Player Movements
The Sharks have secured the services of Griquas prop Lourens Adriaanse from next season.
Edinburgh Rugby back-row Stuart McInally has set his sights on the career path travelled by fellow club player, Scotland and British & Irish Lions internationalist Ross Ford – to make the positional switch from back-row to hooker.
Flyhalf Matt Toomua will make his debut for Australia, while Quade Cooper was named on the bench for Saturday’s opening Rugby Championship match against New Zealand in Sydney.
Toomua was given the starting No.10 assignment ahead of Cooper by new Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie, for the match doubling up as a Bledisloe Cup encounter.
Blindside flank Liam Messam on Thursday withdrew from the All Black team to face Australia this weekend due to a hamstring strain, forcing coach Steve Hansen to draft in inexperienced Steven Luatua.
Messam pulled up sore at training, preventing him from featuring in the Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls had a late change to their team playing Griquas in an Absa Currie Cup match in Pretoria on Friday.
Prop Frik Kirsten has an ankle strain and will be rested for the clash at Loftus Versfeld. His place will be taken by Werner Kruger.
Edinburgh Rugby have been very busy on the recruitment front in the closed season following a very disappointing 2012 / 13 season. Numerous players of varying experience have been brought in, with Australasia proving a particularly attractive source region to the club.
Willie du Plessis, the University of Pretoria flyhalf, could make his Currie Cup debut for the Free State Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday.
The inclusion the Varsity Cup star on the bench is the only change to the team that will face defending champions Western Province in a Round Two match on Saturday.
The Golden Lions have announced the team to take on the Sharks in Durban on Friday 16 August 2013 at 17:05.
Pote Human has gone “Down Under” to find a replacement for injured lock, Ligtoring Landman. Landman who broke his thumb in the match versus the Sharks will be out until at least the second round of the Currie Cup.
With Martin Muller (Lions), Frikkie Spies (France) and Edwin Hewitt (Sharks) all gone to greener pastures, Landman, Nepgen and Lobberts were the only lock options. Pote has brought in the man mountain Rory Arnold from the Gold Coast Breakers Club in Queenslan Australia, to trial for the Currie Cup season.
Facing a looming wing crisis, coach Naka Drotske has called in some favours. In the past the Cheetahs have often released players for Bok Sevens duty. Now the shoe is on the other foot, with the Sevens team helping the Cheetahs out of a bind.
Die Vodacom Blou Bulle-afrigter, Pine Pienaar, het slegs een verandering aan sy span gemaak wat Vrydag op Loftus Versfeld in ‘n Absa Curriebekerwedstryd teen Griekwas speel.
Callie Visagie begin as haker in die plek van Willie Wepener, met Bongi Mbonambi wat Van Wyk se plek op die plaasvervangerbank inneem in die Blou Bulle se eerste tuiswedstryd van die kompetisie. Dit sal ook Mbonambi se eerste verskyning in vanjaar se kompetisie wees.
Flyhalf Dan Carter will miss New Zealand’s first two Rugby Championship Tests against Australia and could be sidelined for up to four weeks with a calf strain.
The Free State Cheetahs could be without the services of their only specialist fullback for a while, with Hennie Daniller struggling with a suspected hand fracture.
SA Under-20 fullback Cheslin Kolbe has signed a long-term deal with Western Province Rugby, whilst flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis is back in the Cape for the 2013 Absa Currie Cup.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has moved swiftly to alleviate a pending backline crisis. Regular fullback Hennie Daniller has a suspected hand fracture that could rule him out for the Currie Cup season. The Volksblad reported that Naka has signed the Varsity Cup champions, Tukkies, pivot Willie du Plessis, who can play flyhalf, centre and fullback.
This Monday morning the overseas contingent of the Springboks joined the squad in preparation for The Rugby Championship and this weekend’s game against Argentina. This after the Pumas have already been in camp for a month and having just completed 2 vital warm-up games against a strong New South Wales Barbarians touring side, just winning the first encounter and then doing a real demolition job on the NSW Barbarians side on the weekend, winning 58 / 12.
Of course the Springboks firstly have to come to grips with the new scrum engagement sequence, something we saw this past weekend in The Currie Cup Premier Division matches, which caused quite a stir.
During last week Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira sat out with a hamstring twinge, Coenie Oosthuizen had the flu and Jannie du Plessis was nursing a light calf strain, so it’s fair to assume not a great deal of scrum preparation work could be done.
Aviva Premiership Rugby club Bath have announced that Springbok flanker Francois Louw has signed a new long term deal with the Club.
The New Zealand Rugby Union have admitted to trying to tempt former All Blacks superstar Sonny Bill Williams back to the 15-a-side code from Rugby League.
Williams left the 15-a-side game earlier this year to return to his first love, league, after a four-year flirtation with union.
Crusaders centre Ryan Crotty was rushed into the All Blacks squad Sunday as injury cover less than a week from their opening Rugby Championship game against Australia in Sydney.
Veteran prop Benn Robinson and scrumhalf Nick Phipps were among the 10 players cut from the Wallabies squad.
New coach Ewen McKenzie narrowed his selection pool for the opening Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand on August 17 – an encounter which doubles as a Bledisloe Cup contest.
McKenzie, who replaced Robbie Deans as head coach after Australia’s 1-2 series loss to the British and Irish Lions last month, included eight uncapped players in the 30-man squad announced Friday.
He still needs to trim that down to 22 for the Test in Sydney.
New Zealand’s star flyhalf Dan Carter will take an extended break from the game next year to ensure he is fit for the 2015 World Cup.
The 31-year-old, the highest points scorer in international rugby, is under contract with New Zealand until the end of 2015.
However, like All Black captain Richie McCaw – who sat out the first six months of this year – Carter has a clause allowing him to take a sabbatical.
The open secret which has already done all the rounds, has been confirmed.
Apart from Waylon Murray and Jacques “Vleis” Engelbrecht joining the Blue Bulls, Bandise Maku and David Bullbring (both Kings) and Callie Visagie (Golden Lions) have signed and will join the Blue Bulls with immediate effect, in deals stretching to the end of 2016.
All Black back Beauden Barrett revealed he has resisted overtures from the Blues and will stay with the Hurricanes for next year’s Super Rugby season.
Tyrone Holmes is set to make his debut on Thursday for Glasgow Warriors at Rubislaw in Aberdeen. The Warriors are on a two day trip to the city as part of their preseason preparations which include a practice session which will be open to the public to attend as well as a match against local team, Aberdeen Grammar.
Since the Springbok squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship was announced, featuring 10 players who will be applying their trade away from South African shores, speculation has been ongoing whether there has been a shift away from picking South African based players over internationally based South Africans for the Springboks.
This week there has been some mumblings by Jurie Roux, SARU CEO, and the inclusion of Japan-based Fourie du Preez has prompted the question whether Japan’s clubs and our National team setup has moved the goal posts as far as selection of Japanese players are concerned.
Opinion is widely devided on whether the Springboks should allow foreign-based players to be eligible for Springbok selection, with the one lot saying it’s the professional era and where you are based no longer matters, as long as you are the best in your position. The result is the conundrum of player availability well before a Test. At the moment clubs overseas are only obliged to release the players to be available on the Monday preceeding the Test, which allows for very little preparation time.
On the other hand there has been the stance that overseas-based players should not be picked for the Springboks, in order to firstly discourage players leaving the SA shores for lucrative deals elsewhere, having chosen to apply their trade elsewhere and thus voluntarily choosing not to be considered for the Springboks. I was a serious proponent of this stance, but I’ve had somewhat of a mind shift, I must admit.
Certainly for the upcoming Rugby Championship, it would have been foolhardy not to pick the Springboks who have recently decided to go overseas, after all there are 6 regular starting Springboks amongst those recent departees.
I now find myself in the middle somewhere, hoping players could stay in South Africa if they aspire to continue or start their Springbok careers, yet seeing the inevitability of the lure of the stronger currencies abroad.
The solution would have been simple…. institute a CENTRALLY CONTRACTED SYSTEM here in South Africa (very similar to the New Zealand system), where SARU takes charge of the contracts of the frontline Springbok players, but that remains a pipe dream and clearly is beyond the capabilities of the inept bunch at SARU. In stead we can rely on SARU to muck things up even more and I’m afraid but I would not want their grubby hands to touch Central Contrating under those circumstances.
Another solution could be to impliment a CLEAR OVERSEAS QUOTA SYSTEM in the selection policy, where SARU regulates to the players and national coach that only 2 or 3 overseas-based players may be included in a 30-man squad. This would have put the Springboks in a conundrum situation right now before the start of The Rugby Championship, but maybe with an eye on the End Of Year Tours and beyond, that system must be applied, unless it can be negotiated that overseas-based players are available earlier and for every Test of the year, no exceptions allowed.
Below some of the news and speculation in this regard, taken from what was available in the press.
Argentina head coach Santiago Phelan has confirmed a twenty-six man squad to travel to South Africa and play the Springboks at Soccer City on Saturday 17 August 2013.
The team will play a warm-up match against New South Wales in Salta on Friday before they travel to South Africa.
Experienced hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and lock Peter Kimlin are out of the Wallabies’ extended squad for the Rugby Championship because of injury and will miss the opener against New Zealand.
The player exodus at the Southern Kings is continuing, with Kings scrumhalf Shaun Venter the latest player to secure a contract with a Super Rugby franchise. Venter has signed a two year deal with the Cheetahs, commencing on the 1st November 2013.
Demetri Catrakilis wants to use the upcoming Currie Cup season to play open a spot in the Springbok squad for the end-of-year tour to Europe.
Ballz Visual Radio recorded a very, very interesting interview with Xander Janse van Rensburg, Blue Bulls High Performance Manager, discussing and detailing how young talent is identified ranging from as early as 12 years of age upwards. It details how relationships are formed with them and how they are drawn into junior high performance structures at the Bulls, how scouting is done and ultimately how these players are brought into the Blue Bulls fold.
You would be doing yourself an injustice not to view and listen to the whole interview.
The Blue Bulls have further bolstered their ranks with the signing of Kings loose forward Jacques “Vleis” Engelbrecht who joins them on a three-year deal.
The hard-working Engelbrecht impressed for the Kings in their debut Super Rugby season this year, and he joins teammate Waylon Murray in heading to Loftus Versveld following the Eastern Cape side’s relegation from Super Rugby.
Kings flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis has confirmed that he will be heading back to Cape Town to play for Western Province in the Currie Cup.
The newly promoted Golden Lions will formally sit down with prop Jacobus (Bees) Roux on Tuesday to see if they can sign him on a short-term Currie Cup contract.
Roux, better known as ‘Bees’, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in August 2010 – when he was arrested in connection with the death of a South African police officer in Pretoria.
Roux was given a five-year suspended jail sentence in 2011 over the beating to death of Tshwane metro police officer Johannes Mogale the year before.
Springbok and Bulls flank Jacques Potgieter has signed a two-year deal with the Waratahs.
Potgieter will this week join Japanese outfit Fukuoka Sanix Blues on a six-month sabbatical, but was expected to return to the Pretoria-based franchise for next year’s Super Rugby tournament.
New Sharks director of rugby Brendan Venter is “very impressed” with the set-up at the rugby union, he said on Monday.