Springbok flank Juan Smith is set to make his return to the rugby field after passing a medical at French club, Toulon.
Smith, 32, earlier this year retired from rugby after an ongoing Achilles injury which plagued him since the start of 2011, but – as reported earlier this week – he left for France on Sunday with the aim of reviving his career.
Tom Taylor will make his All Black debut at flyhalf against Australia in the second Bledisloe Cup Test in the Rugby Championship in Wellington on Saturday
The starting 15 features two injury-enforced changes from the team that started last week’s Bledisloe Cup Test, with lock Brodie Retallick coming in for Luke Romano and Taylor slotting in at No.10 for Aaron Cruden.
2013 Will end with a sad farewell to dedicated current Team Manager Wynie Strydom. But with farewells, come promotions and so Blue Bulls Company would like to welcome new Super Rugby and Currie Cup Team Manager come 2014, Tim Dlulane.
Griquas coach Pote Human has made four changes to his side for their first Currie Cup home game against Western Province in Kimberley on Saturday.
Human also made a number of positional switches to the side that lost a lacklustre game against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria last weekend.
Springbok centre Juan de Jongh has been drafted straight back into the DHL Western Province starting line-up for Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup meeting with GWK Griquas in Kimberley (kick-off 15:00).
De Jongh, who was released from the Bok squad at the weekend, replaces Pat Howard in the No.13 jersey, the latter dropping out with a slight hamstring strain.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls team to face the MTN Golden Lions in Pretoria on Saturday sees two changes from the one that beat GWK-Griquas at Loftus Versfeld last weekend.
At scrumhalf, Ruan Snyman will earn his first start, swopping places with Rudy Paige (who drops to the bench) and Bongi Mbonambi who will start at hooker in place of the injured Callie Visagie.
Springbok assistant coach John McFarland says the manner in which they scored was the most pleasing aspect of Saturday’s Soweto hammering.
The Springboks scored nine tries as they got their Rugby Championship campaign off to a perfect start with a 73-13 victory over Argentina at Soccer City.
However, it’s how they scored their tries rather than how many that showed the improvement the team have made over the past 12 months, according to McFarland.
Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie looks set to resist the temptation to dump his rookies after one bad performance.
There has been a clamour for McKenzie to make changes – with fullback Jesse Mogg and Matt Toomua the two players most in the firing line of the Australian critics.
GBS, Wynie Strydom & Snorrie in Soweto
Change isn’t a word that comes easily at Loftus Versfeld but a big changing of the guard is set to be announced on Wednesday as long standing team manager Wynie Strydom stands down.
Sevens looks to be the big winner as New Zealand’s professional rugby players are set to receive a significant pay increase through the new collective employment agreement.
The New Zealand Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association said today they had signed an agreement covering the professional game through to 2015.
All Blacks and Hurricanes winger Julian Savea has revealed that the Crusaders are trying to sign him for the 2014 Super Rugby season.
Media analysts love to roll out the stats. They point to the number of missed tackles by one team or the percentage of territory of the other, but the surface numbers are utterly meaningless. They tell coaches next to nothing about the game. The stats are often numerical fiction.
The Sharks have named their Currie Cup Premier Division team to take on the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday evening 23 August 2013.
Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has included Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane for the team’s first Absa Currie Cup home game against the Sharks in Bloemfontein on Friday.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is likely to keep his starting XV unchanged for their Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday (21:10 SA time kick-off).
The Boks annihilated the Pumas 73-13 at FNB Stadium last week and it is expected that Meyer will opt for continuity this week.
New Zealand suffered a triple blow ahead of their return match against Australia in Wellington on Saturday.
All Black pivot Aaron Cruden and his back-up Beauden Barrett have both been ruled out of the Rugby Championship Round Two clash.
Australia, still reeling from the humiliating 29-47 loss to New Zealand last week, have had injury added to the insult.
Wallaby back row forward Hugh McMeniman will miss the remainder of the Rugby Championship and also the year-end tour after being forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said rookie Trevor Nyakane must learn his lesson and come back a better player.
Nyakane was dropped from the South African squad, ahead of the trip to Mendoza and the return match against Argentina, for “repeated breaches of team protocol”.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) wants Jaque Fourie to again be available for Springbok selection.
DHL Western Province and the Vodacom Blue Bulls this weekend withstood extreme character tests in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division to leap to the top of the log standings and remain the only unbeaten teams in the series.
In a thrilling weekend of action, the Sharks produced a spirited performance against the MTN Golden Lions at GrowthPoint Kings Park for a 33-25 victory and the Vodacom Blue Bulls ground out a 15-9 win against GWK Griquas in a penalty-riddled clash at Loftus Versfeld.
The University of Stellenbosch is currently investigating a trail of major financial irregularities, which one insider said “could bring SA Rugby to its knees”.
Former Stellenbosch Rugby Football club chairperson, Chris de Beer, and a top rugby official are allegedly at the centre of the investigation, involving millions of Rands.
Trevor Nyakane has been dropped from the national squad for “repeated breaches of team protocol”.
It was announced on Sunday that Lourens Adriaanse and Piet van Zyl, who made his Test debut in June against Scotland in Nelspruit, have been added to the Springbok squad of 26 players that travelled to Argentina on Sunday.
South Africa have the potential to rival New Zealand as the top team in the world.
This is the candid assessment of World Cup-winning Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, after his telling contribution to his country’s record-breaking 73-13 victory over Argentina in Soweto at the weekend.
Du Preez, who played his first Test in nearly two years after being released by his Japanese club Suntory Sungoliath, scored one of the Boks’ nine tries.
New Zealand have called four players into their squad as cover for Saturday’s Rugby Championship return match against Australia after suffering a number of injuries in the Sydney opener at the weekend.
Argentina captain Felipe Contepomi is looking for a big response from his team when they face the Springboks on home soil this weekend.
The Pumas were blown away by the Boks in Soweto on Saturday, conceding nine tries to one in a resounding 73-13 defeat, so they will have everything to prove in the return fixture in Mendoza.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls will be without Jean Cook (broken thumb), Frik Kirsten (ankle) and most probably Callie Visagie for Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup match against the MTN Golden Lions.
Springbok Juan de Jongh looks set to make a timely return to the DHL Western Province midfield for Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup match against GWK Griquas in Kimberley.
De Jongh was left out of the Bok squad that flew to Argentina on Sunday as national coach Heyneke Meyer is permitted to only take 26 players on tour.
Marketing men rub their hands as Sevens format quickly gains ground around the world. “Get on the train and see where it takes you,” is how Mark McCafferty of the Aviva Premiership described this past weekend’s inaugural World Club Sevens.
Hello Friends,
Finally I have managed to get the time to set up SuperBru Pools for Rugby-Talk for the Currie Cup and The Rugby Championship!
Both Pools have been upgraded to Super Pools, giving us the added benefit and advantage to show a bit more than usual, like our SuperBru Widgets for these two competitions on the right hand sidebar.
To be eligible to join our Rugby-Talk SuperBru pools, the only requirement is that you are a REGISTERED RUGBY-TALK SUBSCRIBER.
To all our recently added Users / Subscribers, this counts for you lot muppits, moepels and mopkoppe as well, you can now join in the fun!
Invitations have been sent to our regular Pool members, but in case I missed you, register for these Pools too… this of course counts for our new and recently registered Users / Subscribers too.
Here are the Pool details:
Bok flank Juan Smith quietly left South Africa via Oliver Tambo Airport yesterday with his agent Stephan Weyers, to attend medical and fitness assessments with French side Toulon.
This was supposed to be the Bledisloe that sparked the Wallaby revival. Instead, after an emphatic All Black victory, all it’s done is heap more pressure on Australian rugby.
The Wallabies had such a huge buildup and high expectations around how they were going to turn things round.
DHL Western Province and the Vodacom Blue Bulls are scheduled to face each other today at Twickenham on day two of the World Club 7s tournament. Both teams will be looking forward to improve on what was a disappointing first day for them at the inaugural tournament. Western Province lost all three of their games while the Blue Bulls lost two and drew one game.
WP (10) 15 / 14 (14) FS Cheetahs (Final Score)
DHL Western Province and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:15 SA Time (17:15 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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Springboks (26) 73 / 13 (6) Pumas (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Soccer City (FNB Stadium), Soweto at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT, 12:00 Arg Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SS4, SLSA, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Wallabies (19) 29 / 47 (25) All Blacks (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and New zealand All Blacks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
ANZ Stadium, Sydney at 12:05 SA Time (20:05 AEST, 22:05 NZ 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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