The Wallaby coaching staff have replaced Saia Faingaa and Dean Mumm with the more experienced and hardened duo of Stephen Moore and Mark Chisholm. With some lineout wobbles in Pretoria and some less than perfect scrum work, a change here can’t be a bad thing.
Former Springbok flyhalf Louis Koen, who played 15 Tests for South Africa between 2000 and 2003 will return to rugby in the Currie Cup.
Super 15 franchise the Force, has released coach John Mitchell from the final year of his contract and the New Zealander will join the Golden Lions on a three-year contract. Continue reading
Will Genia, who has showed that he is ready to follow in the footsteps of George Gregan for the Wallabies, singled out the injured Springbok scrumhalf as his big hero and believes South Africa have lacked a dimension without him.
Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has opted for prop power on his substitutes bench and kicking options in the backline for Saturday’s Currie Cup match against the Sharks in Pretoria.
While WP have lost their last two Currie Cup games, Mitchell has enough reasons to be concerned ahead of Friday’s match at Coca-Cola Park. Province beat the Lions 32-0 at Newlands in their last meeting.
The Currie Cup, Premier Division Teams have been named for the weekend’s clashes.
Leading All Blacks may be rested during next year’s Super 15 rugby tournament in order to ensure that they will be fit for the World Cup in New Zealand later in the year.
The 19 contracted Springbok frontliners will be available for at least three Absa Currie Cup matches this year, in order to give them match practice before the end of the year tour.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) jointly announced a ground-breaking rights deal for Springbok players’ image rights with the Springbok Players’ Trust on Tuesday.
The All Blacks have included uncapped flyhalf Colin Slade as cover for Dan Carter in the 26-man squad to face Australia in the TriNations.
Springboks coach Peter de Villiers’ mouth has gotten him in trouble again after he claimed that the Springboks were “100 per cent” in support of accused murderer and Bulls rugby prop Bees Roux.
The Blue Bulls Company has decided to grant Bees Roux some leave until further notice and to exempt him from his rugby obligations for the time being.
A lot has been said about the way the Springboks seemed to have stagnated in their play. The most obvious direction to pass blame is towards PDV and his assistant coaches. They are the ones who must give direction to the team. They are also primarily responsible for selecting a group of players that can fit into a game plan that is required to win tests. Continue reading
The South African mentality is big on abrasive obstinacy as a dominant characteristic. We saw this in the determined manner in which the Springboks fought their way back into the Test at Pretoria after giving up 14 points in the opening minutes. And also in the way Victor Matfield played out the full 80 minutes of his 100th Test.
South Africa will look to replicate the expansive game that saw them score five tries against Australia last week, when the Springboks and Wallabies go head-to-head in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Vodacom WP coach Allister Coetzee today announced his team to take on the Xerox Lions at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg, on Friday 3 September 2010. Kick-off is at 19h10.
The possibility of further misery or a likely last chance in 2010 to get his Test-level act back together?
Am I the only one that thought the test at Loftus over the weekend between the Springboks and Australia was actually pretty good? Continue reading
What a performance! The hoodoo of the 100th test has been broken, and no more fitting than being that of the great Victor Matfield at the stronghold of Bulls rugby, Loftus Versfeld.
Article written by Met Uysh Continue reading
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers had a simple statement for all those critical of the national team even though they had won this weekend: Either you’re for us or you’re against us.
In the first article in the series we looked at the Stormers and their trials and tribulations during the last 10 years of Super rugby. Today we look at the Bulls and the remarkable improvement they have shown over the decade. Continue reading
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has a few tough calls to make after Bryan Habana and John Smit struggled through Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld.
Australia’s Drew Mitchell (R) breaks past South Africa’s JP Pietersen to score a try only to be denied by the TMO. Photo: Reuters
The Wallabies, the masters of ruining green and golden opportunities, uncovered another way to lose the unlosable Test on the highveld on Saturday night.
This year’s Club Champs takes place at Maties from Saturday 18 to Friday 24 September and, in addition to Hammies and Noordelike, will feature the country’s 14 provincial champions in a 16-team first-round draw.
Recordings of both After Match Press Conferences were made by me, both on Audio Format as well as seperately on Video Format.
The Audio Recordings:
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The Video Recordings: The Videos are long, so they’ll take long to buffer before playing, hope you have proper broadband
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South Africa and Australia came close to producing a new version of rugby this morning in Pretoria.
It was essentially rugby sevens played with 15 men a side – an interesting hybrid model which, alas, I don’t think has a future.
Leading up to the test
McLean and the rest of the New Zealand rugby journalists once again had much to say about the Springbok’s preparation in the week before the test. McLean writes as follows on this matter:
Training – the importance and fostering of. That could be the theme of the day. In the morning, the Springboks did a good deal of it. Someone threw the ball in incessantly. Goosen, newly and most deservedly capped, rose up at No3, du Preez at No5, Nel at No7. In turn all made the catch. Everyone else stepped to the right positions; and that was that. Meanwhile, the backs, under care of Nelie Smith, chased around the place and did a good deal of criss-cross scissors passing. It was all very proper and not terribly enthusiastic and re-awakened the feelings of early in the tour that these men weren’t working hard enough. There was certainly not much humour about anything; nor earnestness, either, for that matter. Just everyone going through a routine. Continue reading
Springboks (24) 44 / Wallabies (28) 31 (Final Score)
The Springboks hosted the Wallabies in their penultimate encounter against one another this year in the Tri-Nations at Loftus, Pretoria, South Africa at 17:00 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SuperSport HD and M-Net with previews from 16:00 SA Time.
In a very strange match, the Springboks proved too tough for the Wallabies, running in 5 tries to 4.
What was apparent to me of this match was how severely off form Bryan Habana was the whole match and what a positive impact Chiliboy Ralepelle made as a substitute for a lacklustre John Smit.
Francois Hougaard is my Man Of The Match!
Victor Matfield did a lap of honour after the match to celebrate his 100th Test Cap.
Time for some tough decisions for Peter de Villiers….. put Bryan Habana and John Smit out to pasture, their time has come and gone!
Former Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer on Friday presented the Springbok jerseys to the Test team playing the Wallabies in a Tri-Nations Test at Loftus on Saturday.
For lock Victor Matfield this was a special occasion on the eve of his 100th Test match.
The Pumas secured a historic home win in the first rugby match at the Mbombela Stadium, snatching a 22-21 Currie Cup victory over the Blue Bulls in Nelspruit on Friday night.
The visiting Free State Cheetahs produced a telling 17-point second-half scoring spree in the space of six minutes to send Western Province crashing to a 29-24 defeat in the Currie Cup match played at Newlands on Friday night.
Running with virtually every ball they received the Lions beat the Platinum Leopards 45-22 in a lively Currie Cup match at Coca-Cola Park on Friday night.
Despite four tries to Griquas flyer Bjorn Basson at the Stadium last night, the Sharks still managed to secure a 48-30 bonus-point victory and maintain their winning streak in the Currie Cup.
Apart from Test Rugby, Springboks vs Wallabies, there is some other rugby on TV today as well.