SA Rugby
Not a happy camper: Lion’s coach Johan Ackermann
Xerox Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann was close to tearing his hair out in frustration, not so much by the way his team stumbled to a 36-26 loss at the hands of the Vodacom Blue Bulls in their Absa Currie Cup encounter, but more by the refereeing decisions that negated his side’s normally strong scrum platform.
Ackermann called the contest “the most boring game” and admitted to being frustrated by referee Marius van der Westhuizen’s high penalty count – against both sides – at the set piece, that robbed the game of much momentum and made it a stop-start affair.
Greg Growden
The Wallabies have at last beaten someone perched above them in the world rankings.
It has taken awhile.
But if the Australian players and management seriously start believing they are back on track then it’s time for them to take some ‘truth pills’.
Their one-point win over the Springboks was deeply flawed, exposed many of their inherent weaknesses including a lack of discipline, and showed their fundamental skills are at best average.
The Wallabies can also no longer carry on about being a luckless team, as they received the benefit of a string of dreadful decisions from referee George Clancy, who should have his whistle confiscated after such a diabolical performance. The Springboks have every right to cry foul as they were victims of numerous Clancy blunders.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers will play in his 100th test against the All Blacks this coming Saturday.
It is fast becoming the “100 hoodoo” … and it is a trend South Africa must fight grimly to snap when they take on the might of New Zealand in the Castle Rugby Championship on Saturday (Wellington, 09:35 SA time).
Three of four Springboks to have earned the milestone for caps – Percy Montgomery, John Smit and now Bryan Habana – have had the big day soured to a significant extent by ending it in Test defeat.
In the cases of the first-named two, the reverses came at the hands of the very All Blacks, so there’s a potential hat-trick of heartbreak in the offing at the “Cake Tin”, because Bok captain Jean de Villiers hits the landmark then as fifth recipient for the country.
Griqua players celebrate their first win of the Currie Cup.
The mini-slump being experienced by the defending champions, the Sharks, is a key feature of the Currie Cup at its midway point in league play.
Two losses on the trot – after a three-match winning start that hadn’t produced much champagne rugby and was already delivering certain warning signs – have left the Durban-based side with an increasingly precarious hold on a “semi-final” slot.
They lie fourth on the overall table and with an awful lot of work to do in the second half of their ordinary-season roster if they are to recover enough ground to challenge for rights to a possible home final – perhaps simply making sure they actually get into the last four must be a shorter-term, lesser objective now.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer
The Springboks will need a monumental effort to down the All Blacks, but coach Heyneke Meyer believes South Africa can win for the first time in New Zealand in five years.
South Africa face to the world champions in Wellington next Saturday trailing by three points on the Rugby Championship standings after a last-gasp 24-23 loss to the Wallabies in Perth on Saturday.
It was the Springboks’ first defeat in this year’s four-nation tournament after winning back-to-back against Argentina, but they face their supreme test away to the All Blacks.
(Revised)
Will Genia and Joe Tomane will join the Wallabies but Henry Speight’s Test start will have to wait, as Australia begin preparations to face an improved Argentina on the Gold Coast this week.
It is understood Genia is some way off his Test return but will be brought into the training squad this week, along with Tomane and Rebels centre Tom English, after playing in the National Rugby Championship on Saturday.
But in a disappointing development over the weekend, Speight will remain in Canberra after pulling out of an expected NRC appearance with a sore hamstring.
Die Springbokke moet in die spieël kyk om te sien waarom hulle gister hier in die Patersons-stadion met 23-24 teen die Wallabies verloor het.
’n Drie deur die linkervleuel Rob Horne minder as twee minute voor die einde het die Bokke se lot verseël nadat hulle met ’n kwartier se speeltyd steeds ’n voorsprong van nege punte (23-14) gehad het.
’n Keerpunt was die geelkaart wat Bryan Habana, met 15 minute oor, gekry het vir ’n beweerde hoogvat op Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Centurion Bryan Habana
The Springboks will seek “clarity” around Bryan Habana’s controversial sin-binning but have refused to blame match officials for their one-point loss to the Wallabies in Perth.
Referee George Clancy’s call to pull a yellow card from his pocket in response to Habana’s high shot on Australian winger Rob Horne in the 65th minute lit up social media with a torrent of criticism for Clancy and the International Rugby Board’s management of its match officials.
And while a clearly agitated Heyneke Meyer walked into the post-match media conference after the match, the South African coach demurred from jumping on board, calling instead for “consistency” across the board.
Blue Bulls (19) 36 / 26 (12) Golden Lions (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and Xerox Golden Lions did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Sharks (8) 18 / 21 (15) Griquas (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and GWK Griquas did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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FS Cheetahs (7) 17 / 31 (16) Pumas (Final Score )
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Steval Pumas did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Free State Cheetahs at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Wallabies (11) 24 / 23 (14) Springboks (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Patersons Stadium, Perth, Australia at 12:05 SA Time (18:05 AWST, 10:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Cheslin Kolbe
Western Province made it five from five in the Currie Cup with a convincing 49-14 win over the Eastern Province Kings at Newlands on Friday night.
The hosts, the only remaining unbeaten team in the Currie Cup, picked up their third bonus point win of the season in the process as they racked up seven tries whilst conceding just two, reports WP’s official website.
Skipper Juan de Jongh opened his team’s tally in the 11th minute when he snapped up a loose EP Kings pass, that after kickers Scott van Breda (Kings) and Demetri Catrakilis (WP) missed goal kicks inside the first ten minutes.
WP (21) 49 / 14 (7) EP Kings (Final Score)
DHL Western Province and the Eastern Province Kings did battle in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division at
Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Out of Africa: Bryan Habana trains with the Springboks in Perth this week.
Bryan Habana likes to talk about what rugby has done for him.
He talks about the 1995 World Cup, when he was an 11-year-old boy in a bubble of privilege with an abstract understanding of the dividing force of apartheid in his country, but no experience of its implications.
He talks about the path he was put on, one afternoon at Newlands Stadium, when his father pulled him out of school and drove him down from Johannesburg to watch the Springboks beat the Wallabies in the opening round of that historic tournament.
Jean de Villiers
South Africa captain Jean de Villiers says the Wallabies might be feeling some “psychological pressure” going into Saturday’s clash after dropping their last three Tests by 20 points or more to the Springboks.
After years of Mandela Challenge Plate dominance, the Wallabies have gone missing in the two sides’ last three hit-outs, going down 28-8, 38-12 and 31-8.
Who’s the man!! Victor Matfield celebrating the 2007 World Cup victory.
He is 37, last played a Test match in Australia four years ago — and he’s standing in the way of the Wallabies and redemption.
Victor Matfield, the legendary lock who will suit up for the Springboks on Saturday night, is one of world rugby’s all-time greats.
He’s been off the Wallabies’ radar for a while, understandable given that he retired from all rugby at the end of 2011. But after dusting off his boots at the start of the year he’s back firmly in their sights.
HE’S BEEN LABELLED A MAN OF STEEL
There’s adding steel to the Springboks pack, and then there’s literally adding steel to the Springboks pack.
The Mandela Plate that is on the line this Saturday.
The Australian backline has a better balance but is it still one Waratah short? And which under-fire forward pack will bounce back – the Wallabies or Springboks?
The battle for the Mandela Trophy is almost upon us and we’ve got your top five talking points ready to go below!
Ewen McKenzie
After a draw and a lopsided loss to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship, Australia goes into its match against South Africa on Saturday with a chance to give coach Ewen McKenzie a first a win against a team ranked ahead of the Wallabies.
In his 18th test as Wallabies coach, McKenzie still hasn’t led the third-ranked team to a win over a side with a better International Rugby Board ranking.
Michael Hooper
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has put South Africa on notice, saying he wants both their No.2 world ranking and the Mandela Challenge Plate back.
With Australia ranked third behind the All Blacks and Springboks, wins in Perth and then Cape Town could see them rise to No2 for the first time under new coach Ewen McKenzie.
It would also see them regain the Mandela Plate, which they lost last season after holding it for three years.
And it all starts at Perth’s Patersons Stadium this Saturday.
This weekend sees the resumption of The Rugby Championship with the All Blacks hosting the Pumas in Napier and the Springboks traveling to Perth to face the Wallabies.
Last weekend we had the Round 4 of the ABSA Currie Cup and there has been some movement at the top of the Rugby-Talk SuperBru group.
The 6 Important games we focus on which are played this weekend, consists of the 2 Rugby Championship Test matches as well as 4 ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division matches.
Jacques Potgieter
He became an honorary Australian by starring for the Waratahs in their Super Rugby triumph but Jacques Potgieter is set to go from teammate to fierce Test rival with a recall to the Springboks later this month.
The wildman flanker, who became a cult hero for NSW, is a favourite of Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer and News Corporation understands Potgieter will be drafted into the South African squad for home games against Australia and New Zealand.
Potgieter is currently playing in Japan for the Fukuoka Sanix Blues but recently returned to South Africa on holidays and spoke with Meyer at the Boks’ first Test win over Argentina at Loftus Versfeld.
The Wallabies
How does a Wallaby supporter feel about the upcoming test?
If you had asked Wallabies fans at the start of the year if they’d be happy with three wins, a draw and a loss to start the season nearly everyone would have replied in the affirmative.
Last week you might have thought the sky was falling given the angst of many Wallaby supporters.
This week we have a different challenge. The South African Barbecuing Behemoths have sashayed into Perth for what many of them think is a home game.
Jamba Ulengo
Springbok Sevens player Jamba Ulengo will make his Currie Cup debut for the Blue Bulls when they tackle the Golden Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Ulengo’s inclusion on the left wing is one of five changes to the backline that did duty in the home loss to Western Province last week.
The Bulls will also field a new halfback combination, as Rudy Paige is promoted from the bench, while Jacques-Louis Potgieter has recovered from a rib injury to take his place at flyhalf.
Game face: Francois Hougaard
Talk about the one per centers.
The Springboks are trialling top-secret technology to give themselves an edge in the Rugby Championship.
Every player has been kitted out with two sets of hi-tech glasses designed to beat jet lag and help their bodies adjust to the time zone in Perth this week.
The Springboks were reluctant to talk about the gadgets when they were raised – in Afrikaans – at a press conference this week, even asking South African journalists to hold off writing about the innovation until after the side’s two-week tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Danger man: Morné Steyn at Springbok training in Perth on Tuesday.
In the 60th minute of the Springboks’ 33-31 win against Argentina two weeks ago, replacement No 10 Morné Steyn ripped a beautiful flat pass, left to right, to take out two Pumas defenders and put Jean de Villiers in enough space to release Cornal Hendricks for a crucial try.
South Africa has gone back to what it knows against the Wallabies on Saturday – Steyn replaces youngster Handré Pollard and Victor Matfield returns to run the lineout – and it makes it more dangerous for the Wallabies. More predictable?
Possibly, but the Springboks have never done unpredictability well. Territory, set piece, hard kick chases, pressure. It is still a base game that is hard to defeat, especially if the Perth forecasters are right and there are showers and strong winds on Saturday.
Bryan Habana
Bryan Gary Habana is an institution in the Springbok team and in Perth on Saturday he will become the fourth player to feature in 100 Tests for South Africa.
Speaking ahead of the Boks’ Rugby Championship encounter with Australia, he made it clear that he is not taking the No.11 jersey for granted.
In fact Habana said there are young players – both in the team and back home – pushing him hard.
The Sharks have made a massive six changes to their starting XV for their clash against Griquas this Saturday as coach Brad MacLeod-Henderson reacted strongly to the 32-22 loss to the Pumas last weekend.
Fullback SP Marais, wing Tonderai Chavhanga and props Matt Stevens and Dale Chadwick all make way, along with flank Francois Kleinhans and lock JC Astle, who are injured.
A schools rugby coach who breached South African Rugby Union (SARU) rules governing underage rugby has been suspended and the points his school took for the match were overturned, following a SARU disciplinary hearing.
The charge was the first brought to SARU under new regulations that were introduced to protect players under the age of 18 at the start of last season.
Brendan Venter
Nick Mallett once famously stated that you don’t necessarily have to be the best coach in the world but rather the smartest selector to attain a consistent level of success at the highest level.
I wholly concur with such a sentiment and would suggest that the core of professional coaching achievement essentially stems from discovering the right blend in terms of playing personnel.
However, it’s important to stress that although said recipe is relatively well-known within top-level coaching circles, the ingredients often prove challenging to source and assemble.
John Dobson
Western Province Under-21 coach John Dobson is upset at the punishments dished out to two Blue Bulls players after WP lock JD Schickerling broke his neck in an Under-21 game in Pretoria last weekend.
Schickerling was injured just after catching a ball from a kick-off when Bulls lock Irne Herbst’s shoulder collided with Schickerling’s head in their clash at Loftus Versfeld. Afterwards, the other Bulls lock, Marvin Orie, grabbed the WP player in a headclamp before hurling him to the ground.
Schickerling suffered a fractured cervical spine at the C5/C6 level during the match and narrowly escaped paralysis.
Jake White
The loss of some stalwarts to overseas clubs since the end of the Super Rugby season is making life tough for the young coaches who are going it alone for the first time at the helm of the Cell C Sharks in this Absa Currie Cup season.
Director of rugby Jake White has opted to take a back seat and not have any involvement with the Sharks senior team in the domestic season so that he can focus on the development of the players in the age-group teams as well as give head coach Brad MacLeod-Henderson and his assistants Sean Everitt and Paul Anthony the chance to experience the pressure that comes with being in charge
TRY TIME: Richie McCaw rises after scoring a try off the back of a maul in the All Blacks’ Eden Park test against the Wallabies.
The All Blacks have got the masters of the maul thinking hard, with Springboks bosses intrigued at New Zealand’s innovative and successful tactics with this crucial attacking weapon during the early phases of the Rugby Championship.
The big Boks packs have long set the standards in mauling, but assistant coach Johann van Graan has admitted intrigue over the way the All Blacks have developed the art as they displayed in demolishing the Wallabies at Eden Park.
Bryan Habana to become Springbok Centurion No 4.
Bryan Habana will on Saturday become the fourth Springbok and 33rd player overall to play in 100 Tests when South Africa take on Australia in the third round of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship at Patersons Stadium in Perth (kickoff 12h05 SA time).
The 31-year-old Habana, who made his debut for South Africa against England at Twickenham on 20 November 2004, holds the record for the most Test tries in a Springbok jersey. His 56 Test tries places him fourth on the list of all-time international try scorers.
The three-time South African Rugby Player of the Year (2004, 2007 and 2012), who was also named the IRB Rugby Player of the Year in 2007, will lead the Springboks out on Saturday as he follows Percy Montgomery, John Smit and Victor Matfield in amassing 100 Tests in the green and gold.
Marvin Orie
Blue Bulls Under 21 lock Marvin Orie has received a one-week suspension on Wednesday for a dangerous tackle in the team’s Absa Under 21 Competition match against Western Province.
Orie was cited on Sunday for tackling Western Province lock JD Schickerling around the neck in the third minute of the clash and pulling him backwards until both players fell to the ground.
Schickerling suffered a fractured cervical spine at the C5/C6 level during the match.