Ricardo Laubscher
Former Springbok backline coach Ricardo Loubscher is set to pursue his career further overseas this season.
Loubscher, who served as the Springbok backline coach between 2012 and 2015, ended his association with the South African Rugby Union when his contract expired at the end of last year.
Since then there has been no communication on any future possible plans for him from SARU’s side and without any coaching alternative currently at his disposal, Loubscher has been forced to look outside South Africa for employment.
Coca-Cola South Africa will remain the title sponsor of SA Rugby’s highly successful Youth Week tournaments and an associate sponsor of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition until 2018.
It was announced on Wednesday that Coca-Cola South Africa, who 1st became involved with SA Rugby as a sponsor in 1997, have extend their partnership with the organisation for a further 3 years, which will stretch their association with rugby in South Africa to 21 years.
As part of the SA Rugby Youth Weeks sponsorship, Coca-Cola South Africa will also continue to fund the Coca-Cola Schools of Excellence programme, which aims to develop skilled rugby players from schools in previously disadvantaged communities across the country.
JJ Engelbrecht
As speculated here on rugby-talk a few weeks ago the former Bulls player JJ Engelbrecht is set to make his debut for Ospreys on Sunday 31 January against Glasgow Warriors. Engelbrecht has been named as player No 23 in the Ospreys match day squad for the hosts in their PRO12 match.
It remains to be seen where the Ospreys will be utilizing his talents for the rest of the season and clarity on this may only be gained once he is listed in any of their starting line ups. The pacey winger who has spent the bulk of the last few seasons playing at outside centre will at least be sleeping more peacefully for the next few nights than he would have been had he been listed as centre in the starting line up. This ensures that he will be required for less time or may completely avoid having to help the midfield defend against the mammoth Fijian Australian winger Taqele Naiyaravoro who is due to don the No 13 jumper for the reigning champions.
Naiyaravoro has been brought in from the wing with various regular centres unavailable for the match. Alex Dunbar and Richie Vernon have been ruled out due to injury, while Peter Horne and Mark Bennett are with the Scotland squad ahead of the 6 Nations and just last weekend Bennett was ruled out of playing for the Warriors in their European Champions Cup encounter against Racing 92 due to injury. Loose forward Hugh Blake has helped out at centre earlier this season as well, but he is away with the Scotland 7s team in Wellington New Zealand.
The Ospreys picked another big Fijian, Josh Matavesi, as inside centre possibly with a view to try and keep Naiyaravoro in check. At 1.88m tall and weighing 112kg Matavesi will take some stopping as well and the fans can look forward to some big collisions.
Cheeky Watson
Embattled Eastern Province Rugby Union President Cheeky Watson has had the first set of legal documents served on him.
The players organisation, MyPlayers, confirmed that an Application for Liquidation was brought – through their trade union SARPA – against the EP Rugby (Pty) Ltd.
This move comes after lengthy consultations with the various stakeholders concerned as well as the exploration of all legal options available.
It follows in the wake of confirmation that EP Rugby last week reached an agreement with 18 players (who did not receive Super Rugby contracts) over outstanding salaries.
EP Rugby needs to come up with 5 Million Rand by Sunday 31 January, or they will also face a Liquidation Application from the lawyer of the aforementioned players – Craig Jessop, a labour lawyer working for the firm Brown Braude and Vlok.
This move forced MyPlayers and SARPA’s hand.
Franco Smith
The Toyota Cheetahs know they have an uphill battle in this year’s Vodacom Super Rucompetition, but they have approached their mammoth task with a renewed amount of energy and are hoping they will reap the rewards for their efforts.
Since Franco Smith took over the team in the last 2 games of last season the side has shown some exceptional touches on attack, but their defence at times and their set piece play has often let them down, ensuring that a lot of the good work they do on the field is reduced because of poor defence.
Smith has worked hard on this with the team through the off-season and believes it is one of the biggest priorities for the team to address before the season gets under way.
While he admits the team is still a work-in-progress, the former Springbok playmaker is hopeful that strides made in physical conditioning and the work the management have put in with the side in the off-season will begin to bear fruit when the serious games begin next month.
DHL Stormers Head Coach Robbie Fleck has named a 30-man squad for their pre-season friendly against the South Western Districts Eagles in George on Saturday.
Following their successful pre-season match against the Eagles at Outeniqua Park in 2015, Fleck said that the team are keen to return to George where they always enjoy good support.
“We are really looking forward to the game, there was a huge crowd there last year and the people were fantastic. We have always enjoyed playing in George, especially as there are a lot of Stormers fans there.
Warren Whiteley
Warren Whiteley will be captaining the Emirates Lions for the 3rd consecutive Super Rugby season when he again takes the reigns for 2016.
The experienced Whiteley welcomed the responsibility of the captaincy bestowed upon him. “It is a big honour to again lead the Lions in the Super Rugby competition. I take the task very seriously while I also enjoy making decisions on and off the field.
“While I think nothing has changed it becomes easier. Also because we’ve got such a great core of leaders around me,” Whitely said.
As the Vodacom Bulls preparations for Super Rugby 2016 gains momentum we focus on some team news.
Rudy Paige has been named as Vice-Captain for the season.
Handré Pollard’s shoulder injury has been confirmed and he will miss the opening weeks of Super Rugby.
Deon Stegmann needs to undergo an operation due to an ankle injury and projections are that he will be out for 9 weeks.
In addition it is believed that Derick Hougaard, also affectionately known as “Liefling”, is going to attempt to make the Bulls team, after years in the wilderness, but he is not in the current Bulls Super Rugby plans… yet.
Philip du Preez
Former South African Schools lock Philip du Preez is 1 of 3 new signings by the Southern Kings.
The Southern Kings, who will return to Super Rugby next month after a 3-year absence, confirmed the singing of the young up and coming lock, Philip du Preez (22), versatile backline player Jurgen Visser (26) and seasoned hooker Martin Bezuidenhout (26).
Kings Chief Operating Officer Charl Crous also confirmed that Sharks player Jaco van Tonder (24) has joined the team on trial this week.
SANZAR is about to introduce a radical new bonus point system to this year’s Super Rugby competition, with teams no longer getting the bonus point for scoring 4 tries.
The radical proposal, which mirrors a system being used in the French top 14, will now see teams needing to score at least 3 more tries than the opposition to score a bonus point.
The change, which is set to be announced on Thursday in Australia, is a tweak to still encourage teams to play attractive rugby in lopsided contests, and give both sides something to play for, while not taking their foot off the pedal if they have established a good lead in their respective games.
Thus if a team scores 4 tries, they will need to limit the opposition to 1 try if they want the bonus point. If the opposition scores twice, then the team will need to score 5 tries in order to claim the bonus point in the competition.
One of the exciting announcements to emerge from the launch of the 2016 season of the Varsity Cup on Monday was that in 2017 3 universities will join the existing 13 universities currently taking part in Varsity Rugby.
“When Varsity Cup began in 2008, 8 universities were competing,” said Varsity Cup chairperson, Jurie Roux.
“Then in 2011 we added the Varsity Shield and it grew by 5. Next year there will be 16 universities taking part in Varsity Rugby. The competition is becoming more and more inclusive and to have increased the university participation by 100% in under 10 years is phenomenal.”
The Varsity Cup and Varsity Shield competitions are managed by a board of members who will hold a meeting in May 2016 to decide upon a qualification process, whereafter the three additional universities will be announced.
The 3 new teams will join the Varsity Shield, while 1 Varsity Shield team will be promoted to the Varsity Cup, joining the 8 existing teams.
“We are extremely excited about this next chapter of Varsity Rugby,” said Varsity Cup CEO Duitser Bosman.
“The inclusion of 9 teams in Varsity Cup will allow each team to play 4 home and 4 away matches. In addition to that, each team can look forward to 1 bye week in the competition – a luxury they weren’t afforded in the past.”
Previously the teams’ 7 matches were split between 4 home matches and 3 away, or 3 home matches and 4 away – alternating from season to season.
The inclusion of 7 Varsity Shield teams in 2017 will allow each team to play 6 matches.
Promotion and relegation matches will be played again in 2018 for the 2019 season.
The 2016 Varsity Rugby season kicks off on 1 February 2016 with the 1st Round of Varsity Shield matches taking place.
Sport24
Rugby World Cup-winning former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar explained the new Varsity Cup innovations is an attempt at getting the coaches to change their mindset and take more risks.
Speaking at the launch of the 2016 Varsity Cup and Shield competitions, Pienaar gave an insight into the reasoning behind the bonus point system, which could lead to a maximum of 9 points being awarded for a try.
Richie Gray, new Scotland defensive contact specialist coach
Scotland head coach Vern Cotter has appointed defensive contact specialist Richie Gray on a consultancy basis for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship.
Gray joins the Scotland set-up following a 3-season spell as South Africa’s specialist breakdown coach during Heyneke Meyer’s tenure, which culminated in their bronze medal finish at 2015 World Cup.
Gray’s contract with the South African Rugby Union was not renewed after Meyer’s resignation late last year.
Gray also assisted the Springbok Sevens side.
Dylan Hartley has been appointed England captain and will lead the team during their Six Nations campaign despite having one of the worst disciplinary records in English rugby.
Hartley has spent a total of 54 weeks on sidelines through suspension over the years. Some of the offences he served suspensions for include eye-gouging, biting, punching and head-butting.
Despite these blemishes, England head coach Eddie Jones said he has faith in Hartley’s abilities as a leader.
Sergio Parisse, Sam Warburton, Rory Best, Dylan Hartley, Greg Laidlaw and Guilhem Guirado (from left to right) at yesterday’s RBS 6 Nations 2016 launch
The 2016 RBS 6 Nations launched in style on Wednesday morning at the Hurlingham Club and the 6 captains present an intriguing mix of the old and the new.
There are 3 brand new skippers for this year’s Championship, which gets underway in 10 days’ time on Saturday 6 February when France welcome Italy to the Stade de France – and they are all hookers.
Rory Best takes the armband for 2-time defending champions Ireland after Paul O’Connell’s retirement, Eddie Jones’ England have Dylan Hartley at the helm and France under Guy Noves will be led by Guilhem Guirado.
Those 3 were joined by Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw, Wales’ Sam Warburton and Italy’s Sergio Parisse on Wednesday – 3 captains that have led their country with great distinction for many years.
Saracens, Northampton, Exeter, Wasps and Leicester have joined 3 French teams in the European Rugby Champions Cup last 8.
Premiership title holders Sarries will host Saints, and Wasps will welcome Exeter to the Ricoh Arena.
Leicester face Stade Francais at home, having already played them twice in the pool stages, and Racing 92 will play reigning European champions Toulon.
It is the 1st time there is no Pro12 representation in the last 8 of the competition.
Sarries, Leicester and Racing 92 guaranteed themselves a home tie in the quarterfinals last weekend, while Wasps joined them after winning Pool 5 on Saturday, with 3-time defending champions and Toulon joining them as one of the best runners-up.
Stade Francais were confirmed as 1 of the 3 best runners-up after they beat the Tigers with a bonus point on Sunday, but the other 2 places went down to the wire.
Northampton’s win over Scarlets on Saturday was enough to see them through as runners-up in Pool 3, and Exeter came through as winners of Pool 2 on points difference after beating Ospreys.
Todd Blackadder
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has taken a swipe at the SANZAR brains trust over their proposed Super Rugby innovations.
He called the proposed changes to the Super Rugby bonus point system “bizarre” and suggested there was a lack of consultation with franchises on the matter.
The SANZAR initiative, that is expected to formally unveiled early next week, also include a number of minor law variations for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
While some of the expected law innovations still require World Rugby approval, the biggest innovation – a change to the try-scoring bonus points – is what has caused the biggest stir.
The SANZAR change will see the bonus point awarded to teams who score 4 tries or more in a game scrapped and replaced by 1 for teams that score 3 tries more than their opponents.
Blackadder called the proposed change “bizarre” and queried the lack of consultation with franchises on the matter.
The mooted change, widely reported by media in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, is a copy of the system used in the French Top 14 league and aimed at keeping lopsided games alive for longer periods.
On Tuesday SA Rugby announced a new structure to the 2016 Coca-Cola Youth Weeks, with the junior tournaments being hosted concurrently in Paarl and the Under 18 tournaments in Durban. In the past all the tournaments were hosted at different venues.
The Under 13 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Under 16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week will be hosted simultaneously at Paarl Gymnasium from 4 to 8 July, and the Coca-Cola Academy Week and Under 18 Coca-Cola Craven Week will be hosted between 11 and 16 July at Kearsney College in Durban.
The Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) Week, meanwhile, will be hosted at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in Pretoria from 27 to 30 June.
“The new structure of our Youth Weeks will have several benefits, the biggest of which is that we will be able to ensure that the Mobi-Unit coaches, the national selectors, our High Performance staff and the SA Rugby Academy Coaches will be able to attend all the tournaments,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.
The Southern Kings have confirmed a number of new signings following a week of intensive training with the SA Rugby Mobi Unit.
Chief Operating Officer, Charl Crous, confirmed that Pumas flanker, Chris Cloete, (24) and Sharks Lock John-Charles (JC) Astle (25) had been secured on loan for the season.
Following initial trials, Crous also confirmed the Southern Kings have also retained the talent of SWD utility back Leighton Eksteen (21) who has played at Scrumhalf, Flyhalf and Fullback, as well as SWD’s Luzuko Vulindlu (28) who has played at Centre and Wing. Both have been secured on loan from SWD for the season.
Sharks Centre Lukhanyo Am (22) has also secured a position in the squad on loan.
Crous said Sharks hooker, Monde Hadebe (25) would be returning to the Sharks for rehab following a slight back sprain that will see him out of action for between 4 to 5 weeks.
Crous also confirmed hooker Martin Ferreira (26) and lock, Tazz Fuzani (25) had been secured on contract for the Southern Kings season for 2016.
The Cell C Sharks’ 5 missing international players — away in Japan completing their club duties — are expected back in Durban before the end of the month.
New vice-captain Marcell Coetzee, JP Pietersen, Namibian backrower Renaldo Bothma and new signings Willie le Roux and Jacques Potgieter will join the Sharks squad a week before they leave on their pre-season tour of France early in February.
A member of the Sharks management yesterday said that the squad to travel to France would be announced next week and a decision on whether the Japan-based players would be included for the 2 friendlies has still to be made.
The Sharks will play 2-time European champs Toulon on Friday 5 February, before taking on Toulouse 6 days later.
New Cell C Sharks captain Pat Lambie said that it was likely that all the tour members would be given an airing during the 2 games but added that taking on the 2 Top 14 French clubs would be a major challenge.
Head coach Gary Gold said he wanted tough opposition for his young charges ahead of a fresh season.
The DHL Stormers had a very productive defensive session against the Steinhoff UCT Ikey Tigers in Stellenbosch on Tuesday.
In sweltering heat on the Markötter field at Paul Roos, the teams played 2 chukkas of 20 minutes each at a high intensity.
In a specialised session designed to test the evolution of their defensive system in the off-season, the DHL Stormers were made to work hard by an Ikeys side renowned for their attacking prowess
A total of 30 DHL Stormers players took to the field as Head Coach Robbie Fleck made wholesale changes at the changeover.
This proved a valuable outing, giving the coaches further opportunity to look at which areas of their defensive game need further attention.
Fleck was very happy with the outcome of what was a demanding session.
Head Coach Vern Cotter named uncapped props Zander Fagerson and Rory Sutherland in a 35-man Scotland squad for the 2016 RBS 6 Nations.
Glasgow Warriors’ tighthead prop Fagerson turned 20 yesterday (Tuesday 19 January) meaning he could become the 4th youngest prop in Scottish history, and the youngest to represent Scotland for more than half a century (since Bill Black debuted against France at Murrayfield 1948).
Fellow propping prospect Sutherland (23) plies his trade at the opposite end of the M8 and earns selection through his increasingly impressive showings for Edinburgh since signing from Gala last season.
The young pair are among 4 changes to Scotland’s front row options originally named for Rugby World Cup 2015, with 29-times capped Exeter Chiefs tighthead, Moray Low, and 6-times capped Glasgow Warriors hooker, Pat MacArthur, earning selection for the 1st time since the summer of 2014.
Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter, said: “We’ve selected a mixture of experience with some exciting young players coming through, some of whom have experienced the Rugby World Cup and are eager to move forward, take the RBS 6 Nations head on and show that we can develop our game and be competitive.”
Round 5 of the European Champions Cup produced an odd assortment of transgressions that resulted in citings – including abuse of a match official, eye-gouging, biting and testicle grabbing.
Viktor Kolelishvili:
Clermont Auvergne flank Viktor Kolelishvili heads the lengthy list of citings.
Kolelishvili was cited for his ill-advised decision to lay his hands on a referee in the match against the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium last Friday, January 15.
Kolelishvili pushed the match referee, Wayne Barnes (England), in the 17th minute of the match in contravention of Law 10.4 (m).
The complaint was made by the citing commissioner Mike Rafter (England).
David Martin (Ireland) has been appointed as the judicial officer for the disciplinary hearing, which will take place in Paris on Tuesday.
Under Law 10.4 (m) – Physical abuse of match officials – a player could be banned for life, although low-end entry range is 24 weeks.
CJ Stander in Champions Cup action
Munster captain and Man of the Match, CJ Stander, felt his side had restored pride as they produced a superb display to claim a bonus-point 26 / 13 victory over Stade Francais in Pool 4 of the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The French side were chasing a quarterfinal berth but had no response to a tremendous Munster effort as Mike Sherry, Keith Earls, Simon Zebo and Stander himself scored tries, with flyhalf Ian Keatley kicking 6 points.
The Irish side, 2-time European champions, had no chance of advancing from the pool after being humbled by a 14-man Stade side in Paris just a week previously.
Stander admits there has been a lot of hurt within the Munster camp and he hopes an impressive win was a step back in the right direction for a team who have traditionally been one of the competition’s major players.
“We said we were playing for nothing but pride and that shows the character we have here in Munster,” said Stander. “There was a lot of hurt last week but a lot of the boys stepped up and we are very proud.”
“The fans stood behind us and made an unbelievable noise. We knew it was all about our actions and getting pride back into the place and we showed a lot of characters.”
Eddie Jones
England boss Eddie Jones admits an afternoon spent watching rugby fan Pep Guardiola conduct a training session at Bayern Munich left him embarrassed about his own coaching ability.
Jones met Guardiola soon after overseeing Japan’s greatest World Cup performance in hope of learning from the most in-demand manager in football, who is to step down from his post at the German champions at the end of the season.
The Australian was enthralled by the sight of Guardiola making some of the game’s biggest stars toil in freezing conditions, confirming his own view on the capacity of players to be pushed to their limits.
“I talk to a lot of people. I try to meet people who are smarter than me. Last year in November was one of the best meetings I had,” Jones said.
I went to Bayern Munich and met Pep Guardiola. It was absolutely fascinating.
“I watched him taking a training session and it made me embarrassed by my coaching – he was so bloody brilliant.”
JJ Engelbrecht
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd on Thursday confirmed the release of JJ Engelbrecht to the Ospreys in Wales.
Engelbrecht, who played 65 times in the Vodacom Bulls jersey since joining the team in 2012, was due to link up with his Pretoria team mates upon returning from Japan, where he is playing for Toyota Industries Shuttles.
The Ospreys offer resulted in a release request by Engelbrecht, which has been granted by the BBC with immediate effect.
According to the BBC High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg, the decision to release Engelbrecht was based on the depth they have in the midfield, where the likes of Jesse Kriel, Dan Kriel, Burger Odendaal, Jan Serfontein and Dries Swanepoel will be contesting starting spots.
Rugby Park in Kilmarnock
Glasgow Warriors have moved this month’s European Rugby Champions Cup fixture with Racing 92 to Rugby Park stadium in Kilmarnock, due to a high risk of the Scotstoun pitch being unplayable next weekend.
The club, in consultation with EPCR, has moved to find an alternative venue for the match in the West of Scotland, following unprecedented rainfall and flooding over the past few weeks. It will also give the Scotstoun pitch the best possible chance of recovering ahead of the next scheduled home game after the European Rugby Champions Cup fixture in 5 weeks time.
The Pool 3 encounter vs Racing 92 will be played on Saturday 23 January (kick-off 17:30 UK Time).
The 18 128 all-seater Rugby Park stadium, which is home to Kilmarnock Football Club, has a World Rugby compliant 3G pitch and hosted the 1st ever Tier 1 rugby international on an artificial surface in November 2014 when Scotland beat Tonga 37 / 12.
Around 6 650 tickets have already been sold for the clash with the Top 14 leaders and an additional 7 500 match tickets will become available tomorrow (Thursday 14 January).
Danny Cipriani will be overlooked when England head coach Eddie Jones names his first elite player squad before next month’s Six Nations Championship.
Jones will name a 33-man squad on Wednesday, but is not set to reveal his captain for another 2 weeks.
Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley is a leading contender to replace Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw as skipper, despite a poor disciplinary record.
Jones, 55, recently said he will select players who “express themselves”.
However, Sale flyhalf Cipriani is not expected to be a part of the Australian’s initial plans.
The 28-year-old, who has won 14 caps since making his debut in 2008, missed out to Saracens’ Owen Farrell and Bath’s George Ford in England’s doomed World Cup squad.
Josaia Raisuqe was sent off for this incident against CJ Stander
Here are the disciplinary hearings following last weekend’s rescheduled matches in the Challenge Cup and Champions Cup.
RED CARDS:
Josaia Raisuqe (Stade Français Paris):
The Stade Francais Paris wing, Josaia Raisuqe (No 11), was issued with a Red Card during the European Rugby Champions Cup rescheduled Round 2 match against Munster Rugby on Saturday, 9 January 2016.
Raisuqe was sent off by referee, Nigel Owens (Wales), in the 41st minute of the match at Stade Jean Bouin for allegedly making contact with the eye(s) and / or eye area of the Munster Rugby loose forward, CJ Stander (No 8), in contravention of Law 10.4 (m).
Simon Thomas (Wales) has been appointed as the independent Judicial Officer for the disciplinary hearing which will take place in Paris today (Wednesday, 13 January).
DAVID BOWIE (David Robert Jones)
8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016
Music Icon of the last 40 years, David Bowie passed away unexpectedly on Sunday evening at his home in New York, after an 18 month battle with liver cancer.
Bowie will be remembered as an artist who shaped the musical thinking of a generation, and who unashamedly did things the way he wanted.
On this, the 1st “Pub Night” of 2016, please feel free to post your tributes to David in the form of his music, as well as that of those he collaborated with and influenced.
Ulster recovered from being 23 / 0 down at halftime to get a vital victory over Oyonnax in Pool 1 of the European Champions Cup.
Key men Ruan Pienaar, Paddy Jackson and Nick Williams all came off the bench for the 2nd half to help the Irish side scrape a remarkable 1-point win.
Ulster were in big trouble when Jeremie Maurouard and Uwa Tawalo scored tries. But backs Rory Scholes and Craig Gilroy, and young prop Kyle McCall, saved them from a damaging defeat.
Ulster, who revived their European prospects with back-to-back wins over Toulouse, are 2nd in Pool 1 with 13 points – 6 behind Saracens.
Those December victories over Toulouse would have meant little had they lost to the Pool outsiders at the Stade Charles-Mathon.
Josaia Raisuqe was sent off for this incident against CJ Stander
Stade Francais 27 / 7 Munster
Stade Francais winger Josaia Raisuqe was sent off but the French champions still easily beat Munster in their Champions Cup match in Paris.
Raisuqe was sent off on the stroke of halftime for gouging Munster’s CJ Stander as they wrestled for the ball.
Paul Williams, Sekou Macalou and Hugo Bonneval crossed for Stade who are 4 points behind pool leaders Leicester.
A late Conor Murray try prevented Munster suffering their first shut-out in 21 years of European rugby.
The Irish side are now out of the Champions Cup – barring a miracle series of results – after suffering 3 pool defeats in a row for the 1st time.
Cornell du Preez in action against Glasgow Warriors
Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons insists the fact Cornell du Preez is prepared to play through the pain barrier shows how special a player he is.
The loose forward is in line for his 50th appearance for the Scottish side when he runs out against Benetton Treviso in the Guinness PRO12 tonight (Friday night).
The South African-born forward joined the club ahead of the 2013 / 2014 season and has racked up 37 league appearances since.
He missed most of last season, however, due to an ankle injury but has appeared in all of Edinburgh’s Guinness PRO12 games this campaign, helping the club to 4th in the table.
However, Solomons admitted his player is still overcoming the after effects of that injury.
“Cornell has made a massive contribution to Edinburgh,” he said.
“There are not many people who would have had the ankle injury he has had and come back to play like he has.
“He is going to play in pain for a while. He trains and plays and has a bit of pain there, obviously. It is the kind of injury that will take 18 months to clear up. He is a class rugby player.”
Schalk Burger
Saracens are delighted to announce the signing of South African international flanker Schalk Burger for the 2016 / 2017 season.
The world class Springbok loose forward will link-up with the reigning Aviva Premiership champions for the 2016 / 2017 season after signing a 2-year deal with the Allianz Park club.
Renowned as 1 of world rugby’s finest loose forwards, Burger has captained South Africa during his stellar 12-year international career and is a former IRB World Player of the year. He has won 86 caps for the Springboks and holds the record for the most tries (14) for a loose forward for his country.
Burger will link up with Saracens after a spell with Japanese club Suntory Sungoliath and Super Rugby’s Stormers.
Dan Carter, World Rugby Player of the Year 2015
Gregor Paul selects his World XV for 2015 which features 6 All Blacks, 3 Australians and Argentinians, and 1 Fijian, Georgian and Scotsman — and nobody from South Africa, England, Ireland, Wales or France.
15 Ben Smith (New Zealand):
Ben from all accounts had an outrageously good season. He captained the Highlanders to the most unlikely Super Rugby title and then inspired the All Blacks to a World Cup victory. His aerial skills and footwork are unbelievable.
14 Adam Ashley-Cooper(Australia):
Ashley-Cooper is the Wallaby version of Smith. He’s a superb all-round footballer who continually does the right thing. Has pace, footwork, awareness and the ability to covert half-chances. Was deadly at the World Cup.
13 Mark Bennett (Scotland):
A rugged, tough ball runner with innate timing. Picked off the intercept try in the World Cup quarter-final that should have sunk Australia and contributed some big tackling and deft passing.