Ruan Pienaar
Eben Etzebeth
A bright sunshiny but chilly day greeted the Springboks when they arrived in Dublin on Sunday, where they kick off the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour against Ireland this weekend.
The South Africans left Johannesburg last night and travelled via London Heathrow to the Irish capital for their first visit to this part of the world in two years.
Eben Etzebeth stayed behind in South Africa and will join the squad on Tuesday following a family bereavement, while there will be more clarity on Ruan Pienaar’s fitness situation in the week.
“I know Eben will slot back in seamlessly as he’s been with us for the last two weeks’ preparation in South Africa – our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“It’s great to be among fellow rugby lovers here in Ireland, which is a wonderful country and we can’t wait to get going tomorrow.
“This is a big week for us. We kick off the tour against the Six Nations champions and we’re only focused on Saturday’s game now. Although three tough games follow, we’re not looking further ahead.
“Facing Ireland at the AVIVA Stadium will be a massive challenge and we simply have to be 100% switched on for the match. A lot has been said and written about the conditions we’re probably going to face but we simply have to adapt if we’re going to take our game to the next level.”
The Springboks kick off their preparations in Dublin on Monday and the team for Saturday’s Test will be named on Wednesday.
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The Springboks will put Ulster scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar through his paces in training this week before making a decision on both his availability for Saturday’s Test with Ireland and the remainder of their northern hemisphere tour.
Pienaar is working his way back from a medial ligament injury picked up against New Zealand in Wellington in September and will test the knee in training over the next few days.
Springbok doctor Craig Roberts told reporters on Monday that Pienaar would struggle to make the Dublin match, and that if he was a doubt for the match with England at Twickenham a week later, the team would consider calling up a replacement.
“The biggest decision we have to make this week is around Ruan Pienaar,” Roberts said.
“We have assessed him and we’re relatively happy with where he is, but we are going to have see when he is running on the field in training.
“At this stage it does not look like he will be available for this weekend, but we are hoping to have him ready for England.
“If he is not going to be ready for that then we may need to look at a replacement for the tour.”
Pienaar, who is the only doubt, has played his club rugby at Ulster since 2010 and his experience in European conditions is seen as useful for the World Cup in England next year.
With first-choice scrumhalf Fourie du Preez also missing through injury, the Boks will almost certainly start with Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf on Saturday should Pienaar be ruled out, with inexperienced Cobus Reinach on the bench.
The Boks will play four Tests in their northern hemisphere tour on consecutive Saturdays.
After Ireland and England they take on Italy (22 November) and Wales (29 November).
@ Jeraldjay:
Heard about this Sheila who said to Bruce: ” Bruce, if you don’t marry me, I’m going to throw myself right off Sydney Harbour Bridge.”
Bruce: ” Sheila, you’re not only a good fuck, but a good sport too.”
😆
@ IAAS:
😆
@ IAAS:
I’ve been sailing under that bridge.
There are plenty of sharks
😆 @ Jeraldjay:
@ gunther:
Plenty of sharks. A navy diver was attacked by a bull shark around the corner from the Bridge at the Naval base a week after we got back from Oz. Ended up losing a leg.
A man goes along to the Patent Office with some of his new designs.
He says to the clerk, “I’d like to register my new invention. It’s a folding bottle.”
“OK,” says the clerk. “What do you call it?”
“A fottle.”
“A fottle? That’s a stupid name. Can you think of something else?”
“I can think about it. I’ve got something else though. It’s a folding carton.”
“And what do you call that?” asks the clerk.
“A farton.”
“That’s rude. You can’t possibly call it that.”
“In that case,” says the man, “You’re really going to hate the name of my folding bucket.”
@ IAAS:
Indeed.
I used to kak myself.
😆
@ nortie:
Norts, I don’t know if it was you but a few years back someone posted a joke on Keo about a man that was stuck on a deserted island with a dog/sheep.
Was a kak funny joke.
Investment Opportunity
Thought you might want to consider getting on board early.
A German Engineer just started his own business in Afghanistan. He’s making land mines that look like prayer mats.
It’s doing well.
He says prophets are going through the roof.
@ IAAS:
@ gunther:
Gunther, I suggest you go sailing in the Breede River if you want to see a moerse big Bull aka Zambezi shark.
The naval clearance diver mentioned made a good recovery and to his credit he is also against the culling of so called rogue sharks in Western Australia.
http://images.smh.com.au/2014/01/16/5080286/gelder-729-620×349.jpg
38 @ IAAS:
Should post that investment opportunity in the Athlone community newspaper.
😆
@ robzim:
Rob you staying up to watch the Madrid game.
😆
Jeraldjay wrote:
Lol… I will watch the first half… do not really want to see the smirk on Ronaldo’s face when he completed his hat trick 🙂
I expected them to struggle without Suarez but not as badly as at the moment…
At least WP won the currie cup 🙂
@ robzim:
Madrid are awesome.
Think Ronaldo pips Messi at the moment.
Pity Sturridge is still injured.
@ Jeraldjay:
Ja, they are pretty awesome at the moment.. probably the best team in the world.
A joy to watch actually…. but it’s painful if it is against one’s “own” team.
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