Blue Bulls (6) 15 / 9 (6) Griquas (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and GWK Griquas did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division 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 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Sharks (20) 33 / 25 (17) Lions (Final Score)
The Sharks and MTN Golden Lions did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 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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The Sharks have secured the services of Griquas prop Lourens Adriaanse from next season.
They may be out of next year’s Super Rugby competition, but the Kings could be given a free ride into the Currie Cup Premier Division.
Engineers will undertake checks at Wellington Regional Stadium ahead of next week’s Rugby Championship clash between the All Blacks and Australia following a 6.5 magnitude earthquake south of New Zealand’s capital city on Friday.
Edinburgh Rugby players will turn out in black and red hoops for the first time in club’s history with this season’s playing kit, branded ‘old town, new look’.
Edinburgh Rugby back-row Stuart McInally has set his sights on the career path travelled by fellow club player, Scotland and British & Irish Lions internationalist Ross Ford – to make the positional switch from back-row to hooker.
Flyhalf Matt Toomua will make his debut for Australia, while Quade Cooper was named on the bench for Saturday’s opening Rugby Championship match against New Zealand in Sydney.
Toomua was given the starting No.10 assignment ahead of Cooper by new Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie, for the match doubling up as a Bledisloe Cup encounter.
Blindside flank Liam Messam on Thursday withdrew from the All Black team to face Australia this weekend due to a hamstring strain, forcing coach Steve Hansen to draft in inexperienced Steven Luatua.
Messam pulled up sore at training, preventing him from featuring in the Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.
The Springbok side for Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship opener against Argentina at Soccer City in Soweto shows four changes from the team which beat Samoa in June.
Two of the changes are in the starting XV, both of them in the forwards, and two on the bench for this Test, which forms part of the Nelson Mandela Sport & Culture Day activities.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls had a late change to their team playing Griquas in an Absa Currie Cup match in Pretoria on Friday.
Prop Frik Kirsten has an ankle strain and will be rested for the clash at Loftus Versfeld. His place will be taken by Werner Kruger.
Edinburgh Rugby have been very busy on the recruitment front in the closed season following a very disappointing 2012 / 13 season. Numerous players of varying experience have been brought in, with Australasia proving a particularly attractive source region to the club.
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has put his faith in the fitness and mental toughness of Richie McCaw by naming him to lead the world champions in their opening Rugby Championship clash against Australia on Saturday.
The 32-year-old has only recently returned to rugby after a six-month sabbatical from the game, playing 80 minutes of a lower level club match and making cameo appearances off the bench for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby playoffs.
Willie du Plessis, the University of Pretoria flyhalf, could make his Currie Cup debut for the Free State Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday.
The inclusion the Varsity Cup star on the bench is the only change to the team that will face defending champions Western Province in a Round Two match on Saturday.
DHL Western Province have announced just one change for Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup, Round Two encounter with the Free State Cheetahs at DHL Newlands (19:15).
Michael Rhodes starts in the No.4 jersey, with youngster Gerbrandt Grobler dropping down to the bench after making his Absa Currie Cup debut in WP’s 24-24 draw against the Blue Bulls last Saturday.
The Sharks have named their squad to host the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup, Premier Division clash on Friday 16 August 2013.
Tim Whitehead is injured and is replaced by Heimar Williams and recent acquisition from the Southern Kings, SP Marais, gets the nod at right wing which in itself seems strange because Odwa Ndungane is a winger preferred at fullback whereas SP Marais is a fullback now getting the start on wing.
The Golden Lions have announced the team to take on the Sharks in Durban on Friday 16 August 2013 at 17:05.
Pote Human has gone “Down Under” to find a replacement for injured lock, Ligtoring Landman. Landman who broke his thumb in the match versus the Sharks will be out until at least the second round of the Currie Cup.
With Martin Muller (Lions), Frikkie Spies (France) and Edwin Hewitt (Sharks) all gone to greener pastures, Landman, Nepgen and Lobberts were the only lock options. Pote has brought in the man mountain Rory Arnold from the Gold Coast Breakers Club in Queenslan Australia, to trial for the Currie Cup season.
Facing a looming wing crisis, coach Naka Drotske has called in some favours. In the past the Cheetahs have often released players for Bok Sevens duty. Now the shoe is on the other foot, with the Sevens team helping the Cheetahs out of a bind.
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Felipe Contepomi will captain the Pumas in the Rugby Championship clash against the Springboks in Soweto on Saturday.
Contepomi will lead Argentina in the No.12 jersey in place of regular captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, who has been ruled out with a calf injury.
The Golden Lions were dealt a cruel blow with the news that talented midfielder Nicolaas “Stokkies” Hanekom will miss at least a month of Currie Cup action.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann confirmed on Tuesday that Hanekom will be sidelined for at least four weeks, maybe longer – with a shoulder injury and also a knee problem.
Griquas have lost the services of two key players ahead of their Currie Cup trip to Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
Coach Pote Human confirmed that stalwarts Rynhardt Landman and Marnus Schoeman both suffered serious injuries in the 32-30 win over the Sharks in Durban last week and will not travel to Pretoria.
Die Vodacom Blou Bulle-afrigter, Pine Pienaar, het slegs een verandering aan sy span gemaak wat Vrydag op Loftus Versfeld in ‘n Absa Curriebekerwedstryd teen Griekwas speel.
Callie Visagie begin as haker in die plek van Willie Wepener, met Bongi Mbonambi wat Van Wyk se plek op die plaasvervangerbank inneem in die Blou Bulle se eerste tuiswedstryd van die kompetisie. Dit sal ook Mbonambi se eerste verskyning in vanjaar se kompetisie wees.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer welcomed the calming effect Fourie du Preez brought to the team ahead of their Rugby Championship opener against Argentina at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
The veteran of 62 Tests has been called into the Springbok squad for the first time since the Springboks’ quarter-final defeat to Australia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
“I was very impressed with Fourie du Preez today (Monday), I always knew he was a world-class player and it’s been an honour for me to coach him since he was 19-years-old,” Meyer said.
“He hasn’t lost anything.
Flyhalf Dan Carter will miss New Zealand’s first two Rugby Championship Tests against Australia and could be sidelined for up to four weeks with a calf strain.
The Free State Cheetahs could be without the services of their only specialist fullback for a while, with Hennie Daniller struggling with a suspected hand fracture.
SA Under-20 fullback Cheslin Kolbe has signed a long-term deal with Western Province Rugby, whilst flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis is back in the Cape for the 2013 Absa Currie Cup.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has moved swiftly to alleviate a pending backline crisis. Regular fullback Hennie Daniller has a suspected hand fracture that could rule him out for the Currie Cup season. The Volksblad reported that Naka has signed the Varsity Cup champions, Tukkies, pivot Willie du Plessis, who can play flyhalf, centre and fullback.
Allister Coetzee, the DHL Western Province head coach, has released an injury report ahead of this week’s Absa Currie Cup, Round Two preparations.
England won the toss and elected to bat at a cloudy, but dry Chester-Le-Street with an unchanged side. With the Ashes in their pockets, thanks to the draw in Manchester, England were hoping to keep the Australians winless in the series. The Australians made one change in the quickie, Jackson Bird, who came in for Mitchell Starc. The pitch was hard and dry and swing was expected.
England put up a first innings score of 238 runs, all out and Australia replied with 270 all out. England’s second innings delivered 330 runs, all out.
On Day 4 the target set for Australia in their 2nd innings was 299 to win the match. Australia started well and with over a third of the runs in the bag, they lost their 1st wicket, then in the early 170’s they lost the plot and lost a number of wickets in the space of a few runs. After that the wickets kept falling in regular intervals and almost at close of play on Day 4 England bagged the last wicket to win by 74 runs.
This Monday morning the overseas contingent of the Springboks joined the squad in preparation for The Rugby Championship and this weekend’s game against Argentina. This after the Pumas have already been in camp for a month and having just completed 2 vital warm-up games against a strong New South Wales Barbarians touring side, just winning the first encounter and then doing a real demolition job on the NSW Barbarians side on the weekend, winning 58 / 12.
Of course the Springboks firstly have to come to grips with the new scrum engagement sequence, something we saw this past weekend in The Currie Cup Premier Division matches, which caused quite a stir.
During last week Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira sat out with a hamstring twinge, Coenie Oosthuizen had the flu and Jannie du Plessis was nursing a light calf strain, so it’s fair to assume not a great deal of scrum preparation work could be done.
Controversial back James O’Connor said on Monday he is prepared to change his ways to be part of the Wallabies set-up under new coach Ewen McKenzie.
The Absa Currie Cup Premier Division lived up to its billing as SA’s premier domestic competition this weekend as the opening round delivered a series of nail-biting encounters, which set the scene for a gripping competition.
GWK Griquas and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs got their campaigns off to positive starts as they registered invaluable away victories, while DHL Western Province and the Vodacom Blue Bulls played to a draw in an epic clash in Cape Town.
Aviva Premiership Rugby club Bath have announced that Springbok flanker Francois Louw has signed a new long term deal with the Club.