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Philippe Saint-Andre
French coach Philippe Saint-Andre spoke of the ‘panic’ in his team, but it appears he may well be ready to hit the panic-button himself.
Saint-Andre made it clear he will wield the axe as France seek to keep their three-Test series alive against Australia in Melbourne next week.
Les Bleus were outclassed by a rampant Australia, who won 50-23 in the opening Test in Brisbane ate the weekend – with the Wallabies scoring seven tries.
Aaron Cruden
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen praised the bravery and class of flyhalf Aaron Cruden for producing the match-winning moment in a tight Test.
Cruden was hailed as the hero of the All Blacks’ last gasp 20-15 win over England at the weekend, not for the five penalties he kicked but for the one he turned down.
Cruden not only caught England napping but also his own teammates when he opted to tap and run when the All Blacks won a handy penalty with the score locked at 15-all.
Stuart Lancaster
England coach Stuart Lancaster faced a selection headache Sunday as he rued the missed opportunity of a rare Test win over the All Blacks in New Zealand.
Lancaster said he was mulling whether to give his combative second-stringers another crack after they were eclipsed 20-15 in the first Test, or to unleash many of England’s “quality players” who only arrived in New Zealand last week.
While Conrad Smith’s try in the dying minutes gave the All Blacks victory in Auckland on Saturday, the match statistics were heavily tilted in England’s favour.
Argentina (10) 17 / 29 (11) Ireland (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and Ireland did battle in the June Internationals at
Estadio Centenario, Resistencia 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.
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Springboks (18) 47 / 13 (13) World XV (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and a World XV team did battle in the June Internationals at
Newlands, Cape Town at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Wallabies (29) 50 / 23 (9) France (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and France did battle in the June Internationals at
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 12:05 SA Time (20:05 AEST, 12:05 French Time, 10:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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All Blacks (9) 20 / 15 (9) England (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and England did battle in the June Internationals at
Eden Park, Auckland 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.
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Peter Grant
Jason Eaton
Alofa Alofa
Promoted Top 14 side La Rochelle announced on Friday the signing of former All Black Jason Eaton along with Australian Alofa Alofa and ex-Springbok Peter Grant on two-year deals.
Francois Steyn
Tanerau Latimer
Japanese Rugby club Toshiba Brave Lupus have announced that Springbok Frans Steyn and All Black flanker Tanerau Latimer have signed with the club.
The club have won the Japanese Top league four times and already have the likes of Richard Kahui and Cooper Vuna on their books.
We’ve already seen the matches of Round 2 of the 2014 Junior World Championships on TV on Friday 6 June, but Saturdat 7 June sees the proper start of the June Internationals, with 4 of those international Tests broadcast live on TV in South Africa.
These Fixtures will of course also be handled as Live Game Articles right here on your favourite rugby website, Rugby-Talk.
The action is kicked off at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 08:40 BST, 07:35 GMT) between the All Blacks vs England, followed by the Wallabies vs France at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 09:40 France Time & GMT).
The Springboks vs the World XV side follows at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
At 20:40 SA Time (15:40 ARG Time, 19:40 BST, 18:40 GMT) we see Argentina vs Ireland.
The IRB Junior World Championships are underway in New Zealand.
Rugby-Talk will update the Results and Logs on a regular basis.
The Tournament started on 2 June 2014 and will run till 20 June 2014.
The Big winner in Round 2, on Friday 6 June was South Africa’s Junior Springboks, who beat the Junior All Blacks in their backyard, by 33 / 24. The Junior Springboks scored 4 tries to boot, earning them a vital bonus point going forward, whilst the Junior All Blacks earned no Log Points at all, making it an uphill battle for them to even reach the semi-finals, as only one 2nd placed team in all Pools will go through to the semi-finals with the 3 respective Pool winners.
Day 3 of the tournament is on Tuesday 10 June.
Our latest 2 SuperBru Pools, the Rugby-Talk June Tests 2014 and Rugby-Talk JWC 2014 Pools, have now been UPGRADED to SUPER POOLS.
This gives us added functionality, like individual Pool URL’s, the ability for the Pool Captain to put News Articles up on the Pool(s), the ability to send News Letters to members and also Pool Widgets we we can put up on our website, here on Rugby-Talk.
Have a look at the RIGHTHAND SIDEBAR here on the Rugby-Talk website and you will see our 2 new added SuperBru Widgets, with an abbridged version of the Leaderboard on each, as well as Shortcuts directly to the Pools or to make your Picks.
It is not expensive to Upgrade to Super Pools, and as your Webmaster & Pool Captain, it was a pleasure paying the R 150.00 per Pool to make everything… well… just perfect!
To those who have not yet joined the SuperBru Pools, get going, I will keep the Pools open for new applications for a while, before closing them.
Remember, the only QUALIFICATION you need to have to join Rugby-Talk’s SuperBru Pools, is that you are a REGISTERED SUBSCRIBER to Rugby-Talk, which of course is FREE, GRATIS, VERNIET, MAHALA, FOKOLI TJELT!
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Junior All Blacks (17) 24 / 33 (14) Junior Springboks (Final Score)
New Zealand Under 20 and South Africa Under 20 did battle in the 2014 Junior World Championships 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.
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The Springboks are likely to be beneficiaries of a favourable programme, including playing the All Blacks on South African turf only, when a slashed Castle Rugby Championship is contested in 2015.
Given the global priority of the World Cup towards the end of the year, hosted by England, the Championship will be reduced by half to a single round of matches, making it more like the northern hemisphere’s Six Nations for once in character.
The Boks, currently second to World Cup holders New Zealand on the International Rugby Board rankings, play only four games next year ahead of RWC 2015, in stark contrast to this year’s much more cluttered programme of 14.
It gives coach Heyneke Meyer 18 games in total – starting with the World XV clash at Newlands this Saturday – to fine-tune his game-plan and resources for the global get-together: South Africa will kick off their World Cup campaign against Japan at Brighton’s Community Stadium on September 19 next year.
Morné Steyn
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is not worried about the lack of game time flyhalf Morné Steyn recently got in France.
It was widely reported that Steyn had struggled for form at his French club, Stade Francais, which led to him spending the majority of the past season on their bench.
However, Meyer says Steyn did not fall out of favour with the Paris-based club’s coaches.
“The overseas clubs manage our players carefully and most of them have a rotation policy,” Meyer was quoted as saying.
Matt Giteau
Wallaby wizard Matt Giteau will lead a powerful World XV against South African at Newlands on Saturday.
The non-cap international fixture is the first of the Springboks’ June outings.
The World selection includes five Springboks and two other South Africans.
Giteau will play at flyhalf and will partner one of the two South Africans who are not Springboks, scrumhalf Rory Kockott, at halfback.
Simon Hickey
New Zealand Under 20 head coach Chris Boyd has made three changes to the starting line-up to face South Africa on Friday.
Boyd said that the match against Samoa proved a good confidence booster for the start of their JWC campaign but there had been areas of their game with which they were not happy.
“We’ve had a good review of that game, and we know what worked well, and what didn’t work as well as it was supposed to,” said Boyd.
Jesse & Dan Kriel with Dawie Theron
Powerfully built twins Jesse and Dan Kriel will play alongside each other in the midfield for the Baby Boks against the New Zealand Under 20’s.
Injury to four players has forced Theron to reshuffle his match 23 after the Junior Boks scored a convincing 61-5 win over Scotland.
Midfielders Rohan Janse van Rensburg (ankle), Andre Esterhuizen (head blow) and flank Jacques Vermeulen (ankle) were all ruled out of selection because of injuries sustained against the Scots.
On Thursday, Golden Lions hooker Malcolm Marx was also ruled out of action for several weeks after he had suffered a knee injury during a training session.
Darron Nell
Darron Nell will captain an EP Kings side eager to prove themselves when they meet Wales in an international rugby friendly at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
Although Kings coach Carlos Spencer said the match came at an early stage in terms of their Currie Cup preparations, the players were keen to get on to the field after several months of a conditioning and fitness programme.
The Kings, who will play in the Currie Cup premier division this season, starting in August, host Wales in the opening match of their South African tour. Tuesday’s game will be followed by Tests on 14 June and 21 June.
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Beaten Top 14 finalists Castres on Thursday unveiled ex-All Black winger Sitiveni Sivivatu and five other players for the 2014 / 2015 season.
The 32-year-old Sivivatu, capped 45 times by New Zealand, signed a three-year contract, having spent the last three seasons at Top 14 rivals Clermont.
James Haskell
Loose forward James Haskell has been recalled to England’s starting team after an absence of 12 months for the opening match of their three-Test series against New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Haskell will start at blindside flank for Stuart Lancaster’s side, who have been shorn of several of their first-choice players due to the late arrival of 16 members of the squad after the English Premiership final at the weekend.
Just seven of Saturday’s lineup started against Italy in their final Six Nations match in March, though the return of British and Irish Lions players Geoff Parling and Manu Tuilagi will undoubtedly strengthen the team.
Quintin Geldenhuys
Quintin Geldenhuys, who on Saturday will captain Italy for the first time against Fiji, is looking to start off with a bang.
Geldenhuys leads a team that has plenty of experience, especially in the scrum, but one noticeable absentee is usual captain Sergio Parisse.
Jacques Brunel spoke of his teams experience as well as its enthusiasm.
Rory Duncan
Naka Drotské
The Free State Cheetahs will tackle this year’s Currie Cup competition under a new head coach, the Free State Rugby Union said on Thursday.
Super Rugby coach Naka Drotské hands over the reins for the coming domestic competition to the coach of this year’s Free State Vodacom Cup side, Rory Duncan.
Drotské, who would be heading off to the UK to expand his coaching knowledge abroad, remained the head coach for the Cheetahs Super Rugby campaign next year. Griquas coach Hawies Fourie and former Springbok prop Os du Randt would be his assistants for the 2015 competition.
Asaeli Tikoirotuma
Fiji’s Aseli Tikoirotuma has signed for Harlequins on a two-tear contract, the English Premiership side announced on Thursday.
“Aseli is one of the most exciting backs in world rugby, and we are delighted that he has signed for us,” said Harlequins rugby director Conor O’Shea.
Cornal Hendricks
Ruan Pienaar
JP Pietersen
South Africa’s Sevens Player of 2013, Cornal Hendricks, will make his debut for South Africa in the 15-man code next to ten players who started in the Springboks’ final Test of 2013 when they face a star-studded World XV, sponsored by Samsung, at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday (kick-off at 17:00 SA Time).
The speedy Hendricks is the only newcomer in the team as Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer opted for continuity in his team’s first match of the year.
The old firm of Bakkies Botha and interim captain Victor Matfield are re-united in the second row. JP Pietersen moves to outside centre. Schalk Burger makes a return to the side for the first time in two and a half years while Frans Steyn, Schalk Brits, Lwazi Mvovo and Johan Goosen are also back after playing no Test rugby last year.
Steve Hansen
Steve Hansen could never be accused of being a conservative.
The All Blacks coach has struck a balance between future and present in naming three new caps on the reserves bench to play England at Eden Park on Saturday.
Centre Malakai Fekitoa, lock Patrick Tuipulotu and halfback TJ Perenara have all been named in the 23-man squad for the first test of the international season.
Les Bleus coach Phillipe Saint-Andre pulled a major surprise on Wednesday by leaving out tour captain Thierry Dusautoir.
There was however room in the starting line up for mercurial vetern flyhalf, Frederic Michalak.
Dusautoir, the 2011 player of the year underwent surgery to his left arm after tearing his bicep during this year’s French Top 14 competition and is still regaining full power.
England’s forwards will need to maintain the form they discovered in the Six Nations if they want to compete against the All Blacks this weekend, lock Joe Launchbury said on Wednesday.
The tourists will field a weakened side in the opening test in Auckland, with many first-choice players unavailable because they played in the Premiership final between Northampton and Saracens last Saturday.
But Launchbury said the players lining up to face the world champions at Eden Park on Saturday were primed for the challenge, despite being written off by many pundits.
Nick Mallett
The Nick Mallett-coached World XV players have been warned to have the right attitude when they run out against the Springboks in Saturday’s international friendly at Newlands.
Speaking n Cape Town on Tuesday, Mallett, a former Springbok coach, said he told his players at a de-briefing that they would be in for a “very unpleasant afternoon” if they did not approach the match in the right frame of mind.
Mallett said sound preparation was a hallmark of Heyneke Meyer’s coaching career over the years.
Nick Mallett
Heinrich Brüssow
World XV coach Nick Mallett says he was keen to include Cheetahs flank Heinrich Brüssow in his squad to face the Springboks.
The teams clash at Newlands on Saturday in what will be the Boks’ first international outing of the year.
Mallett requested to include the Cheetahs flank in his squad to face the Boks but he was already earmarked for the first Bok training camp of the year, which took place in Durban last week.
Brüssow was not included in Bok coach Heyneke Meyer’s final squad named last Saturday, but because he was part of the Bok training camp earlier in the week, he became ineligible for the World XV side.
Dawie Theron
The Junior Springboks suffered a huge injury setback on Tuesday with the news that three players were ruled out of their vital IRB Junior World Championship Pool C clash against New Zealand this coming Friday.
Midfielder Rohan Janse van Rensburg, who came on as second half replacement against Scotland in the JWC opener at the QBE Stadium in North Harbour on Monday, will return home after he sustained an ankle injury in the match. He will be replaced by Duhan van der Merwe, a SA Sevens contracted player and a member of the Baby Boks’ training group.
Powerful inside centre Andre Esterhuizen was ruled out of action for the next couple of days after receiving a blow to the head in the second half against the Scots. He will not be considered for the New Zealand clash. The team’s medical staff is currently managing him according to the Graduated Return to Play Protocol (GRTP).
The third casualty is flank Jacques Vermeulen. The Cape-based loose forward is also suffering from an ankle injury and has been ruled out of Friday’s encounter.
As per usual, Rugby-Talk will have SuperBru Pools for the Junior World Championships (JWC) and June Internationals!
The Junior World Championships starts on Monday 2 June 2014 already, so forgive me for only getting the time NOW to set up this pool.
Rugby-Talk’s SuperBru Pools are open to all REGISTERED SUBSCRIBERS to Rugby-Talk.com, so if you have not yet played in these Pools with us, join up and join our Pools… and remember to immediately make your Junior World Championships picks!
To all our new subscribers, who have recently joined up, yes you lot hobnobbits from Voldy too, join in with us and take part in the fun!
Our 2 new Pools are as follows:
Pool Name: Rugby-Talk JWC 2014
Pool Code: allyfact
(Just click on the Pool name and it will take you to SuperBru and the Pool, to join!)
Pool Name: Rugby-Talk June Tests 2014
Pool Code: emitsums
(Just click on the Pool name and it will take you to SuperBru and the Pool, to join!)
Kieran Read
Sam Cane
All Blacks loose forward Kieran Read has been withdrawn from the New Zealand side for the first Test against England on Saturday due to ongoing concerns over concussion-like symptoms, while Sam Cane has been ruled out of the three-match series with a knee injury.
Bullocking winger Julian Savea is also a doubt for the opening clash at Eden Park with a long-standing knee injury that will require a scan later on Tuesday.
Will Genia
Australia coach Ewen McKenzie has dumped scrumhalf Will Genia and relegated former skipper James Horwill to the bench for his side’s first Test against France in Brisbane on Saturday.
McKenzie, who coached the pair at the Reds to a Super Rugby title in 2011, instead opted to reward players in form in the southern hemisphere competition for the opening clash of their international season.
The Reds have had a terrible Super Rugby season and only snapped a six-game losing streak last Friday when a converted 83rd minute Jake Schatz try gave them a 38-31 victory over the Highlanders.
Tobias Botes
Steve Cummins
Tom Botha
South African-born Italian international Tobias Botes and Australian U20 lock Steve Cummins have joined the EP Kings until the end of the 2014.
Tighthead prop, Tom Botha, has also joined the Eastern Province team as their preparations for re-entry into Currie Cup steps up a gear.