Super Rugby
Kobus van Wyk
DHL Stormers are still waiting on the fitness of wing Kobus van Wyk ahead of Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Bulls at Loftus and the result of his fitness test on Thursday could have a big impact on the Cape team’s chances of success.
Van Wyk, who has struggled with a calf strain for nearly 2 weeks and is according to backline coach Robbie Fleck only training under supervision, meanly separate from the rest of the team, is key to the Stormers’ back 3 balance.
The former South African Under 20 centre was a revelation when switched to the wing by the Stormers and WP last season, and he made a big difference to the Stormers’ ability to compete in the aerial battle in 2014. That has long been a Cape team weakness, with too many players short of beef lining up together in the back 3 since the departure of Sireli Naqelevuki a few seasons ago.
Van Wyk made some great takes off cross kicks last year and also knocked on a few in the Currie Cup that had great scoring potential written all over them, and this added a new weapon to the Stormers / WP attacking arsenal.
Handré Pollard
After a stellar 2014 season, Springbok and Bulls flyhalf Handre Pollard knows he will be a marked man this year.
Pollard, 20, was at the weekend named SA Rugby Young Player of the Year after moving from the Baby Boks into the senior national team with aplomb.
He expects opposition teams to analyse him a little more thoroughly in 2015.
“I believe that will be the case,” he said. “We all analyse our opponents to try and disrupt them. That is my main challenge this year – to follow last season up with another good year. It will take a lot of hard work.”
Adriaan Strauss
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named Adriaan Strauss at hooker when he announced his team to play the DHL Stormers in the opening round of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Strauss, who made his Super Rugby debut for the Vodacom Bulls in 2006 (8 matches), is back in the Pretoria side after a long stint with the Toyota Cheetahs (for whom he played 97 times) and was put straight into the starting team by Ludeke.
The coach also included Vodacom Bulls debutants Lappies Labuschagne and Trevor Nyakane, but neither are strangers to the competition. Labuschagne played for Toyota Cheetahs in 27 matches (debut 2012) and Nyakane represented the same franchise 42 times (debut 2012).
The rest of the team consists of tried and tested players, with the most experienced captain in the history of Vodacom Super Rugby, Victor Matfield, leading the team onto the field for the 83rd time.
Regular captain Pierre Spies, who made his last appearance in Super Rugby in Round 1 last year against the Sharks in Durban, will play off the bench as he is eased back into action following his long lay-off.
Juan de Jongh
Stormers vice-captain Juan de Jongh insists they are fully focused on themselves and not the Bulls ahead of their opening Super Rugby game at Loftus on Saturday.
Both sides will be looking to get their 2015 Super Rugby campaign off to a good start with the Bulls being tipped as the favourites at fortress Loftus Versfeld where the partisan crowd, and altitude, is sure to swing the psychological advantage in the hosts’ favour.
“It is going to be a very important game this weekend to get our campaign on the road. We are focused on ourselves and making sure we get our things right.
All fit and available All Blacks in the Hurricanes’ squad are set to suit up against the Lions in Round 1 of the 2015 Super Rugby season.
A calf injury has ended Jeremy Thrush’s hopes of getting his season underway this week however, with the lock returning to New Zealand on Wednesday. He is expected to be available for selection in 4 to 6 weeks, depending on his recovery.
Thrush’s injury has made way for Mark Abbott to grab a starting spot, while his Hawke’s Bay teammate, Geoff Cridge, has flown over to join the team in Johannesburg.
The Crusaders will open the 2015 Super Rugby season this Friday night when they host the Melbourne Rebels in Christchurch.
Richie McCaw will start for the Crusaders for the first time in 2015, in one of 3 changes that head coach Todd Blackadder has made to the starting line-up that played a warm-up game against the Reds in Brisbane last week.
The other changes are Joe Moody starting at No 1 and Ben Funnell at hooker.
Canberra Super Rugby franchise the Brumbies have secured their financial future by signing a six-year deal with integrated resorts company Aquis as the Principal Partner and Naming Rights Sponsor of the Brumbies.
The partnership, which extends until the end of the 2020 season, is effective immediately. Brumbies players will run out for their first game of the 2015 Super Rugby season against the Queensland Reds at GIO Stadium on Friday night with the Aquis logo on the front of their jerseys.
Aquis specialises in the development of entertainment based resorts that concentrate a wide range of tourism-oriented attractions into single, large-scale facilities. The company’s Australian portfolio includes the proposed Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort and the recently acquired Casino Canberra.
Richard Graham
Reds coach Richard Graham believes their more ‘free spirited’ approach to the game will suit skilful players like Karmichael Hunt and James O’Connor.
While Graham looks set to start with Hunt at flyhalf in the season-opener against the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday, the Wallaby utility back, O’Connor, is likely to appear at first receiver very often.
Speaking at a media briefing ahead of their trip to the Australia capital, the Reds mentor made no secret of his admiration for two players, as well as the skill sets the code-hopper and disgraced Wallaby can bring to the team.
“I though Karmichael did really well,” Graham said, adding: “I was really pleased with his performance – he was very clear in his communication and decisive and that got us on the front foot.”
Joe Pietersen
The Toyota Cheetahs have named former Stormers fullback Joe Pietersen at flyhalf for their Super Rugby Round 1 clash with the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
Pietersen is an unknown entity at flyhalf having spent most of his time running from the back for the Stormers and for French club Biarritz, where he made 17 appearances.
In the front row, Springbok Coenie Oosthuizen packs down at tighthead alongside Currie Cup captain and Namibian international Torsten van Jaarsveld.
Former Sharks prop Danie Minnie solidifies the front line of the scrum.
At lock there is room for another Springbok in Lodewyk de Jager who pairs up with new captain Francois Uys.
Willem Alberts
It is still unsure as to when Springbok Willem Alberts will return from injury as the Sharks prepare to face the Cheetahs in Round One of Super Rugby this weekend.
Alberts, who damaged a hamstring while on duty with the Springboks, has been out of action since before the Rugby Championship in August last year.
The flank went down with the injury right before the Boks first game against Argentina at a soggy Loftus Versfeld, this allowed Warren Whitely to make his debut.
Alberts also missed the next game against in Salta.
Steven Sykes
Former Sharks lock Steven Sykes has joined the Cheetahs squad as they prepare for the Super Rugby competition.
According to reports, it remains unsure if Sykes has signed a contract with the Cheetahs or just training in Bloemfontein on a trial period.
Sykes will compete for a spot in the Cheetahs’ Super Rugby team with the likes of Lood de Jager, Francois Uys, Carl Wegner and Armandt Koster.
Di Patston
The Australian Rugby Union and former employee Di Patston looks set for another round of ‘airing dirty laundry in public’.
Media reports in Australia revealed the highly-publicised Kurtley Beale sage – which resulted in an emotional Patston returning home prematurely from the Wallaby tour of Argentina and later resigning her position – could result in a protracted legal battle.
The ARU are expected to fight a discrimination claim brought by the former Wallaby business manager, Patston, but – according to the reports – it will result in a protracted and potentially embarrassing pubic hearing for the ARU.
Patston has engaged a well-known personal injury law firm on the New South Wales north coast to act on her behalf in a claim of ‘adverse action’ under the Fair Work Act over her employment and subsequent resignation from the ARU last October.
Emirates Lions Head Coach Johan Ackermann has announced his 23-man side to take on the Hurricanes in the Southern African season opener at Emirates Park on Friday evening.
Ackermann has combined both a boost of youth and experience in his side.
The match will get under way at 19:10 SA Time on Friday 13 February at Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg.
Sharks Director of Rugby, Gary Gold has released the names of his 40-man squad for Vodacom Super Rugby 2015.
The following players were not considered for selection at this stage due to injury: JC Astle, Paul Jordaan, Stephan Lewies, Tonderai Chavhanga, Willem Alberts.
The Cell C Sharks commence their Vodacom Super Rugby campaign this Saturday, 14 February 2015 against the Toyota Cheetahs at Growthpoint Kings Park.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 17:05 SA Time.
Nemani Nadolo
Crusaders winger Nemani Nadolo could be back in Super Rugby sooner than expected but he is unlikely to play in the Super Rugby opener against the Rebels in Christchurch on Friday.
Nadolo has completed his commitments with the NEC Green Rockets after they suffered a shock loss to Teikyo University in their All-Japan Championship knockout so he is free to return to the Crusaders.
The Fijian winger was joint top try scorer in 2014 – on 12 tries with the Waratahs’ Israel Folau – but despite his value he is unlikely to be rushed into action this week at Christchurch’s AMI Stadium.
Sam Lousi
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has targeted rugby league convert Sam Lousi as the long-term replacement for lock Kane Douglas, the one significant departure from the squad that won last year’s Super Rugby title.
The work done by the hulking second row trio of Springbok Jacques Potgieter, Will Skelton and Douglas played a large part in building a solid platform for the running game that took the Waratahs to their first championship in August.
The departure of Douglas for Ireland was a blow not only for the Waratahs but also for the Wallabies, who Cheika will guide into the World Cup this year as well as leading the Super Rugby title defence.
Rieko Ioane
Akira Ioane
Teenage star Akira Ioane and 17-year old teenage brother Rieko who was outstanding in the recent Wellington Sevens for New Zealand, have both been signed by the Blues.
Akira, the loose forward, a star of Sir Gordon Tiejens’ All Black Sevens team last year, could make his debut in Saturday’s opening game of the Super Rugby for the Blues who are at home against the Chiefs.
Ioane, who has been a trainee with the Blues for the past few weeks, was named as the fulltime replacement for Peter Saili who is now playing in Europe.
Akira, who was born in Japan, has rugby in his blood with his father Eddie a former Samoan international while mother Sandra played for the Black Ferns.
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Duane Vermeulen
Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen was the star of the annual South African Rugby Union Player of the Year Awards when he walked off with 3 awards, including the main award of the season.
Vermeulen was named SARU Rugby Player of the Year after an extensive voting process, which included the country’s rugby media and the public through SARU’s online and social media platforms.
The 28-year-old Vermeulen, who will captain the DHL Stormers this year, also won the coveted SARPA Players’ Player of the Year and Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year Awards for 2014.
“Duane has been outstanding in 2014 and these awards are just reward for the excellent form he showed last year, as one of the Springboks’ key performers and for the DHL Stormers,” said SARU President, Mr Oregan Hoskins.
Hot on Vermeulen’s heels, with two awards, was young Springbok flyhalf and Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard.
The game time of a number of key Springboks will be managed throughout the Vodacom Super Rugby series in the coming months, following an agreement between the South African Rugby Union and the franchises.
These players’ game time will be handled on an individual basis depending on their work load in the last year as well as injuries, in an effort to ensure the Springboks are managed as well as possible in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup in September and October.
“We are extremely grateful to the Vodacom Super Rugby franchises for agreeing to assist in ensuring our key players’ game time is managed in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup,” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.
“It’s wonderful to know we have the support and cooperation of the franchises as the Springboks prepare for the Rugby World Cup and we’d like to wish them all the best for the forthcoming months of Vodacom Super Rugby.
Steven Kitshoff
Stormers and Western Province prop Steven Kitshoff has signed a contract with French Top 14 club, Bordeaux-Begles.
Kitshoff’s agent, Hilton Houghton, confirmed that his client has signed 2-year deal with the French club.
The 22-year-old is still contracted to Western Province until the end of October and will leave for France after the conclusion of this year’s Currie Cup competition.
Kitshoff, a former Baby Bok who boasts 45 Super Rugby caps, last played a first class match on 3 May last year before a knee injury ended his 2014 season.
Dean Greyling
Marcel van der Merwe
The Vodacom Bulls will be without Springbok props Dean Greyling and Marcel van der Merwe and World Cup winning winger Akona Ndungane for the opening weekend of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition. The Vodacom Bulls play DHL Stormers on Saturday night, but Ndungane (calf, 1 week), Greyling (foot, 2 weeks) and Van der Merwe (hamstring, 3 weeks) will not be part of the action.
To complicate matters a bit more for Vodacom Bulls coach, Frans Ludeke, winger Travis Ismaiel has been ruled out for selection due to a hamstring strain and prop Hencus van Wyk (foot) will only return to training at the end of the month.
All of Basil Short (pectoral), Jason Jenkins (quad), Trevor Nyakane (contusion), Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (hamstring), Deon Stegmann (hip) and Jesse Kriel (neck) completed a full training session today.
Ruan Botha
Damian de Allende
Nizaam Carr
The DHL Stormers have been boosted by the return to fitness of Springboks Nizaam Carr and Damian de Allende as well as lock Ruan Botha ahead of their Super Rugby encounter against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
Wing Kobus van Wyk is an injury doubt however, and flank Siya Kolisi will not be risked this weekend.
The Stormers will travel to Loftus Versfeld for their 2015 season-opener, before hosting New Zealand side, the Blues, at Newlands the following weekend.
The team, to face the Bulls, will be announced at lunch-time on Thursday.
Jean Deysel
Michael Claassens
The Cell C Sharks announced that loose-forward Jean Deysel, who has spent the past 6 months playing for Toyota Verbiltz in Japan, will be making a welcome return to the Cell C Sharks for the 2015 Super Rugby season.
Deysel who to date has been capped an impressive 117 times for the Cell C Sharks, will join the squad immediately.
South African born scrum-half, Michael Claassens, who currently plays for Toulon in the French Top 14, has also been signed on a 2-year deal. He is expected to join the team as soon as his playing commitments in France have concluded.
The 2015 edition of the South African Rugby Annul goes on sale nationwide today after being launched at Sunday’s South African Rugby Union Awards in Johannesburg.
In keeping with tradition, the 44th edition of the ‘bible’ of the game once again features South Africa’s player of the year on the cover, with the newly-crowned Duane Vermeulen following in the footsteps of the likes of Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana and Schalk Burger in recent years.
“Even in this digital age, it’s vitally important to retain a physical document of record for future generations,” said SARU CEO, Jurie Roux. “SARU strives to be a world leader in the game both on and off the field and when it comes to the Annual, we are immensely proud of the quality of the book we continue to produce year in and year out.
“We like to believe that we have an outstanding yearbook but that hasn’t stopped us from raising the bar even further with this new-look, Rugby World Cup-themed edition. We’ve made it a more user-friendly size, refreshed the layout and added a depth to the statistical records that surpasses anything we’ve done before,” Roux added.
Francois Uys
The Cheetahs, in a surprise move, named Francois Uys as their captain for the Super Rugby season.
Uys will be leading the team, joined by the vice-captain Sarel Pretorius.
The ‘well-informed’ media in Bloemfontein have been speculating for weeks that Japan-based Springbok Heinrich Brüssow would get the leadership armband.
However, coach Naka Drotské decided to go with Uys – starting from Saturday, when they take on the South African conference champions, the Cell C Sharks, in Durban.
Sam Wykes
The Western Force have named lock Sam Wykes as interim Super Rugby captain whilst regular captain Matt Hodgson recovers from injury.
Hodgson will miss the beginning of the season after suffering a hamstring injury in the team’s 38 / 19 pre-season win over the Asia Pacific Dragons.
In some of the Super Rugby warm-up action of the weekend, these were the results:
- Bues 32 / 29 Hurricanes
- Waratahs 38 / 36 Chiefs
- Reds 35 / 12 Crusaders
- DHL Stormers 45 / 7 Boland
Jacques du Plessis
Flip van der Merwe
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd on Friday confirmed that efforts to keep Vodacom Bulls locks Jacques du Plessis and Flip van der Merwe in Pretoria have been unsuccessful, with both players taking up contracts in France at the end of the domestic 2015 season.
Du Plessis has signed a two year deal with Montpellier and Van der Merwe will join Clermont, also after the completion of the ABSA Currie Cup competition.
The BBC’s High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg said talks with both players have been ongoing for some time.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union have announced their 33-man squad which will compete as the Emirates Lions in the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby tournament.
The Emirates Lions will get their Vodacom Super Rugby campaign under way on Friday 13 February as they take on the Hurricanes at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. Tickets start at just R 40.00 and can be purchased online via Lionsrugby.computicket.com.
Season tickets are also still available for purchase from just R 800.00 and includes tickets to all Vodacom Super Rugby and ABSA Currie Cup home games, as well as the Springboks versus All Blacks Test.
The Emirates Lions boast a strong squad in 2015, with a number of Springboks and Springbok tourists in the squad.
The Springboks are: Marnitz Boshoff, Elton Jantjies, Lionel Mapoe, Julian Redelinghuys & Warren Whiteley.
The Springbok tourists (uncapped) are: Ruan Dreyer & Jaco Kriel.
The Lions improved tremendously during 2014, doing well in Super Rugby and reaching the Final of the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division and they will want to continue this good form under the leadership of coach Johan Ackermann.
Emirates Lions Super Rugby squad:
Toulon (5) 10 / 12 (9) Sharks (Final Score)
Toulon and the Cell C Sharks did battle in a friendly cross-hemisphere match prior to the
Super Rugby season at Stade Mayol, Toulon at 22:00 SA Time (21:00 French Time, 20:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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The Reds have named their team to play the Crusaders at Ballymore in what will be their final Super Rugby pre-season clash.
As revealed yesterday Reds recent recruit Karmichael Hunt will start at flyhalf in the match as the Queensland side look at ways of filling the gap created by Quade Cooper’s injury.
Reds head coach Richard Graham has announced a 23-man squad for the fixture, with a further three players to be added. In all Graham has made three changes to the starting team from last week’s match.
Hunt’s move to starting flyhalf has shifted 20-year-old Duncan Paia’aua to the reserves bench, Chris Feauai-Sautia has been brought into a starting wing spot and Jamie-Jerry Taulagi has moved to starting fullback.
Dan Carter
Dan Carter will start the Crusaders’ last warm-up match ahead of potentially his final Super Rugby season against the Reds on Friday at flyhalf with team-mate Colin Slade switching to fullback.
The 32-year-old Carter, who will join French side Racing Metro at the conclusion of this year’s World Cup, had played mostly at inside centre last year when he returned to the Crusaders from a sabbatical to accommodate Slade’s good form.
The fact he will play in his preferred flyhalf position suggests he will get the nod from coach Todd Blackadder to start there for the Crusaders’ opening game against the Melbourne Rebels on 13 February in Christchurch.
The Cheetahs ran in 10 tries to the Griffons 1 in what can only be described as a practice match as the men from Bloemfontein tweaked their final preparations.
What this match did allow was for Naka Drotske and his staff to get a clearer picture of the Cheetahs best centre pairing with Francois Venter, Michael van der Spuy and Johann Sadie looking sharp – however, JW Jonker not in action.
Venter looked especially good and was on song against the Griffons as he slipped between inside and outside centre with ease.
A Shoulder injury kept him out of most of the 2014 Super Rugby season but this could be the year for him to step up.
Hawies Fourie, the Cheetahs’ backline coach, has a pleasant problem of who will begin in the centres in next weekend’s Sharks game.
The Melbourne Rebels have completed their pre-season schedule with a 25 / 24 come-from-behind victory over the Highlanders in a thrilling encounter at Harlequin club in Melbourne.
For the first ever time, a Victorian Club ground hosted a Super Rugby trial – as the Highlanders, finalists last season, ventured to Holmesglen Reserve to face the Rebels.
It was a physical clash throughout, with both sides impressive with ball in hand.