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DHL Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee has named a 38-man squad for next week’s pre-season camp in Hermanus.
The DHL Stormers will head to Hermanus for the fourth year in a row as they prepare for the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season which gets underway in just over a month.
Springboks Tiaan Liebenberg, Frans Malherbe, Pat Cilliers, Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen, Jean de Villiers, Jaco Taute, Juan de Jongh and Gio Aplon are all part of the 38-man group, which also includes new signing Manuel Carizza (lock) and utility back Scott van Breda, who is on loan from the Kings.
The Cheetahs will head off the beaten track during their pre-season build-up, as they look to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish in Super Rugby.
Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie confirmed to this website that one of their pre-season games – against the new Currie Cup team, the Pumas, on February 1 – will be played in the Free State town of Parys, a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province.
Quade Cooper’s remarkable return could culminate with him becoming the next Wallaby captain after Ben Mowen’s shock decision to quit Australian rugby.
Mowen on Thursday announced that he’ll join the French exodus at the end of the year, seemingly leaving vice-captain Cooper next in line to lead Australia.
Wallabies and Waratahs No 8 Wycliff Palu has declared himself fit and ready for a big Super Rugby season in 2014 having recovered from surgery.
Thirty-one-year-old Palu went under the knife to repair torn cartilage in his right knee and has not played rugby since the Wallabies third Test against the British and Irish Lions.
Morgan Parra will make a surprise return to action against Harlequins in the European Cup on Saturday, his Clermont head coach Vern Cotter said on Thursday.
The Eastern Province Kings may be keen, but they are a long way off from securing the services of Gary Gold.
Media reports on Friday suggested the former Springbok assistant coach could be heading to Port Elizabeth – to fill the void left by the departure of another former Bok assistant, Alan Solomons, and New Zealander Matt Sexton.
Versatile back Mirco Bergamasco was named in Italy’s pre-Six Nations 30-man squad by coach Jacques Brunel Thursday, for the first time in more than a year.
The 30-year-old has not played for Italy since November 2012 when he broke his knee against Australia in Florence.
The Lions have half-a-dozen players on their doubtful list, just more than a month away from their return to Super Rugby.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann, in an interview with this website as his team returned to the training field this week, revealed that Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies tops the list of injured players.
Kenya will replace the Pampas XV in this year’s Vodacom Cup competition, a report indicates.
Australia’s Western Force on Thursday announced the signing of Sharks back-rower Brynard Stander, the eighth South African on their books, as they strengthened their squad ahead of this year’s Super Rugby season.
Luke Watson looks set to stay at the Kings despite interest shown in him by Sharks coach Jake White.
White shocked the rugby fraternity when he phoned Watson last month over the possibility of him representing the Sharks in this year’s Super Rugby competition.
Australia captain Ben Mowen is to quit the country at the end of 2014 and play in Europe, ending his hopes of representing the Wallabies at the 2015 World Cup.
Toby Flood’s 60-cap England career could come to an end on Thursday when Stuart Lancaster names his initial elite player squad ahead of this season’s Six Nations.
The Fiji Rugby Union are yet to pay new head coach Ben Ryan any of his salary since he took over the national side this season.
Saracens have named a powerful 23-man squad for the historic north-south clash against the Sharks of South Africa at Allianz Park on Saturday, January 25.
The squad – to be captained by Steve Borthwick – includes several South Africans, including former Sharks centre Brad Barritt and Sharks lock Alistair Hargreaves.
Three members of the Springbok Sevens team that won the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens tournament in December have been included in the SA Sevens Academy team for the George 7sPL tournament this weekend.
The George 7sPL will be played at Outeniqua Park on January 11-12.
Former Springbok centre Wynand Olivier badly injured his face while training for his French club, Montpellier, on Tuesday.
World Cup-winning Springbok Johann Muller will decide soon whether to hang up his boots or continue playing.
The 34-year-old lock is pondering a possible contract extension with Irish province Ulster, but admitted he is also considering putting an end to his career and return home to South Africa.
John Mitchell, head coach of Varsity Shield side, UKZN Impi, has attained the services of former Springbok flyhalf Butch James.
According to the Varsity Cup website, the 35-year-old James will be the backline and kicking coach in 2014.
This is the 6th article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for SCRUMHALVES in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 6th article in the series of Cell C Sharks Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for SCRUMHALVES in the Cell C Sharks 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the fifth in the series of the Lions Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for SCRUMHALVES in the Lions 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
It is nothing more than a few distant murmurs at the moment, but there are already dissenting voices over the influx of South Africans at Edinburgh.
Alan Solomons, who left the Southern Kings last year to take up a role as head coach at the Scottish outfit, has plundered his home country for talent to help the team based in the Scottish capital back to its feet.
The South African rugby season has yet to commence, but Springbok flyhalf Morné Steyn’s form for French Top 14 side Stade Français could be creating pre-season worries for coach Heyneke Meyer as he plots his 2014 campaign.
Captain James Horwill returned to training with the Reds this week, as the team continues to prepare for the 2014 Super Rugby season.
Horwill was one of several Reds players who toured with the Wallabies in Europe in November – including scrumhalf Will Genia and mercurial flyhalf Quade Cooper.
Eastern Province Kings stalwart Siyabonga “Tiger” Mangweni has moved across from the field of play to the coaching staff.
EP Rugby Chief Executive Officer Charl Crous confirmed that Mangweni would assist with the defensive structures.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) is considering stricter protocols to prevent players with possible concussion from returning to the field during matches.
According to a current protocol being tested in some tournaments, a player can return to the playing field if he passes a cognitive test within five minutes. It is called the Pitch Side Concussion Assessment (PSCA) trial – or ‘five-minute test’.
Clermont received fresh injury concerns on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s crunch European Cup clash with Harlequins as New Zealand centre Regan King and France No.8 Damien Chouly were both ruled out.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) is set to ditch the ‘YES NINE’ scrum call in favour of a non-verbal, pre-agreed instruction.
The change will take place with immediate effect, and will be introduced at all levels of the game.
Referees will no longer give a verbal instruction of ‘YES NINE’, and instead will issue a non-verbal instruction to the scrumhalf when he considers the scrum to be square and stable.
The non-verbal instruction must be agreed by the referee and both scrumhalves prior to the start of the game and could be in the form of a tap on the back while the referee is on the side of the put-in, or an agreed signal (nod of the head or hand signal) by the referee while he is on the other side of the scrum.
Qualification for the knockout stage of Europe’s premier club tournament is on the line once again as the tension-packed Rounds Five and Six of the European Cup assume centre stage in the coming fortnight.
Once the drama and number-crunching conclude, six pool winners and the two best pool runners-up will have booked prized spots in the European Cup quarterfinals, while the three next best pool runners-up will extend their season in Europe by qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské says they won’t find a replacement for defence coach Michael Horak who will join the Eastern Province Kings later this year.
Springboks Adriaan Strauss, Willie le Roux, Coenie Oosthuizen and Johan Goosen have returned to training ahead of the Super Rugby season.
Samoan legend Brian Lima has resigned as defence coach of his country’s national team after his arrest for assault on his former wife.
As summer settles warmly down south and cricket provides most interest, wet and wind do their best to disrupt the North as rugby seeks to fight the wild weather off so that the European competitions can be played this week and next.
These are the last two pool rounds in the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup before the knock-out rounds. There is a lot at stake for some clubs.
Defending champions at the George Sevens Premier League tournament, Samurai, put down an early marker ahead of this week’s rescheduled event.
Samurai won the Punta del Este Sevens tournament in Uruguay at the weekend and will arrive in the Garden Route this week full of confidence – keen to add to their ever-growing trophy display.