Player Movements
The dreaded injury bogey and looseforward curse has struck Heinrich Brüssow, the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Springbok flank yet again.
Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen has been cleared to play after an examination by a neurosurgeon in Durban on Tuesday.
Amongst all the frenetic activity on the international scene, the silly season has gone into full swing. So lets see what the player accquisitions are for the Cheetahs, looking ahead to 2013. In addition lets look at some players that are making waves.
The convincing win of the Springboks on Saturday was followed by news on the injury front.
Most notably Francois Steyn, who rolled his left ankle last Monday morning, will have to undergo an operation to clean the ankle up and will be sidelined for 3 months recovering from the surgery.
Lions stalwart Wikus van Heerden will retire after Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup match against the Sharks at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg.
Springbok utility back Patrick Lambie’s unavailability for Currie Cup duty this week has left Sharks coach John Plumtree a frustrated man.
Springbok Rugby coaches have released five players back to their Currie Cup squads from the squad that returned from New Zealand.
Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper has been ruled out of the remainder of The Rugby Championship after scans revealed an articular cartilage chip to his right knee.
Western Province loose forwards Jebb Sinclair and Tyrone Holmes have almost completely escaped further punishment for the punches they threw at Kings Park on Saturday.
The Southern Kings are looking “far and wide” for players to make them competitive when they debut in Super Rugby next year.
The latest reported players to apparently have signed for 2013 includes centre Andries Strauss from the Cheetahs and lock Steven Sykes from the Sharks.
Sharks centre Paul Jordaan has been ruled out of this week’s Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban. Jordaan suffered concussion when the Sharks were beaten by the Griquas at the weekend. He also has a facial injury.
The Wallabies injury woes have continued with the news that hooker Stephen Moore and utility back James O’Connor’s return to fitness has been postponed.
Western Province coach Allister Coetzee may have let Burton Francis go, but he will fight a little harder to keep the services of Demetri Catrakilis.
The GLRU have announced in a media release that former talsimatic captain Joshua Strauss is to leave the Lions and play for the Glasgow Warriors until May 2015.
He will depart for Scotland in the next 2 weeks.
The full press release reads:
Bakkies Botha has been placed on stand-by by Springbok management in case lock Eben Etzebeth loses his hearing into an alleged headbutt during South Africa’s 26-19 Rugby Championship loss to Australia, coach Heyneke Meyer said on Monday in Auckland.
You have to be careful these days not to use performances in the diluted Currie Cup as too big a yardstick toward international credentials.
Flyhalf Dan Carter will not be considered for New Zealand’s Rugby Championship clash with South Africa next week to allow him to recover completely from a calf strain, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said on Sunday.
All Black and Blues veteran prop Tony Woodcock has agreed to leave Auckland Rugby and play for the Highlanders in the 2013 Super Rugby season.
Australia were quickly brought back down to earth after a morale-boosting victory over South Africa in the Rugby Championship with world class scrumhalf Will Genia ruled out for at least six months with a knee injury.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls have lost Deon Stegmann for the remainder of the Absa Currie Cup season.
Golden Lions interim coach Johan Ackermann says ongoing reports and rumours about players leaving the union after the Currie Cup are disrupting their campaign.
The Western Force on Tuesday signed New Zealand scrumhalf Alby Mathewson as its marquee player for the 2013 season as they work to rebuild the team.
Wallaby lock Dan Vickerman on Tuesday announced his retirement from all forms of the game after being sidelined with injury for much of the year.
Various pre-season friendly matches have taken place this weekend, ahead of the start of the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12 competitions. Furthemore, there has been news of player injuries as well as some player transfer news.
Western Province captain Deon Fourie has been offered a contract by Toulon and expects to join the French Top14 club after the Currie Cup.
All Blacks and Blues prop Tony Woodcock has been ruled out and sidelined with a rib injury from the Test between the All Blacks and Wallabies on Saturday, a Test forming both part of The Rugby Championship as well as it being a Bledisloe Cup match, at Eden Park in New Zealand.
South Africa are facing an anxious wait over the fitness of Bryan Habana and Andries Bekker ahead of their match with Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday. Bryan Habana even disbarked in Mendoza on crutches and sporting a moonboot on one leg.
Springbok No 8 Pierre Spies has been ruled out of The Rugby Championship due to an injury he sustained playing Super Rugby last month.
The silly season is truly upon us, with players moving like pieces on a chess board. Promising young Bulls tighthead prop, Rossouw de Klerk will join the Toyota Free State Cheetahs for 2 years, at the end of the current Currie Cup competition. The loss of de Klerk is likely to be offset, by the Bulls signing of young Marcel van der Merwe. Apparently Rayno Gerber was also attempting to get onto the the Cheetahs player list. Naka has signed Ross Geldenhuys, and Pieter Stemmet, to cover the departure of WP Nel, but they have been signed fr the CC only thus far.
England Prop Matt Stevens has announced that he has decided to stand down from International Rugby with immediate effect.
In a major boost for Cheetahs Rugby, high profile stalwarts of the Cheetahs have committed themselves to the Cheetahs till the end of 2014.
Short and sweet… that was the One-liner Media Release by the Golden Lions Rugby Union!
More days, more strife, at the Lions, what’s new?
Just 30 of South Africa’s vast number of professional players will be able to sustain some sort of a living after they stop playing the game.
This is the reality of the situation facing about 600 contracted (or so-called professional) players in the country.
Early last month Edinburgh Rugby announced they had acquired the services of former England and Lions star flanker Neil Back; as forwards coach.
Yesterday, Edinburgh indicated they had bolstered their hooking options by signing another former Lions player, and one time Sale Sharks stalwart, hooker Andy Titterrell.
Bulls wing Bjorn Basson has undergone surgery in New Zealand after he sustained a tear to his intestines during his side’s loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch.