Steve Hansen
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen had no regrets about risking defeat against Scotland by fielding an experimental young side at Murrayfield, insisting that the close call of a contest that ended in a 24-16 victory for the reigning world champions was “a perfect game”.
New Zealand have never lost to Scotland but the hosts were scenting an historic victory as they entered the final 10 minutes just 17-16 down against an All Black side featuring 13 changes in personnel from the team that started the 24-21 win against England at Twickenham seven days previously.
It took a 74th minute try from Hurricanes lock Jeremy Thrush and a conversion by Colin Slade, who started on the right wing but switched to the familiar realm of flyhalf after the 56th minute substitution of Dan Carter, to make victory secure against a spirited Scotland side.
Dan Carter
All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter was unimpressed by his scratchy return in the number 10 shirt against Scotland but grateful just to get through the 24-16 win unscathed.
Starting at flyhalf for the first time in a year after a season blighted by a broken leg, Carter was well below his best at Murrayfield, struggling with handling errors particularly in the opening exchanges before being replaced shortly after halftime.
“That first 20 (minutes) was pretty scratchy and there were a lot of mistakes from me personally which, if I get another chance, I’ll have to improve,” Carter told reporters.
“My option-taking probably wasn’t the best at times. But I was pretty pleased to be back out there playing again and I felt as the game went on I grew in confidence.”
Wales’ narrow 17-13 victory over 2015 World Cup pool opponents Fiji on Saturday was “disappointing and frustrating”, according to coach Warren Gatland.
Despite the South Sea Islanders being reduced to 14 men after prop Campese Ma’afu received a second yellow card in the 52nd minute, the toothless Welsh team remarkably failed to register a score in the second half after leading 17-6 at the break.
Ahead of clashes against world champions New Zealand and South Africa, Gatland said his team’s performance was “disappointing and frustrating”.
Japan fullback Ayumu Goromaru has scored six penalties to give his team a far from convincing 18-13 victory over Romania in the first Test of their European tour on Saturday.
Romania coach Lynn Howells made extensive changes following last week’s 27-17 defeat by the United States but his side lacked the exciting cutting edge displayed by the rugby powerhouses.
Japan, who have reached an all-time high of ninth in the world rankings, started brightly and had the bulk of the possession but could not convert their overwhelming dominance into points.
Kurtley Beale
Wayward back Kurtley Beale left Australia to join up with his Wallaby teammates in Europe on Saturday, saying he wants to redeem himself after fearing his international career was over.
Beale received a call-up to join the Wallabies for the last two matches of their northern hemisphere tour after being left out of the touring party for disciplinary breaches.
Beale has not played for Australia since the Wallabies’ loss in Cape Town against South Africa on 27 September.
On the ensuing flight to Argentina to play the Pumas Beale had an argument with then Wallabies business manager Di Patston, which quickly descended into a major scandal engulfing the Australian Rugby Union and leading to the resignations of Patston and Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie.
Paul Perez
Eastern Province Rugby have confirmed that they have terminated Samoan wing Paul Perez’s contract with immediate effect.
Perez, who was seen as playing an integral role in the EP Kings plans for the 2015 season, disappeared for two days this week, without justification or permission, and remained uncontactable for the duration of his absence.
EP Rugby president, Cheeky Watson, confirmed that the union had been in the process of applying for Perez’s work permit, and had been obligated to contact the Department of Home Affairs due to concerns raised by his absenteeism.
The French Barbarians recovered from an early seven-point deficit to beat Namibia 35-14 in Toulon on Friday.
PJ van Lill scored in the fifth minute and Theuns Kotze converted to get Namibia off to the perfect start, but the Barbarians notched 21 points in 15 minutes without reply thanks to a try from Rodrigo Capo Ortega and two from Jules Plisson.
Alexandre Bias and Florian Fresia also scored tries for the hosts while Plisson added the conversions.
Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has blasted national rugby players who threatened to boycott next week’s test against England as “little kids” who are guilty of “foolish thinking.”
Tuilaepa, who is also chairman of the Samoan Rugby Union, said the threatened boycott was the work of troublemakers within the Samoa team who put money before country.
Ireland (9) 49 / 7 (0) Georgia (Final Score)
Ireland and Georgia did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 BST & 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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France (17) 29 / 26 (16) Wallabies (Final Score)
France and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Stade de France, Paris, France at 22:00 SA Time (21:00 France Time, 20:00 GMT, 07:00 Sunday AEST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Scotland (10) 16 / 24 (14) All Blacks (Final Score)
Scotland and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland at 19:30 SA Time (17:30 BST & GMT, 06:30 Sunday NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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England (6) 28 / 31 (13) Springboks (Final Score)
England and the South African Springboks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Twickenham, London, England at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 BST & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Scotland’s team for Saturday’s test at BT Murrayfield has been announced and no doubt the players and coaching staff will be completely focussed on this match. After all, there is a team from a country called New Zealand who play in black who are in town. However, looking beyond this test would like to discuss the match day squad that would preferably be doing duty at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, against Tonga next weekend. Rugby Park is the home of Kilmarnock football team, yes that can be confusing but that is not the topic of the this piece.
Scotland’s head coach Vern Cotter has selected the same starting XV that beat Argentina to face the All Blacks , one wonders when last a Scotland coach picked the same XV for consecutive matches. For Tonga though I would suggest wholesale changes to the team for a variety of reasons, the main one being – Glasgow Warriors.
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), unlike the case in South Africa, have a direct stake in the two professional clubs here: Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors, and it is with this in mind that my suggestion for the Tonga test is made.
Azzurri (12) 18 / 20 (10) Los Pumas (Final Score)
The Italian Azzurri and Argentinian Pumas did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genova, Italy at 18:15 SA Time (17:15 Italy Time, 16:15 GMT, 13:15 Arg Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport on TV in SA.
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Canada Head Coach Kieran Crowley has announced his starting roster to face Samoa on Friday at Stade de la Rabine in Vannes, France in the third game of Canada’s year-end tour.
Following a loss to a Championship XV side in Worcester on November 2nd, Canada snapped a three test match losing streak last weekend in Colwyn Bay, Wales with a narrow 17-13 victory over Namibia.
This weekend, Crowley’s 17th ranked side will take on 11th ranked Samoa, who are fresh off a 24-13 loss last weekend to Canada’s Rugby World Cup 2015 opponent Italy in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. Before last weekend’s loss, “Manu Samoa” held the 9th spot in World Rankings.
Patrick Lambie
Cobus Reinach
Rugby World Cup winners JP Pietersen and Schalk Burger will start Saturday’s second Test in the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour against England at Twickenham as the Springbok match-23 is retained from last weekend.
The five changes to the team are straight swaps between the starting line-up and the bench. Along with Pietersen and Burger, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has handed starts to hooker Adriaan Strauss and the halfback pair of Cobus Reinach and Pat Lambie.
Cornal Hendricks, Handré Pollard, Francois Hougaard, Teboho Mohoje and Bismarck du Plessis will start on the bench.
“We’ve accepted our performance against Ireland last weekend was not up to scratch and everyone in the touring squad has put up their hands and dug deep this week,” said Meyer. “We’ve really worked hard at fixing the mistakes we made and the challenge is now to put that into action on Saturday.”
Meyer said the changes were not a knee-jerk reaction following the result in Dublin, but rather in line with rotational changes that he had in mind before the start of the tour.
Three extend contracts as Vodacom Bulls get ready for 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby season:
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd on Thursday confirmed that Werner Kruger, Akona Ndungane and Duncan Matthews have extended their contracts and will be available to play for the Vodacom Bulls in the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby competition. Former Springbok winger Ndungane extended his contract till the end of the 2015 Super Rugby competition, while prop Kruger, who made his Springbok debut in 2011, signed on till October 2016.
Outside back Duncan Matthews, who represented the South African Under-20 side in 2014, will stay with the Pretoria franchise till at least October 2016.
BBC’s High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg, confirmed that the majority of the provisional Vodacom Bulls squad for next year have signed up till the end of 2016.
“We had a long term plan with some of these younger players which started in 2012 already and it is great to see that they are now blossoming in our structures. Added to some new signings for next season, I think the 2015 Super Rugby season could be an exciting one for our supporters,” Janse van Rensburg said.
Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu will play his milestone 50th Test for Australia when they take on France at Stade de France on Saturday.
The talented 28-year-old will become just the sixth Australian prop to reach the 50-game milestone – joining a group which includes Ben Alexander (70 games), Benn Robinson and Al Baxter (69 games), James Slipper (60 games) and Ewen McKenzie (51 games).
Kepu will reach the mark in his seventh year of competing at international level, after making his debut against Italy in 2008 – with the honour adding to an already special season which also included winning a maiden Super Rugby title for the Waratahs.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika congratulated Kepu on his achievement.
Anthony Watson
Anthony Watson will start his first international for England in Saturday’s clash against South Africa at Twickenham.
Watson replaces Bath Rugby teammate Semesa Rokoduguni on the right wing in the only change to the starting line-up from the match against New Zealand, the 20 year-old handed a chance to build on his cameo appearance from the bench in last weekend’s 24-21 defeat.
A prolific graduate of the England age-group system who was part of the 2013 Junior World Championship-winning side, he can also draw confidence from the June tour to New Zealand.
Watson’s promotion means Harlequins flyer Marland Yarde, who has scored four tries in five international appearances thus far, comes onto the bench.
France have stuck true to their winning formula by naming the same starting team that defeated Fiji 40-15 last weekend for their clash with Australia.
There were no injury concerns in the French camp and as such coach Philippe Saint-Andre decided to keep faith in his players.
“All the players who started (against Fiji) are at 100 percent and we wanted to go further with this team,” Saint-Andre said.
France picked up their first win of three November Tests last Saturday, boosting their confidence ahead of the game against the Wallabies, a side that put the French to the sword in June when they played in Australia.
“We will have to raise our level against one of the top nations in the world,” Saint-Andre added.
Head coach Vern Cotter has shown faith in his winning Scotland formula for this Saturday’s visit of world champions New Zealand to Murrayfield Stadium.
All 15 men that started the national team’s impressive 41-31 win over Argentina last weekend will once again kick off the second Test.
The reselection means that all five of the match-winning try-scorers – locks Jonny and Richie Gray and back-three trio Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour – all earn a return to the fold.
Man-of-the-match winning captain Greig Laidlaw will once again orchestrate the back division alongside flyhalf Finn Russell and a young midfield partnership of Alex Dunbar and Mark Bennett.
Packing down with the secondrow Gray brothers is the experienced front row trio of Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford and Euan Murray, and the promising loose forward combo of Rob Harly, Blair Cowan and Adam Ashe.
Martin Castrogiovanni
Toulon prop Martin Castrogiovanni replaces Dario Chistolini in the only change for Italy as they look to follow up a 24-13 win over Samoa with a win against Argentina this weekend.
But Italy’s second game of their three-test November series, due to be played in Genoa on Saturday, is now hanging in the balance due to heavy flooding in the northern Italian city.
With storms and heavy rain predicted for Saturday, officials said Thursday they have moved the game earlier, to Friday 17:15 Italian Time (18:15 SA Time, 16:15 GMT).
Italy coach Jacques Brunel was forced to leave Castrogiovanni on the sidelines due to suspension last week as Zebre prop Chistolini claimed only his third cap for the Azzurri.
Loose forward Tinus du Plessis will miss Namibia’s match against the French Barbarians this Friday in Toulon after failing to recover from a calf strain.
Du Plessis was injured in training last week in Colwyn Bay, Wales but was included in the starting line-up for the second match on the Namibian Northern Hemisphere Tour – subject to a fitness test.
The 39 test veteran went for a run Tuesday and still had discomfort in his left calf.
It was decided to pull him out of the match 23 and allow him more time to recover ahead of the test against Portugal on the 22 November.
Nigel Owens
The Rugby Football Union has launched an investigation into alleged homophobic and racial abuse of the Welsh referee Nigel Owens by a group of England supporters during the defeat by New Zealand at Twickenham last Saturday.
Owens told The Telegraph that he welcomed the investigation but revealed he has considered quitting the sport because of an increasing level of homophobic abuse in stadiums and on social media.
The investigation was launched after the RFU received an official complaint from a supporter who also outlined the extent of the alleged abuse directed at the 41 year-old official during England’s 21-24 defeat in a letter to The Guardian newspaper.
“As a lifelong rugby fan, a straight man in his 60s, I could not believe that a bunch of men half my age watching a rugby match in the 21st century could be capable of hurling such nasty, foul-mouthed, racist, homophobic abuse at an openly gay match official,” wrote Keith Wilson, from South Yorkshire.
Duane Vermeulen
Willie le Roux
Springbok fullback Willie le Roux and No 8 Duane Vermeulen on Wednesday were named among five candidates for the IRB World Rugby Player of the year.
The other nominees were Irish flyhalf Jonathan Sexton, New Zealand lock Brodie Retallick and wing Julian Savea. The winner will be revealed at his team’s final match of the season.
The three men acquitted of murder in connection with the fatal beating of a former Royal Marine will not be allowed to watch rugby matches at Kings Park.
Novashni Chetty, public relations manager for the Sharks, said in a statement on Wednesday that Kyle Shepard, Andries van der Merwe and Dustin van Wyk would not be allowed to attend matches despite the fact that they were allowed to walk free from the Durban Regional Court on Friday last week.
“The Sharks reserve the right of admission to our stadium.
“There is no clear indication that any one of the three men made any attempt to stop the fight. For that reason, they will not be welcome into our family environment at Kings Park,” said Chetty in her statement, issued in response to a query as to whether the three would be allowed to attend.
New Zealand All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has named his team to play Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday with Dan Carter starting and James Parsons making his international debut.
The matchday 23 for Saturday features 11 players from the 23 which played England last week and Daniel Carter makes his first Test start of the year at first five-eighth in his 102nd Test, with TJ Perenara at halfback.
Two of the locks who played against England, Brodie Retallick (shoulder) and Patrick Tuipulotu (shoulder), were not considered for selection, due to injury.
As a result, lock Dominic Bird, who, like Parsons, was called into the All Blacks as injury cover, will start, with Luke Romano coming off the bench. Loose forward Jerome Kaino (knee) was also not considered for selection.
Nemani Nadolo
Crusaders wing Nemani Nadolo will take his place at inside centre for Fiji when they face off against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Ospreys’ contingent in Warren Gatland’s Wales selection will come up against a familiar foe in the form of Josh Matavesi, who has been named at flyhalf for the opposition.
It will be Matavesi’s seventh international cap but his first for almost exactly two years, his last international appearance coming at Twickenham in November 2012 when he came off the bench against England.
The 24-year old missed Fiji’s defeat to France last Saturday due to a shoulder injury.
Dan Carter
New Zealand flyhalf Daniel Carter is expected to return to the match day squad for their clash with Scotland on Saturday as he continues to work his way back from a broken leg.
Carter was the highest profile water boy in world rugby last Saturday when the All Blacks beat England 24-21 at Twickenham. The 32-year-old missed out on a place in the playing squad, ostensibly because coach Steve Hansen felt he had not played enough rugby.
Carter has barely played this year after taking a six-month sabbatical and breaking his leg in the Super Rugby final in August.
He came off the bench for 30 minutes against the United States on November 1 and assistant All Blacks coach Ian Foster said he would now get more playing time in their final two matches against Scotland on Saturday and Wales on November 22.
Gethin Jenkins
Cardiff Blues prop Gethin Jenkins will captain a rejigged Wales team for their clash with Fiji at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday, head coach Warren Gatland announced on Tuesday.
Gatland has elected to make eight changes to the team beaten 33-28 by Australia last weekend, although there is no place in the starting XV for recalled Gloucester fly-half James Hook.
Jenkins takes over from Paul James in the front row, while Scott Baldwin of Ospreys will make his first Wales start at hooker.
Flanker Sam Warburton, the regular captain, is being rested, but there are recalls in the backs for fit-again centre Scott Williams, fly-half Rhys Priestland and scrum-half Mike Phillips.
Marland Yarde
Semesa Rokoduguni is out of England’s international against South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday, with Marland Yarde replacing the Bath wing in the squad, head coach Stuart Lancaster announced on Tuesday.
Rokoduguni, who made his debut in last week’s 24-21 defeat by New Zealand, injured his thigh and Lancaster believes there is not enough time for him to recover to face the Springboks.
That is the only change to the 23 players selected to face the All Blacks, although James Haskell is added to the squad as cover for Tom Wood, who was unable to take a full part in Tuesday’s training.
Agustín Creevy
Argentina will be without their captain Agustín Creevy for the clash with Italy after the hooker sustained a thigh injury.
After leaving the field after just 20 minutes in the Pumas 31-41 loss to Scotland on the weekend, it now looks set that the hooker will not recover in time.
Creevy, who took over the Argentinean captaincy this year, underwent medical tests where it was revealed that he had suffered a grade one tear of his thigh.
Dominate the collisions and get some big hits in at the tackle. That is Scotland’s recipe for success against New Zealand at Murrayfield on Saturday.
There is an air of confidence in the Scottish camp, following their 41-31 demolition of Argentina last week – a scoreline skewed by two late tries from the Pumas.
New Zealander Vern Cotter’s arrival as coach in Edinburgh has contributed to the country once called Caledonia by the Romans and also referred to as Alba – while they, of course, referee to it as ‘the greatest country on Earth’.
Last week’s victory over the Pumas, who recently tasted success over the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship, has contributed to their growing confidence.
However, captain Greig Laidlaw admitted there are plenty of work ahead before Saturdays showdown with the All Blacks.
It’s PUB NIGHT!
Was a lady day for me, I did not do much and did not WANT to do much… one needs to be lazy sometimes… it is part of the rejuvenation process!
What’s better than capping it off in the pub!
This coming weekend the Springboks take on the old enemy, England, at Twickenham. Question is, will the “Rooinekke” also beat the Bokke, or will the Bokke bounce back from the Irish disaster and once again get one over the “Bleekbene”?
The Springboks controlled the set pieces against Ireland, but did not finish off their opportunities, allowing Ireland to eventually trounce them and to end the shitty weekend off, Saracens really put DHL Western Province to the sword on Sunday… 6 tries to 3.
OK, let’s focus on the PUB tonight…. the idea with PUB NIGHT is to lighten up our dull Tuesday evenings with music, comedy and fun.
Rugby takes a backseat tonight as the clan and fellow rugby nutters gather…
Read the rules below carefully, or you WILL get burnt!
Just for clarity sake, when someone does not adhere to the Rules of the PUB, EVERYBODY jumps on them and pummels them, right… understood?
Here’s how it works:
Jono Ross
The Blue Bulls Company has granted Vodacom Blue Bulls loose forward Jono Ross an early release from his contract to allow the player the opportunity to join the French club, Stade Francais.
Ross will join the Paris-based club on 1 December 2014.
Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke admitted that it was a set-back losing a former captain and versatile loose forward, but pointed to the huge stock of talented players that will still be available to the Blue Bulls Company in 2015.