Player Movements
Daniel du Preez
Injured Sharks lock Daniel du Preez has been withdrawn from the South African Under-20 squad that will travel to New Zealand on Monday for the upcoming IRB Junior World Championship (JWC).
The 18-year old former SA Schools player is replaced by Johannes Vermeulen of Western Province.
Adriaan Strauss
Cheetahs captain Adriaan Strauss has been cited for a lifted tackle in his sides loss against the Stormers.
Strauss was Yellow Carded by referee Stuart Berry for the incident that happened in the 23rd minute of the Cheetahs dismissal display at wet and windy Newlands.
Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson & Matt Giteau celebrates
Jonny Wilkinson said playing alongside ‘inspirational’ former Australian centre Matt Giteau had convinced him now was the right time to retire.
Giteau will find himself back on South African soil in June when he faces the Springboks as part of Nick Mallett’s World XV.
Wilkinson and Giteau – ‘the ultimate professional’ in the eyes of the England great – were both members of the star-studded Toulon side that retained the European Cup with a 23-6 win over Saracens in the European Cup Final.
Toulon celebrates the 2014 Heineken Cup win against Saracens
Comic magnate Mourad Boudjellal’s Toulon retained the Heineken Cup trophy with a comprehensive victory, by seventeen points, over English club Saracens at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff yesterday. The final score was Saracens 6/23 Toulon.
This victory proved that in the modern era of sports it is most often the team who has the biggest pot of gold available to it who will win the trophy as on the same day Toulon’s football equivalent Real Madrid lifted the Champions League trophy just hours later in Lisbon. The final score of 4/1 to Real Madrid may make their victory seem as comprehensive as Toulon’s.
Handré Pollard
South Africa Under 20 captain Handré Pollard has not been able to participate in the team’s build-up to the IRB World Junior Championship.
The tournament will be stage in New Zealand next month.
Despite the absence of two key players, Pollard (Bulls) and Thomas du Toit (Sharks), Baby Bok coach Dawie Theron is not concerned.
Pollard and Du Toit have been on Super Rugby duty.
Francois Louw
Ruan Pienaar
Overseas-based Springboks Francois Louw and Ruan Pienaar will be ready for action by the time the Boks play their first game this year.
Flanker Louw, who plays for Bath in England, has recovered from an ankle injury which ruled him out for the last nine weeks. He is expected to play for Bath in their Amlin Challenge Cup final against Northampton Saints at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday.
Scrumhalf Pienaar has also returned to action for his Irish club, Ulster, after being sidelined for four weeks.
CJ van der Linde
EDgar Marutlulle
The Eastern Province Kings have confirmed two new player contracts ahead of their re-entry into the Currie Cup Premier Division.
EP Rugby CEO, Charl Crous confirmed that the EP Kings have signed prop CJ van der Linde until the end of the 2014 season, as well as signing hooker Edgar Marutlulle until the end of 2015.
Lions’ head coach Johan Ackermann has made 10 changes to the run on personnel, 6 in the pack, and four in the backs, as well as one positional switch to his side to take on the Western Force in Perth this weekend.
The Lions have yet to pick up a win on tour and are desperate to break their duck, but major injuries have beset the touring squad in the past week making a win on Saturday against a high flying Force side seem unlikely.
Hilton Lobberts
Former Springbok forward Hilton Lobberts has been named on the Cheetahs bench for Saturday’s clash with the Stormers at Newlands.
The two-Test former Stormers player replaces lock Waltie Vermeulen in one of two changes made to the Cheetahs bench. Scrumhalf Tian Meyer, who like Lobberts was part Vodacom Cup-winning Griquas team – also comes onto the bench for Renier Botha.
Jean de Villiers
Schalk Burger
Vice-captain Schalk Burger and captain Jean de Villiers are both back in the DHL Stormers team for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Cheetahs at DHL Newlands, kick-off 17:05 SA Time.
Tickets for this weekend can be bought online at TicketPros, or from selected Spar stores or PostNet outlets/stores. Ticket prices start at R50 for standing and R80 for seating.
Burger missed last weekend’s 24-8 win over the Force, whilst De Villiers returns after a two-week lay-off.
Luke Braid returns from injury to captain the Blues against the Sharks at QBE Stadium in North Harbour on Friday night.
The openside flanker missed the last two games against the Chiefs and Reds with a shoulder injury, but after another week off with the bye Braid is back to full fitness and raring to go.
“It was really important to make sure we gave Luke time to recover from his shoulder,” Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan said.
Jean Deysel receives his Red Card against the Crusaders for stamping
A SANZAR Judicial Hearing has accepted a guilty plea from Jean Deysel of the Sharks for contravening Law 10.4 (b) Stamping or trampling after he was issued a red card during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Deysel has been suspended for three weeks up to and including Saturday 7 June 2014.
The incident occurred during the match between the Crusaders and Sharks at AMI Stadium, Addington in Christchurch on Saturday 17 May 2014. The referee for the match, Rohan Hoffman, issued a red card for the incident which occurred in the 16th minute.
Pat Leafa
Rebels Hooker Pat Leafa has committed his future to the club, signing a deal which will see him remain in Melbourne until the end of the 2016 season.
Leafa was born in Auckland, however will qualify to represent Australia if selected as of January 2015. The popular hooker joined the Rebels from the Brumbies’ Academy and the Canberra club competition as a member of the Extended Playing Squad (EPS) in 2012, managing two appearances as he patiently waited behind Ged Robinson and Shota Horie in the pecking order.
James Hook
The Stormers and Sharks have reportedly shown interest in acquiring the services of Welsh flyhalf James Hook.
Hook, 28, is currently contracted with French club Perpignan but is expected to leave them after they were relegated from the Top 14. He has an opt-out clause in his contract which allows him the option to leave if they lose their top-flight status.
Shaun Sowerby
Former Springbok No 8 Shaun Sowerby says Bok coach Heyneke Meyer should keep his eye on the South African players in France.
Sowerby, who was recently named as one of the EP Kings’ assistant coaches, played club rugby in France for 10 years.
The 36-year-old played a single Test for the Springboks in 2002 but was a stalwart for the Sharks, before moving to France in 2004 when he joined Stade Francais.
He also had a stint at Toulouse and finished his playing career at Grenoble.
Flip van der Merwe
Regular Vodacom Bulls captain, Flip van der Merwe, is back at the helm of the team to face the Brumbies in a Vodacom Super Rugby match in Pretoria on Friday. Van der Merwe missed three matches due to suspension and is one of three changes to the side that beat the DHL Stormers two weeks ago.
Van der Merwe replaces Paul Willemse in the number four jumper while Werner Kruger rotates as tight-head prop with Marcel van der Merwe. Jacques-Louis Potgieter swops the bench and the number ten jersey with Handrè Pollard in the only change at the back.
Wimpie van der Walt makes way for Willemse on the bench. Ulrich Beyers also comes onto the bench in place of William Small-Smith, who is ill.
Frans Malherbe
Springbok tighthead prop Frans Malherbe is unlikely to make his return to the DHL Stormers team for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Toyota Cheetahs at Newlands.
While Jean de Villiers will definitely be back to lead the team and Schalk Burger and Sailosi Tagicakibau were both training on Monday, coach Allister Coetzee has confirmed that Malherbe was still showing symptoms of concussion the last time he was tested and will sit out the recommended full three weeks for concussion.
Jean Deysel’s Red Card for stamping
Sharks flank Jean Deysel appeared before a SANZAR judicial hearing after he received a red card during their Super Rugby match against the Crusaders in Christchurch at the weekend.
Deysel received the red card for contravening Law 10.4 (b) – Stamping or trampling.
He received his marching orders from referee Rohan Hoffman for stamping on the face of Crusaders flank Jordan Taufua in the 16th minute on the game, which the Sharks remarkably won 30-25.
The judicial officer for the hearing is Jannie Lubbe and it was held via video conference on Tuesday (11:00 SA Time).
The Hearing took place but a decision regarding appropriate punishment could not be reached.
Following almost two hours of hearing evidence and submissions, the judicial officer, Jannie Lubbe, concluded matters and will release his judgment in the next 24 hours once he has given due consideration to the facts and evidence presented during the hearing.
SANZAR said no further comment will be made until this process has been completed.
Deysel will have to wait another day to hear if he will be suspended for stamping on the face of Crusaders flank Jordan Taufua.
Centre Jaque Fourie is unlikely to feature for the Springboks this year due to an ankle injury.
According to reports, Fourie will undergo an ankle operation on Tuesday which could keep him out of the game for up to six months.
Talented young scrumhalf Augustine Pulu has committed to the Chiefs for at least the next two years.
The 24-year old has played 31 matches for the Chiefs, including seven so far this season, scoring two tries and assisting another.
Former Heineken Cup champions Leinster have announced that they have signed Wallabies and Waratahs lock Kane Douglas after his Australian Rugby Union contract expires later in the year.
The 24 year old, who made his Australian debut in 2012 against Argentina and has gone on to win 13 further caps since then, will join a roster that already includes Irish internationals Devin Toner and Mike McCarthy.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has called up 18 players from Harlequins and Leicester Tigers to the England training squad that is preparing for the tour to New Zealand and the match against the Barbarians after the two clubs completed their domestic seasons.
The players will arrive at the Lensbury Club from Wednesday evening along with Sale Sharks’ James Gaskell and Ross Harrison. Bath Rugby’s Rob Webber joined the squad last night.
Further players will be added from Bath Rugby and London Wasps following the conclusion of the Amlin Challenge Cup final (23 May) and the European Rugby Champions Cup play-off second leg (May 24) with a further group from Saracens and Northampton Saints joining the tour party and the Aviva Premiership final (31 May).
William Small-Smith will not train on Monday due to a stomach ailment, but both Piet van Zyl and Flip van der Merwe reported for training duty and will be considered for the Vodacom Bulls match against the Brumbies on Friday.
According to the Vodacom Bulls team doctor, Org Strauss, all of the squad are in good health and ready to take on the Australian conference leaders.
The Lions medical staff have released an injury update, following the Vodacom Super Rugby outfit’s 41-13 loss to the Waratahs in Sydney on Sunday.
Unfortunately utility backs Lionel Mapoe (MCL), Courtnall Skosan (Hamstring) and forward Derick Minnie (concussion) have returned to South Africa this morning. They will undergo further scans and tests upon their arrival.
Coenie van Wyk and Alwyn Hollenbach departs for Perth on Monday evening in order to provide cover.
The team is still extremely positive and will be hungry to get their first win while on tour, against the Force on Saturday.
The DHL Stormers, fresh off their 24-8 win over the Force at the weekend, were further boosted on Monday with some good news in the injury department.
The Men from the Cape will host the Cheetahs in Cape Town this coming Saturday and the likes of Oli Kebble, Schalk Burger, Jean de Villiers and Sailosi Tagicakibau will be considered for selection once again.
The Toyota Cheetahs have lost their second player with the news that fullback Hennie Daniller will move to Italian club Zebre at the end of the current Vodacom Super Rugby season.
Daniller, who has just turned 30, has been released early by the Cheetahs to make the move, and the news comes a few days after French club Oyonnax confirmed they had signed utility back Riaan “True Blue” Smit.
Reds lock Ed O’Donoghue has been found not guilty of alleged eye-gouging in his side’s Super Rugby loss to the Rebels at the weekend.
O’Donoghue was sent off following the intervention of the television match official (TMO) for an incident with Rebels skipper Scott Higginbotham.
Television replays appeared to show O’Donoghue running his fingers over Higginbotham’s eyes as both players wrestled with each other on the ground.
England’s Rugby World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson announced on Monday that he will retire at the end of the season after Toulon’s Heineken Cup and French Top 14 finals.
“I would like to take this opportunity to formally announce my retirement from playing rugby,” the 34-year-old said in a statement on his club’s website.
“I have an enormous number of people to thank for their support from all around the world but especially here in France and in England,” Wilkinson said.
Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper faces a 16-week recovery after MRI scans confirmed he requires surgery to heal an AC joint injury suffered against the Melbourne Rebels.
Cooper will undergo surgery on his shoulder on Tuesday to repair a Grade Three AC joint injury in his left shoulder after he fell on it awkwardly in a tackle.
World champion Springboks Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger as well as two former Blitzbok stars, Cornal Hendricks and S’bura Sithole, are included in a 36-man squad to attend a national training camp in Durban from 25 to 28 May, the South African Rugby Union announced on Monday.
Cell C Sharks back Sithole and Hendricks, the SA Sevens Player of the Year in 2013, are two of eight uncapped players in the squad. The others are the Toyota Cheetahs duo of Lood de Jager (lock) and Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje (loose forward); Marcel van der Merwe (prop) and Jacques du Plessis (flank/lock) of the Vodacom Bulls; Marnitz Boshoff (flyhalf) of the Lions and the DHL Stormers’ Damian De Allende (centre/wing).
They will join Matfield, Burger and Toyota Cheetahs flanker Heinrich Brüssow – who are back in the national set up for the first time since the last Rugby World Cup in 2011 – in a training squad that is missing a number of players due to injury.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said he was happy with the form of a number of the country’s top players and the uncapped players who have grabbed their chance this season, as well as the re-appearance from retirement and long-term injury of Matfield and Burger.
The Chiefs have been given a big boost for this week’s Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes as Aaron Cruden has been cleared to make his return this week.
Cruden’s return will be a big boost for the Chiefs as well as the All Blacks who face England in a three Test series next month.
First-five Cruden has been training with the All Blacks in Christchurch but has not featured for the Chiefs since the beginning of April.
The Melbourne Rebels face a crisis at scrumhalf as Luke Burgess has been ruled out for up to two months of Super Rugby with a knee injury.
Burgess was hoping to play against his former team the Waratahs this weekend but he injured his knee in the Club’s victory over the Reds in Brisbane on Saturday.
The injury is a blow to the side, who are already without the services of fellow scrumhalf Nic Stirzaker, leaving rookie Ben Meehan and experienced injury replacement Josh Holmes to battle for the nine jersey against the Waratahs.
England were left with an anxious wait to discover if full-back Mike Brown would be fit for next month’s tour of New Zealand after the full-back was injured in a gruelling Premiership semifinal on Saturday.
Harlequins star Brown, player of the tournament in this season’s Six Nations Championship, went off with a hamstring injury midway through the second half of his side’s 31-17 semifinal loss away to Saracens.
England coach Stuart Lancaster is already without regular full-back alternatives in Saracens’ Alex Goode and Northampton’s Ben Foden for the first of a three-test series against the world champion All Blacks in Auckland on June 7 as the pair will be required for the Premiership final at Twickenham seven days earlier.
Harlequins’ director of rugby Conor O’Shea, himself a former Ireland full-back, tried to still fears about the health of England’s first-choice No 15.
Versatile Vodacom Blue Bulls midfielder Rohan Janse van Rensburg has replaced his injured provincial team mate Duncan Matthews (wing) in the Junior Springboks squad for 2014 IRB Junior World Championship.
New Zealand will stage the 2014 JWC for the first time from 2 to 20 June in Auckland. Matthews was ruled out of action due to a back injury.
Jean Deysel of the Sharks received a red card for foul play during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
He was cited following the game.
Deysel is alleged to have contravened Law 10.4 (b) Stamping or trampling. The incident occurred during the match between the Crusaders and Sharks at AMI Stadium, Addington in Christchurch on Saturday 17 May 2014. The referee for the match, Rohan Hoffman, issued a red card for the incident which occurred in the 16th minute.