Toyota Free State Cheetahs at Ellis Park this Saturday.
In the forwards, Derick Minnie will start at flank and Warren Whiteley has returned from Springbok duty to start at eighthman. He will also captain the side.
As a result of these changes, Warwick Tecklenburg and Willie Britz will shift to the bench to provide cover.
Meanwhile, in the backline, Howard Mnisi will get a start at inside centre. Harold Vorster will provide centre cover off the wood.
Brendan Venter
While the Springboks must be commended for ending their Rugby Championship campaign with consecutive home victories, it’s important to remain performance rather than results-driven.
I believe it’s fair to say that most of us view rugby games through a retrospective scope, which effectively means that the final result fundamentally informs our thought patterns and opinions.
Although the Springboks whipped the All Blacks in the first half, the reality is that had referee Wayne Barnes not gone upstairs to the TMO, having being probed by the matchday producer, captain Jean de Villiers and the partisan home crowd, the Springboks could easily have lost the Ellis Park test.
Veteran lock Anton van Zyl
Former DHL Western Province captain Anton van Zyl is set for a shock return to the team after an absence of four years as the Absa Currie Cup log leaders seek a way to protect their stocks ahead of the play-off phase of the competition.
Van Zyl, known as Worms by his friends, finished off a stint with Stade de Francais a few months ago and is back living in Cape Town. He last played for WP in the 2010 Currie Cup final, and last played for the Stormers in the 2011 season.
He attended a Province training session on Tuesday as the Cape side prepares for the clash with the Cell C Sharks this weekend, and according to WP sources, is in the reckoning to play in the game.
Nizaam Carr
DHL Western Province and Stormers loose forward Nizaam Carr was the big winner at the 2014 WP Rugby Awards Evening at the Southern Sun Cape Sun on Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old loose forward star walked off with two big prizes – the Adidas MVP Award and the prestigious Players’ Player of the Year Award, the latter as voted for by his peers. Carr has had an outstanding season, first establishing himself as a first-choice pick for the DHL Stormers and then carrying that form across into the 2014 Absa Currie Cup competition.
Joining Carr as major winners on the night were Springboks Duane Vermeulen (Senior Forward of the Year), Damian de Allende (Senior Back of the Year), Michael Rhodes (Most Promising Senior Forward) and Cheslin Kolbe (Most Promising Senior Back).
Neil Doak – New Ulster head coach
Neil Doak has been appointed Ulster head coach, while Les Kiss will become the province’s director of rugby after next year’s World Cup.
The elevation of attack coach Doak, 42, to the head coaching role is not a surprise.
Ireland assistant coach Kiss, 49, has been Ulster’s interim director of rugby at Kingspan Stadium in recent months following Mark Anscombe’s departure.
Kiss will leave the Ulster interim role next week but will return next October.
Heyneke Meyer
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has taken time off his busy schedule to answer some of your rugby related questions.
Meyer’s Springbok team just finished their Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign with a famous win over New Zealand at Ellis Park.
The Q&A session once again proved very popular with our readers with hundreds of questions streaming in. We picked out the widest possible range of questions to put to the Springbok coach.
Here is what he had to say:
Glasgow Warriors returned to the top of the Guinness PRO12 table as they secured their fifth consecutive win with a 40-23 bonus-point victory over Benetton Treviso at Stadio Monigo.
Scotland wing Tommy Seymour scored twice as Gregor Townsend’s side ran in six tries, with Tyrone Holmes, James Eddie, DTH van der Merwe and Sean Lamont also touching down.
Michele Campagnaro’s early try helped the hosts surge into a 10-0 lead but the centre’s second effort late on proved to be only a consolation as the Italian side remain winless this season.
Jonathan Kaplan
This weekend saw the finale of The Rugby Championship and we saw two very contrasting games. The All Blacks won the trophy… again. Deservedly.
The Pumas won their first ever fixture in this tournament, a historical moment and one they will never forget… I certainly won’t, but the highlight had to be the bromance in the coaches box after the game where their Latin exuberance, warmth and hot blooded nature got the better of some of them… Put it this way, there was lots of lovin!!
During the wee hours of Sunday morning SA Time the 2014 edition of The Rugby Championship came to and end with a dramatic first victory for Argentina over Australia.
Those who stayed up for the match might have been a tad disappointed with the fare dished up, unless they were into one penalty after the other type rugby.
Heyneke Meyer
No overseas-based players will be available for the Boks’ end of year Test against Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
The Springboks’ end-of-year tour itinerary includes Tests against Ireland in Dublin (8 November), England in London (15 November), Italy in Padova (22 November) and Wales in Cardiff (29 November).
“The match against Wales falls outside the IRB Test window so our overseas-based players will not be available for that match, which will provide a good test for our depth in South Africa and I’m excited to see what a number of our younger players can do in the Millennium Stadium,” said Meyer.
Greg Growden
What an absolute shambles. A rudderless and distracted Wallabies outfit got what they deserved by suffering the embarrassment of being Argentina’s first victim in The Rugby Championship.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie’s position is now under serious question after the team suffered one of its most inexplicable losses of recent times at the end of a road tour from hell that publicly exposed the division within the Australian team camp.
Full marks to Argentina for taking advantage of a sidetracked opposition, who made it so much easier for them by being ill-disciplined, disorganised, dispirited and clearly lacking on-field leaders.
In the end, the most entertaining moment of the Australian performance was singer Marcelo Zelada’s mangled version of Advance Australia Fair before kickoff, which included snatches of English, Spanish, gibberish and even a bit of humming.
Bernard Foley has refused to blame laser beams for the Wallabies shambolic capitulation to the Pumas on Saturday but conceded it would be helpful if match officials granted kickers a second shot at goal when the potentially harmful practice takes place.
Foley battled green laser beams on his face for the entire match and missed two crucial kicks when Australia trailed Argentina 18-17 towards the end of the Test.
One kick was from 49 metres out – beyond the range of even Foley, the Waratahs’ new ice man after his title-winning kick two months ago – but the second, in the 70th minute, was inside the 22-metre zone and just to the left of the posts.
20 Springboks contracted by the SA Rugby Union (SARU) will take part in a training camp in Stellenbosch from October 20 to 24, the union announced on Sunday.
The camp forms part of the team’s preparations ahead of the Outgoing Tour next month.
“The Springboks are our first priority and the provinces have been very supportive, which we’re very thankful for,” SARU chief executive officer Jurie Roux said.
Farewell to a legend of WP Rugby – Hennie Bekker
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 was a sad day when, after a 45-year association with Newlands, Hennie Bekker said goodbye to Western Province Rugby in an official capacity.
The 62-year-old gentle giant has officially retired as an employee of Western Province, having served the union with distinction for so many years.
Argentinian tenor Marcelo Zalada managed to cock up the words of Advance Australia fair, but at least, unlike Ras Dumisane, he still managed to make it sound decent.
In case anyone forgot what Ras did to Nkosi, have a listen.
All Blacks no go area – the picturesque Newlands Rugby Stadium.
Liam Napier explains the mystery of why South African rugby bosses are keeping the All Blacks away from the nation’s second-biggest city.
It’s one of the world’s most popular destinations. In 2008, 25,000 readers of South Africa’s Daily and Sunday Telegraph readers voted it the world’s best city.
But while the All Blacks travel to South Africa at least once every year, 2008 was the last time Cape Town hosted the All Blacks.
Heyneke Meyer
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer described the 27-25 win over New Zealand in the final match of the Springboks Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign as one of the best matches in which he had been involved.
The support of the sell-out Ellis Park crowd also lifted the team’s effort, he said.
“I have been involved in rugby for almost 30 years and this support was unbelievable. We saw the crowd support on the way into the stadium and the national anthem was awesome. It was an unbelievable Test match,” Meyer said.