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Brumbies recruit Rory Arnold, the tallest player in Super Rugby.
If you thought NSW Watarahs and Australian Wallabies battering ram Will Skelton was big, meet ACT Brumbies recruit Rory Arnold, the tallest player in Super Rugby.
The 208cm, 130kg lock created huge headlines last year after being involved in an alleged biting incident in South Africa, but Arnold is determined to make a big impact at the Brumbies for the right reasons.
While man mountain Skelton weighs in at 140kg, at 203cm he can’t match Arnold, who is equal in height with former South African player Andries Bekker. They are the tallest players in Super Rugby’s 19-year history.
There will be a new name on the Women’s Rugby World Cup as New Zealand are the high profile absentee in the final four of the competition.
In the last round of the pool stages in Marcoussis, England’s draw with Canada saw both into the semi-finals where they will be joined by Australia and Ireland.
New Zealand, who have triumphed in the past four World Cups, won their last game of the pools but they went into their game against the USA already knowing they were out of the competition.
Cyprus players celebrate a victory over Austria in the European Nations Cup. It was their 21st in a row and they have won two more since.
When the All Blacks take the field against the Wallabies on Saturday, they’ll know they stand 80 minutes away from a landmark 18 successive wins.
If they come out on top, they’ll leapfrog the All Blacks of the late 1960s and the 1997-98 Springboks to further their reputation as one of the greatest teams in rugby history.
It’s an impressive feat, and would be a record for a tier one nation, but it won’t strictly be a world record.
Wycliff Palu has revealed some of the different methods Michael Cheika has used to motivate the Waratahs.
Mastercoach Michael Cheika’s multitude of secret motivational techniques to turn the Waratahs from paupers to premiers can now be revealed.
While the story of the golf clubs given to players before the grand final win over the Crusaders last weekend has been well told, it was only one element of Cheika’s unique strategy to build a squad of players used to failure into a champion team.
Long-serving Waratahs backrower Wycliff Palu is one of the best examples of how Cheika’s ideas transformed players. The burly No.8 was forced to walk from Central Station to the Waratahs’ office at Moore Park every day as part of a daily ritual to ensure he didn’t become complacent after a decade at the club.
There has been a late change to the DHL Western Province team for Friday night’s Absa Currie Cup clash against the EP Kings at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (kick-off 19:10 SA Time).
At lock, Springbok squad member Eben Etzebeth will start on the bench, with youngster Jean Kleyn making his Absa Currie Cup debut in the No 4 jersey.
“We have monitored Eben’s workload at Springbok training this week, so we thought it would be prudent to start with him amongst the replacements on Friday,” explained DHL WP coach Allister Coetzee.
Aaron Smith
After much speculation in the media the Highlanders are happy to announce today that Aaron Smith has re-signed with the Highlanders for two more years through to the end of the Super Rugby season in 2016.
Smith said “I love living and playing rugby in Dunedin, it’s my home and I couldn’t think of a better place to be.”
“I love the team and can’t wait to get back out on the field in front of our home fans in 2015”.
Tonight sees the kick off of the 2014 edition of the ABSA Currie Cup, and more importantly, the start of a new SuperBru campaign.
Just a week ago the pool for the Super Rugby ended, and it turned out to be quite a dog fight at the top of the table between Blue Bird, Sharks_Forever, Charo and Winston Champ, with Blue Bird hanging on to take the bragging rights.
For those of us who were fighting it out down at the bottom of the log, don’t despair, today we all start with a clean slate.
Good luck with those picks, and if you are still deliberating, have a look at what some of the pundits and so-called experts have decided.
Nemani Nadolo
Nemani Nadolo will remain at the Crusaders for two more years, after reports in New Zealand said the giant Fijian winger “never had any intention of going anywhere else”.
“We have loved having Nemani in the Crusaders this season, as have our fans, so it gives me great pleasure to confirm that he will be returning to the team next year and in 2016,” Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach said.
The Xerox Golden Lions will run out in navy blue jerseys as they kick-off their Absa Currie Cup campaign against the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The match, which will mark the Golden Lions Rugby Union’s 125th anniversary, will see the Xerox Golden Lions forgo their standard white jersey with the red strip in order to commemorate this special occasion.
The jersey will be unveiled at a 125-year celebration banquet, to be held at Ellis Park this evening. Guests will include past and present players, staff and administrators as well as supporters and sponsors who have all been involved in building the GLRU legacy.
Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named 21-year old Burger Odendaal at inside centre for his side’s opening match of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup season against the Xerox Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Odendaal, who was schooled at Monument High in Krugersdorp and represented Golden Lions at the Coca-Cola Under-18 Craven Week in 2011, will make his Absa Currie Cup debut for the team, having already played for the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Under-19, Under-21 and Vodacom Cup level from 2012.
Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann has named his 23-man side to take on the Blue Bulls in their opening Currie Cup clash at Ellis Park on Saturday.
In the forwards, Ackermann has opted to select Ruan Dreyer at tighthead after Julian Redelinghuys suffered a minor calf injury last week. Schalk van der Merwe and Robbie Coetzee make up the rest of the front row.
The Golden Lions have announced the signing of centre Howard Mnisi from Griquas on an 18-month contract.
According to the Lions’ official website, the centre linked up with theGolden Lions squad last week, however his contract was only finalised on Wednesday.
One of the great rugby tournaments starts again soon, as the third ever Rugby Championship gets underway next week. The competition has only been around officially since 2012 following the acceptance of Argentina into the Tri-Nations series, that featured three powerhouses of world rugby in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
Pictures of Crusaders rugby players on a hunting trip in South Africa are being used by an environmental organisation in its fight against what it calls canned, or joy ride, hunting.
George Whitelock, Tyler Bleyendaal, Sam Whitelock, Tom Taylor and Ben Funnell with guides on a hunt in South Africa.
It is reported that the players shown in the four pictures posted by the Landmark Foundation on its Facebook page were Tom Taylor, George and Sam Whitelock, Ben Funnell and Tyler Bleyendaal. In each picture, one or more of the players was posing beside a dead animal. The animals were a zebra, a blesbok, a gemsbok and an eland.
ONE MORE YEAR: Todd Blackadder talks to the media during this season’s Super Rugby campaign.
Crusaders boss Hamish Riach has endorsed Todd Blackadder and his coaching team for at least another season.
Although Crusaders head coach Blackadder and his assistants Dave Hewett, Tabai Matson and Aaron Mauger have signed with the franchise until the end of the 2016 Super Rugby season, the honouring of such agreements can be subject to confidential conditions related to a team’s performance or whether they make the playoffs.
Juan Smith
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers has praised the move to bring veteran flank Juan Smith back into the Springbok squad for the Rugby Championship, calling it an ‘unbelievable’ story.
It was reported that Smith – who was told by more than one doctor that his rugby career was over – was included as cover for the injured Victor Matfield in the Bok squad this week ahead of next weekend’s opener against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld.
After getting a second chance at Toulon, Smith turned the opportunity into gold with the way he used his new lease on life to craft his way into the Toulon squad and was an integral part in their success in Europe this year.
Jerome Kaino showing off some leg, but for a very good cause.
Yes that is Jerome Kaino sporting a Northern Mystics dress!
The Blues and All Blacks flanker got stuck into his workout routine in this dashing baby blue netball outfit at Unitec yesterday, all in the name of charity.
Kaino is one of four ambassadors of the Child Cancer foundation who were challenged to carry out crazy acts in order to raise money for the One Day for Child Cancer Ambassador Challenge.
It’s almost here! The 39th season of New Zealand’s premier domestic competition – the ITM Cup – kicks off in nine days’ time with all teams raring to get their 2014 campaigns under way.
The 2014 season of the ITM Cup was officially launched at a special event held at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium today, attended by captains and senior players representing the 14 ITM Cup provincial teams.
While all the teams eye the ITM Cup Premiership and Championship trophies up for grabs, the first competition Ranfurly Shield challenge strikes in Week 2 of an 11-week competition.
New Zealand General Manager Rugby Neil Sorensen said the ITM Cup held an important place in the rugby landscape and continued to be an important springboard for emerging talent.
“What we love about ITM Cup is its purity and how it straddles the amateur and professional parts of the game. This competition brings out the very best in traditional rivalries and it helps to tie communities together in a very visual way, through the use of provincial colours.”
Rory Kockott might be the first victim of Blanco’s radical new changes.
Serge Blanco is ready to start a radical overhaul of the French squad according to reports, starting by blocking the call-up of Rory Kockott.
The former France full-back and vice-president of the FFR is set to take a more hands-on role with the national team to support Philippe Saint-André and his struggling side.
The first signs of his influence have become apparent with reports in Le Figaro that Blanco is against a call-up of South African-born Kockott, who was expected to earn an international opportunity this November when he became eligible for France.
Hawies Fourie
Griquas coach Hawies Fourie has rewarded the squad which earned Currie Cup qualification by retaining much of the team for the Sharks clash at GWK Park on Saturday.
The Kimberley-based side regained their status after ending the qualifying round undefeated.
“Now that we are once again part of the Currie Cup, we don’t just want to be a number. We want to be a real contender in the competition and we hope to use the momentum that we got form the qualifiers to achieve just that,” Fourie said.
The brains trust of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs for the Currie Cup.
Coenie and Caylib Oosthuizen will play no part in the Free State Cheetahs’ Currie Cup match against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Saturday.
With Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss involved with the Springboks, and both Oosthuizens ruled out through injury, new coach Rory Duncan has been forced to field a new-look front row against the Pumas.
Colin Slade, drafted into the All Blacks squad to replace Dan Carter, who is injured.
Colin Slade has been called into the All Blacks as injury cover for Dan Carter.
Carter fractured the fibula bone in his right leg during last weekend’s Super Rugby final loss to the Waratahs in Sydney and would be sidelined for one month. He would miss at least the first two Bledisloe Cup tests.
Lions coach, Johan Ackermann
The Lions have suffered key injury blows ahead of their opening Currie Cup clash against the Blue Bulls at Ellis Park this weekend.
According to reports, promising front ranker Julian Redelinghuys has injured his calf muscle and could be sidelined for up to six weeks.
To make matters worse, wings Anthony Volmink and Courtnall Skosan and scrumhalf Michael Bondesio were also injured in training last week.
Juan Smith
Experienced international forward Juan Smith has been drafted into the Springbok squad preparing for The Rugby Championship.
Smith was a Rugby World Cup winner in 2007 and boasts 69 Test caps. He will join the squad in Johannesburg as replacement following confirmation that Victor Matfield will miss the opening Test of The Rugby Championship against Argentina in Pretoria on Saturday 16 August.
The England team pose for a group photo in 1914
If there were any doubts or misgivings in the world of rugby 100 years ago this month as the First World War broke out, they were very well concealed.
The Rugby Football Union and other national governing bodies rapidly decreed a closedown after Britain’s declaration of war on August 4, with the Scots offering Inverleith – Murrayfield’s predecessor – for military use.
Western Force captain Matt Hodgson has been awarded the 2014 Nathan Sharpe Medal at the HBF Stadium in Perth yesterday.
This is the third time Hodgson has claimed the premier award, having previously received the club’s Player of the Year Award (now Nathan Sharpe Medal) in 2009 and 2010.
In the night’s other awards, crowd favourite Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins was voted the Members’ MVP; lock Adam Coleman took out the Rising Star; and Ben McCalman and Sam Wykes were joint winners of the newly named Geoffrey Stooke Award (formerly the Force Man Award).
Eastern Province Kings coach Carlos Spencer’s named Luke Watson as the captain ahead of Friday’s clash with Western Province at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Spencer also included experienced players like Tim Whitehead, Ronnie Cooke and David Bulbring to add stability to a side in which many players will be having their first taste of the Currie Cup Premier Division.
Pumas coach, Jimmy Stonehouse
Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has named his team to face the Cheetahs in their opening Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match in Mbombela on Saturday afternoon.
Stonehouse included inside centre Stefan Watermeyer, who was a regular feature during the Lions’ Super Rugby campaign.
Watermeyer, the only Super Rugby player considered for the starting XV with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and fullback Coenie van Wyk out with injury, will form a midfield combination with JW Jonker.
Ireland produced one of the shocks of Women’s Rugby World Cup history by beating four-time world champions New Zealand on an historic day at Marcoussis. As a result of their 17-14 victory, Philip Doyle’s side has taken command of Pool B with a two-point lead now established over the Black Ferns and USA, who meet in the final round of pool fixtures on Saturday.
Another mouth-watering tie lies in wait in Pool A where England and Canada are separated only by points difference at the top of the table, after both teams recorded their second consecutive bonus-point wins of the competition.
RACIALLY ABUSED: Crusaders winger Nemani Nadolo has tweeted about being racially abused.
The actions of a “stupid” lone drunkard who racially abused Crusaders winger Nemani Nadolo was an anomaly that should not tarnish his great season, says coach Todd Blackadder.
“After all I’ve done to contribute to this lovely city of Christchurch to be called a UN FIT CHUBBY [N****] is disappointing [sic],” the Fijian-born Nadolo tweeted at 2.48am today.
Jean de Villiers
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers has recovered from the knee injury which kept him out of the June Tests and is back in the national squad for the forthcoming Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
De Villiers is one of six players returning from injury after missing the entire or a part of the Castle Lager Incoming Series.
The others are Tendai Mtawarira (prop), Frans Malherbe (prop), Eben Etzebeth (lock), Patrick Lambie (flyhalf / fullback) and Damian de Allende (centre).
De Allende, who was forced to withdraw from the squad in June because of a knee ligament injury, and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach are the only two uncapped players in the 30-man Springbok squad.
Waratahs celebrating their maiden Super Rugby victory.
The Waratahs won a drama-laden Super Rugby grand final 33-32 in Sydney with Bernard Foley breaking the Crusaders hearts by kicking a 45m penalty in the final seconds.
This frantic contest had multiple dramas, starting with the Crusaders trailing 14-0 in as many minutes, losing their talismanic general Dan Carter with an ankle injury in the first half and then having to mount a spirited comeback in front of a record 62,000-strong crowd.
Quade Cooper
Quade Cooper’s comeback from shoulder and hip surgery will be through the new National Rugby Championship to prove his fitness for a Wallabies recall.
Playing three or four games in the latter stages of the NRC would be the perfect vehicle to rebuild confidence, timing and match hardness.
Tiger Woods’ swing, the unlikely source of Cheika’s motivation.
Michael Chieka didn’t quite take a sledgehammer to the Waratahs’ chronic problems; he took golf clubs instead.
As his players gathered in the change-room before the biggest Super Rugby game of their careers, and for most the biggest in their lives, Cheika slowly began to pull out 23 golf clubs, each personalised with female names.
A fresh-looking Argentina will leave for South Africa on Wednesday for their 16 August Rugby Championship opener against the Springboks in Pretoria under new coach Daniel Hourcade and led by a new captain in hooker Agustin Creevy.
Hourcade, who took charge last November right after the last Rugby Championship in which the Pumas lost all six of their matches, has dispensed with all but a handful of the 2007 World Cup semi-finalists and many 2011 quarter-finalists.