Cheetahs (10) 30 / 37 (15) Sharks (Final Score)
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and The Sharks did battle in the Currie Cup, Premier Division at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, 6, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Springboks (16) 16 / 32 (12) All Blacks (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and New Zealand All Blacks did battle in The Rugby Championship at FNB Stadium, Soweto at 17:05 SA Time.
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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The South African Rugby Union have effectively shut the door on the Southern Kings’ drive to field more than two overseas players in their Super Rugby squad.
Griquas (14) 37 / 21 (18) Lions (Final Score)
GWK Griquas and the MTN Golden Lions did battle in the Currie Cup, Premier Division at GWK Park, Kimberley at 14:00 SA Time.
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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In what will be the final round of Pro12 games before the start of the European competitions, Ulster sit one point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over their rivals. They welcome Connacht to Ravenhill on Friday night, a place where the visitors have never won in this tournament.
Wing Mark Cueto admits it is easy for Sale Sharks to get bogged down with the negatives of their start to the Premiership season, but he insists only a positive frame of mind will bring a change of fortune.
Blue Bulls (11) 26 / 13 (3) WP (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and DHL Western Province did battle in the Currie Cup, Premier Division at Loftus Versveld at 19:10 SA Time.
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 Springbok side to face the All Blacks at FNB Stadium (Soccer City) on Saturday, has been announced.
The same side which played the Wallabies has been selected, with only Coenie Oosthuizen coming in on the bench in place of Pat Cilliers.
Due reward was given to the side who played so well against the Wallabies, by keeping the entire squad in tact.
Herewith a team by team breakdown of the selected sides for this weekend’s Currie Cup Premier Division matches.
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The New Zealand All Blacks have made two changes to the starting team which ran riot over the Pumas last weekend, to play the Springboks at FNB Stadium (Soccer City), near Soweto.
Sevens specialist and Boland winger Cornal Hendricks swops places with Phillip Snyman. Snyman will join the Bok 7’s squad and Cornal Hendricks will add further depth to the Cheetahs squad. It is a win-win situation, as the Cheetahs have great depth at centre but need good quality wingers.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has named an unchanged starting line-up for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash with Australia in Rosario.
Western Force wing Nick Cummins will become the 11th new cap, and the 38th player to represent Australia in what is the 10th Test of a challenging year.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) have said that Irish referee Alain Rolland got it wrong when he refused to allow Australia to make a replacement and forced them to play the last 14 minutes with 14 men.
Springbok flyhalf Johan Goosen has been cleared to take over the kicking duties again in this weekend’s Castle Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks at FNB Stadium.
The Southern Kings have signed three more prominent players as they aim to bolster their squad ahead of next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Seasoned Boland flyhalf Elgar Watts will join the Cheetahs at the end of November for the 2013 season. Initially the Cheetahs hoped to have Sias Ebersohn released to the Cheetahs after the Super Rugby season, but new Force coach Foley wasn’t amenable to such an arrangement. Hence the Cheetahs will have Johan Goosen, Elgar Watts and Francois Brummer as the flyhalves to choose from, with Willie le Roux, and Riaan Smit able to slot in at flyhalf in an emergency.
Scottish Rugby is encouraging supporters to see Scotland “in the flesh” in a bold new marketing campaign that is being launched in Edinburgh today. Giant 30 foot artwork covering the entire façade of a building at one of the Capital’s busiest junctions gives fans the opportunity to see Scotland players as they’ve never seen them before.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union have issued a press release listing new player contract signings, and current player contract extensions.
Possibly the most significant signing is that of Warwick Tecklenberg, the promising young loose forward from the Blue Bulls.
Other exciting youngsters include a number of the victorious SA Under 20 World Championship winning side, all of whom should go a long way to building the Lions’ squad for their expected return to Super Rugby in 2014.
Also notable is that Lions stalwart of the last few years Derek Minnie, has re-commited until the end of 2014.
The full press release reads:
Ruan Pienaar’s elevation to the Springbok kicking role is likely to continue this weekend despite the fact he was successful with less than half of his kicks at goal against Australia at Loftus Versfeld.
The dreaded injury bogey and looseforward curse has struck Heinrich Brüssow, the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Springbok flank yet again.
Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen has been cleared to play after an examination by a neurosurgeon in Durban on Tuesday.
South Africa bounced back to winning ways in The Rugby Championship with a dominant 31-8 victory over Australia on Saturday to return to second place in the latest IRB World Rankings.
Amongst all the frenetic activity on the international scene, the silly season has gone into full swing. So lets see what the player accquisitions are for the Cheetahs, looking ahead to 2013. In addition lets look at some players that are making waves.
The convincing win of the Springboks on Saturday was followed by news on the injury front.
Most notably Francois Steyn, who rolled his left ankle last Monday morning, will have to undergo an operation to clean the ankle up and will be sidelined for 3 months recovering from the surgery.
What an enjoyable Saturday late afternoon, bar the ridiculous 3G Internet signal at Loftus Versfeld, of course!
The Springboks totally dominated and comprehensively outmuscled and outplayed a very ordinary and injury ravaged Wallabies side, with the Springboks eventual winners by 31 / 8, after also leading at the halftime break by 14 / 3.
I guess 5 tries to 1 tells the story, with Bryan Habana scoring a hat-trick on the day to increase his Springbok all time record to 46 Test tries.
The fifth round of the RaboDirect Pro12 started with four matches on Friday night and the remaining two fixtures in the round being played on Saturday. This round yielded numerous surprise results, so much so that we only managed to correctly predict one out of the six results.
Pumas (8) 15 / 54 (32) All Blacks (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and New Zealand All Blacks did battle in The Rugby Championship at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata at 01:10 SA Time (20:10 ARG Time, 23:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SH4 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Springboks (14) 31 / 8 (3) Wallabies (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:00 SA Time.
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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WP (3) 9 / 21 (6) Lions (Final Score)
DHL Western Province and the MTN Golden Lions did battle in the Currie Cup, Premier Division at Newlands, Cape Town at 14:00 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 5 on TV in SA.
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Cheetahs (17) 35 / 20 (6) Griquas (Final Score)
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and GWK Griquas did battle in the Currie Cup, Premier Division at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 14:00 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, M-Net on TV in SA.
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It is the fifth round of Premiership action this weekend and it sees Saracens make the trip across London to Harlequins to face the reigning champions at The Stoop.
Sharks (5) 13 / 12 (9) Blue Bulls (Final Score)
The Sharks and the Vodacom Blue Bulls did battle in the Currie Cup, Premier Division at Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA Time.
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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The Springbok side to face the Wallabies on Saturday at Loftus, has been announced.
Two late changes have been made to the Springbok 22, with Francois Steyn failing a late fitness test and Coenie Oosthuizen also not fit enough to man the bench. Jean de Villiers moves to inside centre and Jaco Taute will make his Springbok debut at outside centre. PatCilliers replaces Coenie Oosthuizen on the bench.
It took guts and determination from Heyneke Meyer and clearly he has the best interests of Springbok Rugby as well as the individual interests of the players at heart, when making some hard and big decisions.
Johan Goosen starts at flyhalf and Andries Bekker starts at No 5 lock in place of Juandré Kruger. Elton Jantjies is on the bench and Morné Steyn drops out of the match 22 alltogether.
Flip van der Merwe moves down to the bench after a strong game against the New Zealand All Blacks, but one has to mention that Flip is carrying a niggling injury and did not practice with the squad on Monday and Tuesday.
South African police have decided not to prosecute Baby Blacks hooker Nathan Harris over a rape allegation made against him.