Player Movements
This is the 7th in the series of the Lions Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Lions 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
The Cell C Sharks have named their squad to face Saracens on Saturday 25 January 2014, when they will play in a pre-season friendly at Allianz Park in London.
It will be the first time in a game situation that Jake White will be in charge of the Cell C Sharks and this game is one of 2 scheduled warm-up matches for the Sharks, in preparation of the 2014 Super Rugby season.
The squad is minus a few players, notably with Patrick Lambie, JP Pietersen, SP Marais and a couple of locks not going on tour.
Cheslin Kolbe’s Super Rugby debut has been pushed back after the rising star suffered a serious knee injury during a Stormers training session on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old suffered a torn lateral meniscus in what coach Allister Coetzee described as a “freak accident” and requires surgery that will sideline him for at least eight weeks.
Springbok and Stormers wing Gio Aplon’s preferred destination, if he leaves South African rugby, will be Japan, and not France, as earlier reports had indicated.
Western Province Rugby chief executive Rob Wagner has moved to dismiss reports that Aplon had signed a contract with French team Grenoble.
Uncapped 23-year-old Edinburgh wing Dougie Fife was named in a senior Scotland squad for the first time – ahead of the Six Nations next month.
Fife, a product of Edinburgh’s development system and also nurtured by the Currie club, has been in prolific form for the capital pro-club, scoring five tries in his last seven outings.
The Ireland coaching staff have announced an extended squad of 44 players for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship and the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds fixture against England Saxons. Ulster’s uncapped former South African duo Robbie Diack and Rob Herring have been included in the squad.
Gethin Jenkins has been included in a 32-man Wales squad for the Six Nations despite concerns over his damaged knee. The 33-year-old prop had a scan on Monday after he was injured in Cardiff Blues’ Heineken Cup defeat by Toulon.
This is the 7th in the series of Stormers Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the DHL Stormers 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 7th in the series of Cheetahs Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Toyota Cheetahs 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
Despite their difficult financial situation, Fiji will definitely still take part in the Wellington Sevens tournament next month.
Sevens Wellington general manager Marty Donoghue confirmed that the Fiji team will remain a key feature of the 7 – 8 February tournament at Westpac Stadium.
The Toyota Cheetahs will have to do without Heinrich Brüssow for the opening 6 rounds of their 2014 Super Rugby season after the loose forward tore a ligament in his toe.
The Springbok flank, who was due to return to the Cheetahs to take part in this year’s Super Rugby competition, sustained the injury while playing his first season for Japanese club Docomo Red Hurricanes.
Springbok and Stormers winger Gio Aplon is set to become the next high-profile South African to head to France after it was revealed he was “close to signing” a contract with French club Grenoble.
After seven lean years, in which their highest finish was 10th, the Cheetahs finally made the 2013 Super Rugby play-offs. Now they are ready to raise the bar once more.
Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie is confident they have the squad to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish – when they were knocked out in the quarterfinal stage by the Brumbies.
Back to back Super Rugby champions the Chiefs have signed up Hawke’s Bay flyhalf Ihaia West as injury cover ahead of the Super Rugby season.
Blues’ high-profile Rugby League recruit Benji Marshall will take time to convert to Rugby Union.
This is the view of New Zealand’s World Cup-winning former All Black coach Graham Henry, who is also assisting John Kirwan at the Blues.
The oldest man to wear a Springbok jersey in the modern era, Johan Ackermann, has given Victor Matfield’s comeback his seal of approval.
The Lions will field a much younger and very inexperienced squad in 2014, compared to their last appearance in Super Rugby in 2012.
However, coach Johan Ackermann said he would lean heavily on a handful of his most senior players – the old hands left over from two years ago – when they start their campaign next month.
The Blues have withdrawn Culum Retallick from their squad for the upcoming Super Rugby season.
The veteran lock was expected to miss the majority if not all of the season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The Western Force will host two pre-season fixtures in Perth this year.
They face Samoa A in Rockingham (Friday 7 February) and Argentinian side, Pampas XV, in Joondalup (Friday 14 February).
Super Rugby teams will step up their preparations for the upcoming season and shake off some rust in pre-season friendlies in the coming weeks.
Preparing for the gruelling Super Rugby tournament, which gets underway on 15 February and culminates on 2 August, is not an exact science.
This is the 6th in the series of Stormers Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for FLYHALVES in the DHL Stormers 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 6th in the series of Cheetahs Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for FLYHALVES in the Toyota Cheetahs 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 6th article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for FLYHALVES in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 6th article in the series of Cell C Sharks Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for FLYHALVES in the Cell C Sharks 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 6th in the series of the Lions Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for FLYHALVES in the Lions 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
Former Springbok lock Victor Matfield will make his return to the playing field for the Bulls in this year’s Super Rugby competition, a report indicates.
Die Burger newspaper was reliably informed by three credible sources that Matfield will play for the Bulls.
The Bulls have completed their first week of training in 2014 with a virtually injury-free squad to pick from, according to reports.
Players like Pierre Spies, Arno Botha, Francois Hougaard and Deon Stegmann took full part in training on Thursday as the Bulls concluded their first week back.
The world’s best hooker, Bismarck du Plessis, is among 12 Springboks named in a provisional Sharks squad to play Saracens at Allianz Park on Saturday, January 25.
The reigning Currie Cup champions will play the current Premiership leaders, a unique clash between north and south, between the Heineken Cup in European Cup and Super Rugby.
DHL Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee has named a 38-man squad for next week’s pre-season camp in Hermanus.
The DHL Stormers will head to Hermanus for the fourth year in a row as they prepare for the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season which gets underway in just over a month.
Springboks Tiaan Liebenberg, Frans Malherbe, Pat Cilliers, Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen, Jean de Villiers, Jaco Taute, Juan de Jongh and Gio Aplon are all part of the 38-man group, which also includes new signing Manuel Carizza (lock) and utility back Scott van Breda, who is on loan from the Kings.
The Cheetahs will head off the beaten track during their pre-season build-up, as they look to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish in Super Rugby.
Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie confirmed to this website that one of their pre-season games – against the new Currie Cup team, the Pumas, on February 1 – will be played in the Free State town of Parys, a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province.
Wallabies and Waratahs No 8 Wycliff Palu has declared himself fit and ready for a big Super Rugby season in 2014 having recovered from surgery.
Thirty-one-year-old Palu went under the knife to repair torn cartilage in his right knee and has not played rugby since the Wallabies third Test against the British and Irish Lions.
Morgan Parra will make a surprise return to action against Harlequins in the European Cup on Saturday, his Clermont head coach Vern Cotter said on Thursday.
Versatile back Mirco Bergamasco was named in Italy’s pre-Six Nations 30-man squad by coach Jacques Brunel Thursday, for the first time in more than a year.
The 30-year-old has not played for Italy since November 2012 when he broke his knee against Australia in Florence.
Ixias versatile prop and the Griffons Vodacom Cup Forward Player of the Year for 2013, Danie van der Merwe has been called up to train with the Toyota Cheetahs.
The Lions have half-a-dozen players on their doubtful list, just more than a month away from their return to Super Rugby.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann, in an interview with this website as his team returned to the training field this week, revealed that Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies tops the list of injured players.