Referees
The Saracens hooker, Schalk Brits, has answered an SOS and is available to play for the Stormers as a loose forward this weekend.
The Crusaders may have to play all of their home games away from AMI Stadium in Christchurch in 2012 and the All Blacks could already have played their last game there.
Sharks coach John Plumtree says his side suffered because of the referee, but in the end, they just weren’t good enough.
In the sober light of Sunday morning, there is a very good reason that the Sharks were never going to win this one.
With the Super 15 nearing its conclusion, a lot more clarity has been provided to Springbok coach Peter de Villiers with regard to the make-up of his World Cup squad. The emergence of exciting talents like Coenie Oosthuizen and Bjorn Basson have added to the burgeoning pool of talent, but there are plenty of headaches for “Div”.
I enjoyed this article a lot, the reason why I am sharing it here. I have not read anything of Lungani Zama before, read it and give your opinion.
Last week former Crusaders coach Robbie Deans, who guided the team to a record five titles between 2000 and 2008, reckoned the heavy travel schedule during the finals series would wear down his former outfit.
9 June 1956 – Waikato 14 / South Africa 10
The first match against Waikato is remembered mainly for two reasons; firstly, the massive three and a half hour welcoming procession; secondly, the fact that the Springboks lost the match. Here is a picture of the welcoming procession.
Crusaders (13) 36 / Sharks (5) 8 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Sharks at Travalgar Park, Nelson at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
This was the last of the two play-off matches to decide who will be in the semi-finals. No 3 on the Combined Log (Crusaders) at home against No 6 on the Combined Log (Sharks).
With a little bit of help from a poor performance by Bryce Lawrence as well as some poor Sharks handling, the Crusaders eased into the semi-finals.
The Crusaders now travel to Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa to meet the Stormers in the one semi-final whereas the Blues travel to Queensland, Australia to meet the Reds in the other semi-final.
Ricky Januarie has withdrawn from the Springboks’ preliminary Rugby World Cup squad after announcing his retirement from international rugby.
Blues (13) 26 / Waratahs (8) 13 (Final Score)
The Blues hosted the Waratahs at Eden Park, Auckland at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
This was the first of the two play-off matches to decide who will be in the semi-finals. No 4 on the Combined Log (Blues) at home against No 5 on the Combined Log (Waratahs.
The Blues were just more clinical, more hungry and it showed on the final score. It was a good game of rugby, considering it is about knockout rugby and not silky bonus point rugby.
Well done Blues.
Deaker on sport (sport talk show here in NZ) featured interesting interviews with Robbie Deans and Graeme Henry 
as well as with some other sporting celebrities last night. In particular they talked about how the new breakdown rule
interpretations would influence the games during the WC, All Black choking, team selections and preparing players for
the WC.
Herewith the Super Rugby team sheets for the 4 teams competing in the play-off round this weekend.
Improbable, not impossible. This is the feeling amongst most South Africans prior to the Sharks massive qualifier match against the Crusaders this weekend.
Congratulations Morné and team. I am glad we have such a good working relationship with your blog. Wish you well and hope this is not your last award and recognition.
Here is the whole article From Ruggaworld.
SANZAR has confirmed that Bryce Lawrence, Chris Pollock, Jonathan Kaplan and Craig Joubert have been appointed to control the two Super Rugby Finals Series Qualifiers, the two Semi-Finals and the Final in the coming weeks.
HALFBACK Luke Burgess has likely played his final game for the Waratahs after breaking his hand at training yesterday, further disrupting an already chaotic build-up with several other injuries already depleting the NSW side for Friday’s elimination final in Auckland.
Whilst the Super Rugby log might tell us quite a number of things of individual teams and how they performed, it is quite interesting to measure each country as a collective following the league rounds of the Super Rugby competition. Continue reading
To mark the final World Cup-ometer, let’s take a look at the building blocks already laid down by the Tri Nations contenders over the regular rounds of the competition.
There will be further twists and turns over the coming weeks of finals football – and the opportunity to see how the players cope with the unique pressure of the knockout stages – but there has been ample evidence already presented to make a judgment of how the Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks are shaping up.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder says that he wants his team to “unleash” in the Super Rugby finals which start for them on Saturday against the Sharks in Nelson.
Waratahs Captain Phil Waugh has announced that he will retire from professional Rugby at the end of 2011.
The Waratahs have named a 24-man squad for their Super Rugby Qualifier with the Blues on Friday at Eden Park in Auckland.
Reds prop James Slipper has been ruled out of the Reds Super Rugby Semi-final on the 2nd of July but could make the final if the Reds progress.
Super Rugby matches in the three-week playoffs which start this weekend will be decided by penalty shootouts if the teams remain deadlocked after extra time.
The Blues and Crusaders will have to win the Super Rugby title the hard way but Blues coach Pat Lam doesn’t see that as a bad thing in a World Cup year.
There are no second lives for either New Zealand side under the extended six-team playoffs system.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers probably started it with his cheeky reservations about midfield sensation Sonny Bill Williams a few weeks ago, but now New Zealanders appear to be firing back some verbal arrows of their own ahead of the World Cup.
ALL BLACKS coach Graham Henry is continuing to apply pressure on the referees, arguing that during this year’s Super Rugby tournament they have failed in the most elementary areas.
”You watch the game at the moment; the number of tries being scored from forward passes is ridiculous,” Henry said.
Twenty-one Rugby World Cup winners were among a preliminary Springbok squad of 49 players named for the 2011 tournament by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Monday.
The final Rugby World Cup squad of 30 will be named on August 23.
As the euphoria following the weekend’s local derbies subsides, let’s take a moment to acknowledge a truly special effort by a very special team.
Halfway through the first Super XV rugby season if you told me we would have three teams in the top half of the Combined Log, I wouldn’t have believed it.
The Stormers started the season well, The Bulls started off and narrowly beat the Lions and Cheetahs, the Sharks looked like they were trudging through thick mud, and well the Cheetahs and Lions looked like they were once gain going to fill the bottom of the Log.
Sitting and watching this match today under calmer circumstances, one sees so much more in how the match went and how the players responded to the situation.
Not much is available on the Australian leg of the 1956 tour. McLean in his book “Battle for the rugby crown” devout a chapter to this part of the tour but writes very little about the actual matches apart from the table below which is a summary or record of matches played in Aussie. Continue reading
Following the completion of Round 18 of the Super Rugby regular season, the confirmed fixtures for the 2011 Super Rugby Finals Series Qualifiers are:
Date: Friday 24 June 2011
Teams: Blues (4th) vs Waratahs (5th)
Date: Saturday 25 June 2011
Teams: Crusaders (3rd – NZ Conference winners) vs Sharks (6th)
Cheetahs (13) 34 / Stormers (19) 44 (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs hosted the DHL Stormers at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Stormers booked 2nd spot overall with this good win over the gutsy Cheetahs.
Bulls (13) 23 / Sharks (16) 26 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls hosted the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
In a battle royal, the Sharks were victorious, snatching a place in the play-off’s with a 3-point win.
This match was an advertisement for rugby!
Waratahs (10) 41 / Brumbies (0) 7 (Final Score)
The Waratahs hosted the Brumbies at ANZ Stadium, Sydney at 11:40 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Waratahs were full value for their money as they dominated and demolished the Brumbies, getting a full haul of 5 Log points, now ahhead of both the Sharks and the Bulls, into 5th spot overall.
Crusaders (6) 16 / Hurricanes (6) 9 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Hurricanes at Westpac tadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Crusaders finish top of the New Zealand Conference.