South Africa may have guaranteed their place in the Rugby World Cup 2011 quarter-finals but coach Peter de Villiers had plenty of reasons for a restless night after the match against Samoa at North Harbour Stadium on Friday.
Wallabies (47) 68 / Russia (5) 22 (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Russia did battle in Nelson at 04:30 SA Time (15:30 NZ 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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After a very good first half it looked like the Wallabies were going to put over 100 points over the Russians, but the wheels came off a bit for the Wallabies in the second half and the brave Russians came back hard, almost outscoring the Wallabies in the second half.
The Wallabies also lost Drew Mitchell, with what looked like a bad hamstring injury, ahead of the looming quarter final.
Some key moments in the game.
Blue Bulls (28) 47 / Pumas (7) 12 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls hosted the Ford Pumas at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 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 Blue Bulls won with consumate ease, after scoring 3 tries in the first half and another 3 in the second half, against the 2 tries by the Pumas.
At one stage in the match the Pumas were reduced to 13 men, after 2 yellow cards, shortly after one another.
Don’t you just hate it when the Springboks go into their infuriating defensive mode of play?
Truth is the Springboks were never really at risk of losing the game and it was almost like a big boy holding a little kid at arms length while the little guy punches himself to a stand still.
The last couple of days required extreme patience from South Africans here in New Zealand. It took quite some maturity to stay relaxed and calm in the face of the overbearing arrogance and confidence exhibited by the Samoan supporters here in New Zealand.
Listening to them you would have thought they are the world champions and a team who have beaten every other rugby nation/team on the continent (as oppossed to the Springboks who have actually done it) so assured where they that they were going to win the match. The pre-match gamesmanship like having a team talk before doing their Haka just an example of an overbearing cocksureness that really should be the privilage of competitors that have done the hard yards and who have the track record and ability to utilze such tactics too gain advantage. If primary school kids pulls such antics against high school kids it is out of place and utterly useless becuase it will make no difference whatsoever to the outcome of the match.
Springboks (13) 13 / Samoa (0) 5 (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Samoa did battle in Albany at 09:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ 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 Springboks won a very hard match, with a lot of niggle in the match and a fiery Samoa not giving up.
The game was marred by the first Red Card of the tournament, to Paul Williams, for a punch to the face of Heinrich Brussow and also marred by a Yellow Card to John Smit.
Samoa exits the tournament and the Springboks end top of the “Pool of Death”, Pool D.
Mark Reason the man who wrote the article about the All Blacks cheating at the break down came out with another controversial statement yesterday.
Essentially he is expressing dissatisfaction with the make-up of the England rugby team. Indicating that it’s full of hired-guns and that the rules have been bent since the advent of professionalism to allow players from one country to play test rugby in another country.
Being a New Zealand citizen (although originally from England) he is probably the last one to talk considering the history of New Zealand utilizing South Pacific Island players like Frank Bunce, Bryan Williams, Jono Lomu and so forth.
As the Rugby World Cup reaches the final weekend of pool stage action, seven quarter-finals spots are mathematically still up for grabs and various theories abound as to which teams may upset the apple cart.
With three rounds to go before the Currie Cup play-offs, six teams in the Premier Division can still qualify for the semi-finals.
The Sharks have axed lock Alistair Hargreaves from the team for their Currie Cup clash against Western Province on Saturday.
How old is too old? Despite South Africa’s impressive figures from their three matches so far (153 points scored, 19 against, 20 tries), 18 is the one that seems to be exercising the sceptics.
New Zealand No 8 Kieran Read will make his World Cup debut against Canada on Sunday after overcoming a serious ankle injury in the strongest loose forwards mix available to coach Graham Henry after the side was named on Friday.
History suggests Saturday’s clash between England and Scotland should be an epic battle between two old foes.
DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has only 22 fit players for match selection, he said at Wednesday’s team announcement.
Australia have been forced to name loose-forward Radike Samo on the wing against Russia and the only back reserves are two scrum-halves after they have been ravaged by injury.
Delon Armitage will replace Mark Cueto who scored a hat-trick against Romania as one of three England changes for their Pool B decider against Scotland at Eden Park on Saturday.
A difference in IRB world ranking places of eight, and South Africa’s commanding RWC track record against them, suggests that the Springboks should have a reasonably smooth ride past Samoa in their last Pool D fixture at North Harbour on Friday.
England made further unwanted headlines on Thursday when they suspended two coaches for illegally swapping match balls, as the Rugby World Cup prepared for the make-or-break last round of pool matches.
Micheal Bondesio returns to the MTN Golden Lions team as coach John Mitchell make one side to the team that narrowly lost to to the Vodacom Blue Bulls last week Saturday. Dylan des Fountain returns on the bench, while Michael Killian was cleared to play after tweaking his hamsring on Saturday.
Samoa coach Titimaea Tafua on Wednesday announced two changes to his starting line-up to face South Africa in their final Pool D game in Auckland on Friday.
Blue Bulls coach Pine Pienaar has named the same side that bravely outlasted the Lions in Johannesburg last week, to take on the resurgent Pumas in Currie Cup action at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has made just two changes, both in the forwards pack, for their vital Currie Cup clash with the front-running Lions at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein this weekend.
New Zealand Rugby boss Steve Tew says that the All Blacks may be forced to withdraw from participating in future Rugby World Cups.
Tew says that the All Blacks participation at the World Cup has cost his union more than 13 million New Zealand dollars (£ 6.6 million).
Georgia (12) 25 / Romania (6) 9 (Final Score)
Georgia and Romania did battle in Palmerston North at 08:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ 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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In the sloppiest, most error-ridden game of the tournament, thus far, the Georgians managed to grind out the win.
When Dan Carter reckons something isn’t quite right with a rugby ball, people listen.
So when the All Blacks’ goal kicking wizard admitted yesterday that the official Gilbert “Virtuo” ball used during the World Cup had caused some frustrations, it was time to dig up a few statistics.
Italy (20) 27 / USA (10) 10 (Final Score)
Italy and the USA did battle in Nelson at 08:30 SA Time (19:30 NZ 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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USA forced Italy to grind out a win, with their dominant scrum, and for the first time in a very long time, Nick Mallett’s side managed to get a bonus point for tries scored.
One could say mission accomplished by Italy, but they really made hard work of the task.
Vodacom Blue Bulls flanker Dewald Potgieter will not play in the remainder of the Absa Currie Cup competition after injuring his ankle.
Canada (7) 23 / Japan (17) 23 (Final Score)
Canada and Japan did battle in Napier at 06:00 SA Time (17:00 NZ 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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A draw, in this very good battle! In 2007 at the World Cup these two sides also drew (12 / 12).
There are five changes in the pack as Bismarck du Plessis is partnered with the returning Tendai Mtawarira and Bismarck’s brother Jannie du Plessis in an all-Sharks front row. The final change among the forwards sees the return of Heinrich Brüssow to the back row.
Victor Matfield will captain the Springbok team to play Samoa in the deciding Rugby World Cup Pool D clash at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Friday.
Victories for the Blue Bulls and Free State Cheetahs at the home grounds of the front runners of the Currie Cup ensured the competition is still wide open with just three rounds to go before the semi-finals.
The Blue Bulls beat the log leading Golden Lions (21-18) in Johannesburg, while the Free State Cheetahs were too good for Western Province in Cape Town (34-20).
TEAM anouncement at 20:00 (Team in article above)
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers gave his players two days off to recharge the batteries ahead of their final Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool D match against Samoa, on Friday.
Is this a pot of crock by Brenden Nel, or is it just a public relations stunt or is there after all something most of us miss?
Why are senior players like Fourie du Preez and Victor Matfield, who could possibly benifit the most from John Smit’s exclusion, so happy to play under his captaincy?
In Victor Matfield’s absence, Danie Rossouw called the lineouts, ran more with the ball and was one of the Springboks’ most impressive players on the park.
With Matfield set to make his return from a hamstring injury in Friday’s match against Samoa, Rossouw will swap the number five jersey for the number four and revert back to playing a tighter game.
I was watching Namibia play their 4th Test match against yet another very tough opponent in only 14 days (17 days from Rugby World Cup kick-off), in their run on 15 for this match there are only 6 players making a living on rugby, and the only player that can be seen playing for a truly professional high quality outfit is Jacques Burger the Namibian captain.
South African rugby journalist Vata Ngobeni was detained during the early hours of Monday morning when Taupo police removed him from a local pub suspecting he was a drug dealer.