The Cheetahs are demanding an explanation from referees boss Lyndon Bray after two controversial decisions in their 40-30 Super 15 loss to the Blues on Saturday.
The Cheetahs’ outrage comes after Bray, the SANZAR referees co-ordinator warned officials they had to be accountable and faced being dropped for making blunders.
England full-back Mike Brown has been named Six Nations Player of the Championship after securing over 34% of the 68,000 votes cast by fans.
Brown, 28, scored four tries, including two in a man of the match performance against Italy, and was also man of the match against Scotland and Ireland.
Western Force coach Michael Foley said that it is key that his side capitalise on the momentum created by their three consecutive victories.
The Perth side saw off the challenge of defending champions the Chiefs on Saturday, keeping the Hamilton outfit tryless on Australian soil for the first time since 2011.
SANZAR duty judicial officer Adam Casselden has accepted a guilty plea from Alby Mathewson of the Force for contravening Law 10.4 (b) Stamping or trampling, after he was cited during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Mathewson has been suspended from all forms of the game for one week up to and including 30 March 2014.
The DHL Stormers’ 15-25 Vodacom Super Rugby loss to the Brumbies in Canberra was a bitter pill to swallow for head coach Allister Coetzee on Saturday.
Another nine players in this competition were eliminated this weekend. The Lions proved to be their downfall and the way the Lions team came back from their year out in the cold has already cost many players in this game their life.
Some reprieve to all the other non-believers, the Lions have a bye this coming weekend.
Bulls (6) 23 / 19 (13) Sharks (Final Score)
THe Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks did battle in Super Rugby at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Lions (6) 23 / 20 (20) Reds (Final Score)
The Lions and Reds did battle in Super Rugby at
Ellis Park, Johannesburg at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, 01:05 Sunday AEST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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South Africa and Sri Lanka battle each other in the World T20 Cricket competition at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong (neutral venue) on Saturday 22 March.
This is a Group 1 game.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.
The score cards were updated at regular intervals here on Rugby-Talk.
Sri lanka win by 6 runs.
Sri Lanka: 165 / 7 (20 Overs)
South Africa: 160 / 8 (20 Overs)
Force (8) 18 / 15 (9) Chiefs (Final Score)
The Western Force and Chiefs did battle in Super Rugby at
nib Stadium, Perth at 13:00 SA Time (19:00 Perth Time, 11:00 GMT, 00:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Brumbies (13) 25 / 15 (10) Stormers (Final Score)
The Brumbies and DHL Stormers do battle in Super Rugby at
Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 Canberra Time 08:40 GMT).
This is the live match discussion Article.
The match is broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Blues (30) 40 / 30 (16) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Blues and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Eden Park, Auckland at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Waratahs (11) 32 / 8 (8) Rebels (Final Score)
The Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels did battle in Super Rugby at
Allianz Stadium, Sydney at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD &CSN on TV in SA.
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Highlanders (9) 35 / 31 (9) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Highlanders and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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With the Six Nations over the club tournament of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy takes centre stage once again as round 17 kicks off this Friday.
Having led Leinster to the Pro12 title last season, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt took the 6 Nations crown at the first time of asking in a tense finish to the Championship last weekend. Following on Ireland’s success it is perhaps appropriate that as the Pro12 returns to centre stage three of the top four teams are Irish Provinces.
It is Round 6 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 7 games in Round 5, with 2 games on Friday and 5 games on Saturday.
The Crusaders have a bye weekend.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Adam Jones has spoken about reaching some personal landmarks, the motivation of having two young Wales tight-heads after the number three jersey, and looking forward to another tour to South Africa.
Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe has been ruled out of Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Cell C Sharks due to a hamstring strain.
His place in the team will be taken by Paul Willemse, who will move from the bench into the number four jersey. The captaincy will be taken over by Victor Matfield.
JP Pietersen will join a select group of Vodacom Super Rugby centurions when he runs out at Loftus for the Cell C Sharks’ fixture against the Bulls, playing in his 100th game for the franchise.
Since making his debut in 2006, he has become a vital member of the team. He has scored 33 tries in Super Rugby and 17 in 42 Currie Cup games and boasts a Rugby World Cup winners medal from 2007 (and has been capped 51 times at Test level).
Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his 23-man team to front the Queensland Reds at Ellis Park on Saturday evening.
Ackermann has opted for consistency, making just one change to his starting 15 for the encounter.
We have two incidents from Super Rugby in the last two weeks which are worth looking at, both incidents which caused debate and argument and even acrimony.
We are dealing with decisions by top referees in top matches when speed is an essential ingredient, including the speed match officials need to process the information, even when they have help from the replays provided by the TMO.
There is never a rest from debate and argument when it comes to rugby football, certainly not in the application of the most complex set of laws of any sport – a contact sport played by 30 vigorous young men in physical contact in a confined space.
New Zealand rugby chiefs on Thursday admitted two prominent All Blacks abused prescription sleeping pills during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but denied the practice was commonplace among professional players.
New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chief executive Steve Tew said Cory Jane and Israel Dagg “let themselves down” when they took pills on a night out in Auckland just before the All Blacks’ quarter-final against Argentina.
The Chiefs have announced their team to play the Western Force in Perth on Saturday.
It will be the the first match of their overseas Super Rugby tour, with game against the Bulls and Cheetahs to follow.
The Springboks’ second match in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against Argentina has been moved to Salta in the north of the country.
The final venues and kick-off times for this four-team Southern Hemisphere competition were confirmed by SANZAR on Thursday.
Cape Town-raised Jean-Pierre Smith will get his first start in Super Rugby when he claims the No 1 jersey for the Brumbies against the Stormers.
Smith makes his way into the starting team via the Brumbies bench where he has featured alongside twin brother, Ruan, since Round 2.
Ben Tapuai is the only change to the Reds starting line-up for their Round Six Super Rugby clash against the Lions on Saturday.
The seven-cap Wallaby Tapuai slots into the starting team at outside centre replacing Chris Feauai-Sautia, who suffered a hamstring injury during training.
Rebels’ coach Tony McGahan has made two changes to the starting line-up that will face the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday.
Blues coach John Kirwan has dropped flyhalf Chris Noakes and brought back the impressive Simon Hickey for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday.
Hickey is one of two changes to the Blues for the game, the other being Charles Piutau moving from left wing to fullback, meaning league convert Benji Marshall will drop to the bench.
One of the advantages of having the national rugby union in control of its clubs was highlighted by today’s announcement by the Scottish Rugby Union of the loan of Edinburgh tight head prop Geoff Cross to Glasgow Warriors for the rest of the season due to injuries to two of Glasgow’s props.
Glasgow Warriors are currently in fifth position on the RaboDirect PRO12 log, 3 points behind the forth placed Ospreys, with two games in hand over the teams above them. This loan arrangement indicates that Glasgow reaching the knockout stages of the PRO12 must be considered priority by the Scottish Rugby Union, and as such they and Edinburgh Rugby need to be applauded for this decision.
The Circus Ring Master has announced his team to take on the Blues in Aukland on Saturday morning. There are a few changes to the starting clown line up, one questionable, the others laughable.
Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg has been given a three-week ban following his red card in the Six Nations against Wales on Saturday.
It means the 21-year-old will miss Glasgow Warriors’ Pro12 encounters with Scarlets, Ospreys and Treviso.
Wales captain Sam Warburton must undergo immediate surgery after dislocating his right shoulder.
Wales have never faced South Africa in the north-eastern city of Nelspruit, but judging by the blank they have drawn everywhere else in the land of the Springboks, they must already be fearing the worst – especially as Sam Warburton, their captain, has been ruled out of this summer’s two-Test tour.
Edinburgh Rugby yesterday announced the signing of Scotland 7s and under-20 starlet centre Chris Dean on a two-year deal.
A former pupil of Law Primary School and Edinburgh Academy, Dean lifted the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools’ Cup in three consecutive seasons: in 2009 (under-15) and as under-18 captain in 2010 and 2011.
He has represented Scotland at every age-grade, and skippered Scotland under-17 through the Wellington Festival in 2011, before his development was fast-tracked on a Scotland 7s elite development player (EDP) contract in May 2012.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has dropped a selection bomb by axing star loose forward Pieter Labuschagne ahead of the Super Rugby Round 6 encounter with the Blues on Saturday.
Drotské made a number of changes to the team – all surprising selection – as the men from Bloemfontein look to end their losing streak on tour.
Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke named Sampie Mastriet on the wing and Dewald Potgieter as No 8 in his team to play Cell C Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Both players will make their first appearance in the Vodacom Super Rugby tournament this year. Mastriet comes into the team in place of Akona Ndungane after a highly productive stint with the Springbok Sevens team and Potgieter joined up with the team following a season with his Japanese club Yamaha Jubilo and will take the place of Jono Ross.