Super Rugby
Sam Lousi
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has targeted rugby league convert Sam Lousi as the long-term replacement for lock Kane Douglas, the one significant departure from the squad that won last year’s Super Rugby title.
The work done by the hulking second row trio of Springbok Jacques Potgieter, Will Skelton and Douglas played a large part in building a solid platform for the running game that took the Waratahs to their first championship in August.
The departure of Douglas for Ireland was a blow not only for the Waratahs but also for the Wallabies, who Cheika will guide into the World Cup this year as well as leading the Super Rugby title defence.
Rieko Ioane
Akira Ioane
Teenage star Akira Ioane and 17-year old teenage brother Rieko who was outstanding in the recent Wellington Sevens for New Zealand, have both been signed by the Blues.
Akira, the loose forward, a star of Sir Gordon Tiejens’ All Black Sevens team last year, could make his debut in Saturday’s opening game of the Super Rugby for the Blues who are at home against the Chiefs.
Ioane, who has been a trainee with the Blues for the past few weeks, was named as the fulltime replacement for Peter Saili who is now playing in Europe.
Akira, who was born in Japan, has rugby in his blood with his father Eddie a former Samoan international while mother Sandra played for the Black Ferns.
Hi,
We have 4 NEW SuperBru Pools for all to join!
- The RBS SIX Nations 2015 starts on 6 February 2015, so hurry up and do not delay to register for it!
- The FNB Varsity Cup 2015 starts on 9 February 2015, register for it too, whilst the iron is hot!
- The Vodacom Super Rugby 2015 starts on 13 February 2015 and the first warm-up games in preparation of the season start this weekend… can’t wait… you HAVE TO register for this SuperBru Pool!
- The Cricket World Cup 2015 starts on 14 February 2015 and although Rugby-Talk.com is primarily about rugby, we dabble a bit in the devious art of cricket too… join us!
As is usual, Rugby-Talk.com’s SuperBru Pools are open for ALL REGISTERED SUBSCRIBERS of Rugby-Talk.com, so if you are not yet registered here on Rugby-Talk.com, do so without delay! It is so easy to register and such fun to discuss rugby here.
Duane Vermeulen
Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen was the star of the annual South African Rugby Union Player of the Year Awards when he walked off with 3 awards, including the main award of the season.
Vermeulen was named SARU Rugby Player of the Year after an extensive voting process, which included the country’s rugby media and the public through SARU’s online and social media platforms.
The 28-year-old Vermeulen, who will captain the DHL Stormers this year, also won the coveted SARPA Players’ Player of the Year and Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year Awards for 2014.
“Duane has been outstanding in 2014 and these awards are just reward for the excellent form he showed last year, as one of the Springboks’ key performers and for the DHL Stormers,” said SARU President, Mr Oregan Hoskins.
Hot on Vermeulen’s heels, with two awards, was young Springbok flyhalf and Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard.
The game time of a number of key Springboks will be managed throughout the Vodacom Super Rugby series in the coming months, following an agreement between the South African Rugby Union and the franchises.
These players’ game time will be handled on an individual basis depending on their work load in the last year as well as injuries, in an effort to ensure the Springboks are managed as well as possible in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup in September and October.
“We are extremely grateful to the Vodacom Super Rugby franchises for agreeing to assist in ensuring our key players’ game time is managed in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup,” said SARU CEO Jurie Roux.
“It’s wonderful to know we have the support and cooperation of the franchises as the Springboks prepare for the Rugby World Cup and we’d like to wish them all the best for the forthcoming months of Vodacom Super Rugby.
Steven Kitshoff
Stormers and Western Province prop Steven Kitshoff has signed a contract with French Top 14 club, Bordeaux-Begles.
Kitshoff’s agent, Hilton Houghton, confirmed that his client has signed 2-year deal with the French club.
The 22-year-old is still contracted to Western Province until the end of October and will leave for France after the conclusion of this year’s Currie Cup competition.
Kitshoff, a former Baby Bok who boasts 45 Super Rugby caps, last played a first class match on 3 May last year before a knee injury ended his 2014 season.
Dean Greyling
Marcel van der Merwe
The Vodacom Bulls will be without Springbok props Dean Greyling and Marcel van der Merwe and World Cup winning winger Akona Ndungane for the opening weekend of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition. The Vodacom Bulls play DHL Stormers on Saturday night, but Ndungane (calf, 1 week), Greyling (foot, 2 weeks) and Van der Merwe (hamstring, 3 weeks) will not be part of the action.
To complicate matters a bit more for Vodacom Bulls coach, Frans Ludeke, winger Travis Ismaiel has been ruled out for selection due to a hamstring strain and prop Hencus van Wyk (foot) will only return to training at the end of the month.
All of Basil Short (pectoral), Jason Jenkins (quad), Trevor Nyakane (contusion), Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (hamstring), Deon Stegmann (hip) and Jesse Kriel (neck) completed a full training session today.
Ruan Botha
Damian de Allende
Nizaam Carr
The DHL Stormers have been boosted by the return to fitness of Springboks Nizaam Carr and Damian de Allende as well as lock Ruan Botha ahead of their Super Rugby encounter against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
Wing Kobus van Wyk is an injury doubt however, and flank Siya Kolisi will not be risked this weekend.
The Stormers will travel to Loftus Versfeld for their 2015 season-opener, before hosting New Zealand side, the Blues, at Newlands the following weekend.
The team, to face the Bulls, will be announced at lunch-time on Thursday.
Jean Deysel
Michael Claassens
The Cell C Sharks announced that loose-forward Jean Deysel, who has spent the past 6 months playing for Toyota Verbiltz in Japan, will be making a welcome return to the Cell C Sharks for the 2015 Super Rugby season.
Deysel who to date has been capped an impressive 117 times for the Cell C Sharks, will join the squad immediately.
South African born scrum-half, Michael Claassens, who currently plays for Toulon in the French Top 14, has also been signed on a 2-year deal. He is expected to join the team as soon as his playing commitments in France have concluded.
The 2015 edition of the South African Rugby Annul goes on sale nationwide today after being launched at Sunday’s South African Rugby Union Awards in Johannesburg.
In keeping with tradition, the 44th edition of the ‘bible’ of the game once again features South Africa’s player of the year on the cover, with the newly-crowned Duane Vermeulen following in the footsteps of the likes of Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana and Schalk Burger in recent years.
“Even in this digital age, it’s vitally important to retain a physical document of record for future generations,” said SARU CEO, Jurie Roux. “SARU strives to be a world leader in the game both on and off the field and when it comes to the Annual, we are immensely proud of the quality of the book we continue to produce year in and year out.
“We like to believe that we have an outstanding yearbook but that hasn’t stopped us from raising the bar even further with this new-look, Rugby World Cup-themed edition. We’ve made it a more user-friendly size, refreshed the layout and added a depth to the statistical records that surpasses anything we’ve done before,” Roux added.
Francois Uys
The Cheetahs, in a surprise move, named Francois Uys as their captain for the Super Rugby season.
Uys will be leading the team, joined by the vice-captain Sarel Pretorius.
The ‘well-informed’ media in Bloemfontein have been speculating for weeks that Japan-based Springbok Heinrich Brüssow would get the leadership armband.
However, coach Naka Drotské decided to go with Uys – starting from Saturday, when they take on the South African conference champions, the Cell C Sharks, in Durban.
Sam Wykes
The Western Force have named lock Sam Wykes as interim Super Rugby captain whilst regular captain Matt Hodgson recovers from injury.
Hodgson will miss the beginning of the season after suffering a hamstring injury in the team’s 38 / 19 pre-season win over the Asia Pacific Dragons.
In some of the Super Rugby warm-up action of the weekend, these were the results:
- Bues 32 / 29 Hurricanes
- Waratahs 38 / 36 Chiefs
- Reds 35 / 12 Crusaders
- DHL Stormers 45 / 7 Boland
Jacques du Plessis
Flip van der Merwe
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd on Friday confirmed that efforts to keep Vodacom Bulls locks Jacques du Plessis and Flip van der Merwe in Pretoria have been unsuccessful, with both players taking up contracts in France at the end of the domestic 2015 season.
Du Plessis has signed a two year deal with Montpellier and Van der Merwe will join Clermont, also after the completion of the ABSA Currie Cup competition.
The BBC’s High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg said talks with both players have been ongoing for some time.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union have announced their 33-man squad which will compete as the Emirates Lions in the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby tournament.
The Emirates Lions will get their Vodacom Super Rugby campaign under way on Friday 13 February as they take on the Hurricanes at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. Tickets start at just R 40.00 and can be purchased online via Lionsrugby.computicket.com.
Season tickets are also still available for purchase from just R 800.00 and includes tickets to all Vodacom Super Rugby and ABSA Currie Cup home games, as well as the Springboks versus All Blacks Test.
The Emirates Lions boast a strong squad in 2015, with a number of Springboks and Springbok tourists in the squad.
The Springboks are: Marnitz Boshoff, Elton Jantjies, Lionel Mapoe, Julian Redelinghuys & Warren Whiteley.
The Springbok tourists (uncapped) are: Ruan Dreyer & Jaco Kriel.
The Lions improved tremendously during 2014, doing well in Super Rugby and reaching the Final of the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division and they will want to continue this good form under the leadership of coach Johan Ackermann.
Emirates Lions Super Rugby squad:
Toulon (5) 10 / 12 (9) Sharks (Final Score)
Toulon and the Cell C Sharks did battle in a friendly cross-hemisphere match prior to the
Super Rugby season at Stade Mayol, Toulon at 22:00 SA Time (21:00 French Time, 20:00 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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The Reds have named their team to play the Crusaders at Ballymore in what will be their final Super Rugby pre-season clash.
As revealed yesterday Reds recent recruit Karmichael Hunt will start at flyhalf in the match as the Queensland side look at ways of filling the gap created by Quade Cooper’s injury.
Reds head coach Richard Graham has announced a 23-man squad for the fixture, with a further three players to be added. In all Graham has made three changes to the starting team from last week’s match.
Hunt’s move to starting flyhalf has shifted 20-year-old Duncan Paia’aua to the reserves bench, Chris Feauai-Sautia has been brought into a starting wing spot and Jamie-Jerry Taulagi has moved to starting fullback.
Dan Carter
Dan Carter will start the Crusaders’ last warm-up match ahead of potentially his final Super Rugby season against the Reds on Friday at flyhalf with team-mate Colin Slade switching to fullback.
The 32-year-old Carter, who will join French side Racing Metro at the conclusion of this year’s World Cup, had played mostly at inside centre last year when he returned to the Crusaders from a sabbatical to accommodate Slade’s good form.
The fact he will play in his preferred flyhalf position suggests he will get the nod from coach Todd Blackadder to start there for the Crusaders’ opening game against the Melbourne Rebels on 13 February in Christchurch.
The Cheetahs ran in 10 tries to the Griffons 1 in what can only be described as a practice match as the men from Bloemfontein tweaked their final preparations.
What this match did allow was for Naka Drotske and his staff to get a clearer picture of the Cheetahs best centre pairing with Francois Venter, Michael van der Spuy and Johann Sadie looking sharp – however, JW Jonker not in action.
Venter looked especially good and was on song against the Griffons as he slipped between inside and outside centre with ease.
A Shoulder injury kept him out of most of the 2014 Super Rugby season but this could be the year for him to step up.
Hawies Fourie, the Cheetahs’ backline coach, has a pleasant problem of who will begin in the centres in next weekend’s Sharks game.
The Melbourne Rebels have completed their pre-season schedule with a 25 / 24 come-from-behind victory over the Highlanders in a thrilling encounter at Harlequin club in Melbourne.
For the first ever time, a Victorian Club ground hosted a Super Rugby trial – as the Highlanders, finalists last season, ventured to Holmesglen Reserve to face the Rebels.
It was a physical clash throughout, with both sides impressive with ball in hand.
Jean de Villiers
A discernible changing of the guard in Springbok playing personnel after a World Cup is an established trend… but national captain Jean de Villiers has some special fears about the expected migration of several leading stars to overseas clubs later this year.
Interviewed while he goes about his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury to try to make the Rugby World Cup 2015 cut in the United Kingdom, De Villiers said the exodus was threatening to be more acute this time – and not just to feature players on the receding end of their careers, as has been the general norm before.
“It does seem that this time around, if you can believe the rumours floating around, that more players are looking to go abroad than after 2011 (the New Zealand-staged tournament).
“Whereas that year we had quite a few guys retiring, finishing up (at Bok level), there weren’t as many switching shores.
Michael Horak
Cell C Sharks defensive coach, Michael Horak, is looking forward to the test an unstructured Toulon team can give the Sharks defensive line ahead of their warm-up match on Thursday.
The Sharks are in the latter stages of their preparation for a Super Rugby campaign that kicks off against the Cheetahs on 14 February.
They will face a Toulon side famous for its big names and dominating style of rugby as a warm-up match in order to get their systems and structures right.
Tomas Cubelli
Pumas scrumhalf, Tomas Cubelli headlines a numer of players to commit to Argentina’s new Super Rugby franchise with Javier Ortega Desio, Thomas Lezana, Gabriel Ascarate and Matias Orlando also signing up.
The group all signed contracts until at least the end of the 2017 season following a Pampas XV training session in Rosario on Tuesday.
These players join Martin Landajo, Guido Petti Pagadizábal, Pablo Matera, Matías Alemanno, Rodrigo Baez, Jerome de la Fuente, Facundo Isa and Manuel Montero who have all committed for three years.
Naka Drotské
Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has named a powerful team, including all his available Springboks, to face the Griffons in their final Super Rugby pre-season outing on Wednesday.
Fullback Willie le Roux tops the list of Bok stars that will run out at the Old Greys club in Bloemfontein.
Le Roux has overcome an ankle strain he suffered in last Friday’s loss to the Stormers.
Other Boks having a run include wings Cornal Hendricks and Raymond Rhule, flank Teboho ‘Oupa’ Mohoje, lock Lodewyk ‘Lood’ de Jager and prop Coenie Oosthuizen.
Robert du Preez
Robert du Preez will line up at flyhalf for the Stormers in their pre-season friendly against the Boland Cavaliers at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Demetri Catrakilis and Kurt Coleman played flyhalf in last Friday’s 39 / 31 win over the Cheetahs at Newlands.
But Du Preez will get a chance to showcase his skills with a starting role on Saturday, the Stormers announced via their official Facebook page.
David Pocock
Former Wallabies skipper David Pocock escaped conviction on Wednesday over a protest against an Australian coal mine in which he locked himself to a digger.
Pocock was arrested in late November after he attached himself to the machine for 10 hours to protest against the Maules Creek coal mine in a New South Wales state forest.
The 26-year-old flank pleaded guilty at Gunnedah Local Court to hindering a workman in use of property but the charge was dismissed without conviction.
Ben Whittaker
New signing Ben Whittaker will make his first appearance for the Rebels they host the Highlanders in a Super Rugby pre-season outing in Melbourne on Thursday.
Coach Tony McGahan named a 26-man squad for the outing at the Harlequin club.
Whittaker will be joined by Lopeti Timani, who will feature for the first time this pre-season.
McGahan said he was looking forward to the franchise’s second trial game, against strong opposition.
Shane Christie
Shane Christie will captain the Highlanders as they complete their two-match preseason tour of Australia – against the Melbourne Rebels in Melbourne on Thursday.
Looking for their third win of the pre-season, the Highlanders will again employ a squad of 28 for the match.
Fumiaka Tanaka will rejoin the Highlanders for his first pre-season game, after meeting the team in Melbourne on his way back to New Zealand – following the completion of the Japanese Top League.
Super Rugby is just more than a week away and most if not all Super Rugby Franchises have instructed their Kit Sponsors to come up with new designs for the 2015 Season.
All the Franchises are sponsored by BIG Kit sponsors.
Of the Australian Franchises the Brumbies are sponsored by CLASSIC, whereas the Western Force, Melbourne Rebels and Reds are sponsored by BLK, and the Waratahs are sponsored by CANTERBURY.
In New Zealand all 5 Super Rugby Franchises are sponsored by ADIDAS.
In South Africa, there is a mix of sponsors, with both the Vodacom Bulls and Toyota Cheetahs are sponsored by PUMA, whereas the rest all have their own sponsors. The Emirates Lions are sponsored by CANTERBURY, The Cell C Sharks by BLK and the DHL Stormers are sponsored by ADIDAS.
For a change the Vodacom Bulls have moved away from a radical Pink or Cammo approach to a more traditional approach and it seems only the Chiefs and to a lesser extent the Blues have somewhat pictorial designs on their Home Kit.
But… the Kit is not what makes a team, so although you might like or dislike a particular Franchise’s Kit, the proof of the pudding still lies in how the teams perform on the field of play.
Gerbrandt Grobler
Western Province and Stormers lock Gerbrandt Grobler has received a 2-year ban after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.
According to reports, the test was done last October during the Currie Cup.
When Grobler, 22, was informed of the result, he admitted his guilt and made a settlement agreement with the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS). He therefore gave up the right to have a hearing.
Allister Coetzee
Long-serving DHL Stormers and DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has chosen not to extend his contract at Western Province Rugby and will, instead, take up an opportunity abroad at the end of this year.
Coetzee, 51, will join Japanese club, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers, having decided to put pen to paper this week.
“I have always said that I would make an announcement once I had made a decision about my future and my decision has now been made and communicated properly,” said Coetzee on the official DHL Stormers website.
Nick Briant will officially get the 2015 Super Rugby season underway in Christchurch when he takes the whistle for the Crusaders vs Melbourne Rebels clash on 13 February.
Angus Gardner will oversee the Brumbies vs Reds which follows immediately afterwards in Canberra, with the Australian duo of Rohan Hoffmann and Andrew Lees sharing duties in South Africa for the Emirates Lions vs Hurricanes and Cell C Sharks vs Toyota Cheetahs matches.
The highly-experienced Chris Pollock and Jaco Peyper get the whistle for much-anticipated Round 1 derbies in Auckland and Pretoria respectively with new additions to the 2015 squad, Ben O’Keeffe and Jaco van Heerden assisting on the line in those matches.
Finally, Steve Walsh will be in the middle as the Waratahs get their title defence underway at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium against the Western Force on Sunday 15 February.
The Sharks match against Toulon will see 2014’s best European team take on the last year’s best South African team, but will it be rust versus readiness?
The men from Durban, bar a brief hit-out against Rovers last Thursday, have not seen competitive rugby in over 3 months, while their opponents, Toulon, are in the business end of their season.
There is bound to be some rustiness from the South Africans admits former Sharks prop Eduard Coetzee as he discusses what it will be like for them to face the Galácticos of rugby.
Coetzee is well versed in both countries’ rugby having spent 5 years with the Sharks before finishing off his career in France with Bayonne and finally Biarritz where he made 125 appearances.
“It is clear that for us that this meeting will be something special,” Coetzee said.
“We will assess our ability while facing the best team in the Northern Hemisphere.
Marcel van der Merwe
Vodacom Bulls prop Marcel van der Merwe will miss the opening week of the Vodacom Super Rugby season due to a medial knee ligament injury, it was confirmed on Monday.
The injury occurred on Saturday in London, when the Blue Bulls played against English club side Saracens in a warm-up friendly.
Van der Merwe injured his knee and pulled his hamstring in the second half and will be out for 3 to 4 weeks, team doctor Org Strauss confirmed on Monday.
The Springbok prop was the only casualty in the match and Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke should have a fairly fit squad to pick from for their first match, against the DHL Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on 14 February.
The Bulls are the South African team to have laid down the early marker ahead of the Vodacom Super Rugby season that kicks off in a fortnight and after watching the Pretoria team deal with Saracens, the Sharks will aim at a quality performance when they play Toulon in France on Thursday.
In direct contrast to last season, when Jake White’s arrival as director of rugby created much hype and a few bold predictions about the Sharks’ chances long before the competition had started, the Durban franchise has been operating under the radar during the off-season.
The low key end to 2014, with the Currie Cup team bowing out in the semifinal stage as opposed to going all the way to the trophy the year before, has probably contributed to the low key build-up, as has the fact that the new director of rugby, Gary Gold, has until late last week been based in Japan. Consultant Brendan Venter has been overseeing the preparations for Super Rugby, but he is not known for making bold assertions to the media.