SA Rugby
The takealot.com Cape Town 10’s has announced Canterbury as the official apparel partner for the upcoming tournament taking place on the 6th and 7th February 2015 at Hamilton’s Rugby Club.
The deal will see the sports apparel brand take on a 3-year exclusive clothing partnership with the event and provide custom-designed kit and apparel to all rugby legends, rugby and netball players, staff, referees, as well as supplying pole protectors, flags and corner poles.
Joost van der Westhuizen
Five Springbok legends are set to be inducted into the International Rugby Board’s Hall of Fame.
Joost van der Westhuizen, Naas Botha, Morné du Plessis, Danie Gerber, Hennie Muller are among 37 players to be inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in the next year.
The news comes alongside the announcement that the International Rugby Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame are to merge.
Jake White
Cell C Sharks CEO John Smit says Director of Rugby Jake White won’t be actively involved with the union’s Currie Cup side.
White coached the Sharks’ Super Rugby side, but their Currie Cup team will be coached by Brad MacLeod-Henderson, with Paul Anthony and Sean Everitt as assistants.
Smith told the Sharks’ official website that White will be focusing on other areas at the union during the Currie Cup.
CJ van der Linde
Former Springbok prop CJ van der Linde may end off his career by joining the legion of South Africans at Heineken Cup champions Toulon.
While it was widely reported that Van der Linde had joined up with the EP Kings for the upcoming Absa Currie Cup season, French newspaper Midi Olympique now reports that the journeyman has signed a two-year contract with Toulon to play in the European season.
Jonny Wilkinson on Boots & All
Jonny Wilkinson believes that both South Africa and England will make it to the semifinals of next year’s Rugby World Cup.
World Cup legend Wilkinson was at SuperSport on Thursday and Xola Ntshinga was able to sit him down for an interview.
Wilkinson has great respect for what has been achieved by the England team under coach Stuart Lancaster.
“The England team has done a great thing in going back to the foundation of the game. They’ve looked at the values; they looked at the core principles of what makes a good team. They’ve solidified it at the base and now they’re building on it. They’re adding detail on top of detail on top of detail and the players are ready to accept it,” he said.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) announced on Thursday an SA Schools squad of 28 players for the forthcoming Under-18 International series against France, Wales and England, from 10 to 24 August.
The squad was selected following a successful trial match held on Saturday at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park, after the conclusion of the Coca-Cola Youth Weeks.
Nine players from the Blue Bulls were selected in the squad, Eastern Province have four representatives while three players each from KwaZulu-Natal and South Western Districts were selected.
William Ambaka Ndayara
Powerhouse Kenyan wing William Ambaka Ndayara will join DHL Western Province ahead of the 2014 Absa Currie Cup competition.
Bismarck du Plessis
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has asked teams not to pick their contracted Springboks for the entirety of this year’s Absa Currie Cup tournament.
In the past, Springbok players returned during the latter stages of the competition, but this year will be different.
The Cell C Sharks were the first team to confirm the matter, with CEO John Smit saying the defending champions have to make the best of the tricky situation.
“It was decided upon that all contracted Boks will play no part in the Currie Cup, which puts us at a bit of a disadvantage,” Smit told Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick.
Conrad Hoffmann
Brumbies scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann has returned to play for the Sharks in this year’s Currie Cup, the Durban team announced via their official website.
The 26-year-old played for the Sharks between 2011 and 2012 after joining from Western Province.
His career was hampered by injuries before getting a lifeline at the Brumbies this year. However, a lack of game time at the Australian side has seen Hoffmann return to the Sharks ahead of the Currie Cup season.
Chrysander Botha
English club Exeter Chiefs have signed Lions fullback Chrysander Botha ahead of the new Premiership season.
According to Exeter’s official website, the 26-year-old Namibian international touched down at Sandy Park on Wednesday and will join up with his new team-mates next week.
Botha has been tracked by the Chiefs coaching team for some time and assistant coach Ali Hepher believes his arrival will give the Devon club another attacking weapon in their arsenal.
Kick-off for 2014′s Currie Cup is almost upon us with a full set of fixtures scheduled for 9 August.
Sportingbet have come to the party by pricing up a market for the overall winner of this tournament.
With that in mind, here’s our take on who has a major shot at the trophy and which sides may struggle to keep up with the pace.
New Zealand Sevens Captain DJ Forbes and Scott Curry.
The sights and sounds of our national rugby teams struggling in defeat are rare but well worth the wait for those who like to study the innuendo style of excuse-making.
One thing you don’t hear at these times is genuine praise for opponents, of being beaten fair and square.
New Zealand rugby expects and often gets the world to fall at its brilliant feet, but doesn’t give back. Just check a few boorish World Cup losing reactions on that score.
Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke on Wednesday confirmed Deon Stegmann’s captaincy for his team’s upcoming Currie Cup campaign and named a strong 26 man squad for Friday’s warm-up match against the Pumas in Nelspruit.
“It was an easy decision to call on ‘Steggies’ to lead the team this year,” Ludeke said.
“He is not only one of the most experienced players in the squad, but also one that leads by example on and off the field.”
Henry Immelman from Grey College, in action against Affies.
A schoolboy teenager is set to play in the 2014 Currie Cup – Henry Immelman, the Grey College fullback.
Thomas du Toit, who was at Paarl Boys’ High last year, has proved that a teenager can stand firm among the tough, gnarled men of the front row.
Frans Steyn was 19 when he was chosen for the Sharks and then for South Africa. That was 2007, the year he turned 20. Johan Goosen was 18 when first he played for the Cheetahs in 2011, the year he turned 19.
Now Henry Immelman has been chosen in the Free State squad to play in the Currie Cup. He turned 19 in May. Unlike Steyn and Goosen he is still at school – in matric at Grey College, the school that Steyn and Goosen attended. Like the other two he played for Free State at Craven Week. Goosen made SA schools; Steyn and Immelman did not. Steyn and Goosen were born east of Bloemfontein – in Aliwal North and Burgersdorp. Immelman was born, on 26 May 1995, in Upington.
Seabelo Senatla
Western Province look likely to unleash Springbok Sevens star Seabelo Senatla at right wing in their opening Currie Cup encounter.
According to reports, the 21-year-old landed in Cape Town on Tuesday after helping the South African Sevens side claim gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at the weekend.
The Springbok Sevens team will soon start the next phase in their pursuit of Olympic silverware after they stunned the New Zealand team in the final at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games at the weekend.
The South African team made history by beating the All Blacks for the first time since Rugby Sevens were introduced as one of the sporting codes in 1998.
“It is an important tournament win for us as a Springbok Sevens team. This will mean a lot for us going into the next season and going into the Olympics in 2016,” Blitzbokke coach Neil Powell said at the team’s arrival in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
“It is always great to beat the All Blacks in a final and it was a tough one, the guys really worked hard to win that one. Credit to my boys.”
“It is an honour and a privilege to represent your country and to win in the Commonwealth games is special and means a lot to us.”
The South African team captured the imagination as they played with unbridled vigour throughout the campaign.
Eben Etzebeth
Springbok and WP lock Eben Etzebeth has returned to full training ahead of the Currie Cup and Rugby Championship.
Etzebeth has not seen a single minute of competitive action in 2014 after first a foot, and later a toe injury, kept him out of the Stormers’ entire Super Rugby campaign.
After a long and arduous process he is finally nearing a return to fitness, but it remains to be seen if Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer opts to draft him into the Bok set-up immediately or allows him to get some game time under his belt with Western Province.
Net ingeval julle nie die grappige gevoel kry nie, hierdie is net ‘n grap, en nie bedoel om ernstig opgeneem te word nie!
Gister het ons n artikel geplaas van Frans Ludeke se “brief aan Oom Murray”.
Ons het egter dit net regverdig gevind om darem nie ‘n vooroordeel te wys teen die Bulls nie, so hier is ‘n “brief” wat Allister al vroeg in die Super Rugby seisoen ook aan Oom Murray geskryf het.
Geniet hom!
Western Province’s preparations for their opening 2014 Currie Cup game have been hamstrung by the timing of the Springbok squad announcement which will be made in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Several Province players are expected to be named in the national squad which will play in the Rugby Championship next month and that will rule them out for Currie Cup duty.
Adriaan Strauss
Springbok hooker Adriaan Strauss has broken his silence, saying he is excited at the prospect of moving to the Bulls at the end of the season.
The Bulls officially announced the move on Monday, but Strauss revealed exclusively to the supersport.com website that his decision was taken to further his career.
Strauss signed a two-year contract to move to the Bulls, following fellow Cheetahs players Trevor Nyakane and Lappies Labuschagné who will also line up for the Pretoria franchise in next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Lubabalo “Tera” Mtembu
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has commended the Sharks rugby team for their appointment on Tuesday of Lubabalo Mtembu as the team’s first black captain.
“The decision to appoint Mtembu is a clear sign that the Sharks rugby team is serious about the transformation of the sport which has been one of the thorny issues since the advent our democratic dispensation in 1994,” African National Congress provincial secretary Sihle Zikalala said in a statement.
EP Kings head coach Carlos Spencer has announced a much changed team to take on the Free State Cheetahs in their final warm up game in Cradock on Friday.
Spencer said Luke Watson will once again captain the side, having returned after sitting out the game against the SWD Eagles in George due to a rib injury.
In comparison to the SWD Eagles game, Spencer has named eight new players in the starting line up and four more have received a starting position after being called up from the bench.
Lizo Gqoboka is the only player to retain his spot in the team at loosehead prop. He is accompanied up front by Michael van Vuuren, who returns to hooker in place of Edgar Marutlulle and Tom Botha at tighthead in place of Charl du Plessis. Both Marutlulle and Du Plessis move to the bench.
Matthew Burke
With just one match of the Super Rugby season remaining, who have been the standout players for the year?
Matthew Burke reveals his top 12.
Choosing ten players proved tough, so I called on my chief researchers to help me out and, not surprisingly, the majority of the players that feature have played a part in the finals. We got down to 12, so here they are, in no particular order.
Do you agree with his choices?
Adriaan Strauss
Trevor Nyakane
Lappies Labuschagne
Jamba Ulengo
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd is pleased to announce the signings of Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Pieter Labuschagne and Jamba Ulengo. All three forwards will join the Vodacom Bulls on November 1st, 2014, while Ulengo has already started training with the Vodacom Blue Bulls.
Springbok hooker Strauss, who captained the Toyota Cheetahs in recent seasons, was South Africa’s Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year in 2013 and returns to Loftus Versfeld, where he made his Vodacom Super Rugby career in 2006 after a seven year absence. He has signed a two year deal.
CEO, John Smit handing Tera Mtembu his jersey
The Sharks are delighted to announce the appointment of talented loose-forward Tera Mtembu as captain of the Cell C Sharks for Absa Currie Cup 2014.
Having come through The Sharks Academy ranks, this dedicated, free-spirited and hard-working youngster has always displayed leadership qualities and is a well-liked and respected member of the squad.
These commendable attributes contributed to him being entrusted with the captaincy armband, whenever he was not on senior duty, during this year’s Vodacom Cup campaign.
Lionel Cronjé
The Sharks have landed the services of former Baby Bok Lionel Cronjé.
Cronjé, 25, represented the Brumbies this past season but according to the Sydney Morning Herald’s website, the utility back has signed a two-year deal with the Durban-based Sharks.
He will join them before the start of this year’s Currie Cup competition.
The Commonwealth Games was underway and the first Rugby games of these games were on Saturday 26 July 2014.
All games were played at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.
South Africa won the Gold Medal, New Zealand the Silver, Australia the Bronze!
Before the Final of these Games, New Zealand had not lost a single Commonwealth Games Sevens game… well, that record no longer stands.
The new Commonwealth Games Gold Medal Champions are South Africa’s Blitzbokke… for 4 more years!
It was a tough and physical Final, and New Zealand still deserve their plaudits for being the premier Sevens side in World Rugby.
Herewith the Fixtures & Results:
Beast Mtawarira: Feels privileged to play with the Du Plessis brothers
Sharks prop Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira has revealed that he will leave the Durban-based franchise at the end of 2015.
Mtawarira confirmed that he will further his career outside of South Africa after next year’s World Cup in England.
The veteran of 55 Tests with the Springboks, who has played for the Sharks since 2007, said he hopes to get a fresh challenge in Europe.
“My goals for 2015 is to help the Sharks do well in Super Rugby and to help the Springboks win the World Cup,” he told the MyPlayers website.
That would be a dream come true.
Star flyhalf Dan Carter has been returned to the All Blacks squad for this season’s Rugby Championships against Australia, South Africa and Argentina at the expense of his Crusaders’ teammate Colin Slade.
Carter, the world’s leading points-scorer in tests with 1,440, missed New Zealand’s June test matches against England while on a seven-months “sabbatical” from rugby during which he toured the world, attending events such as this year’s Academy Awards ceremony.
The 32-year-old returned to the Crusaders squad for its most-recent matches in Super Rugby, including Saturday’s semifinal against the Sharks, but has been playing at inside center to allow Slade to continue at flyhalf.
The South African Rugby Union has denied reports that it has instructed that at least half of the South African Schools team must be made up of players of colour.
“SARU has not issued any instruction to the selectors of the SA Schools team on the number of players to be selected from different race groups and no such meeting took place in Middelburg,” Jurie Roux, SARU CEO, said in response to a report in the Afrikaans weekly Rapport.
At least half of the SA Schools rugby squad will feature players of colour in a move to implement quotas at schools level for the first time, according to reports on Sunday.
The SA Rugby Union (SARU) had instructed 14 of the 28 member team be drawn from black, coloured or Indian players.
Next week’s Super Rugby Final in Sydney will be about more than just the Super Rugby trophy, it will be a precursor to The Rugby Championship as well.
The Wallabies take on the All Blacks in Sydney on 16 August in what could be a deciding match to determine who will win The Rugby Championship crown for 2014.
Jake White cut a forlorn figure as he watched his troops getting slaughtered
Sorry, it doesn’t cut it for me to hear people state upon their crushing exit on Saturday from Super Rugby 2014: “Well done Sharks, at least you got to the Semis.”
If they are simply putting it in the context of their superior performance in relation to the other South African sides, my retort is “big deal”.
This was a year, after all, when the collective SA challenge was lamentably disappointing and our teams hogged the basement terrain on the overall table.
Kieran Read on his way to scoring the first of 5 Crusader tries.
No one needs to tell the Crusaders how to prepare for big games. They have been masters at it over the years.
But they of all people will know the brilliant semifinal victory over the Sharks is a false read – the South Africans were an embarrassing mess in Christchurch.
STILL GOT IT: Crusaders and All Blacks veteran Richie McCaw celebrates a great night for the franchise with Fijian flier Nemani Nadolo.
New Zealand exhales. Turns out rumours of the decline of Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter have been greatly exaggerated.
McCaw and Carter both produced timely high-quality performances in Christchurch tonight as the Crusaders won through to their 11th – yes, 11th – Super Rugby final with a 38-6 dismantling of the Sharks. The Red ‘n Blacks are now 80 minutes away from their eighth championship – but notably a first since 2008.
On a night when Kieran Read illuminated the big occasion with a stellar demonstration of his remarkable quality, and Fijian find of the year Nemani Nadolo was equally as destructive, the old soldiers McCaw and Carter were not a million miles off the standard set by the best player in the world.
With Read, this sort of stuff is as predictable as it is enjoyable. He is a colossus of the game completely at the peak of his powers. His every minute on the field these days is to be savoured.