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Francois Steyn
The good news is that the chronic knee injury that Frans Steyn is currently playing with won’t get worse and stop him from playing, but the bad news is that it is going to have to be managed for the rest of his playing career.
Steyn was the subject of quite a lot of consternation when Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said he was concerned about his condition during last week’s national training camp in Durban. However, the Bok management denied suggestions in some media forums that they were unhappy with the Sharks for playing Steyn through the injury, and it now appears the Boks might manage Steyn in the same way the Sharks have – by limiting the load placed on his affected knee in training.
George Whitelock
George Whitelock is expected to join Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights that recently appointed former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans as its coach.
The club also has Highlanders scrumhalf Fumiaki Tanaka and ex-Wallabies flyhalf Berrick Barnes on its books.
Whitelock, has not started a Super Rugby match since April 19 because Jordan Taufua has been preferred for the No 6 jersey.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt was forced to make two changes to his travelling squad prior to their departure for the tour of Argentina.
Versatile back Keith Earls has been ruled out due to illness (gastroenteritis), while prop Martin Moore, who helped Leinster retain the PRO12 title, will not travel as he is nursing a fractured toe.
Damian de Allende with crutches
DHL Stormers midfielder Damian de Allende was forced to withdraw from the Springbok squad on Monday and will be replaced by Marnitz Boshoff, flyhalf of the Golden Lions.
De Allende, one of seven uncapped players in the Springbok squad, suffered a medial knee ligament injury in the DHL Stormers’ last Vodacom Super Rugby match, against the Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
The 22-year-old centre was taken for scans by the Springboks’ medical team on Monday morning and will be sidelined for between four and six weeks, ruling him out of the Castle Lager Incoming Series.
Jake White
Heyneke Meyer
On Rugby-Talk recently, debate in the comments sections between Sharks supporters and other South African supporters often turned and revolved around Jake White’s management or mismanagement of his core players and around the players who will have to do duty for the national side, the Springboks.
The argument often used by Sharks supporters were that the June Internationals are less important, against weakened sides and that Jake White needed to do exactly like he did, play his players week after week and arguably into the ground.
Players like Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Willem Albers and more pertinetly Francois Steyn have looked increasingly jaded and this past weekend’s Sharks loss against the Stormers was a stark reminder of the situation.
One of the regular journalists I share the Press Box at Loftus Versfeld with, Brenden Nel, of SuperSport, penned an interesting article on this same matter. I think he nails this one on the head, here is what he says:
The Lions secured their first-ever Vodacom Super Rugby victory over the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday, just before the DHL Stormers won their first away game of the season when they beat the Cell C Sharks in Durban.
On a weekend where the Vodacom Bulls had a superb opportunity to move into the top six, following defeats by the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Chiefs, the men from Pretoria lost for the first time to the spirited Lions at Ellis Park.
The home team deserve a lot of credit for the way in which they never gave up despite being on the back foot from time to time. The visitors let themselves down with bad execution, but that does not take anything away from the Lions’ 32-21 victory.
Shortly after the Lions’ stunning victory, the Cell C Sharks lost their second home game of the season but clung onto the top spot on the log when Jaco Taute slotted an injury-time drop-goal to see the DHL Stormers through by 21-19.
It was the first and only time during the match that the team from Cape Town took the lead for probably their best win of the season.
Vodacom Super Rugby resumes for the five South African franchises in the first weekend of July. All of them have completed 14 matches and have two left before the playoffs start. The Toyota Cheetahs had a bye this week.
Nick Mallett
International stars from around the world, Wallabies Matt Giteau, James O’Connor, Drew Mitchell and All Blacks Hosea Gear, Carl Hayman, Andrew Hore and Jimmy Cowan are all included in the Samsung World XV’s 23-man squad to play South Africa at DHL Newlands on Saturday 7 June.
Joining them will be France’s French Top 14 highest point’s scorer Francois Trinh-Duc and back row forward Alexandre Lapandry.
Five players from Toulon’s double winning European Cup and French Top 14 side will also feature in the squad, including Steffon Armitage from England, who was recently voted European player of the year.
Handré Pollard
The Junior Springboks were off to an impressive start at the Junior World Championships in New Zealand.
The Junior Springboks opened their IRB Junior World Championship with an impressive 61-5 win over Scotland at the QBE Stadium, North Harbour in New Zealand on Monday.
The South Africans scored nine tries, with good improvement in all phases of play as the match progressed.
The IRB Junior World Championships are underway in New Zealand.
Rugby-Talk will update the Fixtures and Results on a regular basis.
The Tournament started on 2 June 2014 and will run till 20 June 2014.
As expected, the “Big Guns” all started with wins on the 1st day of the Tournament.
Day 2 of the tournament is on Friday 6 June.
Damian de Allende
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer may find himself considering a change in plan for the midfield he was going to select for the opening match of the international season against the World XV at Newlands due to the injury concern over Damian de Allende.
The centre suffered a knee injury during the second half of the Stormers’ 21-19 win over the Sharks in Durban at the weekend, and Meyer said on Sunday that he was concerned about his condition.
“The doctor hasn’t looked at him yet but he is limping and it appears he has suffered a knee ligament injury. I was only informed of it late on Saturday night, after the squad had been announced,” said Meyer.
Bryan Habana, Bakkies Botha, Juan Smith & Danie Rossouw at Toulon
Toulon’s South African contingent capped an unbelievably successful seven days by lifting the Bouclier de Brennus shield in Paris, after defeating Castres 18-10 in the Top 14 Final to go with their Heineken Cup title.
Former England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson was given the perfect send-off by Bakkies Botha, Juan Smith, Craig Burden and Bryan Habana, who all started the final, with Danie Rossouw and Michael Claassens appearing off the bench.
The match was Rossouw’s last before retirement and brings down the curtain on a truly glorious career in which he was won every trophy available to him, from league titles in Japan, France and Super Rugby to two Heineken Cups and of course the Rugby World Cup and old Tri-Nations.
Schalk Burger
Western Province & Stormers Rugby stalwart Schalk Burger has signed a two-year contract with Japanese club, Suntory Sungoliath, but he will continue to be available to play for the DHL Stormers.
“First of all, I think everybody would agree with me when I say that Schalk Burger has been one of WP Rugby’s most loyal sons of the modern professional rugby era,” said WPRFU President Thelo Wakefield.
Jason Woodward
Jason Woodward will leave the Rebels at season’s end after agreeing terms on a two-year deal to return home and represent the Hurricanes.
Woodward will return to New Zealand, where he will attempt to fulfil his childhood ambition and represent his country as an All Black.
Woodward said although he would be leaving Melbourne with a heavy heart, returning home to be part of the Hurricanes club was an offer he couldn’t turn down.
John Plumtree & Chris Boyd
Chris Boyd and John Plumtree will reunite as Super Rugby coaches in 2015 – this time on home soil.
The pair, who coached the Durban-based Sharks together in 2009 and 2010, have today been announced as the new coaching duo to lead the Hurricanes into next year’s campaign.
Current Wellington Lions coach, Boyd, will take up the head coach role, with Plumtree as his assistant.
Malakai Fekitoa
Patrick Tuipulotu
The All Blacks have called up two new players and recalled two World Cup-winners to the squad to face England.
Highlanders midfielder Malakai Fekitoa and Blues lock Patrick Tuipulotu are the two uncapped players, whilst loose forwards Jerome Kaino and Victor Vito return after extended absences.
The backs – forwards split sees 17 forwards selected (two hookers, five props, four locks and six loose forwards) and 14 backs (three halfbacks, three first five–eighths, four midfielders and four outside backs) and the squad has a combined total of 1,125 Test caps.
Stephen Moore
Veteran hooker Stephen Moore will captain the Wallabies in the opening Test against France this coming weekend, coach Ewen McKenzie said Monday.
Moore, 31, is Australia’s most capped hooker with 91 Tests and is in his 10th season with the Wallabies.
“It is a huge personal achievement in being chosen to lead your country,” McKenzie said.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has added 16 players to their New Zealand tour squad after Northampton Saints and Saracens completed their domestic season.
The 16 players have been drawn from Aviva Premiership finalists Northampton Saints and Saracens, along with Bath Rugby’s Anthony Watson and Harlequins’ Kyle Sinckler, will fly to New Zealand on Monday night and arrive in Auckland on Wednesday morning.
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said, “We are looking forward to the guys flying in and adding to the group. ”
The Barbarians went some way to restoring their reputation with a 39-29 win over an unfamiliar-looking England at Twickenham on Sunday.
Following the invitational team’s much-criticised display in a 59-8 thrashing by the British and Irish Lions in Hong Kong last year, England’s 2003 World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward labelled the match “a waste of time”.
But in front of a crowd of more than 50,000, the Barbarians ran in five tries from Benson Stanley, Juan-Martin Hernandez, Mamuka Gorgodze and Hosea Gear, who crossed twice.
England were fielding what was, effectively, a ‘Fourth XV’, with Stuart Lancaster’s initial squad already in New Zealand ahead of next week’s first Test against the world champion All Blacks and players involved in Saturday’s Premiership final between Northampton and Saracens not considered for this match.
Jake White
Cell C Sharks coach Jake White agreed that the last gasp defeat to the DHL Stormers in the final Vodacom Super Rugby match before the June break was a massive blow to his team, but he refused at the post-match press conference to let the disappointment cloud his perspective.
“Look, if you had asked me at the start of the competition if I would buy a situation where we would be going into the June break at the top of the log by two points with two matches for us to play, I would happily have brought that,” said White.
Heyneke Meyer
South Africa will wish to avoid falling into a fast and loose “Barbarians” style of play when they tackle the World XV in their first international of the season at Newlands on Saturday.
Coach Heyneke Meyer said at a press briefing here on Sunday that he saw the game as an important preparatory device for the challenge of Wales in the first of two more conventional Tests a week later in Durban.
He also said he was still thinking about the captaincy, given the absence at present of Jean de Villiers, who was seen on crutches at the team hotel: “I don’t want to make a too-hasty decision … I’m almost there but must still speak to the relevant people; I think I can tell you tomorrow (Monday).”
Seven uncapped players, Damian de Allende, Lood de Jager, Cornal Hendricks, Teboho Mohoje, S’bura Sithole, Marcel van der Merwe and Callie Visagie, have been called up to Springbok duty as part of a 36-man squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series next month.
The squad also includes experienced World Cup winners Schalk Burger and Victor Matfield, while there is a return to the Springboks for Schalk Brits, Juan de Jongh, Francois Hougaard, Lwazi Mvovo and Frans Steyn, all of whom last played Test rugby in 2012.
The national selectors have also kept a great deal of continuity. In total, 12 players who started the final Test of 2013, where the Springboks beat France in Paris for the first time in 16 years, have been retained in the squad.
However, notable omissions include Springbok captain and SARU’s Player of the Year in 2013, Jean de Villiers, who is out with a knee injury, and the Young Player of the Year for the last two seasons and IRB Player of the Year nominee last year, Eben Etzebeth, who has been given more time to fully recover from the foot injury which has kept him sidelined this entire season.
The Springboks will also be without one of their vice-captains, Adriaan Strauss, who has been suspended for three matches as well as the experienced Jaque Fourie, who started all three Tests last November but has been ruled out with an ankle injury and Pat Lambie, a regular member of the squad for the last two years.
Sharks (16) 19 / 21 (9) Stormers (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers did battle in Super Rugby at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 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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Lions (9) 32 / 21 (6) Bulls (Final Score)
The Lions and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at
Ellis Park, Johannesburg at 17:05 SA Time (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.
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Brumbies (25) 37 / 10 (3) Rebels (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels did battle in Super Rugby at
GIO Stadium, Canberra at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 09:40 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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Blues (15) 37 / 24 (7) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Blues and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Eden Park, 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 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Chiefs (3) 17 / 33 (13) Waratahs (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Waratahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth at 06:35 SA Time (16:35 NZ Time, 14:35 AEST, 04:35 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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Deon Fourie
The Stormers will be without the services of hooker Deon Fourie for their Super Rugby match against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
While coach Allister Coetzee on Thursday named Fourie as his starting hooker for the game at Kings Park, it has been revealed that he had to pull out due to concussion.
This means the inexperienced Stephan Coetzee moves into the starting team to face Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis, while Mike Willemse is likely to take Coetzee’s place on the bench.
Juan Manuel Leguizamon
Argentina flanker Juan Manuel Leguizamon has been selected to captain a Barbarians team including five All Blacks against England at Twickenham on Sunday.
Lyon forward Leguizamon will captain a side that also includes British and Irish Lions lock Donncha O’Callaghan, who will make his Barbarians debut, and just one uncapped player in Clermont’s Australian fly-half Brock James.
Head coach Dean Ryan, also the coach at Worcester Warriors, picked 13 of his starting XV from the French Top 14.
Zac Guildford
Former All Blacks winger Zac Guildford has had his contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union terminated, freeing him for a move to France.
The 25-year-old Guildford had already said he would be joining Clermont Auvergne at the conclusion of his Super Rugby commitments with the Canterbury Crusaders.
Guildford, however, has not featured this season for the seven-time champions and had been reduced to playing club rugby in Christchurch and his home town of Napier.
Clyde Rathbone
Forgotten Wallaby wing Clyde Rathbone will retire at the end of the season after being called up by the Brumbies for his first Super Rugby game this year.
Rathbone, 32, who has not featured for the Brumbies since last year’s Final against the Chiefs – as a result of injury and illness – will play on the left wing against the Rebels in Canberra on Saturday.
South African-born Rathbone, who has had a chequered playing career punctuated by serious injuries, said he would be calling it quits.
An under-strength England squad arrived in New Zealand Thursday, with coach Stuart Lancaster rejecting suggestions his weakened side faces a “Tour from Hell” against the world champion All Blacks.
Lancaster had to leave up to a dozen top players behind for the Premiership Final between Saracens and Northampton, meaning they will be unavailable for the opening match of the three-Test series.
“It’s not ideal when you come to play the world champions in their own back yard and you don’t have your best side available,” he told reporters in Auckland.
Reds (21) 38 / 31 (0) Highlanders (Final Score)
The Reds and Highlanders did battle in Super Rugby at
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 21:40 NZ Time, 09:40 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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Crusaders (16) 30 / 7 (0) Force (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Western Force did battle in Super Rugby at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 15:35 AWST, 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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It is Round 16 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend, the last Round before the June Test Break! We have 7 games in Round 16, with 2 game on Friday and 5 games on Saturday.
The Toyota Cheetahs have a BYE weekend.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
We are now entering the home stretch of the regular season of Super Rugby, and with over 94 matches played, and just 26 regular season fixtures remaining.
There are a maximum of 20 competition points available to eight teams, 15 for six franchises, while the Cheetahs have just two matches and ten points available, meaning they are at risk of claiming the wooden spoon.
With just eight points between the top six teams, 48 points looks to be the minimum qualifying mark.
But that of course could well change in the final month of the regular campaign.