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South African allrounder Faf du Plessis struck a confident note when he said the Proteas should have too much depth in every department for World Cup quarterfinal opponents New Zealand to counter, providing his team maintains its form.
Alarming signs for the Wallabies at provincial level, Kieran Read proves his no Thorne in New Zealand’s side and will the South African selectors make the big call to prevent the Bulls’ slide from affecting the Springboks? Paul Cully puts the weekend’s Super Rugby action into a World Cup context.
STUNG after being booed off the field, the Waratahs players yesterday held a lengthy ”truth session” at which they vowed not to let their supporters, or themselves, down again this season.
JJ Harmse, I like your honest article, but do not for one moment think they will see you suddenly as a unbiased rugby writer. To the Bulls, I agree with JJ, go back to your quiet mode and do the talking on the field.
Here we go again!
Too boo or not to boo. When I read this article and thought of changing all these names with Bulls names, it might be a fitting report of how the Bulls fans feel after this weekend.
Botha was cited for a dangerous tackle on Stormers scrumhalf Dewald Duwenhage in the first half which left the scrumhalf dazed for a while and unable to continue.
Lions (9) 15 / Western Force (14) 27 (Final Score)
Scorers:
Lions : 4 Penalties & 1 Drop Goal Elton Jantjes
Western Force : 5 Penalties James O’Connor, 1 Conversion Cameron Shepherd, 1 Try Nick Cummins, 1 Try Alfie Mafi
Waratahs (3) 3 / Cheetahs (6) 23 (Final Score)
A first win for the Cheetahs out of Africa. This was a game where the Waratahs was outplayed on the ground. Heinrich Brussow is back with a bang. He ruled the rucks.
South Africa 284/8 (50 ov.)
Bangladesh 78 (28 ov.)
Bangladesh were not favourites to win their virtual pre-quarterfinal against the might of South Africa, especially after the visitors breezed away to 284, but it was the meek manner of their abject batting surrender that would have jarred even their most faithful fan.
A month into the season and the usual complaints are being tossed around. The moans have once again begun about matches being determined by penalty goals rather than tries, that the scrums are a mess and there are too many dead spots in games.
Brumbies fullback Pat McCabe is the standout attacking player, the Melbourne Rebels are suffering from a missed-tackle epidemic, and Australian teams are not obsessed with the pick and drive as an attacking option.
Allister Coetzee conceded this week that Bryan Habana is “not firing”, but the Stormers coach still believes the Springbok wing will be an important player in the Super Rugby match against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.
Tight tight battle at the top for a Semi final spot.
Ireland vs South Africa
Match scheduled to begin at 10:30 Live on SS2 and SABC 3
Pukke (31) 57 /NMMU (6) 6 (Final Score)
Scoring:
Pukke : 1 Try & 6 Conversions Cecil du Mond, 1 Try Philip de Wet, 1 Penalty Try, 2 Tries Ligtoring Landman, 2 Tries Schalk Oosthuizen, 1 Try Tiaan Dorfling, 1 Try Snoepie Coetzee
NMMU: 2 Penalties Marius Muller
Tukkies (17) 27/ Maties (10) 13 (Final Score)
Scoring:
Tuks: 5 Penalties & 1 Conversion Wesley Dunlop, 1 Try Deon Helberg, 1 Try Franco Mostert
Maties: 2 Penalties & 1 Conversion Donald Stevens, 1 Penalty Try
The Champion, Blue Bulls suffered their third consecutive defeat of the season. Four teams, The Sharks , Griquas, Pampas XV and EP Kings are still unbeaten. The EP Kings had to forfeit the Log points of their first two games because they used illegitimate players in both matches. Read on for the match reports from Supersport
Correct me if i am wrong but is Jonathan Kaplan more in the news for the wrong reasons lately? The South African referee awarded a controversial try to Wales that left Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll seething.
England (9) 22 / Scotland (9) 16 (Final score)
England edged closer to their first Six Nations title and grand slam for eight years when they beat Scotland 22-16 on Sunday but they were made to work hard for their fourth successive victory.
Italy’s historic 22-21 victory over France.
Italy’s rugby players woke up on Sunday to find themselves making a rare appearance on the front pages of sport newspapers.
And they were lauded as “heroes” for securing their place in history with a “dream” victory.
Marshmallows can’t withstand. Trap them in a clenched fist and they’re soon squashed. Heat them up and they become gooey and pliable, a little like the South African middle-order
Stormers (6) 21 / Cheetahs (6) 15 (Final Score)
The Stormers hosted the Cheetahs at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
Os du Randt has been axed as the Springboks’ scrumming consultant.Os du Randt confirmed to Sport24 on Tuesday that he had been informed in writing by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) that his contract as scrumming consultant will not be renewed and that he will therefore not be part of the Boks’ World Cup management team.
Amateur Test selectors rejoice. In a World Cup year – with its truncated Tri Nations tournament – every Super weekend has an influence on a certain tournament in New Zealand later in the year. So discard the ‘one week at a time cliches’ pedalled by the coaches join RugbyHeaven as we track the form, injuries and talking points among the Super sides with one eye on firmly on World Cup fortunes.
The ACT Brumbies have sensationally sacked coach Andy Friend after only two matches of the season.The Canberra Times understands Friend has just been told he no longer has the club’s support.
Defence coach Tony Rea will take over as coach immediately.
FNB UCT and FNB UJ are still unbeaten after four rounds of 2011 Varsity Cup action, with just one change on the log this week – at the bottom of the standings – as FNB Pukke finally scored their first league point of the season.
Hands up if you picked the Highlanders to be two from two with wins over the Hurricanes and Chiefs under their belts after the opening two rounds of the Super Rugby season?
This week we lost great players with injuries in the Super Rugby competition. To make it worse there is long term injuries ending some players World Cup aspirations. National coaches will have sleepless nights over some of their stalwarts injuries.
Scotland (9) 18/ Ireland (14) 21 (Final Score)
Ireland ran in three tries to set up a 21-18 victory over Scotland in their Six Nations clash at Murrayfield on Sunday.
The result left the Scots still without a point from three games. Ireland joined Wales and France on four points, two behind leaders England.
Another weekend of great rugby. Provincial rivalry made for a competitive and tight weekend. Read on my view of the Player of the week, the try of the week, Biggest blunder, the most disappointing player of the week. Go ahead add your views and many more.
“It was a great result for us against a quality team,” said Sharks captain Stefan Terblanche. “If you’d have given us two wins to kick off the campaign we would have taken it.”
Two notably erratic performances on the trot, but the Bulls have shown the mark of champions to gratefully bank away victories each time … and now they embark on a handy little run of fixtures back at Fortress Loftus.
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The Crusaders have been forced to move their Vodacom Super Rugby home matches from AMI Stadium following a deadly earthquake this week, but the Christchurch mayor still hopes the city and stadium will be ready to host Rugby World Cup matches in September.
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