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.
Springbok defence coach John McFarland says they have taken note of the dangerous back three of Scotland ahead of their Test in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Scotland head into the Test on the back of three consecutive away wins – against Argentina (21-19), Canada (19-17) and America (24-6).
They also have a new coach in Vern Cotter, but it was in particular the performances of Stuart Hogg (fullback), Sean Maitland (wing) and Tommy Seymour (wing) that caught the eye of the Springbok management.
Lood de Jager
Handré Pollard
As the announcement of the Springbok squad is awaited on Wednesday, speculation as to the possible composition of the side is gathering momentum.
At this stage it would appear that Johan Goosen is not over his injury worries and that Handré Pollard would leapfrog into the starting berth at flyhalf.
At lock Lood de Jager should get the nod and a 1st start at No 4 lock, in the absense of Flip van der Merwe, who is out with a longer term injury.
Gerrie Sonnekus
Two men were arrested on Tuesday for the robbery and attack on three fishermen, including former Springbok Gerrie Sonnekus, in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape police said.
“After following leads, Port Alfred detectives in collaboration with crime intelligence officers, arrested two men aged 34 in Nemato Township in the early hours of Tuesday morning,” police spokesperson Luvuyo Mjekula said.
“Police are looking to make more arrests as two more suspects are still at large.”
Heyneke Meyer
The Springbok team to face Scotland in Port Elizabeth will be markedly different from the one that edged Wales in Nelspruit, by necessity rather than design.
With seven European-based players unavailable for selection and at least another two starters ruled through injury Heyneke Meyer’s hand will be forced when he names his team to face an under-strength Scotland.
However, the idea that Meyer should completely overhaul the team and give promising youngsters a shot because the match falls outside the June Test window and Scotland will not have their best team on the park is a little bit misguided.
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.
The International Rugby Board has named the Match Officials for SANZAR’s The Rugby Championship in August and September. A new face amongst them is John Lacey of Ireland.
Lacey has become increasingly prominent this year and last Friday refereed the Test in Cordoba between Argentina and Scotland.
He is an e at -player – a wing or fullback for Munster and Ireland A. His debut for Munster was in 1995 against Transvaal. He played till 2007 when he retired and then became a referee. In 2008 he was refereeing club rugby in the Amlin Cup and the Magners League. In 2009 the IRB chose him as an international assistant referee. In 2010 he replaced injured Greg Gardner at the Junior World Championship where he refereed a semifinal. The next year he was on the international panel as a referee. Now he is going to Loftus Versfeld to referee a Test between the Springboks and the Pumas.
The last Championship matches are on 4 October 2014, the Bledisloe Cup match a fortnight later.
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.
Lourens Adriaanse
Stephan Lewies
Flip van der Merwe
Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira
Lourens Adriaanse (prop) and Stephan Lewies (lock) of the Cell C Sharks have been called up to the Springbok squad in Port Elizabeth, where they face Scotland in the final Test of the Castle Lager Incoming Series on Saturday.
Adriaanse replaces his provincial team-mate Tendai Mtawarira, who sustained an injury to his neck in last Saturday’s 31-30 victory over Wales in Nelspruit.
Lewies comes into the squad for Flip van der Merwe, who injured knee ligaments late in the Welsh Test.
Both Mtawarira and Van der Merwe underwent scans in Port Elizabeth on Monday.
Dumb and Dumber
I hope you guys have a taste for parody and a tongue-in-cheek look at events of the week!
Another episode or 3 in a new serial called Dumb and Dumberer – the SARU Story, is playing out right in front of our eyes this week again.
In Episode 1, one of the lead actors, let’s call him “Hoss”… short for Hoskins… opens his mouth, sticks both feet firmly in… and then continues to look stupid.
In Episode 2, “Kallie Karnallie”… short for Kallie Kriel… puts Hoss in his place, treats him like a school child, leaving Hoss in the fetal position and sucking his thumb in the corner.
In Episode 3, the knight on a white horse arrives… errrr sorry the script was changed to a “Brommer op ‘n Drol”… He tries to rip both of Hoss’ feet out of his mouth and declares that the feet did not belong there in the first place, yet acknowledging that foot in mouth disease, has flash-back effects much like Malaria does.
Like all soapies, this is a lot of tripe, to be followed by the brainless masses…
Well, if you can’t beat them, join them I say! If they can all talk the biggest load of bollocks, then surely I can paint them into a corner and twist the knife for good effect, can’t I?
(PS! Folks, take this with a pinch of salt, no a heap of salt, this is just an attempt to bring mirth to a subject which normally peeves off the average Joe in South Africa!)
Neil Powell
Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell expressed his satisfaction following the successful defence by his team of the Roma Sevens tournament in Rome, Italy over the weekend.
The South Africans won the tournament in convincing fashion to retain the title they won as part of their 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens preparations last year.
Participation this time around was in anticipation of the Commonwealth Games in Scotland next month.
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.
Namibia have included seven foreign-based professionals in their squad to travel to Madagascar to compete in the final African World Cup qualifiers.
The team will be led by No 8 PJ van Lill and consists of 14 forwards and 12 back line players.
A late addition is wing Danie Dames who plays for Griquas in the Currie Cup.
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.
A late penalty try saw the Springboks claim a dramatic 31-30 victory over Wales in a match dominated by the whistle of referee Steve Walsh in Nelspruit.
Wales came within minutes of recording their first-ever victory over the Springboks in South Africa, but it was not to be as the home side came back from the dead to sneak a victory.
After being blown off the park in the opening exchanges in Durban last week, Wales served the Springboks some of their own medicine in the first half-hour by scoring 17 unanswered points.
Both sides made a fairly sloppy start to the game, with crucial handling errors killing any meaningful momentum but Wales drew first blood when Dan Biggar sent his second kick at goal through the poles and Morne Steyn had a chance to respond but sent his kick wide.
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.
Sean McMahon
Liam Gill
Wallaby Liam Gill and Rebels flank Sean McMahon are all but certain starters for the Australian Sevens side in next month’s Commonwealth Games.
Provided the pair get through this weekend’s Super Rugby fixtures unscathed, they will be released to join the Australian Sevens camp next week and be included in new coach Geraint John’s final squad of 12 for Glasgow to be named on 7 July.
Reds openside flank Gill won a Sevens silver medal with Australia at the 2010 Delhi Games, while blindside flanker McMahon played his last Sevens tournament as recently as late last year in Dubai.
It is already Day 10 of the month-long FIFA Football World Cup 2014 in Brazil on Saturday.
Lionel Messi and Argentina are back in business while Nigeria and Ghana have a chance to keep Africa’s hopes alive. All of the games are live on TV in SA on SS3 HD, SS3 & Maximo.
Argentina face Iran at Estadio Mineirão in the first match of day at 18:00 SA Time, then Germany face off with Ghana at 21:00 SA Time. The final match of the day is a Group F encounter between Nigeria and Bosnia Herzegovina.
Some stunning results aleady and a number of big name sides are already doomed to be on their way back home!
As in the recent past, we cater for the Football fanatics too, so go for it you bloody Soccer Moffies!
Just kidding fellas, enjoy the Football!
Handré Pollard
Adriaan Strauss
Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard, who was named IRB Junior Player of the Year on Friday, and experienced Test hooker Adriaan Strauss will join the Springboks in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
Pollard superbly led the South African Under 20’s at the Junior World Championships in New Zealand. The Junior Boks twice beat the NZ U20s en route to the final, where they were edged 21-20 by England in Auckland on Friday.
Strauss has been a fixture in the Springbok squad since 2012 and missed out on the last three matches because of suspension. He is free to play again next weekend.
Seven players based in France and England have been released to their clubs and will not be considered for selection for next weekend’s final Test in the Castle Lager Incoming Series, against Scotland at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
GWK Griquas remain the only unbeaten team in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division qualifying rounds, while the Valke registered their first victory this weekend in an exciting third round.
In the weekend’s matches, Griquas survived a strong second-half fightback from the Leopards at GWK Park in Kimberley to secure a narrow 33-32 win, the Valke created an upset in George by thumping the SWD Eagles 52-34 and the Boland Cavaliers registered a convincing 37-12 victory against the Border Bulldogs at the BCM Stadium in East London.
Griquas’ failure to secure a bonus point, while the Leopards earned two bonus points for scoring four tries and losing within seven points, means that the Kimberley side boast only a two-point lead over the Potchefstroom team on the log table with three matches remaining in the race for the last available spot in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division.
Warren Gatland
The controversial penalty try two minutes from time which condemned Wales to a heartbreaking 31-30 defeat has not been argued by Warren Gatland.
Wales, having held leads of 17 and 13 points at different stages, were up 30-24 with just over two minutes remaining when Hendricks escaped the clutches of George North down the touchline.
It left fullback Liam Williams covering across to make a try-saving tackle, but he made no effort to wrap his arms around Hendricks and instead shoulder-charged him into touch.
Walsh referred the incident to the TMO, Glenn Newman, and after seeing replays from several angles the referee explained his decision at length to Wales skipper Alun Wyn Jones before heading under the posts to award the penalty try.
The Wallabies have set their sights on the all-conquering All Blacks and retrieving the Bledisloe Cup after sweeping their three-Test series against France this weekend.
The Australians had too much firepower for Les Bleus, winning 39-13 in Sydney on Saturday for their seventh consecutive Test win under coach Ewen McKenzie.
It has been 12 years since the Wallabies last held the Bledisloe Cup, the symbol of trans-Tasman supremacy, but McKenzie said there was every reason for Australia to believe that a slice of history could be within their reach against the world champions.
“There’s no mortgage on these sorts of things,” McKenzie told reporters on Sunday.
New Zealand rugby writers have hailed the All Blacks record-equalling performance to trounce England in the third Test on Saturday, seeing it as a set-back for England’s World Cup hopes.
The “muscularity” of the All Blacks forwards was given as much credit as the flair of the backs who scored all five tries and ran England ragged, particularly in the first half.
“As good as it gets” said Fairfax Media, echoing the thoughts of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, while the Herald on Sunday praised the “well-oiled All Black machine”.
England came in for scathing criticism from their coaches after failing to measure up to the intensity of the All Blacks, who won the third Test in Hamilton 36-13 on Saturday.
“We started poor and it got worse,” assistant coach Andy Farrell said, referring to a Freddie Burns opening kick-off a that failed to go the required 10 metres, setting the All Blacks up for a first-half rout in which they led 29-6 at half-time.
In the first two Tests, the All Blacks had to come from behind in the second half to win, but in Hamilton they seized control from the start.