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Marnitz Boshoff
The win his Junior Springbok team scored in Sunday’s exciting age-group semifinal in New Zealand may have prevented Handre Pollard from making his senior debut much quicker than he may have anticipated.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has made no secret of how highly he regards Pollard and has indicated that the Bulls pivot is definitely under consideration for next year’s World Cup. There were whispers earlier this month that Pollard could find himself getting an opportunity for the Boks as early as sometime during the June series if the Junior Boks got knocked out early, with everything hinging on their pool game against the Kiwis 10 days ago.
Had the Junior Boks made an early exit, Pollard could have been the solution to a potential flyhalf crisis in the squad now that Johan Goosen is doubtful for the rest of the series because of a knee injury sustained in this past weekend’s 38-16 win over Wales in Durban. Goosen limped off not long after coming onto the field and Meyer admitted afterwards that Goosen was the big concern looking ahead to next week’s second test in Nelspruit.
Morné Steyn
South African coach Heyneke Meyer dished out a swipe at the ongoing criticism of Springbok flyhalf Morné Steyn.
The 55-Test veteran was a pivotal player in the Boks’ 38-16 (5 tries to 1) demolition of Wales in Durban at the weekend, but still haven’t convinced his detractors that he is the real deal.
Not only did he produce a 100 percent goal-kicking performance (5 conversions and a penalty), but the 37 times he handled the ball he kicked just 10 times – with 21 passes and 6 runs.
The Bok coach, Meyer, pointed out that the high attrition rate among flyhalves makes Steyn an even more valuable asset to the national team.
Heyneke Meyer
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer had every reason to be beaming on Saturday night as he reflected on a performance against Wales that spoke volumes about how far his team has travelled since he took charge in 2012.
In the end a sloppy second half and a more committed Welsh defensive line saw to it that the Boks didn’t complete the massacre that threatened at halftime, when the hosts led 28-9 and had already scored four well taken tries. Just 10 points were added after the break against a Welsh try to George North, but who would quibble about a 38-16 win over Wales.
It was the most complete performance turned in at the weekend by the big three southern hemisphere teams, and was arguably better than Australia’s annihilation of France the previous week. There was always going to be a step up in the Bok performance once the test matches arrived and they’d left the ambiguity of playing a World XV that included several of their countrymen behind, and they provided it.
It was at the same Kings Park a just a week out from being a year ago that the Boks first started to show indications that under Meyer they weren’t going to be stuck in the conservative rut they had been in the previous season. They thumped Italy fairly comprehensively, and afterwards everyone was talking about the pace that had been injected out wide.
Ed Slater
England have named a team of fringe players to face the Crusaders on Tuesday, with coach Stuart Lancaster looking to ensure all his touring party receive game-time in New Zealand.
Debutant Ed Slater will captain a starting XV against the seven-time Super Rugby champions which features only one player, flank James Haskell, who has started a Test during the New Zealand tour.
While Lancaster insisted “we are treating this as like an additional Test”, the selection indicates he is aiming to develop depth in his squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup while retaining his first-choice players for the final Test in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Semi-Final Play-off Round of the IRB Junior World Championship is a thing of the past, with South Africa Under 20 and England Under 20 advancing to contest the FINAL and leaving Ireland Under 20 and New Zealand Under 20 to contest for 3rd place.
South Africa, the top seeds, beat New Zealand by 32 / 25 in a hard-fought game, socring the winning try with 2 minutes left on the clock.
England trounced Ireland by 42 / 15 and of course is the defending champions, looking to successfully defend their title.
Other results:
- France beat Wales 19 / 18
- Australia demolished Samoa by 53 / 16
- Scotland narrowly beat Italy by 21 / 18
- Argentina saw off Fiji by 38 / 12
The All Blacks will get another crack at matching the record for consecutive Tier One Test victories when they face England in Hamilton this weekend.
The record of 17 victories has been reached by the All Blacks side of the late 1960’s and Nick Mallett’s Springbok team of the lates 1990’s, and Richie McCaw will have his third shot as captain at joining them on Saturday.
The Wallabies have twice ended an All Blacks winning streak on 16 victories in recent years, springing a surprise in Hong Kong back in 2010 and then earning a draw in Brisbane in 2012.
Sonny Bill Williams
Tana Umaga
Code-hopping star Sonny Bill Williams will reunite with his former Toulon coach Tana Umaga when he returns to New Zealand rugby next year from rugby league.
Williams, who has played for New Zealand at both rugby and league World Cups, has signed a two year deal to play for Counties Manukau, coached by Umaga, in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championships. He has previously signed to play Super Rugby for the Hamilton-based Chiefs.
Israel Folau
In-demand Wallabies star Israel Folau has ruled out any move to Europe or a switch back to league in Australia before next year’s World Cup.
Folau is hot property across the two codes and comes off contract next year, with French champions Toulon reportedly expressing an interest in the dual rugby international back.
Toulon, the reigning European Cup and Top 14 champions, are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world, boasting a star-studded roster including former Wallabies backs Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and the newly signed James O’Connor.
But Folau, 25, said he would not decide his future before rugby’s showpiece event which starts in England in September next year.
Conrad Smith
All Blacks centre Conrad Smith will miss the 3rd and final Test against England after breaking his thumb in the 2nd Test win on the weekend, coach Steve Hansen said.
He said the in-form Smith would be sidelined for at least a month after being injured in the 28-27 victory in Dunedin.
Willie le Roux was electric against Wales!
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer praised his team’s character and commitment in Durban after they defeated Wales 38-16 in the first of two tests in the Castle Lager Incoming Series at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday.
The coach admitted that they had a tough week leading up to the Test match, as they had to take to the field with a number of new combinations and debutants.
“It was a tough week with a lot of disruptions. I asked the guys to put their bodies on the line today as it was important for us to start well. I am very pleased with their response and effort, especially in the first half. I am very proud to be coach of this team,” Meyer said.
The Crusaders will host an historic mid-week match against England this Tuesday night at AMI Stadium (Addington). Head Coach Todd Blackadder has named his team to take on the touring side. Packing down in the front row will be Tim Perry, Corey Flynn and Nepo Laulala. Prop Joe Moody has been named in the reserves for his first game since he broke his leg in last year’s ITM Cup final. Another prop, Siate Tokolahi, has been called into the squad for this game and will also take a place on the bench.
Joel Everson is set to make his Crusaders debut at lock alongside Jimmy Tupou, and another player called into the squad could make his debut if he comes off the bench – lock Scott Barrett, younger brother of All Black first five Beauden Barrett. Flanker Matt Todd has been released by the All Blacks to join the team and will take a place in the reserves to provide cover for Whitelock brothers George and Luke and Jordan Taufua in the loose forwards.
Warren Gatland, Wales & British & Irish Lions Coach, awarded the OBE
Wales, and British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has been awarded an OBE in the Queens Queen’s birthday honours.
Gatland is currently on tour with Wales in South Africa where they lost the opening test of two matches 38-16 but he said that being honoured was a massive honourt.
“I was surprised really,” said Gatland.
Will Genia
Senior Wallabies scrumhalf Will Genia faces ankle surgery and will be out of rugby for eight weeks, the Australian Rugby Union said on Sunday.
Genia’s troubled season took another downward turn when it was revealed he has had ligament damage in his right ankle since playing for the Reds against the Hurricanes in Wellington on 26 April.
Scans have shown he needs an operation to fix the worsening problem and the 55-Test scrumhalf will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
The Leopards and Griquas maintained their dominant form in the second round of the Currie Cup Premier Division qualifying round as they secured back-to-back victories to remain in the top two positions on the log table.
The Leopards thumped the Valke 45-22 in Kempton Park on Friday, while Griquas beat the Boland Cavaliers 21-3 in Wellington on Saturday, to remain the only unbeaten teams in the series.
The Leopards’ bonus-point victory, however, allowed them to leapfrog the Kimberley side for the top spot on the log.
In the other match, the SWD Eagles pipped the Griffons 40-37 in George.
South Africa U20 (10) 32 / 25 (15) New Zealand U 20 (Final Score)
The Junior Springboks and Baby Blacks did battle in the one semi-final of the 2014 Junior World Championship at
QBE Stadium, Albany, Auckland at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
*******************
Pumas (10) 17 / 23 (9) Ireland (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and Ireland did battle in their 2nd Test of the June Internationals at
Estadio José Fierro, Tucumán at 20:40 SA Time (15:40 ARG Time, 19:40 BST, 18:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
*******************
Springboks (28) 38 / 16 (9) Wales (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Wales did battle in their 1st Test of the June Internationals at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time (16:05 BST, 15:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Wallabies (0) 6 / 0 (0) France (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and France do battle in their 2nd Test of the June Internationals at
Etihad Stadium. Melbourne at 12:00 SA Time (20:00 AEST, 12:00 French Time, 10:00 GMT).
This is the live match discussion Article.
The match is broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
*******************
It is already Day 2 of the month-long FIFA Football World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
We have already seen Mexico beat Cameroon 1 / 0 and one of the bigger games of the tournament is about to follow, Spain vs Netherlands!
I thought you might like to chat some Poofball on a Poofball article, so go for it you bloody Soccer Moffies!
Just kidding fellas & flatties, enjoy the Football!
Here goes!
All Blacks (6) 28 / 27 (10) England (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and England did battle in the June Internationals at
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 08:35 BST, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Handré Pollard
Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard will be hoping to continue his unbeaten run against the Baby Blacks when they square off in their semifinal on Sunday.
The Bulls flyhalf has not lost to the New Zealand Under-20 side in three previous encounters and will play in his third consecutive semifinal after making his Junior World Championship debut in 2012 on home soil in South Africa. In 2012 he won the JWC title as a schoolboy while last year he was in the exciting Junior Boks team that finished third in France.
The South Africans head into the game with something of a psychological advantage having beaten the Baby Blacks in the pool stage last week, and they will have to repeat that this weekend if they are to progress to the final at Eden Park.
Paul Jordaan
Wynand Olivier
Paul Jordaan and Wynand Olivier have been called up to the Springbok squad in the places of Juan de Jongh and Frans Steyn.
The uncapped Jordaan, a former star for the SA Under 20 and Springbok Sevens teams, has impressed for the Sharks this season.
Olivier is a veteran of 37 Tests for the Springboks. He made his Test debut in 2006 and his last match in the Green and Gold was in 2012 against England in Port Elizabeth.
Brett Gosper
IRB chief executive Brett Gosper has revealed that while an IRB committee is working on it a global season is unlikely to happen before 2019.
Super Rugby and Rugby Championship organisers SANZAR have requested that the IRB move the current June Test window to July in order to allow their Super Rugby tournament to run without a break for internationals.
July does not currenly fit in with the European season as the climax of the Northern Hemisphere tournaments take place in May and the June Internationals follow on.
Moving the mid-year internationals to July would therefore not work for Northern Hemisphere teams as the players would not get sufficient rest and the season would have a “dead” month in June.
Juan de Jongh
Springbok centre Juan de Jongh was on Friday ruled out of the three tests in the Castle Lager Incoming Series this month following a severe chest infection which saw him being hospitalised for four nights.
De Jongh was admitted to hospital on Sunday evening, treated for pneumonia and discharged on Thursday morning.
According to Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts, the decision to withdraw the DHL Stormers midfielder was in consultation with specialists and with the player’s own wellbeing in mind.
Michael Paterson
England on Friday called in Michael Paterson as second row cover for the last week of their New Zealand tour.
The 29-year-old Sale lock was a member of the England training squad last month and started in the pre-tour match against the Barbarians.
Wow, strange feeling for me to write about the Round Ball Game called POOFBALL… errr sorry I mean FOOTBALL, or SOCCER as it is more properly known in South Africa.
The world’s biggest sport, today starts it’s biggest tournament, the FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 in Brazil.
Being a Sports lover, I suppose is what it’s all about, so here goes with a SPECIAL ARTICLE on the world spectacle!
Gooooooooooo Bafana Bafana…. errr sorry, they’re not there, right?
Hahaha
Excuse the ignorance, me maties… but at the same time enjoy yourselves!
Here’s more about the tournament of Oscar-Driven stars on Tik:
Brazil kicks off the World Cup on Thursday hoping to unite the football-mad country after a chaotic seven-year build-up plagued by violent protests.
The 32-team extravaganza gets under way in the teeming mega-city of Sao Paulo, where the host nation’s beloved ‘Selecao’ faces Croatia at 17:00 Brazil Time (22:00 SA Time) in front of 61 600 supporters and a worldwide television audience of several hundred million.
Thursday’s Group A match signals the start of a month-long football fiesta taking place against backdrops which showcase Brazil’s breathtaking diversity, from the picture postcard beauty of Rio de Janeiro to fading colonial grandeur of Manaus, deep in the Amazon.
After years of apathy and simmering resentment at the tournament’s record $11-billion price tag, Brazilians were grudgingly embracing World Cup fever in the final hours before the big kick-off.
Francois Steyn
The SA Rugby Union (Saru) has denied reports that it had reneged on a contractual promise made to Springbok fullback Frans Steyn which led to his sudden withdrawal from the national squad on Tuesday evening.
“I can confirm that there was a dispute over mechanisms by which one element of Frans’s Springbok remuneration was to be paid,” Saru chief executive Jurie Roux said in a statement on Thursday.
“That issue was addressed. Some minor details remain to be sorted out, but they are not of such a scale as to be a cause for a major upheaval.”
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) today unveiled the official free Springbok smartphone app for android.
The simply-titled Springbok app is the first mobile product devoted solely to our rugby heroes, and is available for free on all Android smartphone and tablet devices immediately.
An IOS version will be made available next week.
To download the app please copy here: http://www.immedia.co.za/apps/springbok.html
Adam Jones
Adam Jones will make his 100th International appearance in the game at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban, in a match that will be his 95th cap for Wales (five appearances for the British and Irish Lions).
Gatland has named two uncapped players in his match day squad with Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies and Ospreys’ Matthew Morgan, who both impressed in recent outings, named as replacements.
Simon Hickey injured
New Zealand’s Under 20 side has been dealt a blow with captain Simon Hickey out for the remainder of the Junior World Championship.
The play-maker has been instrumental for the Under 20 host nation along side his Blues Super Rugby team-mate, Tevita Li.
Hickey came off in the second half of New Zealand’s final pool match against Scotland on Tuesday with an ankle pain.
Brett Gosper
International Rugby Board Chief Executive Brett Gosper urged international unions to play their star names at the Rio Olympics Sevens to maximise the sport’s opportunity on the world stage.
Gosper said that while the value of having regular Sevens players must be properly respected, Rugby Union’s chances of becoming a permanent Olympic sport may rely on an injection of star power from the traditional, more high-profile 15-a-side game.
“In 2017, straight after Rio, they’ll decide if Rugby continues to be a core sport at the Olympics. We will be in Japan in 2020 as well, but that may be it,” Gosper told reporters in Sydney.
England coach Stuart Lancaster has made five changes to his team’s starting line-up for the second Test against New Zealand in Dunedin on Saturday.
Lancaster called in some backline reinforcements for the must-win encounter at the indoor stadium.
With his entire squad now available, Lancaster selected the backline combination that England used in the Six Nations over the supposedly “second string” line-up that pushed the All Blacks close in a 15-20 defeat in the first Test last week.
He recalled centres Billy Twelvetrees and Luther Burrell, pivot Owen Farrell and scrumhalf Danny Care, as well as naming Tom Wood at blindside flank in place of James Haskell.
Manusamoa Tuilagi switches from the centre to right wing, with Marland Yarde moving to the left wing to accommodate him.
Heyneke Meyer
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer says he has faced some of his toughest days in the job recently, leading up to the announcement of his team to play Wales in the first of two Tests in Durban on Saturday.
“It’s definitely been the toughest few weeks for me,” Meyer said in Durban on Wednesday.
“You plan for five months, you can’t wait to get going and then suddenly you get curve balls from all over.”
“It’s been tough … losing some quality centres within the space of a week or a week and half.”
The South African camp was hit by the news of Francois Steyn’s withdrawal from the squad late on Tuesday.
Lood de Jager
The value of having veteran Bakkies Botha in the Springbok squad could be measured by how much time it takes new cap Lood de Jager to settle and become comfortable at international level.
The influence that the likes of Botha and now Victor Matfield could have on the development of the young players in the squad has often been referred to as one of the main reasons for having them in the mix.
It was when he saw the awe with which the youngsters regarded Botha when he joined the Boks in Wales last year that coach Heyneke Meyer made the decision to get the one half of the legendary “Blood Brother” combination into the mix more regularly.
But there is nothing quite like hearing it direct from the horse’s mouth, and De Jager left little doubt after his announcement in the match day 23 for Saturday’s first test against Wales here in Durban on Saturday that the presence of both Botha and Matfield has added even greater impetus to what has already been a special time for him.
Gurthrö Steenkamp
South Africa’s Player of the Year in 2010, Gurthrö Steenkamp, will make his 50th Test appearance for the Springboks when they take on Wales at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban on Saturday (kick-off 17:00 SA Time, 15:00 GMT).
Steenkamp has been included in the starting line-up for the first Welsh Test in one of six changes to the match-day squad from the team which comprehensively beat the World XV last weekend in Cape Town, four of which are positional shifts.
Cornal Hendricks, who shone for the Springboks last weekend at DHL Newlands, will make his Test debut on Saturday, while his provincial team mate from the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, the uncapped Lood de Jager, has been selected on the bench.
The two changes in the backline are at inside centre, where Jan Serfontein will earn his first Test start for South Africa, and scrumhalf, where Fourie du Preez will start with Ruan Pienaar on the bench alongside Tendai Mtawarira, who has swapped places with Steenkamp.