Pumas (10) 22 / Blue Bulls (11) 21 (Final Score)
The Barloworld Toyota Pumas hosted the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit at 19:10 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 7 on DSTV in SA.
The Pumas scored 4 tries, earning their bonus point and showed massive heart to beat the Bulls 22 / 21.
Well done Pumas.
WP 24 / Cheetahs 29 (Final Score)
Vodacom Western Province hosted Vodacom Free State Cheetahs at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:30 SA Time. This is the game thread for discussion of the match. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Cheetahs won by 29 / 24 with Hennie Daniller getting the Man Of The Match award.
The Springboks host the Wallabies at Loftus, Pretoria at 17:00 on Saturday 28 August in the 2nd last Tri-Nations encounter between the 2 teams for 2010.
We see the match like this:
The 4 Currie Cup Premier Division games all happen tonight, Friday night 27 August 2010, with only 2 of the 4 games broadcast live on TV, that of WP vs Free State Cheetahs (SuperSport 1) and Pumas vs Blue Bulls (SuperSport 7)
Here are the Team sheets:
The following rugby will be broadcast on TV today, live rugby in BOLD:
Australia are fielding their best backline of the Tri Nations, players like Kurtley Beale and Drew Mitchell have proved that they are worthy of their starting positions. Adam Ashley-Cooper has not been moved about so is gaining in confidence and the Genia / Cooper combination is set to razzle-dazzle… we could be in for quite a game!
Man, one does not need news like this…. Blue Bulls prop, Bees Roux, was arrested this morning alledgedly for beating a Tswane Metro Cop to death.
He has yet to appear in Court.
You could see the smile on his face widen when the question was finally asked. There was no doubt that Wallaby coach Robbie Deans had been waiting for the opportunity.
John Smit was answering fan questions in the Springbok E-zine and was asked how long he still feels he can play at this level.
Despite consistent criticism throughout this year’s Vodacom Tri-Nations campaign, and a mediocre showing in his 100th Test match, where his fitness and form was consistently questioned, Smit still believes he can soldier on until the World Cup.
The captain was visibly irritated last week by questions about him retiring and a rumour that went around that he would call it a day after the 100th cap. After missing the tackle that cost the Boks the game against the All Blacks at FNB Stadium, he has returned this week more determined than ever to make up for his mistake.
Schalk Burger is a ‘world-class’ fetcher, and highly rated by the Australians, even though he is regarded as just another ‘brute basher’ in his own country.
Folks, here’s the fabulous 360º Photo of FNB Stadium last Saturday during the Springbok vs All Blacks Tri-Nations Test.
Find yourself in the Stadium, Zoom in, Tag yourself on Twitter or Facebook.
Go onnnnnn, you can do it!
Click on this LINK below or Right Click and choose “Open in New Tab” or “Open in New Window”, not to go away from this page
Conrad Hoffman will play for the Sharks after the 2010 Currie Cup. Continue reading
A few little tit-bits regarding the rest of the Tri-Nations of 2010.
Ex Test prop Toks van der Linde, now part-time TV presenter, will become the first Ex-Springbok to sing the National Anthem on-field ahead of the Tri-Nations clash between the Springboks and Wallabies at Loftus on Saturday.
The return of Quade Cooper to the flyhalf position represents one of just two changes to the Wallabies starting XV for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against South Africa in Pretoria.
The Wallabies have called on one of South Africa’s best known goalkickers to help improve their technique before the Pretoria Test on Saturday. Continue reading
If you want to know what has gone wrong with the Boks or what the All Blacks are doing right, why not just look at how they play? Continue reading
At the end of this year’s Tri-Nations the Springbok management will have to stand objectively and clinically look at the difference between blind loyalty and blind faith as opposed to reward in selecting the best Bokke to lead them into next year’s Rugby World Cup.
This is not their only poser, they have to decide whether Assistant Staff has the ability and afinity to take it competently from here as well as how to adapt or fine-tune game plans for the World Cup.
Today I look at player selection only, the game plan strategies and coaching staff will have to wait for another time.
The use of small sided games in football (soccer) to integrate scientific training methods used by athletes -to peak- with skills is a exciting new innovation in repeated sprint sports. I thought it might be useful to add some additional explanation as most readers probably don’t have a background in the science of training and peaking.
I am going to do the explanation using a typical 10 week running periodization program. For the purpose of the discussion I will focus only on the interval sessions because that is essentially what I want to emphasize in this post; how the interval sessions differ from one phase of the periodization cycle to the next. Continue reading
The Cheetahs have opted for a change at flyhalf for their long trip south to take on Western Province in Cape Town for their Currie Cup clash on Friday.
Guildford – The South African women’s rugby team recorded their first World Cup victory with a tenacious 15-10 win over Wales on Tuesday afternoon at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, England.
Francois Steyn, who has been called up for South Africa’s Tri-Nations match against Australia, is “not ready” for Test rugby, according to his Racing-Metro coach Pierre Berbizier.
The return of Springboks Gio Aplon and Francois Louw will help bolster a Western Province side that will attempt to return to winning ways when they clash with the Cheetahs in a Currie Cup match at Newlands on Friday evening. Continue reading
The Vodacom Blue Bulls welcomes back Springbok midfielder, Wynand Olivier, to their side for Friday’s Absa Currie Cup clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit. Continue reading
The Springboks have made two changes to their starting line-up for the Vodacom Tri-Nations Test against Australia at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
Well it is now time for reflection and hopefully the emotions have settled down a little. I thought it would be interesting to look at the match statistics and see what can be taken from them. Continue reading
There has been quite some reaction on perceptions that the Springboks are not fit enough (see Graeme Henry’s remarks on this issue). Some bloggers have made remarks like “they are professional athletes. How can they not be fit enough?” This is essentially what inspired this post because fitness can mean a number of things depending on how you define fitness and there is quite a difference between being fit and being sharp. Continue reading
Despite the closeness of the scoreline and the fact that the All Blacks scored 12 points in the last five minutes of play, the home side was really thrashed all over the field. The Springboks scrum was under pressure most of the game, even though it won a penalty when Smit went up early. The famed lineout dominance has gone with penalties conceded for crooked throws and taking too long to throw in. The All Blacks missed five chances of scoring tries and scored three while the Springboks took their only chance which came from a couple of barging runs near the try line following a tap kick.
The New Zealand media wasted no time in getting another dig in at South African head coach Peter de Villiers.
The World Cup holders, the Springboks, are not in good health and the South African Rugby Union will be bonkers if Peter de Villiers, the fake coach, should remain in charge.
Flanker Juan Smith is the only injury concern in the Springbok camp following the weekend’s 22-29 loss to the All Blacks at the FNB Stadium.
After 4 Springbok losses in a row in a Tournament, the Tri-Nations, which lies very close to the hearts of South Africans and with the Rugby World Cup now exactly a year from now, the temptation is there to insist on taking the knives out and to cut some dead wood from the Springbok team and management.
… but we’ve been there before, remembering so well how we, me included, shouted from the rooftops that Jake White needed the axe.
New Zealand All Blacks’ fly half Dan Carter has been ruled out of the next eight weeks of rugby as he needs surgery.
The doctor caught up in the Harlequins fake blood scandal has reportedly admitted that she cut the lip of Harlequins winger Tom Williams, as she appeared at a General Medical Council misconduct hearing in Manchester.
Two Greg Growden articles to start the next two weeks battle for the Tri Nations wooden spoon. Aussies feel they got all the answers to beat us, but lets see how the next two weeks unfold.
What a great game of rugby. Credit to the players for staging such a fantastic spectacle.
In the end, a rather disappointing result if you are a Springbok supporter. A heart-broken loss is the word that has been thrown around in the newspapers. I’ll concur with that and with that in mind I believe it is important to dissect what went wrong as that is the only way to learn from your mistakes and to move forward. The Springbok team would undoubtedly do their own dissection but for us Springbok supporters dissection and discussion of the match helps to brings closure.
I believe we showed massive improvement at the breakdowns (as compared to our previous two games against the All Blacks) for 90% of the time. However, the 10% of the time that we were not up to it -at the breakdowns- actually cost us the match. Continue reading