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France coach Philippe Saint-Andre will, as expected, leave captain Thierry Dusautoir at home after ringing the changes for ‘Les Bleus’ mid-year tour of Argentina next month.
In one of the surprise selections Frederic Michalak has been offered the chance for a 55th cap for France.
Wales have named three debutants in their team to face the Barbarians and have also named veteran flanker Martyn Williams on the bench wherehe is set to win his 100th cap at Millennium Stadium.
Here are a number of Statistics of the first 14 weeks of Super Rugby.
Springboks utility back Frans Steyn has signed a three year deal with the Sharks after his contract with Racing Metro came to an end.
SANZAR has named the match officials for Week 15 of Super Rugby 2012, which starts on Friday with 2 matches and another 4 matches on Saturday.
Kurtley Beale has been ruled out of the Wallabies June Tests and Super Rugby until July after having surgery to clean out floating cartilage from his left shoulder joint.
While the Blues sunk to their fifth loss at Eden Park this season, the other three New Zealand Conference teams in action recorded strong wins to keep their Super Rugby Final’s Series hopes well and truly alive.
The results means that four kiwi franchises move into the top nine and remain in contention for the knockout stage of the tournament, while elsewhere in the competition the Sharks and Reds continued their upward curve to keep pressure on the top sides in their respective conferences.
Hello friends,
This is a reminder that there is indeed a SuperBru competition for the Winter Tours, being all the mid-year International Test matches taking place from early June 2012.
We have set up a SuperBru pool for the Winter Tours SuperBru Competition.
The details are:
Pool Name: Rugby-Talk Winter Tours 2012
Pool Code: wadsbops
Remember folks, to be part of a Rugby-Talk SuperBru pool, you HAVE TO BE registered here at Rugby-Talk.
Lions prop CJ van der Linde has been cited for biting Toby Lynn in the Force’s victory over the Lions on Saturday in Perth.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is reported to have offered Fourie du Preez the Springbok captaincy for South Africa’s three match Test Series against England next month.
England (22) 57 / (7) 26 Barbarians (Final Score)
England and the Barbarians did battle in Super Rugby at Twickenham, London at 15:30 SA Time (14:30 UK Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Sharks (20) 25 / Stormers (6) 20 (Final Score)
The Sharks and DHL Stormers did battle in Super Rugby at Mr Price Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA 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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Cheetahs (21) 35 / Waratahs (31) 34 (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Waratahs did battle in Super Rugby at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA 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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Force (3) 17 / Lions (8) 11 (Final Score)
The Western Force and MTN Lions did battle in Super Rugby at nib Stadium, Perth at 13:40 SA Time (19:40 Perth 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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Blues (6) 20 / Highlanders (15) 27 (Final Score)
The Blues and Highlanders did battle in Super Rugby at Eden Park, Auckland at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time).
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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Hurricanes (38) 66 / Rebels (17) 24 (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Melbourne Rebels did battle in Super Rugby at Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 07:30 SA Time (17:30 NZ Time).
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 (8) 28 / Bulls (16) 22 (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time).
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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Here are the Super Rugby Team Sheets for Week 14 of Super Rugby 2012.
Herewith all the Teams, as they were announced for the weekend. The first side to go up was the Vodacom Bulls.
World rugby’s most experienced Test captain, former Springbok hooker John Smit, will skipper the Barbarians in their match against England on Sunday. Kick-off is at 15:30 SA time.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer will hold a fourth and final Planning Camp in Durban from Sunday, with 42 players across all five Vodacom Super Rugby franchises invited to attend.
New Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer finally put to bed months of media speculation over the possible return of retired lock Victor Matfield.
At this stage of the season, things are starting to click into place on the Logs, with teams starting to know that they are out or left with a mathematical chance to make the play-offs of the competition.
Realistically there are only 9 teams still able to qualify for the 2012 Super Rugby play-off’s, but with the Hurricanes and Reds right on the edge and needing almost a miracle to reach the play-off’s.
Before anybody gets the heebie-jeebies, the following Article is an official Media Release of figures and statistics, compiled and sent out by the Vodacom Bulls marketing machine… but it makes for interesting reading nonetheless.
Topping the South African conference is evidence that the Vodacom Bulls are performing on the field. According to leading sports researchers BMI, the boys in blue lead off the field too in terms of being the most watched Super Rugby team this year. Add to that a 300% growth in Facebook followers as well as over 10 000 Twitter fans and it’s safe to say that the Pretoria based side is having the season of their lives.
SANZAR have named the match officials for Week 14 of Super Rugby 2012.
Mark Lawrence starts the weekend action on Friday in the game between the Chiefs and Vodacom Bulls in Hamilton, with six matches to follow on Saturday.
This weekend the Crusaders have the bye.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says they won’t continue their search for further loose forward reinforcements.
It looks likely that the Cheetahs will remain a Super Rugby team next year, with the Lions dropping out at the expense of the Southern Kings.
Sharks centre Tim Whitehead may have to wait until next year before feeling what it is like to play against his former Stormers teammates at Vodacom Super Rugby level.
Wallabies and Western Force fullback and wing Cameron Shepherd has agreed to join Aviva Premiership Rugby club Northampton Saints.
Ireland and Leinster fullback Rob Kearney has been named as the 2011/12 European Player of the Year after helping Leinster to win the Heineken Cup on the weekend.
Just when we thought that the Bulls would have played their last away game in PINK against the Highlanders the past weekend, they throw us a curveball…
Herewith the full Vodacom Bulls media release, dreadedly received just now:
Cheetahs lock George Earle will head to the Scarlets in July in the hope of representing Wales at the 2015 World Cup.
Last week we reported that the meeting between the Super Rugby participating SA Franchises and SARU was to be continued on Monday.
Well today was Monday and SARU has the following to report:
Former Springbok flyhalf Naas Botha has called for harsher punishments against fighting during school rugby matches, Beeld reported on Monday.
With 10 wins from 11 starts in Vodacom Super Rugby this season and top position in both the South African conference and the overall log, the Stormers don’t have much to complain about as they start to head towards the business end of the competition.
A succession of head injuries have cast a shadow over the playing future of the Blues’ French-bound utility back Benson Stanley.