European Rugby
University of St Andrews (in blue) face University of Edinburgh (in green) today
The teams have been announced for the “world’s oldest varsity match”, which returns home today.
The Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews will contest at men’s and women’s first XV level on the international pitch at BT Murrayfield, with a crowd of more than 10 000 expected.
Their 2nd and 3rd 15s will also meet on the stadium’s back pitches.
The match – which pre-dates the battle between light and dark blues down south and which has attracted sponsorship from the Royal Bank of Scotland – pits 2 of the founder members of the Scottish Rugby Union against each other.
St Andrews are the current holders of the men’s trophy having triumphed on the last 2 meetings, when the fixture was contested at Richmond Athletic Ground as a means of connecting with Alumni in the London area.
Head Coach Vern Cotter has sought continuity in the rotated Scotland squad named for this Sunday’s Rugby World Cup Round 2 Test against the USA Eagles at Elland Road, Leeds (27 September, kick-off 15:30 SA Time, 14:30 BST, 13:30 GMT).
The entire bench from Wednesday’s win over Japan (45 / 10) has been promoted into the starting line-up meaning that despite making 10 changes to the starting 15 there are just 4 new faces in the 23-man squad: Tim Visser and Alasdair Strokosch who start at wing and back-row respectively and replacements Tim Swinson (lock) and Duncan Weir (flyhalf).
Cotter said: “We said from the start that we’d need the whole group of 31 players for this campaign. We’ve known this schedule for a long time and have tried to keep continuity in selection, while also introducing fresh legs to what will be another very physical challenge this Sunday.”
Los Pumas (14) 54 / 9 (9) Georgia (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and Georgia did battle in the 2015 Rugby World Cup at
Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester, England at 17:45 SA Time (16:45 BST, 15:45 GMT, 19:45 Georgian Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Wynand Olivier
English Premiership side Worcester Warriors have captured the signing of Springbok Wynand Olivier as their latest import.
The powerful centre joins up with his new teammates immediately ahead of Warriors’ clash with Wasps this Saturday 26 September.
Olivier has represented South Africa 38 times with his last appearance coming in June 2014 in a win over Wales.
Wales have received an official warning from World Rugby for a breach of Rugby World Cup regulations during training.
Back-up players who did not make the final 31-man squads are not allowed to take part in practice sessions.
But a group of players not in Wales’ squad did participate during training at Sunbury on Wednesday.
“While World Rugby is satisfied that no deliberate breach was intended, an official warning has been issued to the Wales Rugby Union,” the sport’s governing body said.
“All participating teams have been informed that additional players from the extended squad, including potential injury replacements, may not be included in any training sessions.”
While there was little prospect of a points deduction for the infraction, with a fine likely to have been the sternest punishment, the incident will have been an unwelcome distraction as Warren Gatland prepares his side to face England on Saturday.
France (17) 38 / 11 (6) Romania (Final Score)
France and Romania did battle in the 2015 Rugby World Cup at
Olympic Park, London, England at 21:00 SA Time (21:00 French Time, 22:00 Rom Time, 20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Scotland (12) 45 / 10 (7) Japan (Final Score)
Scotland and Japan did battle in the 2015 Rugby World Cup at
Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester, England at 15:30 SA Time (14:30 BST, 13:30 GMT, 22:30 Japan Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Rugby World Cup debuts galore as Scotland’s tournament finally gets underway. After the group opened with a Double B (that’s a Bucking Belter) in Brighton will we have a Grand Guignolin Gloucester?
Only 4 players remain from Scotland’s last Rugby World Cup match, a 16 / 12 defeat to England in Auckland in 2011, with Ross Ford the only player in the same position for both games.
Japan bring 6 players into their starting line-up as they try to back up their stunning victory over former champions, South Africa. The Japanese bench features a 6 forwards to 2 backs split, which suggests they expect Scotland to try and overpower them up front and reinforcements will be required.
Cory Allen
Wales centre Cory Allen, who scored 3 of his country’s 8 tries in their Rugby World Cup opener against Uruguay, was ruled out of the rest of the tournament by a hamstring tear on Monday.
The Welsh, already rocked by injuries to key backs Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb in their final warm-up match, had 6 players added to their casualty list during Sunday’s 54 / 9 victory in Cardiff.
Allen pulled up with the injury in the 2nd half and after having scans was replaced in the squad by Tyler Morgan, who joins Scott Williams and Jamie Roberts to restore the number of specialist centres in the squad to 3.
British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies was ruled out of the tournament by a knee injury.
Wales next face England in a Twickenham clash on Saturday, which could go a long way to deciding which teams progress from Pool A, which also includes Australia and Fiji.
Yoann Huget
French coach Philippe Saint-Andre confirmed on Sunday that wing Yoann Huget is out for the rest of the Rugby World Cup after injuring his knee.
A tearful Huget was forced off during France’s 32 / 10 victory over Italy in their opening Rugby World Cup match on Saturday.
His place was taken by Castres wing Remy Grosso.
He has injured the ligaments in his right knee, Saint-Andre said in an interview.
Josh Strauss
Josh Strauss is set to make his debut for Scotland on Wednesday as he has been named as a replacement for the Rugby World Cup match against Japan in Gloucester. Fellow South African WP Nel has been named in the starting line up for this match.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Maitland.
Wales (28) 54 / 9 (9) Uruguay (Final Score)
Wales and Uruguay did battle in the 2015 Rugby World Cup at
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 15:30 SA Time (14:30 BST, 13:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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France (15) 32 / 10 (3) Italy (Final Score)
France and Italy did battle in the Rugby World Cup at
Twickenham Stadium, London at 21:00 SA Time (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Japan (10) 34 / 32 (12) Springboks (Final Score)
Japan and the South African Springboks did battle in the Rugby World Cup at
The Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton at 17:45 SA Time (16:45 BST, 15:45 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Day 2 of Rugby World Cup 2015 is here. The opening ceremony is done and dusted and England have won the very 1st game of the tournament, with what could turn out to be a handy bonus point.
Crowds from Brighton to Gloucester will be gearing up to go to the games today with 4 matches in total to be played. The local broadcaster of the World Cup advertised that there would be 11 hours of coverage across their channels today.
The big game of the day for Springbok supporters takes place late this afternoon just outside Brighton as they face Japan in a stadium that for the World Cup is known as Brighton Community Stadium. It is normally a football ground, the home of Brighton and Hove Albion a Championship team who are top of that table at the moment.
The 1st match of the day, between Georgia and Tonga, kicks off at 15:30 SA Time (12:30 BST) and the last tonight at 20:00 BST (21:00 SA Time) when France and Italy meet.
Sione Vaiomo’unga
Tonga captain Nili Latu has expressed his gratitude to the Romanian team ahead of the RWC 2015 for their help in aiding his friend and former teammate Sione Vaiomo’unga, who is suffering from life-threatening kidney failure.
The former Tonga flanker was the only player in the 2011 RWC squad to play in the Tongan domestic divisions at the time before going on to join Tonga’s European tour a year later.
Now residing in Romania, 26-year-old Vaiomo’unga cannot receive dialysis treatment in Europe, Australia or New Zealand because he is a Tongan national and won’t find the care he needs in his homeland either.
To help the best they can during his plight, the Tonga and Romania unions dedicated their final World Cup warm-up fixture in Bucharest on 5 September to raising money for his treatment.
Following the fixture, the two nations pulled together more than 10,000 euros for Vaiomo’unga and his family.
There will be a Six Nations re-match as France and Italy do battle at Twickenham in the fifth match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup on Saturday night. The teams are in Pool D, alongside Ireland, Canada and Romania, and the match kicks off at 20:00 UK Time (21:00 SA Time).
Italy, who have made four changes since their last test, will set a new World Cup record for the most experienced front row as their starting trio boast a total of 227 test caps. The current record was set in 2011 when a front row with 215 caps between them took the field for the Springboks against Namibia.
Martin Castogiavanni will become Italy’s most capped player as he makes his 114th appearance for his country. He will reach this landmark as Sergio Parisse misses out due to injury. Leonarodo Ghiraldini will captain Italy for the 10th time in the absence of Parisse.
France’s coach Phillipe Saint-Andre has named a team that contains two South African born players – starting Fullback Scott Spedding and Loose forward Bernard le Roux who is on the bench. Rory Kockott misses out on selection for this match altogether. France will be captained by Thierry Dussatoir.
Josh Strauss
WP Nel
You would think after years of repeated and soul-destroying failure in the Six Nations, those with an affection for the Scotland team would be looking at the upcoming Rugby World Cup with some trepidation.
Some do fear that a 2nd successive group stage exit is a distinct possibility but others will tell you that this tournament represents an opportunity for an emerging squad to spring some shocks on the rugby elite.
Scotland begin their campaign against Japan at Kingsholm on 23 September before facing the USA and 2-time champions South Africa ahead of the final – and potentially decisive – pool match against Samoa.
3 Former Scotland internationals were asked to assess how Scotland will fare in the World Cup.
- Chris Paterson ( CP ) is Scotland’s record cap holder and played in 4 World Cups from 1999 through to 2007.
- Peter Wright ( PW ) won 21 caps for Scotland, played at the 1995 World Cup and was selected for the 1993 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.
- John Beattie ( JB ) appeared 25 times for Scotland, was part of the 1984 Grand Slam winning squad and toured twice with the British & Irish Lions.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has retained the team that beat Ireland in the warm-ups for their Rugby World Cup opening match against Fiji.
The only change to the match day 23 is on the replacements’ bench with Rob Webber (Bath) replacing Jamie George (Saracens).
Scrumhalf Ben Youngs retains his place in the starting line-up ahead of Richard Wigglesworth on the replacements bench.
Leicester Tigers scrumhalf Youngs will win his 50th cap for England in the Rugby World Cup tournament opener after winning his 1st cap in 2010.
Hooker Kevin Bryce has been drafted into the Scotland squad for the Rugby World Cup as a replacement for Stuart McInally, who has been ruled out through injury, confirmed today.
McInally marked his 1st and 2nd international appearances in Scotland’s back-to-back wins over Italy last month before being named in the 31-man squad.
However a MRI scan at Spire Murrayfield Hospital revealed the extent of a subsequent, ongoing neck complaint that necessitates a prolonged period of recovery beyond the competition.
As a result Glasgow Warriors hooker Kevin Bryce – another back-row convert who made his Scotland debut as a loose forward on last year’s summer tour – has been brought into the squad as his direct replacement.
A popular topic of debate heading into the Rugby World Cup is that of eligibility, particularly that resulting from the residency method. We take a look at the foreign-born players in each squad, where they were born and how they are eligible.
An interesting fact – only Argentina can claim that all 31 players in their squad are native to their country. The other 19 teams all have players born abroad, including significant numbers in some of rugby’s most powerful nations.
All told, Rugby World Cup 2015 will have a grand total of 33 countries involved in the tournament. Players born in various African countries – Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Zimbabwe join the participating Namibia and South Africa. Zimbabwe has players representing 4 countries, more than any other non-competitor.
Spain is another country not present at the Rugby World Cup who have players representing multiple countries while other countries include Belgium, Israel, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands are also all represented.
Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa lead the way in terms of players representing others at the Rugby World Cup.
Sergio Parisse
Italy captain Sergio Parisse has declared himself unfit for the opening Rugby World Cup clash against France at Twickenham next week.
The 31-year-old Argentine-born No 8, capped 112 times by Italy and their star player, has not fully recovered after undergoing surgery to drain a hematoma last Monday.
He picked up the injury, a swelling of clotted blood, in a muscle in his left leg in Italy’s World Cup warm-up defeat to Wales in Cardiff last weekend.
The Italian federation initially said Parisse would not meet up with the Italy team in Rome on Saturday, but would instead link up “at a later date” in England.
Italy coach Jacques Brunel played down Parisse’s absence, but admitted the experienced Stade Francais player, considered 1 of the world’s best in his position, would be missed.
4 Years on and the perennial question arises: which France side will turn up at the Rugby World Cup?
The 1 that, of all the northern hemisphere nations, reserves their best rugby for confronting traditional favourites the All Blacks at the quadrennial showpiece… OR the 1 that for all their natural talent sometimes looks a shambles?
A perfect example of this Jekyll and Hyde character was the manner they stumbled to defeat to Tonga 4 years ago before amazingly running the All Blacks close in the final.
Truth be told things are no clearer 4 years on as the reign of Philippe Saint-Andre has failed to produce any more rhythm or consistency to their performances and results than under previous coach Marc Lievremont.
Indeed under Saint-Andre they have never finished higher than 4th in the Six Nations, filling that spot on 3 occasions, and even had the humbling experiencing of finishing rock bottom in 2013.
Victor Matfield
Springbok lock Victor Matfield will join the Northampton Saints on a 1-year deal at the end of this year’s Rugby World Cup.
Matfield, who at the age of 38 captained the Springboks earlier this year against Australia and Argentina, will join up with the British club for a swansong to end his career after the Springboks conclude their Rugby World Cup commitments.
He has been released from his coaching contract by mutual agreement by the Blue Bulls Company, after requesting a release earlier this week.
South Africa’s most capped Springbok and Rugby World Cup squad member, Matfield, is widely seen as possibly the greatest lock ever to play the game, and has been capped 123 times for the Springboks as he heads into his 4th Rugby World Cup.
Salesi Ma’afu
Former Australian international prop Salesi Ma’afu could face jail after French prosecutors on Tuesday requested an 8-month prison sentence and a € 1 500.00 fine for an alleged assault.
The 32-year-old Toulon player, capped 14 times, is believed to have been involved in a heated argument over a parking place on 16 August and to have hit someone who attempted to intervene.
Ma’afu has not sparkled in pre-season friendlies since he joined the 3-time European champions from English side Northampton, and only came on for the last half hour of the opening day defeat to Racing-Metro.
Mourad Boudjellal
Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal has denied any wrongdoing on the part of the club or players with regard to allegations surrounding a criminal investigation.
Reports in French media have stated that pharmacists illegally distributed products to the French Top 14 club’s players.
Prosecutors in Marseille confirmed on Tuesday that they have launched an investigation into the practices of a number of pharmacies in Toulon following a notification from AFDL, France’s anti-doping authority.
However, Boudjellal has held a press conference to rubbish the reports.
Sergio Parisse
Italy captain Sergio Parisse is in a race against time to be fit for the Rugby World Cup after undergoing surgery to drain a hematoma.
The charismatic No 8 returned to the National side last weekend in a warm-up match against Wales in Cardiff but sustained a knock to his left leg in the 19 / 23 defeat.
The surgery took place in Paris where the 31-year-old Argentine-born flank had a swelling of clotted blood drained.
Further details on his expected absence would be revealed following tests “in the coming days”.
South Africa moved up to 3rd place in the World Rankings without even kicking a ball.
It means the Springboks have climbed 2 places in the World Rankings since their last match – a win over Argentina in Buenos Aires, last month.
Their rise, despite the team’s inactivity, is the result of Ireland’s dramatic slump – the men from the Emerald Isle having lost to Wales (10 / 16) and England (13 / 21) in the past fortnight.
As a result, Rugby Championship heavyweights New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will go into the Rugby World Cup as the Top 3 nations in the rankings.
Ireland’s rating fell by 0.79 points and resulted in a 3-place drop to 6 for the Six Nations Champions, placing them below the Springboks.
England gained the same amount of points to leapfrog their Pool A opponents Wales into 4th.
Long-time leaders New Zealand remain untouchable – for a fortnight at least – on 92.89 points, with Australia 6.22 points behind in 2nd and South Africa a further 1.52 points back in 3rd.
Australia were unable to make up any ground on their arch rivals, despite being the only one of the 3 in action over the weekend.
Their 47 / 10 win over the USA Eagles in Chicago did not come with any ratings points, given the double-figure difference in rankings positions and rating points between the nations.
Serious injuries to star fullback Leigh Halfpenny and scrumhalf Rhys Webb, made it a day to forget for Wales, who scraped home 23 / 19 against Italy at the Millennium Stadium.
Left: Warren Gatland, Wales coach
Top Right: Rhys Webb injured
Bottom Right: Leigh Halfpenny stretchered off
Following Saturday’s narrow win over Italy, Wales have now been hit by the news and reality that Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb are out of the Rugby Wolrd Cup, their injuries serious enough to keep them out of the tournament in total.
Leigh Halfpenny:
Leigh Halfpenny suffered torn right knee ligaments in a warm-up match against Italy at the weekend.
South Africa’s Mahlatse ‘Chiliboy’ Ralepelle has been handed a 2-year ban for a doping offence, World Rugby, the sport’s global governing body, said on Sunday.
He will be free to play again on 10 April 2016, with his ban starting from the time of his provisional suspension last year.
Ralepelle, who won the last of his 22 Springbok caps in 2013, initially challenged his provisional suspension but gave up his right to appeal on Thursday.
When the 28-year-old hooker underwent an out-of-competition doping control on 19 March 2014, while recovering from surgery following a knee injury sustained playing for Toulouse against French rivals Biarritz in France in February of that year, the analysis of the sample returned a positive test for a metabolite of a banned anabolic steroid, drostanolone.
There were some very interesting results on the weekend in the last Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, befor the world showpiece starts on 18 September in England.
- England beat Ireland at Twickenham, by 21 / 13.
- Wales barely beat Italy by 23 / 19 but at the same time suffered 2 huge injury blows, one to Rhys Webb and the other to Leigh Halfpenny.
- France edged a spirited Scotland side at Stade de Framce, by 19 / 16.
- The Australian Wallabies romped past the USA Eagles by 47 / 10 at Soldier Field.
- Fiji put Canada to the sword by 47 / 18.
- Tonga beat Romania by 21 / 16.
- Japan beat Georgia 13 / 10.
- Samoa beat Wasps 25 / 19.
- Argentina beat Leicester 55 / 34.
It is the major results we will focus on however…
France (6) 19 / 16 (9) Scotland (Final Score)
France and Scotland did battle in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match at
Stade de France, Paris at 21:00 SA Time (21:00 French Time, 20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 6 on TV in SA.
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Sergio Parisse
Italian general Sergio Parisse has returned to lead his troops into battle against Wales at Cardiff on Saturday.
Parisse, who was sidelined with flu for the past 3 matches, is back at the helm of the Azzurri and at the base of the scrum in the No 8 jersey.
Parisse is 1 of 7 changes to coach Jacques Brunel’s starting line-up with Edoardo Gori back from suspension to provide some experience at scrumhalf.
Other changes are Andrea Masi, Leonardo Sarto and Gonzalo Garcia who are all added to the backline.
Up front, Michele Rizzo starts at loosehead prop, while Quintin Geldenhuys comes in for Marco Fuser at lock.
Ireland have left out prop Cian Healy and fullback Rob Kearney from the side to play England in their final World Cup warm-up match.
The 2 sides will go head-to-head at Twickenham on Saturday.
Joe Schmidt, the Ireland coach, has decided to give Healy more time to recover following the loosehead’s long-standing neck problems.
Healy only returned to full training this week, following neck surgery in May, and at one stage, was doubtful even to make Ireland’s final 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup.
Jack McGrath starts in his place.
Wynand Olivier
Pierre Spies
Former Springboks Pierre Spies and Wynand Olivier will start for the Barbarians when they tackle English club Worcester Warriors this weekend.
World Cup winner Ali Williams has been named captain of the BaaBaas, replacing South African Bakkies Botha who led the team against Samoa last week.
The former New Zealand lock leads a cosmopolitan team with internationals from 8 different nations at Sixways on Saturday.
The famous invitation side made 6 changes to the team that beat Samoa at the former Olympic Stadium last weekend.
Australia flyhalf Mike Harris and wing Dom Shipperley come into the backline alongside veteran Italy scrumhalf Paul Griffen.
Up front, Williams, Tolu Latu (Waratahs) and former USA captain Todd Clever all step into the starting line-up.
Recently added to this week’s squad is Aled Brew (Dragons & Wales) who takes over from Stade Francais fullback Paul Williams.