Shock and horror, many big names have been excluded from the All Black squad to play the 3N Test in South Africa. Continue reading
Ryan Kankowski has been drafted into the Sharks team to play Western Province on Friday after he was released from the Springbok squad on Wednesday.
We’ve seen it a lot lately in the Rugby News brought to us… a player tweets this or says that on Facebook. Active News sites and Blogs now spread the news faster than word of mouth… we are up to date THE WHOLE TIME.
Have a good look at this YouTube video….
Fourie du Preez and Heinrich Brussow will return to the Springbok starting line-up for the first time in 21 months, following the announcement of the team to meet Australia in a Tri-Nations Test at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
The Currie Cup Premier Division will be contested by six teams from 2012 and eight teams will play in the Currie Cup First Division, the SARU General Council decided today at a meeting in Newlands.
A final decision on the Currie Cup’s new format will be made in Cape Town on Thursday at the SA Rugby Union’s (Saru) general council meeting, Leopards president Andre May confirmed on Wednesday.
Hurricanes loose-forward Victor Vito has been called into the All Blacks squad preparing for the TriNations rugby match against the Springboks in Port Elizabeth.
Griquas have named their Currie Cup team to face the Leopards in a Currie Cup rugby match on Friday at GWK Park.
Former Captain Clayton Durand has been named in the Leopards Currie Cup starting line up for their match against the Griquas at GWK Park on Friday.
Reds back rower Scott Higginbotham and Nathan Sharpe were named in the Wallabies rugby team to face the Springboks in a Tri Nations rugby Test against the Springboks in Durban on Saturday.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has made several changes to his Currie Cup team to play Western Province in Friday’s Currie Cup clash at Newlands.
Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has named his Currie Cup team to face the Blue Bulls in their Nelspruit Currie Cup match on Friday.
The Lions made one change and two positional switches to their side ahead of Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup match against the Cheetahs in Johannesburg.
I wrote this article on Sunday for another web site, and thought the guys on Rugby-Talk wouldn’t want to hear how good the All Blacks are, but seeing that superBul provided us with such an enlightening article about the infringements at the breakdown, I thought I’ll put my 2 cents in.
There is a bit of a public hysteria at the moment in South Africa after the first two Tri-Nations Tests this year, specifically because of the way the Springboks lost in both these games.
I don’t think any Springbok supporter will ever be happy with ‘throwing’ Test matches for the sake of a ‘larger/bigger’ objective. However, this is exactly what happened in 2007. Continue reading
After their loss to the All Blacks in Wellington, Springbok lock Victor Matfield said that “It seems as if they are untouchable. The refs allow them to get away with murder. … I cannot say much about the ref (Alain Rolland), because I will get into trouble. But there were a few times on attack when we struggled to play because our ball was deliberately slowed down.”
Just whingeing, or did Victor have a point? We decided to take a close look at the All Blacks’ “rules of engagement” at the breakdown.
Two injuries has forced Toyota Cheetahs coach, Naka Drotske, to re-shuffle his team for this weekend’s match against the Lions.
A more efficient and streamlined South African Rugby Union (SARU) was unveiled to rugby stakeholders by Jurie Roux, the organisation’s CEO, at the announcement of a major operational overhaul in Johannesburg on Thursday.
SARU’s governance and operational departments have been radically re-engineered in the space of 18 months to complete the transformation of the organisation’s way of doing business, said Roux.
The Springboks have moved to shore up their problems in defence by bringing in defensive coaching specialist Jacques Nienaber on a consultant basis.
Callie Visagie, the 2011 Varsity Cup Player of the Tournament, will further his rugby career in Johannesburg after signing a two-year deal with the Golden Lions.
Visagie, who captained the FNB Maties in the 2011 Varsity Cup, is a highly-rated and hard-as-nails hooker and the Lions have done well to claim his signature ahead of next season.
Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has made two changes to his team, both of them in the front row, for the clash with defending Currie Cup champions the Sharks at Newlands this weekend.
Returning Springboks Wynand Olivier and Bjorn Basson will be amongst the four new faces in the Vodacom Blue Bulls backline for their Absa Currie Cup clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.
Speculation is rife… the Springbok senior players will be under-prepared, some say. Others say they have not rested enough. And then there are those that say these senior Springboks do not need to have played to be sharp as ever.
Let’s critically look at when last these senior Springboks played, and what their form was when they played.
International visitor numbers at this year’s World Cup in New Zealand look set to exceed expectations, despite the current global economic turmoil, according to tournament organisers.
The Crusaders home ground of AMI Stadium in Christchurch will remain closed during the 2012 Super Rugby season forcing the Crusaders to play their matches on the road again.
AMI Stadium suffered heavy damage in the February earthquakes which hit Christchurch and killed 181 people.
Ireland’s loss to Scotland has seen them drop from fourth place in the world rankings to sixth place and also helped France move to fifth place.
England’s victory over Wales sees them take the fourth place in the world rankings but Wales maintain their seventh placed ranking.
The MTN Golden Lions are the only unbeaten team left in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division following their victory at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday and defeats to The Sharks and DHL Western Province earlier during the weekend.
The Springboks have called up loose forwards Ashley Johnson and Ryan Kankowski as cover for a number of injury concerns among their back row forwards.
Coach Robbie Deans has taken two more players into his squad of 26 players to fly across the Indian Ocean to Durban on Sunday – prop Salesi Ma’afu and No 8 Radike Samo.
The All Blacks look set to rest Richie McCaw and Dan Carter for their tour to South Africa where they will play the Springboks in Port Elizabeth.
Currie Cup Premier Division cellar dwellars, The Vodacom Blue Bulls, have received a bit of good news. The newly signed scrum half, Jano Vermaak, is available to play for them with immediate effect. This will most certainly boost the Blue Bulls, who are in the unfamiliar position of last on the Currie Cup Premier Log.
Sonny Bill Williams has told his All Black team-mates that he will not play Super Rugby for the Crusaders next year and is expected to announce where he will play next year later this week.
Half a dozen players from the Soweto Rugby Club (SRC) were allegedly injured in an attack during a match on Saturday night, according to media reports.
The players were allegedly attacked by members of the opposition team, the Edenvale Panthers, as well as spectators towards the end of their President’s League game.
Springbok coach, Peter de Villiers, has added the Cheetahs flank Heinrich Brüssow to the squad to face Australia on Saturday in Durban. Continue reading
Blue Bulls (19) 27 / Lions (16) 36 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls hosted the MTN Golden Lions at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Blue Bulls were just too ill-diciplined and Flip van der Merwe earned tow yellow cards, turning the final one into Red, whilst the Lions were mostly well diciplined and controlled all game.
The Lions deserved their win.