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Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named Sampie Mastriet on the wing and Dewald Potgieter as No 8 in his team to play Cell C Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Both players will make their first appearance in the Vodacom Super Rugby tournament this year. Mastriet comes into the team in place of Akona Ndungane after a highly productive stint with the Springbok Sevens team and Potgieter joined up with the team following a season with his Japanese club Yamaha Jubilo and will take the place of Jono Ross.
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 6 of Super Rugby 2014.
Nick Briant takes care of the 1st match in Dunedin where the Highlanders host the Hurricanes.
7 Matches are played this weekend, 2 on Friday and 5 on Saturday.
The Crusaders have their bye weekend.
The Cheetahs know they have a monumental mountain to climb if they are to end their three-match losing streak on their Australasian tour.
However, the players and management from last-placed Bloemfontein-based outfit, remain resolute in their believe that the turning point on a bitterly disappointing season is just around the corner.
The return of uncompromising All Black lock Brad Thorn has boosted the Highlanders ahead of their Super Rugby clash with the Hurricanes in Dunedin.
Thorn is back from a rib injury to start at lock in place of fellow All Black Jarrad Hoeata.
The Reds’ hopes of grabbing a win while in South Africa were dealt a blow as two players left for home with injuries, one of them serious.
SANZAR’s referee manager Lyndon Bray has ruled that the Lions were awarded an illegitimate try in the second half of their Super Rugby clash against the Blues at Ellis Park last weekend.
While attempting to score, Lions centre Deon van Rensburg lost the ball when he was tackled by Blues wing Charles Piutau.
Lock Eben Etzebeth, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, should be ready to play for the Springboks in June.
The 22-year-old said he is hoping to return to action when the Stormers tackle the Sharks in Durban on 31 May. That would be the Cape side’s third last Super Rugby league match.
Lions centre Dylan des Fountain has been forced to retire from professional rugby due to a knee injury.
The Vodacom Bulls will return former captain Dewald Potgieter to the starting line-up immediately in order to win Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Cell C Sharks.
The crucial fortnight that lies ahead can make or break their campaign, and a win against the Sharks will go a long way to bringing the team back into the race for the South African conference.
South African franchises won two of the four matches they were involved in in round-five of the Super Rugby competition over the past weekend.
Cheetahs fullback Willie le Roux and Lions flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff continue to make major contributions for their respective teams, as is evident from statistics taken from the Vodacom Rugby Stats App.
After Round 5 of the Super Rugby season, the Stormers find themselves at the bottom of the try-scoring standings.
Having played 4 matches to date, the Stormers have scored a total of 5 tries – at an average of 1.25 per match.
The Brumbies injury list continues to grow with coach Stephen Larkham ruling out Wallaby prop Scott Sio and lock Leon Power for Saturdays match up with the Stormers.
South African rugby fans need not worry about securing match tickets for Springbok matches at Rugby World Cup 2015 in England following the establishment of SA Rugby Travel, it was announced on Tuesday.
The new company – a joint venture between the South African Rugby Union and Tourvest Destination Management – has secured thousands of tickets for likely Springbok matches and tailored packages to suit a wide range of fans’ pockets and experience choices.
Waratahs star Kurtley Beale admits he has extra motivation for the game against the Rebels on Friday – the team that got rid of him last year.
While Beale says his rematch against his old side does mean more to him than a regular Super Rugby match, he vowed not to get caught up in settling scores with the Rebels.
The 39-cap Wallaby says he’s moved on from being released by the Rebels, and expects his former teammates have done the same.
The Waratahs have made four changes to their starting forward pack for this Friday’s home clash against the Melbourne Rebels in Sydney.
Coach Michael Cheika has selected Sekope Kepu to start at loosehead prop. New South Wale’s biggest ever player, Will Skelton, returns at lock, pushing Jacques Potgieter to flank and Dave Dennis to No 8.
Benn Robinson slips back to the bench to allow Wallaby prop Kepu his first run on start of 2014.
Wallabies backrower Ben McCalman’s birthday celebrations were soured on Tuesday when he received a two-week ban for a dangerous tackle in the Super Rugby competition.
The inspirational Western Force No 8 was cited for a spear, or ‘tip’, tackle on Otago Highlanders prop Kame Hames in the 73rd minute of his team’s 31-29 victory in Dunedin on Saturday.
Former All Blacks captain Frank Oliver has died at the age of 65, his old provincial club Manawatu said on Tuesday, describing him as “a truly great rugby man”.
Oliver played for the All Blacks 43 times from 1976-81, including 17 Tests, captaining the New Zealanders to a series win over Australia in 1978. His son Anton Oliver was also an All Blacks captain.
Maties (0) 41 / 24 (16) Tuks (Final Score)
FNB Maties (University of Stellenbosch) and FNB UP-Tuks (University of Pretoria)
did battle in Super Rugby at Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 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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The Cheetahs’ tour troubles deepened on Monday when it was confirmed that another injured player will return home.
Backline coach Hawies Fourie told this website, in an interview from the team’s training base in Auckland, that burly centre Francois Venter will return to Bloemfontein.
Shimlas (21) 34 / 33 (20) NMMU (Final Score)
FNB UFS-Shimlas (University of the Free State) and FNB NMMU Madibaz (Nelson Madela Metropolitan University)
did battle in Super Rugby at Shimla Park, Bloemfontein at 16:45 SA Time (14:45 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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The Eastern Province Kings will be going head to head with Wales ahead of their Test matches against the Springboks in June.
Former Springbok captain Victor Matfield’s role ahead of this year’s international season has taken on vital importance, especially with the season-ending injury to Cell C Sharks player Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Matfield, who starred in the Vodacom Bulls’ win over the Blues a fortnight ago, will now feature even more prominently in Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s plans for the upcoming season, especially with the dearth of five locks around the country at the moment.
Former Vodacom Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter, who left Loftus Versfeld under a cloud after the Bulls defeat to the Brumbies in last year’s Vodacom Super Rugby semifinal, is set to make a welcome return to the team ahead of this weekend’s match against the Sharks.
The injury-depleted Stormers could be forced to play regular No 8 Duane Vermeulen at lock in their Super Rugby clash against the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday, according to reports.
De Kock Steenkamp has picked up a groin injury and is likely to be sidelined for a while.
Cheetahs prop Coenie Oosthuizen has received good news after seeing a specialist over his injured neck.
Prolific try scorer Seabelo Senatla returns to the South African squad for the next two tournaments of the IRB Sevens World Series – in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
However, playmaker Cecil Afrika will miss the trip to the Far East because of a troublesome hamstring.
Steven Hunt replaces Afrika, while Senatla comes in for Sampie Mastriet, who is on Super Rugby duty with the Bulls, for the two changes to the 12-man squad that lost to New Zealand in the Wellington Cup Final last month.
Chiefs centre Robbie Fruean will undergo a third heart procedure and be sidelined from Super Rugby for up to eight weeks.
The 25-year-old, who has come close to All Blacks selection in recent seasons, underwent open heart surgery in 2009 after a bout of rheumatic fever caused pancarditis, or inflammation of the heart.
The Brumbies were left counting the cost of their impressive 28-23 win over the Waratahs in an all-Australian Super Rugby derby at the weekend.
Wing Henry Speight is facing six weeks on the sideline with a fractured jaw and lock Leon Power is also in doubt of being a long-term absenmtee after injuring his knee.
The Blues are expect to welcome back a couple of All Blacks for their return home, when they face the Cheetahs in a Super Rugby Round Six match on Saturday.
Midfielder Ma’a Nonu is expected to be available, while loose forward Jerome Kaino is also due to be ready.
The Cell C Sharks stretched their winning streak in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition to four matches, while the Lions bounced back strongly from back-to-back defeats to overpower the Blues and force their way into fourth place on the combined log table.
South Africa’s touring teams, the DHL Stormers and Toyota Cheetahs, however, continued to struggle in Australasia as they suffered another round of defeats leaving them both winless on their tours so far.
A strong first half by the Cell C Sharks and a flawless kicking performance by flyhalf Pat Lambie and centre Frans Steyn set up the Durban-based side for their 35-20 victory against the Reds at Growthpoint Kings Park.
In Johannesburg the Lions started their match against the Blues with a bang and took advantage of the visitors’ ill-discipline to secure their 39-36 victory. The win nudged them back on track following defeats against the Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls.
There will be all to play for in the final round of league action before the play-offs in the 2014 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.
Log-leaders FNB NWU-Pukke are the only team assured of a place in the semifinals, and with five other teams in the running for the other three spots the play-off race is wide open.
At the other end of the log things will be just as tense, as although Johannesburg outfits FNB UJ and FNB Wits cannot make the semifinals there is still the threat of relegation looming this season.
The two games televised live on Supersport One on Monday will have the biggest influence on which teams make the semifinals as sixth-placed FNB UFS-Shimlas host third-placed FNB NMMU and fifth-placed FNB Maties square off with fourth place FNB UP-Tuks in Stellenbosch.
The Reds bemoaned a number of calls made by South African referee Lourens van der Merwe in their 20-35 loss to the Sharks at the weekend.
Despite an impressive second-half fight back at Kings Park, the reds left Durban empty handed.
Blues coach John Kirwan is going to ask SANZAR for ‘clarity’ on a controversial TMO decision made in his team’s 36-39 loss to the Lions in Johannesburg at the weekend.
While Kirwan conceded the Lions were “deserved winners”, he still felt the need to raise the issue of the TMO decision.
Wellington Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett was delighted to be talking about rugby rather than his own precarious position after his team broke an eight-match Super Rugby losing streak with a victory over South Africa’s Cheetahs.
Three straight defeats to start the season, including a 29-21 home loss to the ACT Brumbies last weekend, had led to calls in the New Zealand media for Hammett’s head to roll.
Having finally secured back-to-back victories for the first time in nearly three years on Saturday, perennial Super Rugby cellar dwellers the Western Force have a mountain to climb if they are to make it three in a row.
Not only do the Force welcome the Waikato Chiefs to Perth next weekend but they are almost certain to take on the Super Rugby champions without their inspirational No 8 Ben McCalman.
McCalman was cited for a spear tackle on Otago Highlanders prop Kame Hames in the 72nd minute of the Force’s 31-29 victory in Dunedin on Saturday.