Biarritz
Serge Blanco
Serge Blanco resigned as Biarritz president on Tuesday following his unsuccessful attempt to merge the club with Basque rivals Bayonne.
Blanco needed a 2-thirds majority in Biarritz’s general meeting to merge the fallen French giants with their regional rivals, but fell short.
Venezuelan-born Blanco, who was at Biarritz during his entire playing career, leaves the club in the 2nd-tier Pro D2 – the same division as Bayonne.
The decision comes as a surprise following the Biarritz board’s approval of the merger last week, but rival fans of Bayonne were among those to share their concerns.
Blanco, a French legend with 93 caps, had been in discussions with Bayonne’s president Manu Merin about the merger, and voiced his disappointment during Tuesday’s meeting, in which he resigned.
Ex- Stormers & Biarritz utility back, Joe Pietersen
The Cheetahs have found a replacement for flyhalf Johan Goosen who will leave them to further his career in France.
According to reports, former Stormers back Joe Pietersen will play for the Cheetahs in next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Philip van der Walt
The Cheetahs have announced that eighthman Philip van der Walt will leave the Bloemfontein Super Rugby franchise in order to play in France.
The Free-state franchise have released Van der Walt from his contract so that he can join French club Biarritz.
Rod Davies
Biarritz have completed the double signing of Reds finisher Rod Davies and former All Black lock Bryn Evans.
Now in the Pro D2 league, Biarritz, coached by Eddie O’Sullivan, are already recruiting as they look to bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt.
29-Year-old Evans joins on a one-year contract while 25-year-old Davies has put pen to paper on a two-year deal at the struggling southern side.
Edinburgh and Scotland centre Nick De Luca will join French Top 14 side Biarritz at the end of the season.
The 30-year-old has made 125 appearances for Edinburgh and won 41 international caps.
Stade Francais marked their return to the refurbished Jean Bouin stadium with a crushing 38-3 victory over Biarritz on Friday, as they provisionally moved to the summit of the fledgling Top 14 table.
Undefeated Harlequins and Clermont can book European Cup quarterfinals this weekend with Toulon also close to securing their spot in the last eight. English champions Harlequins, bidding to make the knock-out stages for just the fifth time, already have 19 points from four Pool Three wins and on Saturday tackle Connacht where just a losing bonus point will be enough to see them through.
Jonny Wilkinson will lead Toulon in their hunt for a first trophy in 20 years when they face French rivals Biarritz in the Amlin Challenge Cup final at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday.
Saracens have been forced to cancel their plans to take a Heineken Cup match to Cape Town South Africa and moved the match back to London due to a spat in Cape Town itself over the stadium.
Saracens have been forced to move their Heineken Cup match against Biarritz in Cape Town from the new Cape Town Stadium to Newlands which is home to Western Province Rugby.
South African prop Eugene Van Staden returned to French club rugby for a second spell on Tuesday when Top 14 tailenders Biarritz signed him as a replacement for the retired Eduard Coetzee.
Tim Noakes has denied accusing anyone of match fixing or any claims that the Springboks’ quarterfinal match against Australia officiated by Bryce Lawrence was either ‘fixed’ or ‘bent’, as has been reported.
In a letter to Sport24, Noakes claimed that his statements had been misconstrued and taken out of context. Continue reading
Tim Noakes, foremost Sports Scientist in South Africa has something to share with us…
This follows a request by Ashley, a blogger on our web site, regarding the resting senior Springboks.
Tim Noakes is ‘n geregistreerde blogger hier op Rugby-Talk. Ons vind hierdie interressante Artikel oor hom:
Wanneer die sportwetenskaplike Tim Noakes afrigters en proffies se teorieë aan flarde skeur, is hy immers gewoonlik reg – selfs al sê wie ook wat.
The chances of more positive tests for banned substances on the Springbok tour appear to be extremely slim.
South Africa must field a second string rugby team on the end of year tour each season if the Springboks are to compete at their best in major global events, renowned sports scientist Tim Noakes said on Tuesday.
We have read a lot and discussed a lot that our players are overplayed. The Tim Noakes’ and the Neels Liebel’s and other scientists all have their opinions and we have recently learned that the ideal is for a player to play no more than 1400 to 1600 minutes of Rugby per year.
I am of the view that these minutes are dependant on whether you are a backline, looseforward or tight forward player and also on your age and your proneness to injury. Guys like Bismarck get injured often, and its probably a challenge to even get him up to the 1600 minute mark! Continue reading
Two recent performances from the Springboks have raised some serious questions about the team that should take us to World Cup success next year, and whether the current crop has hit the ceiling, or still has a lot to offer Bok rugby. I asked Dr. Ross Tucker, an expert in the field of sport science for his opinions on the matter. Continue reading