With the All Blacks having beaten the Springboks over the weekend, in The Rugby Championship, they have extended their lead to four points over the second placed Springboks.
It would however seem that not everything is sunny in the All Black camp though.
Four members of the Springboks’ 30-man Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad have been released to their provinces for Absa Currie Cup duty this weekend.
Mr Oregan Hoskins, President of the South African Rugby Union (SARU), on Sunday paid tribute to former SARU vice-president and long-serving rugby administrator, Koos Basson, who passed away on Saturday. He was 74.
Mr Basson had recently become ill with a heart condition and had been discharged from hospital on Monday.
He passed away at home during the Springboks’ match against New Zealand, doing the thing that he most enjoyed in life, watching rugby, said his widow, Stella.
Australian coach Ewen McKenzie will give regular captain Horwill till Saturday to prove his fitness, ahead of a two-match Rugby Championship tour.
Horwill, who missed the last two Tests with a hamstring strain, is given a good chance of being passed fit for the Tests against South Africa (in Cape Town on September 28) and Argentina (in Rosario a week later).
SANZAR judicial officer Terry Willis has removed a red card from the disciplinary record of Bismarck du Plessis.
Du Plessis was issued with a red card after receiving two yellow cards during the Rugby Championship match between New Zealand and South Africa at the weekend.
Saracens chairman Nigel Wray is thought to have pumped more money into the English club game than any other owner.
Saracens chairman Nigel Wray has added fuel to the debate about the future of the European club rugby landscape by suggesting the Welsh regions could join the Aviva Premiership.
The Rugby Chamionship match between the Australian Wallabies and Argentinian Pumas is was a strange old battle to basically decide who was not going to receive the wooden spoon in the competition, a clash with it’s own merits and demerits. Neither team had won in the competition for the year and were desperate to pick up the first win and the game went right down to the wire.
The build-up to this match was incredible, it was so hectic that it almost seemed like this was a World Cup final, or the last match before the end of the earth.
However, after just 15 minutes of play some fans wished for the end of the world to come.
The International Rugby Board has confirmed that French referee Romain Poite was wrong in his decision to give Bismarck du Plessis his first yellow card during the Boks’ clash against the All Blacks in Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Auckland.
Du Plessis received two yellow cards and was sent from the field in the 42nd minute, making the Boks play with 14 men for almost 50 minutes in the game, which many feel allowed New Zealand to win 29-15.
Some Great pictures of big moments in South African Rugby
Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis will appear before a SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer after being shown a red card in the defeat to the All Blacks.
Du Plessis received two yellow cards for separate incidents in the 29-15 defeat at Eden Park on Saturday, and will have his case considered in the first instance by SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Adam Casselden.
Blue Bulls (6) 18 / 29 (20) WP (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and DHL Western Province did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Loftus versfeld, Pretoria at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 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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Griquas (17) 24 / 25 (11) Sharks (Final Score)
GWK Griquas and the Sharks did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
GWK Park, Kimberley at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 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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All Blacks (17) 29 / 15 (10) Springboks (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 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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Wallabies (14) 14 / 13 (3) Pumas (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Patersons Stadium, Perth, Australia at 12:05 SA Time (18:00 Perth Time, 07:05 Arg Time, 10:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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It is the uncertainty factor that produces the biggest satisfaction and enjoyment in sport. That uncertainty; brought about by not being sure whether you’ll be able to be victorious or not. That’s why as athletes and human beings we seek and thrive on competition. We find it in challenging ourselves to complete a marathon or to play against individuals or teams with higher rankings. That’s why as nations we play test matches and why even in test matches we want to compete against the very best.
It is sort of boring to play against a team that you know you are going to win. The uncertainty factor is absent and therefore also the real joy in the victory.
I’ve been living in NZ now for 12 years and for only the second time in 12-years there is a real uncertainty in Kiwi land about a test match against South Africa. The last time was in 2010 after the 2009 Springbok victory in Hamilton. The uncertainness in 2010 was not because it was felt that SA played good rugby but because there was uncertainness about the All Black team’s ability to handle the box kick and Matfield in the line-out.
Leinster and Munster will look to solidify themselves as early pace-setters in Round Two of the Pro12 this weekend. These two teams were the only sides who collected maximum points from their first-round Pro12 games, between them running in ten of the 22 tries that were scored last weekend.
Leicester Tigers may have started the new Premiership season with a bonus-point victory but flank Julian Salvi insists the reigning champions are gunning for an even more ruthless performance next time out.
FS Cheetahs (23) 26 / 23 (3) Golden Lions (Final Score)
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and MTN Golden Lions did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 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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As we enter Round 6 of the 2013 Currie Cup, WP is setting the pace at the top of the Log, with 16 Log points. The Griquas find themselves in last place with 8 Log points.
The Blue Bulls last week showed us that they are still a force in the competition, even having lost many players to Europe, injury and to the Springboks. It is stil a close nit affair as the difference between current leaders WP and 5th place Blue Bulls is only 6 Log points. So, a defeat for WP could see them fall down quite a few spots. The Griquas will also need to find winning ways soon, if they were to challenge for a semi final, a defeat this weekend could put this totally out of reach and probably see them end in last place.
Tappe Henning seems to be on his way to Edinbrugh to take over Scottish refereeing.
A three year contract was signed on Monday, for Henning to become the Scottish Referee Commissioner.
Stuart Hogg, Ryan Grant, DTH van der Merwe and Josh Strauss all return to the Glasgow Warriors starting line-up for the game against Ulster at Ravenhill tonight, Friday 13 Septemeber, kick-off 8.05pm South African Time.
Gregor Townsend’s squad kicked off their new season with a 22-15 win over Cardiff Blues at Scotstoun Stadium last Friday and now face last season’s RaboDirect PRO12 finalists in Belfast. The Warriors were the last Scottish team to win at Ravenhill back in December 2009.
Wingers Tim Visser and Nikki Walker will bookend the back division when Edinburgh Rugby face Dragons at Murrayfield Stadium tonight, Friday 13 September, kick-off 8.45pm South African Time.
The outing will double as Walker’s debut for the club since signing in the summer; with the club hoping the pair, currently second and fourth in the league’s all-time top try-scoring chart, will add firepower to the side.
There have been a few amusing pieces published on our site this week. It seems that spirits are generally high after last weekend’s rugby results which appear to have left many folk Bulle and/or Bok bef.. (crazy). It is in this light hearted backdrop that we bring this article about the Championship which we heard about earlier this week.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls are playing DHL Western Province this S
aturday at Loftus, and as we know Western Province sports a few nimble smaller players… or midgets, if you want to be blunt and not so Politically Correct.
A young Blue Bulls supporter, shows us how and what to do, to beat Western Province…
The Sharks welcome back Pieter-Steph du Toit to match action where he will line-up for his first start in this year’s Absa Currie Cup campaign for Saturday’s clash with Griquas at GWK Park in Kimberley.
Jean Deysel, who was nursing a few bruises, has been passed fit and will take his place at flank with Jacques Botes retaining the captaincy for this important game.
A former NRL player has been banned for 8 matches for biting an opponents penis in a club match last week.
In 6 games played this year in The Rugby Championship these teams have combined only managed to get 1 Log point. Here is a head to head breakdown of how the two teams compare.
These teams have met each other 19 times in the past, with the Wallabies winning 14 and the Puma’s winning 4 and only 1 draw. With the current form of these sides, a draw could not be a far fetched result in this case.
The Wallabies have scored a total of 493 against the Pumas compared to the Puma’s 287. This leaves a average score line of 26-15 in favour of the Wallabies.
Neither team has manged any wins this year, but the Pumas did manage a to get a bonus point against the Springboks in Mendoza.
The Pumas will be backing themselves for a win in Australia, coming off 2 good performances against the Springboks and All Blacks respectively.
Australia is playing their final home game in this year’s Rugby Championship before touring to South Africa and Argentina and at this stage a win is non negotiable for the Wallabies. They will attempt to trash the Pumas to earn back some respect from the Australian rugby public, as this is one their worst years in rugby history.
This is building up to be one of the classic clashes in the history of The Rugby Championship. Here is a head to head breakdown of how the two teams compare.
These teams have met each other 85 times in the past, with the All Blacks having won 48 of these encounters and the Springboks 35, only 3 draws have ever been recorded between these sides.
If history and statistics are to be believed, then it would seem that the All Blacks have the edge over the Springboks in this game, having scored a total of 1612 points against the Springboks while the Springboks have only scored 1313 points against the All Blacks. This is an average score of 19-15 in favour of the All Blacks.
The Springboks also have the highest success rate of all other teams against the All Blacks, by winning 40% of the encounters between these sides.
The largest winning margin by the All Blacks over the Springboks was 36 points and the largest winning margin by the Springboks was 17.
This however looks like the year of the BOK and if the Springboks can keep up to their form of late they could beat the All Blacks over the weekend. This is always as massive clash and the table is set for yet another massive clash.
It seems that no agreement could be reached to ensure the future of the ERC.
This sees the breakaway of English and French clubs at the end of the current season.
The All Blacks selectors have named a strong team to play South Africa in The Rugby Championship Freedom Cup Test at Eden Park, Auckland, this Saturday, 14 September 2013, with the starting 15 featuring the return of several regular starters: prop Owen Franks in his 50th Test, Liam Messam at blindside flanker and midfielder Ma’a Nonu.
In other changes, Sam Cane starts at openside flanker replacing injured All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and Dane Coles starts at hooker, with 105-Test veteran Keven Mealamu to provide impact from the bench. With Franks starting, prop Charlie Faumuina moves to the bench, Steven Luatua is also in the reserves covering lock and loose forward along with injury replacement flanker Matt Todd who will cover openside flanker.
Griquas coach Pote Human made three changes to his side for their Currie Cup match up against the Sharks in Kimberley on Saturday.
Most notable is the inclusion of Australian lock Rory Arnold in the starting line-up, after he was cleared of biting Free State Cheetahs’ hooker Ethienne Reynecke.
Two of the Free State Cheetahs’ key forwards have been ruled out of their Currie Cup crunch match with the Golden Lions in Bloemfontein on Friday.
No.8 Philip van der Walt (shoulder) and lock Lodewyk de Jager (concussion) have both succumb to their respective injuries.
Blue Bulls coach Pine Pienaar made three changes to his side that will play Western Province in a Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Ulrich Beyers, who was initially named in the starting lineup failed a late fitness test, following an ankle injury, with Waylon Murray getting the nod at No 13, with William Small-Smith on the bench in place of Murray. At scrumhalf, Rudy Paige starts in place of Ruan Snyman, who has moved to France.
Lock De Kock Steenkamp will captain Western Province in Saturday’s Currie Cup clash against the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld (17:05 kick-off).
Steenkamp takes over the captaincy from injured flank Deon Fourie (ribs), with Michael Rhodes shifting to the back row in one of just two changes to the WP line-up this week.