Super Rugby
The Sharks could potentially slip to third on the overall Super Rugby log following the completion of this weekend’s Round 17 action.
The Super Rugby competition resumes for New Zealand and Australian teams this week following the June international Test window.
No South African teams are taking part this weekend as the Springboks are scheduled to play one extra Test against Scotland, which falls outside the International Rugby Board’s Test window.
Robbie Fruean
Super Rugby resumes following the June Test window with the first of three straight New Zealand derby matches for the Chiefs, and they certainly know what’s at stake.
The first of these matches is against the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Friday night and head coach Dave Rennie knows his team cannot afford another slip.
“This is a massive game and we have prepared really well,” he said.
Head coach Richard Graham has announced his team to face the Rebels in Melbourne this Friday, making just one change to the starting 15 that defeated the Highlanders in the Reds’ last match before the June Test window.
The forward pack remains unchanged from that match, with the Reds’ Wallabies contingent of James Horwill, Rob Simmons and James Slipper in good health and named in the starting XV for Friday’s clash.
Just one change has been made to the backline that started the Highlanders match, with Nick Frisby named at scrumhalf in place of the injured Will Genia, who is out for the remainder of the Super Rugby season after undergoing ankle surgery last week.
Luke Braid
Blues openside flanker Luke Braid will have shoulder surgery during Super Rugby’s off-season, which rules him out of Auckland’s ITM Cup campaign.
The 25-year-old has been superb for his team this season but has been feeling pain during his showings, leading to him making the decision.
“It had got to the point where it was hurting more frequently,” Braid said.
Richie McCaw
The Crusaders have confirmed that an x-ray revealed that Richie McCaw has a broken rib.
It is believed the rib injury was sustained in the second All Blacks test against England and is likely to keep McCaw out of contention for the next 3-4 weeks; a bitter blow for the Cantabrians who are pushing for top spot on the Super Rugby table.
Crusaders head coach Todd Blackadder said that while McCaw’s presence will clearly be missed over the next few weeks, the team is fully focussed on the task at hand.
Benn Robinson
Benn Robinson will make Waratahs history on Saturday night when he runs out against the Brumbies at ANZ Stadium in the crunch match for top spot in the Australian Conference.
Named in the starting XV on Tuesday, Robinson will earn his 130th New South Wales cap and join fellow NSW legend Al Baxter as the state’s second most capped player of all time, behind former captain Phil Waugh (136).
Head coach Michael Cheika has made just one change to the starting side that beat defending champions the Chiefs in their last outing back in Round 16, with Wallaby prop Sekope Kepu starting at tighthead in place of the hard-hitting Paddy Ryan.
Internationals Jacques Potgieter and Kane Douglas will wear the number four and five jerseys respectively, with Wallaby debutant Will Skelton expected to make an impact from the bench.
Patrick Lambie
Francois Steyn
The Cell C Sharks players not in the Springbok camp all returned to Kings Park this week as they start preparing for the final stages of the Super Rugby tournament, Sharks website editor Michael Marnewick reports.
In two weeks’ time, they will resume duty against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, followed by their final pool match, against the Stormers in Cape Town. The knockout stages follow with the Sharks already guaranteed a place in the top three, having already secured the South African Conference.
The players have had a mixed programme over the June break, alternating rest with gym work and field training to balance the needs to break from the game, without losing strength and fitness.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 17 of Super Rugby 2014.
Garratt Williamson starts the action in Dunedin when the Highlanders host local rivals the Chiefs.
This weekend sees 5 games, with 2 on Friday and 3 on Saturday.
All 5 the South African Franchises sit out this weekend, after they started a week early in February.
After completion of this Round, the Logs will be put in proper perspective, with Conferences on the same number of WEEKS in the 2014 competition.
Vlok Cilliers
Paul Willemse
Jacques du Plessis
News from the Bulls camp, prior to joining Super Rugby action again after the June Test break has not been so good!
Jacques du Plessis, Blindside flank of the Bulls broke his jaw in the warm-up match over the weekend against namibia and is set to miss the rest of the Bulls Super Rugby campaign.
In addition, the Bulls have confirmed that lock Paul Willemse, has signed a 2-year deal with French Club, Grenoble and they have also confirmed that the Bulls kicking consultant, Vlok Cilliers will join the WP as from July 2014.
Brian van Zyl
The Sharks face allegations of maladministration from a report set to be presented to a senior employee on Monday.
The report was conducted by the Durban franchise’s auditing company, KPMG, and has been labelled as “potentially explosive”.
The allegations are believed to revolve around unauthorised benefits being handed to at least one senior staff member, but could spill over into other areas of the company.
Kieran Read
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says that he expects the Crusaders to ease captain Kieran Read back into Super Rugby.
Read made his return to playing, after battling to recover from concussion, on Saturday for the All Blacks against England.
The IRB player of the year managed to play for 40-minutes and was then replaced by Liam Messam at halftime.
Hansen has now predicted that the No 8 will gradually increase his game time with the Crusaders in the coming weeks.
Matt Toomua
The Brumbies hopes of reaching the 2014 Super Rugby finals have been dealt a blow as Wallabies star Matt Toomua has joined an joined a growing list of casualties.
The Canberra based Super Rugby franchise are now feeling the cost of a three week break for the June Internationals which has left several key players in doubt for this week’s match against the Waratahs on Saturday.
Toomua (adductor), Josh Mann-Rea (hamstring) and Joseph Tomane (cheekbone), will all have scans on Monday to determine whether they will be able to play against the Waratahs at ANZ Stadium.
Pat McCabe has a shoulder problem and is being considered as a 50-50 chance to play while Sam Carter is still wearing a moon boot and is in a race to reach fitness for the match against the Western Force on 11 July.
Dan Carter
Dan Carter has played barely 120 minutes of club rugby since embarking on his sabbatical last November, but he has declared himself available for selection against the Hurricanes.
It is unlikely that the super-star flyhalf will be thrown straight into the mix. If selected, Carter would probably start off the bench.
Colin Slade, who was a member of the All Blacks squad for the recent series against England, is tipped to start at flyhalf Wellington as the Crusaders look to consolidate their position at the head of the New Zealand conference.
Robbie Fruean
Robbie Fruean is set to return for the Chiefs’ must-win battle with the Highlanders after recovering from an astounding three heart surgeries.
The 25-year old has seen some action in the past few weeks playing local club rugby after fearing that he may never return to the sport at all.
“It’ll be awesome, the past couple of weeks I’ve been playing a bit of club rugby,” said the block-busting centre.
Quentin MacDonald
Brad Weber
The Chiefs have signed former Crusaders and Tasman hooker Quentin MacDonald as well as Waikato captain Brad Weber.
Tasman hooker Quentin MacDonald has returned to New Zealand after playing for Munster in Ireland. MacDonald will join the Chiefs for the 2015 Super Rugby Season after this years ITM Cup season.
Damian McKenzie
New Zealand Under 20’s backliner Damian McKenzie has been promoted into the Chiefs squad for the rest of the Super Rugby season.
McKenzie was part of the Chiefs Wider training group and also featured for the New Zealand U20’s in the Junior World Championship.
Luke Burgess
The return of Super Rugby down-under is timeous for the Rebels with the return of Wallaby Luke Burgess and Nic Stirzaker from injury.
Burgess, who was called up to the Wallabies camp for the French series, hobbled from the field last time the Melbourne boys played the Reds, but only after scoring two tries.
Another scrumhalf, Stirzaker, who has sustained two injuries to the same ankle in 2014, can officially wipe his name from the injury list, and will join Burgess in contention for selection this week.
Paul Willemse
French Top 14 club Grenoble are reportedly hunting the services of promising Bulls lock Paul Willemse.
According to reports, there are rumours that he could leave the Bulls after the completion of this year’s Super Rugby competition.
The Bulls though insisted that the 21-year-old Willemse would play for them in the Currie Cup later this year.
Johannes ‘Boom’ Prinsloo
Die Cheetahs agsteman, Johannes ‘Boom’ Prinsloo, het sy betrokkenheid met die Bloemfontein-gebasseerde eenheid verleng tot aan die einde van 2015.
Die 25-jarige wat ‘n uitnemende en vooraanstaande verhouding en geskiedenis met die SA Sewes Blitzbokke gehad het, het gesê hy is gelukkig by die Cheetahs en sien geen rede om daaraan te verander nie.
Philip van der Walt
The Cheetahs have announced that eighthman Philip van der Walt will leave the Bloemfontein Super Rugby franchise in order to play in France.
The Free-state franchise have released Van der Walt from his contract so that he can join French club Biarritz.
Deon Stegmann
Deon Stegmann may make his long-awaited return to action when the Vodacom Bulls head for Windhoek for a friendly match against the Namibian national team this weekend.
While Stegmann was only expected to make a return to Currie Cup action later, his inclusion in a team for the breakaway trip may well mean that he will get some game time. It also means he could be back for the last few games in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby series.
Patrick Cilliers
Brok Harris
Western Province and the Stormers look likely to lose the services of props Pat Cilliers and Brok Harris.
According to reports, Cilliers is heading to French club Montpellier, while Welsh club Newport are believed to be hunting the signature of Harris.
Vlok Cilliers
Western Province and the Stormers are reportedly hunting the services of Bulls kicking consultant Vlok Cilliers.
Cilliers, a former flyhalf who played one Test for the Boks in 1996, started working as the Bulls’ kicking coach in 2004.
Aaron Cruden
New Zealand rugby has secured a major commitment from one of its key players, with All Blacks and Chiefs flyhalf Aaron Cruden signing on for a further three years.
The 25-year-old Cruden, who played his 31st Test in the All Blacks victory over England on the weekend, has signed with New Zealand Rugby and the Chiefs through until 2017. He has also re-signed with his Manawatu Turbos provincial side for the same period.
Cruden said it was an easy decision for him to make.
Cam Crawford
In the wake of acquiring Mike Harris and Jonah Placid, the Rebels’ recruiting drive has secured another key talent with Cam Crawford signing for the next two Super Rugby seasons.
The 25-year-old had to make it to Super Rugby the hard way, with a number of injuries preventing him from making a long-awaited debut until the 2012 season.
Playing for the Brumbies, Crawford featured in one Super Rugby game and also against the touring Welsh.
Danny Cipriani in action for England against the Crusaders
England outscored the Crusaders by six tries to one to cruise to a comfortable 38-7 victory in Christchurch on Tuesday.
It was their first win on their tour of New Zealand in their first-ever clash with the seven-time Super Rugby champions following narrow defeats in both Tests against the All Blacks so far.
The fluent performance against a Crusaders side boasting six All Blacks will certainly give England coach Stuart Lancaster some interesting food for thought ahead of the final Test in Hamilton this weekend.
Flyhalf Danny Cipriani staked a claim for inclusion in England’s side for the third Test with a brief but influential performance.
Luke Watson
After a lengthy layoff through a foot injury, Luke Watson is excited to be back in the EP Kings team to face the Bulls in a Super Rugby friendly at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
The 30-year-old loose forward was named by coach Carlos Spencer as captain of the team and would lead the side from the back of the scrum.
Watson has been out of rugby since the Super Rugby competition last year, having been hampered by a broken foot bone.
The Crusaders will host an historic mid-week match against England this Tuesday night at AMI Stadium (Addington). Head Coach Todd Blackadder has named his team to take on the touring side. Packing down in the front row will be Tim Perry, Corey Flynn and Nepo Laulala. Prop Joe Moody has been named in the reserves for his first game since he broke his leg in last year’s ITM Cup final. Another prop, Siate Tokolahi, has been called into the squad for this game and will also take a place on the bench.
Joel Everson is set to make his Crusaders debut at lock alongside Jimmy Tupou, and another player called into the squad could make his debut if he comes off the bench – lock Scott Barrett, younger brother of All Black first five Beauden Barrett. Flanker Matt Todd has been released by the All Blacks to join the team and will take a place in the reserves to provide cover for Whitelock brothers George and Luke and Jordan Taufua in the loose forwards.
Will Genia
Senior Wallabies scrumhalf Will Genia faces ankle surgery and will be out of rugby for eight weeks, the Australian Rugby Union said on Sunday.
Genia’s troubled season took another downward turn when it was revealed he has had ligament damage in his right ankle since playing for the Reds against the Hurricanes in Wellington on 26 April.
Scans have shown he needs an operation to fix the worsening problem and the 55-Test scrumhalf will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd is pleased to confirm that flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter has signed an extension to his contract till 2016.
Potgieter joined the Vodacom Bulls earlier in the season from France following stints with Bayonne and Dax and immediately proved to be a valuable asset to the squad.
He has started in 10 of 12 matches since his arrival and scored 142 points at an average of 11.8 points per match. This included a try, 13 conversions, 34 penalties and three dropped goals.
Rod Davies
Biarritz have completed the double signing of Reds finisher Rod Davies and former All Black lock Bryn Evans.
Now in the Pro D2 league, Biarritz, coached by Eddie O’Sullivan, are already recruiting as they look to bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt.
29-Year-old Evans joins on a one-year contract while 25-year-old Davies has put pen to paper on a two-year deal at the struggling southern side.
Elton Jantjies
Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies is set to head to Japan and won’t be available for the Currie Cup later this year.
According to reports, the 23-year-old Springbok has signed a deal with the NTT Shining Arcs.
Peter Grant
Jason Eaton
Alofa Alofa
Promoted Top 14 side La Rochelle announced on Friday the signing of former All Black Jason Eaton along with Australian Alofa Alofa and ex-Springbok Peter Grant on two-year deals.
Francois Steyn
Tanerau Latimer
Japanese Rugby club Toshiba Brave Lupus have announced that Springbok Frans Steyn and All Black flanker Tanerau Latimer have signed with the club.
The club have won the Japanese Top league four times and already have the likes of Richard Kahui and Cooper Vuna on their books.
Francois Steyn
The good news is that the chronic knee injury that Frans Steyn is currently playing with won’t get worse and stop him from playing, but the bad news is that it is going to have to be managed for the rest of his playing career.
Steyn was the subject of quite a lot of consternation when Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said he was concerned about his condition during last week’s national training camp in Durban. However, the Bok management denied suggestions in some media forums that they were unhappy with the Sharks for playing Steyn through the injury, and it now appears the Boks might manage Steyn in the same way the Sharks have – by limiting the load placed on his affected knee in training.