Barbarians Rugby
Round 5 of the End Of Year Tours is the last Round of the tour and also signals the end of the Southern Hemisphere season as well as the welcome rest period for Southern Hemisphere teams.
This weekend does not see quite as much rugby, compared to to the previous 4 Rounds as it only has 2 matches, but it is going to be two great clashes. Any weekend with rugby is all in all still a good weekend.
Here are some head to head statistics and predictions.
Fiji coach Inoke Male faces a nightmare to ensure he can field a competitive team against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday.
There are 6 Springboks in the starting 15 and a further 2 on the bench for the Barbarians’ clash with Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday. It would have been 7 Springbok starters as the initial side was named including Flip van der Merwe as No 4 lock, but he has been withdrawn from the squad after the Blue Bulls said NO under such short notice. Flip is directly replaced by Mick O’Driscoll of Ireland.
Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers will captain the Barbarians in Saturday’s clash against Fiji at Twickenham.
The Barbarians have announced that four more Springbok players will represent them when they tackle Fiji later this month.
Springbok forwards Tendai Mtawarira and Eben Etzebeth will feature for the Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham on 30 November 2013.
Steve Hansen will be taking charge of the Barbarian side that will face Fiji at Twickenham later this year.
The Barbarians have confirmed that Schalk Burger will join Springbok captain Jean de Villiers in the team to take on Fiji at Twickenham in November.
The World Cup-winning Springbok flank has been sidelined through injury and illness since the start of last year, but it appears he is set to make his return to the international stage in what will be his fourth appearance for the Barbarians.
There was a wonderful symmetry to the Lions tour of Australasia as they ended the way they started, with a big victory. That first game of the Lions tour way back in the beginning of June against the Barbarians in Hong Kong ended with a resounding victory and today was followed up with an even more impressive dismantling of Australia in Sydney.
Italy captain Sergio Parisse said he wanted to give the British and Irish Lions an early taste of pressure after being named to lead the Barbarians side in Saturday’s encounter in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Stuart Lancaster may have unearthed a few sparkling young diamonds in the Twickenham turf as his new boys shone brightly during England’s 40-12 demolition of the Barbarians on Sunday.
Saracens and former Springbok hooker Schalk Brits has been included in the Barbarians squad to face the British and Irish Lions.
Springbok and Bath loose forward Francois Louw is one of three South Africa players included in the Barbarians squad to take on England and the British and Irish Lions.
The other two South Africans included in the squad are Munster prop BJ Botha and London Wasps lock Marco Wentzel.
In the second of their three fixtures the Barbarians take on an Ireland XV tonight at Gloucester’s Chisholm ground. The match is due to kick off at 20.45 SA time.
John Smit has not minced his words in commenting on the ‘special attention’ he expects England’s South African born players to receive on their upcoming tour of South Africa.
It seems at the moment as if we are reaching saturation point with the amount of knockout rugby that we have had of late on these shores. This coming weekend is no exception as we look forward to the finals of the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro 12 as well as the Barbarians game against England.
The Barbarians Summer Series proper begins this weekend with the Killik Cup against England at Twickenham, and not much has been spoken about it here.
Barbarians (3) 11 / Wallabies (18) 60 (Final Score)
The Barbarians took on the Australian Wallabies at Twickenham at 16:35 SA Time (14:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Western Force flanker David Pocock has been named as Wallabies captain for Australia’s match against the Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium in London.
World Cup winning coach Graham Henry has chosen 2007 World Cup winning player Victor Matfield to lead the Barbarians in the game against Australia this weekend.
Sonny Bill Williams has withdrawn from the Baa-Baas and is replaced by Richard Kahui.
Drew Mitchel is injured again and expected to miss the opening Rounds of Super Rugby.
Conrad Smith is named as Hurricanes Captain for 2012.
Derick Hougaard could be back at the Bulls.
Bolla Conradie, Elgar Watts & Clemen Lewis, all from Boland, as well as Burton Francis are included in Stormers plans for 2012.
Graham Henry rules out England coaching job.
With Rugby news now a bit scrappy and few and far between for Southern Hemisphere Rugby interests, at least we can look forward to some Rugby participation by the Southern Hemisphere this weekend.
There is the HSBC Sevens World Series Gold Coast Tournament, the first IRB Sevens Tournament for the 2011 – 2012 Season, on Friday and Saturday as well as the Wallabies vs Barbarians game on Saturday, where Springbok legend Victor Matfield bids his final farewell in any form of competative rugby, finally retiring after a wonderful playing career.
All Rugby Unions have received the following Letter from BokSmart, notifying them of the requirements for next year.
A bit longwinded but interesting.
In light of the abuse Peter de Villiers and SARU got on the Frans Steyn debacle and the fact that Frans Steyn played last night for his Club Racing Metro in the French Top 14 Competition, I looked at the IRB regulations on the availability of players. The problem for me, with no legal background, is to identify ALL the legal loopholes.