Melbourne’s eminent entry into the Super Rugby club took another step in the right direction when the Rebels showed they truly belong.
Although the Rebels lost 14-19 to the seven-time champion Crusaders, they attracted a crowd of 13,013 for the first ever Rugby Union game at the new state of the art stadium in Melbourne.
Namibia joined Fiji as a nation in doubt for participation at the Rugby world cup later this year due to administrative trouble so bad the IRB has been forced to take over the union.
Very nominally, the Stormers have something to place in the cobwebbed trophy cabinet at Newlands, as it were, after their clean-sweep performance in the Neo Africa Tri-Series.
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In direct contrast to some of South Africa’s other Super Rugby franchises, the Bulls showed very few signs of rust when they raced to an impressive 68-5 victory over an invitational Premier XV side at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening.
Stormers (3) 17 / Sharks (10) 16 (Final Score)
The Stormers hosted the Sharks in the last of the Tri-Series warm-up games in preparation for the Super Rugby Tournament at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 2 & M-Net on TV in SA.
In an error-ridden game the Sharks took the iniative and controlled most of the game till too many substitutions, to key players, derailed their game and allowed the Stormers to fight back and steal a win near the end.
I would not read too much into this game or the result, except maybe that Patrick Lambie’s goal kicking is still shoddy, that Meyer Bosman and Stefan Terblanche make a fine center combination and that the Stormers do not lie down to be defeated….
France (17) 34 / Scotland (7) 21 (Final Score)
France hosted Scotland at Stade de France, Paris at 19:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
For a change a red hot French team pitched to play and they started like a house on fire but the brave Scotland side fought back all the way, till the end.
In the end there was just too much French fire power as reflected in the final score of 34 / 21.
Italy (6) 11 / Ireland (3) 13 (Final Score)
Italy hosted Ireland at the Stadio Flaminio, Rome at 16:30 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN.
Italy nearly upset the apple cart but Ireland scrapes a win with a late Ronan O’Gara drop goal.
Ladies and Gentlemen and all Unregistered Rugby-Talkers,
So far there are 4 SuperBru Competitions this year, all currently active, where Rugby-Talk hosts our own Pool of players for this wonderful prediction game.
3 of the 4 Tournaments are yet to kick off, whereas in the Six Nations only one game has been played, last night between Wales and England.
So, join up, hurry up and don’t just be a sideline spectator… register on Rugby-Talk and register on these 4 Rugby-Talk SuperBru Competition Pools!
GBS is busy in negotiations to lure a very big Sponsor and even bigger Super Rugby SuperBru prize, for which prize only ACTIVE Registered Rugby-Talkers will qualify and which prize will be given at the sole discretion of our webmonster, GBS.
The Competitions and Pools are as follows:
Six Nations
Varsity Cup
!!! Starts Monday !!!
Pool name: R-T Varsity
Pool code: berkcase
Super Rugby
Cricket World Cup
Come on, get your butts into gear!!
A friend of mine sent me this…. well to make a long story short, read the damn thing yourselves!
The Waratahs won their first trial match of the season against the Fiji Warriors 41-13 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The Reds enjoyed another succesful pre-Super Rugby season victory when they beat the Brumbies by 38 points to 5.
England (13) 26 / Wales (6) 19 (Final Score)
Wales hosted England at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales in the 1st Six Nations encounter of 2011 at 21:45 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
In a hard and brutal encounter and surprisingly fast-paced rugby in the first half, England drew first blood with a converted try and kept that 7-point margin till the end.
Final score was England 26 / 19.
Tonight, Friday 4 February 2011, sees the start of the Six Nations Tournament, featuring the strongest 6 European Nations.
First up is Wales vs England at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales at 21:45 SA Time.
Rugby-Talk will cover this match live tonight.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has scoffed at suggestions that Springbok captain John Smit is no longer a viable option as a prop.
Speaking ahead of the pre-season Tri-Series finale, against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday, Plumtree said he will continue to “rotate” the Bok skipper in all three front row positions.
The Blues beat the Hurricanes 33-22 at Kerikeri in a Super Rugby warm up match making it two wins from two in their pre-season.
The Blues beat the Highlanders last weekend in a similar warm up match and have started the year strongly while the Hurricanes beat the Chiefs last week.
The Sharks have named a formidable line up for Saturdays game against the Stormers. Continue reading
Well folks, the serious rugby is upon us again, with the Six Nations kicking off tonight, the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington already under way, as well as some Super Rugby warm-up matches to be played.
Here’s the schedule for this weekend:
The HSBC Sevens World Series Tournament concluded in Wellington, New Zealand.
New Zealand won this Tournament at home against England by 29 / 14.
The results were not good for South Africa overall, they won their opening game against Canada and then lost against France of all nations on day one, drew with Fiji on day 1, lost to Australia in the Cup Quarters, won against Wales and lost to Fiji in the Plate final! So it was 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses… not good enough!
The new Springbok and Bok 7’s jerseys were unveiled in Johannesburg yesterday.
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No really. It sucks. I thought the WP jersey look terrible with that yellow blob on it, but this?! Now let’s see, first the Stormers had this jersey: Continue reading
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and vice-captain Victor Matfield presented the Proteas, South Africa’s national cricket team, with a special banner to wish them luck for the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup, to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh between February 19 and April 2.
Wales selectors have announced seven changes to the starting line-up for the Six Nations opener against England on Friday night, having lost six and drawn one of their last seven Tests.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will travel to the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday to cast an eagle eye over some of the World Cup hopefuls.
Adidas today unveiled the new DHL Stormers jersey for the 2011 Vodacom Super Rugby season –signalling a new era for Stormers Rugby, who recently secured DHL as their new premier sponsor.
England Manager, Martin Johnson, has named a power team to take on Wales in the 6N opening encounter. Continue reading
Allister Coetzee, head coach of the DHL Stormers, today named his team to take on the Sharks in the final game of the Neo Africa Tri-Series on Saturday (17h00) at the DHL Newlands Rugby Stadium.
The Lions impressive win against the Sharks in their warm-up match Tuesday night, did not come without a price to pay.
Andre Pretorius injured a hamstring AGAIN, and this yo-yo-man’s run of bad luck just continues.
The Vodacom Bulls heaved a sigh of relief after their inspirational captain Victor Matfield was cleared to play in the opening game of their defence of their Super Rugby crown against the Lions on February 19.
The misery of being defeated 41-10 by the Lions in their opening Neo Africa fixture has been compounded for the Sharks by an injury that could force Alistair Hargreaves to be out of rugby for some time.
One swallow does not make a summer, but three former Springboks may well help Griquas become Vodacom Cup champions this year.
Griquas have just managed to secure the services of a third former Bok, Ollie le Roux, as consultant for the series. They will use him as a scrum coach.
The Melbourne Rebels have confirmed that former Wallaby captain Stirling Mortlock will skipper the side in its debut year in Super Rugby, supported by vice captain Gareth Delve.
If you believe results in warm-up games don’t mean anything, I am afraid you are slightly deluded. Continue reading
For all us props out there.
The Lions tore the Springbok laden Sharks team apart last night in the Neo Africa Tri Series. Continue reading
Vodacom Bulls scrumhalf Fourie du Preez will captain the Bulls side that will play a Premier’s XV in Nelspruit on Saturday.