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The Hurricanes have made two changes to the team that lost to the Stormers for this week’s match against the Brumbies in Wellington.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann knows he has a massive task getting his charges ready for this weekend’s massive Vodacom Super Rugby showdown with the Sharks, but the weather that has beset Gauteng over the past week certainly isn’t helping.
Ackermann lamented the fact his team couldn’t train because of waterlogged pitches as the rain continued to bucket down for a fifth consecutive day in Johannesburg.
Coach Allister Coetzee has made four changes to his starting line-up for the DHL Stormers’ first match of their 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby tour.
The DHL Stormers will take on the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday (kick-off 08:35 SA Time, 19:35 NZ Time) without injured forwards, lock Rynhardt Elstadt and flanker Siya Kolisi, with the fit-again De Kock Steenkamp and Schalk Burger replacing them up front.
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 4 of Super Rugby 2014. Craig Joubert starts the action this weekend in Wellington with the Hurricanes vs Brumbies match.
This weekend has 6 matches, with 2 on Friday and 4 on Saturday.
The Chiefs, Highlanders and Waratahs have bye weekends.
Bad weather denied the DHL Stormers an opportunity to shake off jet lag on Tuesday when their training session in Christchurch, New Zealand, was halted after only 20 minutes.
The latest acquisitions to the Stormers’ Australasia tour squad, Samoan wing Sailosi Tagicakibau and flyhalf Peter Grant, were meant to be integrated into the team’s playing structures ahead of Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Crusaders.
But Stormers’ captain Jean de Villiers said on Tuesday that conditions were so bad that training was called off.
Siviwe “Shakes” Soyizwapi and Scott van Breda will start against the Tusker Simba XV in Cape Town on Saturday in the Eastern Province Kings first Vodacom Cup match of the season.
Vodacom Cup head coach, Mzwandile Stick, said both Soyizwapi and Van Breda, who had been on loan to the Stormers, had returned to the Kings this week, as they had not been selected as part of the Stormers touring squad.
FNB NWU-Pukke handed defending champions FNB UP-Tuks their first defeat of the 2014 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International tournament on Monday to claim top spot on the standings.
Coach Robert du Preez’s team were ruthless in wet conditions Pretoria as they shut out the home side to claim a convincing 18-0 victory and leapfrog them on the log in the process.
FNB UCT recorded their third away win of the season in Johannesburg, scoring five tries on their way to a 37-29 victory over FNB UJ to move up to third position.
The Ikeys have lost both of their home games this season, to table-topping teams UP-Tuks and NWU-Pukke, but have won all of their games on the road, whilst the defeat leaves UJ down in seventh place and facing a tough road to make the semifinals.
The top four after five weeks of action is rounded off by FNB UFS-Shimlas who ended deadlocked at 13-13 with three-time champions FNB Maties in their clash in Stellenbosch.
Reds head coach Richard Graham has named his team to face the Cheetahs this Friday, with five changes to the side that lost to the Waratahs.
The match will see four players earn their first start of 2014 Super Rugby season.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann and his fellow selectors will have a few tough decisions to make this week.
Top of their list will be what to do with Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies, now that the pivot has been “medically cleared” to resume playing.
Will the Vodacom Bulls spring a surprise and bring former captain Dewald Potgieter straight back into the starting lineup?
That’s the question that needs to be answered ahead of their team announcement to face the Blues in their Vodacom Super Rugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is to name his team for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash with the Crusaders in the early hours of the morning South African time on Wednesday, and it will be interesting to see what choices he comes up with in some key areas.
Francois Steyn is happy to see the Lions back in Vodacom Super Rugby – but he has warned that the competition returnees can expect no mercy from his Sharks team when the team’s clash in a derby at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday evening.
The Toyota Cheetahs are sweating over the availability of prop Coenie Oosthuizen ahead of their Super Rugby clash against the Reds in Brisbane on Friday.
The Springbok is struggling with a neck injury and will go for a scan in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The Waratahs bye came at exactly the right time for Israel Folau who rolled his ankle this past weekend, but will be available for the clash with the Brumbies next Saturday.
The prolific fullback who has scored five tries in the Waratahs’ two games so far this season is to be rested this week in training to give him the best possible chance to fully recover for their Australian conference match-up in Canberra on Saturday week.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced the dates for the HSBC Sevens World Series 2014 / 2015, which has gained in significance with the recent announcement that the top four-ranked nations will qualify from it directly for the Olympic Games in 2016.
According to the IRB’s official website, the 16th edition of the record-breaking series will visit the same nine countries as the current 2013/14 season with two changes to the order of rounds. The event in the USA will be played the weekend after New Zealand’s, and Japan’s tournament will follow on from Hong Kong.
The Vodacom Bulls released two Media Releases today, the first dealing with their weekly fitness update and the second announcing some interesting loose forward signings to counter the two long term injuries of Pierre Spies (6 months) and Arno Botha (5 months to go).
Deon Stegmann is fit again and training with the team this week.
Wimpie van der Walt, who played for the Southern Kings in Super Rugby in 2013 and who now plies his trade in Japan, will join the Bulls for 2 months with options for him to stay on longer and negotiations with Dewald Potgieter who also plies his trade in Japan is in advanced stages.
Wits (4) 12 / 18 (5) NMMU (Final Score)
FNB Wits (University of the Witwatersrand) and FNB NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)
did battle in the Varsity Cup at Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg at 16:45 SA Time (14:45 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 Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers both scored their first wins of the season, but this past weekend of Super Rugby action should have confirmed the growing concern among neutrals that the story of the South African conference this year will be that there is the Sharks and then there’s rubbish.
The Sharks, who would hardly have been quaking in their boots as they watched the games featuring South African teams on television during their bye weekend, admittedly weren’t all that flush in their last performance, when they beat the Hurricanes.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has read the riot act to his players, and demanded a better performance than the one they put up in their Vodacom Super Rugby loss to the Melbourne Rebels.
Drotske was not a happy man after his side went down 35-14 to the Melbourne Rebels in their opening tour match – continuing their trend of not being able to win in their first match on tour.
It has been described as the “tour from hell” and also as “Mission Impossible”, but the toughness of the four-match trip that the DHL Stormers embarked upon with their departure from Cape Town on Sunday could just work for them.
The 19-18 win over the Hurricanes at Newlands this past Friday wasn’t enough to turn around the negativity that swamped Cape rugby after the shock defeat to the Lions in the opening game the week before, and which has arguably been around since the Currie Cup final last October.
Simon Hickey is the latest star to emerge from New Zealand’s flyhalf factory and he will be unleashed on the Bulls and Lions in the next fortnight.
Hickey, who made his Super Rugby debut in the Blues’ 35-24 win over the Crusaders at the weekend, has been added to their 27-man squad for the two-match tour of South Africa.
The Reds have earmarked their encounter with a misfiring Cheetahs team as the game in which to bounce back.
The Reds suffered a disappointing 5 / 32 loss to the Waratahs in Sydney at the weekend, and are one from two after a 10-point win over the Brumbies the previous week.
The New Zealand Rugby Union will set up a dedicated integrity unit to combat corruption and doping in the sport, a senior official said on Sunday.
Neil Sorenson, NZRU general manager of professional rugby, said the governing body aimed to have the unit set up in six months, New Zealand Newswire reported.
The Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers returned to winning ways on a weekend of Vodacom Super Rugby where 6 from 7 home teams were victorious.
Ironically both the teams from Pretoria and Cape Town were outscored by 2 tries to 1 in their respective matches against the Lions and the Hurricanes, but won mainly because of pin-point goal-kicking accuracy.
On Friday evening the DHL Stormers snuck through by 19 / 18 against the Hurricanes at DHL Newlands, while the Vodacom Bulls beat the Lions by 25 / 17 in the first Gauteng-derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t a happy weekend for the Toyota Cheetahs though, as they lost their first tour match of the season by 35 / 14 to the Rebels in Melbourne.
The Cell C Sharks had a bye.
There is little to choose between any of the teams in a mouth-watering set of fixtures in Round Five of the 2014 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.
With two log positions the biggest gap between any of the teams in each match on Monday, the standings could get another serious shake-up with the play-offs getting ever-closer.
Top spot will be on the line when defending champions FNB UP-Tuks host FNB NWU-Pukke who trail them by just a single point, whilst it will be a very similar scenario in Stellenbosch where FNB Maties will look to move past opponents FNB UFS-Shimlas into third place.
DHL Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee has announced a 27-man squad for his team’s four-match Super Rugby tour of Australasia.
Centre Jean de Villiers will lead the squad abroad, a group that includes new Samoan star Sailosi Tagicakibau and the Japan-based Peter Grant, but excludes Argentinean lock Manuel Carizza.
Richie McCaw faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines after breaking his thumb in the Crusaders’ defeat to the Blues at Eden Park on Friday.
Bulls (19) 25 / 17 (10) Lions (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls and Lions did battle in Super Rugby at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 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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Force (0) 14 / 27 (24) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Western Force and Brumbies did battle in Super Rugby at
NIB Stadium, Perth at 13:00 SA Time (15:05 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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Waratahs (19) 32 / 5 (5) Reds (Final Score)
The Waratahs and Reds did battle in Super Rugby at
ANZ Stadium, Sydney at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 08:40 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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Chiefs (7) 21 / 19 (16) Highlanders (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Highlanders did battle in Super Rugby at
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 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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Stormers (6) 19 / 18 (12) Hurricanes (Final Score)
DHL Stormers and the Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Newlands, Cape Town at Fiday 28 Feb 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, 06:10 Saturday 1 March NZ Time).
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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Rebels (17) 35 / 14 (0) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at
AAMI Park, Melbourne at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Melbourne Time, 08:40 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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Blues (15) 35 / 24 (17) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Blues and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Eden Park, Auckland at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 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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Super Rugby is already in Round 3! We have 7 games in Round 3, with 3 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday.
The Cell C Sharks have a bye weekend and of course Bye Points fall away in 2014.
In June / July 2014 the Antipion 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.