Super Rugby
All 5 South Africa’s Super Rugby franchises will be in action on Saturday, with the North-South derby in Pretoria the cherry on top when the Vodacom Bulls and the DHL Stormers clash at Loftus Versfeld.
The local action starts on Saturday morning at 09:35 SA Time with the Lions’ 2nd tour match in New Zealand, against the Highlanders in Dunedin. Looking back at history, the team based in Johannesburg have reason to be optimistic, but they will have to front up in the deep south of Kiwi-land.
In the 2nd match on Saturday, former Brumbies coach Jake White returns to Canberra where his Cell C Sharks take on the team from the Australian Capital Territories. These 2 sides occupy the top 2 positions on the Combined Log and it promises to be a high-intensity humdinger.
In Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon, Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské will become only the 2nd South African coach to reach 100 matches in charge at Super Rugby level when his team takes on the Force.
The Vodacom Bulls’ Frans Ludeke is the most experienced South African Super Rugby coach with 127 matches at the helm at this level (104 for the Bulls and 23 for the Cats), but current Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie tops the list with 131 matches as coach (66 at the Waratahs and 65 at the Reds).
Frans Ludeke answered questions sent in to Sport24.
It is Round 13 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 7 games in Round 13, with 2 games on Friday, 4 games on Saturday and 1 game on Sunday.
The Waratahs have a bye weekend.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann has decided to “rotate” a number of players ahead of his team’s second tour match.
The Lions take on the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday in a Super Rugby Round 13 encounter and the side shows a number of changes from that which lost 8-38 to the Chiefs last week.
The most significant change is at flyhalf, where Marnitz Boshoff returns at No 10 in place of Springbok Elton Jantjies – whop drops down to the replacement bench.
Head coach Todd Blackadder has named a side with 5 changes as the Crusaders head to Brisbane on Friday to face the Reds on Sunday afternoon.
Corey Flynn will be the starting hooker this week and Ben Funnell will take a spot on the reserve bench. Lock Luke Romano has come off the pine to start at No 4 alongside Sam Whitelock.
Highlanders head coach Jamie Joseph, has named the team to play the Lions at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night.
The squad returned home to Dunedin after claiming seven points from a possible 10 following a one-point loss to the Stormers in Round 12.
Lima Sopoaga has been ruled out of this week’s clash with an ankle sprain and is anticipated to be sidelined until Round 15.
Reds flanker Curtis Browning will make his run-on debut this Sunday in one of 6 changes to the starting line-up to face the Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium.
Browning, a former Australian Under-20 captain, has already played 5 games for the Reds, but never in the starting lineup. He will start at blindside flanker, in place of injured loose forward Eddie Quirk.
Fotu Auelua returns to the starting line-up for the first time in 2014 when the Brumbies take on the Sharks in Canberra on Saturday.
Auelua is the only change to the starting side that went down to the Crusaders last weekend, with Jordan Smiler dropping back to the bench and Jack Whetton out of the game-day 23.
The Western Force has named an unchanged squad to tackle the Cheetahs at Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium on Saturday.
Head Coach Michael Foley has maintained the same 23-man squad that overcame the Bulls, 15-9, in the team’s last match in Perth a fortnight ago.
Nic Stirzaker’s injury sees Luke Burgess retain the No 9 jersey for the Rebels clash with the Hurricanes while Ben Meehan takes the spot on the bench.
Ben Meehan returns to the matchday 23 for the first time since Round Six in one of two changes made by Head Coach Tony McGahan.
Pat Leafa, who scored his first try for the Club in the 16-22 defeat to the Sharks last Friday, replaces Shota Horie in the starting lineup.
DHL Stormers captain Schalk Burger says he is happy to take the underdog tag with his team to Loftus for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Vodacom Bulls, but is not writing off the chances of his inexperienced side causing an upset.
The Stormers are going to Pretoria with a much changed match day squad following two separate waves of injuries that have decimated them this week. On Monday it was announced that the likes of regular skipper Jean de Villiers, loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff, wing Kobus van Wyk, reserve lock Jurie van Vuuren and possibly tighthead prop Frans Malherbe would be missing because of injury.
World Cup-winning coach Jake White still has hopes of coaching at the highest level again despite his disappointment at missing out on the Wallabies job last year.
White, who guided South Africa to the 2007 World Cup, thought himself a shoo-in to take over from New Zealander Robbie Deans as Australia coach last year but missed out to Ewen McKenzie.
The Sharks face the Brumbies in Canberra this Saturday and Jake White again has selected a new midfield combination as Cobus Reinach and S’bura Sithole return to the starting line-up with Heimer Williams and Charl Mcleod being relegated to the bench.
Although the centre combination of Jordaan and Sithole seems a more “explosive one” it also could backfire as new combinations always take time to settle.
Cobus Reinach starts his first match since injuring himself against the Bulls in the Sharks 5 th game of the tournament. Charl McLeod rotates to the bench, having played almost every minute of the last 5 matches.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 13 of Super Rugby 2014.
We see 7 games this weekend, with 2 on Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.
Mike Frazer strats the weekend action in the game between the Chiefs and Blues in New Plymouth.
The Waratahs have their BYE weekend.
Experienced flanker Schalk Burger will captain a much-changed and young DHL Stormers team in Saturday’s all-South African Vodacom Super Rugby Derby against the Bulls in Pretoria (kick-off 19:10 SA Time).
Coach Allister Coetzee has been forced into making 6 enforced changes to the starting line-up, with 3 players on debut in the matchday 23 – lock Jean Kleyn in the starting line-up and prop Alistair Vermaak and scrumhalf Dylon Frylinck on the bench.
There are also 6 new faces on the bench, with Steven Kitshoff (knee), Frans Malherbe (concussion), Oli Kebble (concussion), Jurie van Vuuren (shoulder), Michael Rhodes (assortment of knocks), Louis Schreuder (broken thumb), Jean de Villiers (AC Joint) and Kobus van Wyk (wrist) all dropping out with an assortment of injuries after last weekend’s 29-28 win over the Highlanders.
Greyling to play in 50th against Stormers
Vodacom Bulls prop Dean Greyling will play in his 50th Vodacom Super Rugby match for his team on Saturday, when the Pretoria team takes on the DHL Stormers at Loftus Versfeld.
Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan has made just one injury-enforced change to the starting 15 for Friday’s match against reigning champions the Chiefs at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth.
With midfielder Francis Saili suffering a high ankle sprain in the lead up to last week’s clash with the Reds and Jackson Willison succumbing to a hamstring strain during the game, George Moala has been promoted from the bench to start at centre.
Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett has given his forward pack a slight reshuffle as the Hurricanes take on the Rebels at AAMI Park on Friday evening.
One of the changes comes in the front row, where Reggie Goodes slots into loosehead prop for Ben Franks, who moves to tighthead in place of Jeffery Toomaga-Allen. Ardie Savea also comes into the line-up, with Jack Lam moving to the bench.
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has made a number of changes to his team for the Super Rugby crunch match against the Blues.
The Chiefs and Blues go head-to-head in Taranaki on Friday in a game that could have a big bearing on deciding the New Zealand conference.
The Crusaders have made the decision not to play Kieran Read against the Reds in Brisbane this Sunday as he continues to recover from concussion suffered against the Chiefs in Round 10.
Crusaders head coach Todd Blackadder said that, while Read is recovering well, the symptoms have not completely cleared so the coaches decided it would be preferable to make a call early in the week and take him out of contention for the next game.
The Waratahs have signed exciting winger Taqele Naiyaravoro until at least end of the 2015 Super Rugby season from NRL club Wests Tigers.
The Brumbies have re-signed Matt Toomua until the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season after he signed a three-year contract extension
Toomua is one of two players that have been signed to full-time Brumbies contracts from school and his new deal will see him playing for the Brumbies for 10 years.
This is the first of a 3-part Series looking at each team’s chances with each Conference with little more than a third of the regular season remaining.
We kick off with the New Zealand Conference!
SUMMARY: The closest conference so far, there is only 5 Competition Log Points separating the teams and of all the countries, the amount of local derbies will ensure significant cannibalisation.
There are 11 New Zealand derby matches remaining in the last 7 rounds.
Dan Carter has put his jet-setting lifestyle to bed and is back on the training pitch as he prepares himself for a return to rugby.
The experienced All Blacks flyhalf has been using his sabbatical this year to mingle with sports and entertainment celebrities around the planet, from Elton John to Rory McIlroy.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has included two Springbok stalwarts in his run on side for their Super Rugby encounter against the Western Force in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon.
Flyhalf Johan Goosen and prop Coenie Oosthuizen are back in the starting line-up after making an impact from the bench against the Bulls in Pretoria last week.
Goosen, who has recovered from a concussion, replaces Elgar Watts, while Oosthuizen comes in for Maks van Dyk at tight head prop. Both Watts and Van Dyk find themselves among the replacements.
The Sharks have suffered another injury setback as on-the-mend flyhalf Fred Zeilinga has been sent home and replaced by Jaco van Tonder.
Zeilinga injured his hamstring against the Lions at Ellis Park in Round Nine after jostling for a position at flyhalf with Tim Swiel and Frans Steyn following Pat Lambie’s departure.
Allister Coetzee says his teams susceptibility to injury this season is purely bad luck and that conditioning and other factors cannot be blamed.
With five high profile injuries coming out of the Stormers’ single point victory over the Highlanders, the Cape side are once again licking their wounds.
Net toe die Cheetahs se diepte begin beter lyk het, het die beseringspook weer in hul kamp toegeslaan.
Dié sentrale streekspan sal Saterdag hier in sy Superrugby-wedstryd teen die Western Force sonder die beseerde flank Jean Cook (skouer) én slot Ligtoring Landman (kuit) moet klaarkom.
Wat die terugslae erger maak, is dat dit in posisies is waar Naka Drotské, die Cheetahs se afrigter, se span reeds uitgedun is.
Boonop sukkel die vleuel Raymond Rhule (enkel) ook met ’n besering, maar kan hy volgens Drotské nog betyds herstel.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham says his side will add some variations to their game to counter the inside knowledge of former coach Jake White this weekend.
White left the Brumbies last season after two years in charge, having guided them to the Super Rugby Final against the Chiefs, and he returns to Canberra this weekend as coach of the table-topping Sharks.
The struggling Reds have been dealt a triple injury blow, with Liam Gill, Chris Feauai-Sautia and Eddie Quirk all ruled out for multiple weeks.
Three wins and only one defeat against Australasian opposition meant the last round of Vodacom Super Rugby was the best weekend from a South African perspective since round two earlier this year.
However, two of the three wins in the second round were in local derbies. This weekend, only the Vodacom Bulls’ victory over the Toyota Cheetahs was an all-South African affair as the Cell C Sharks and the DHL Stormers clinched victories over Australasian opponents.
In fact, the Cell C Sharks broke a losing run of 13 matches in Australasia for the South African franchises (this includes the Toyota Cheetahs’ defeat in their 2013 Qualifier against the Brumbies in Canberra) when they beat the Rebels by 22-16 in Melbourne on Friday morning.
Following last week’s announcement of the new Super Rugby format set to commence in 2016, SANZAR has started its global search for an 18th team.
Then expression of interest (EOI) pack was forwarded to known interested parties on Monday in what signifies the beginning of an exciting chapter that will find the new franchise to join the Kings and a team based in Argentina in the 2016 competition.
The new format is an evolution of the conference structure that was introduced in 2011, allowing for adaptation and expansion to deliver Super Rugby to new markets, fans and audiences as the world’s premier provincial competition.
The Cell C Sharks have suffered a major blow as Springbok fetcher Marcell Coetzee has been sent home and will play no further part in the tour.
Coetzee returned to Durban after suffering a tour-ending injury on Friday against the Rebels.
After getting back to winning ways on Saturday when the Vodacom Bulls beat the Toyota Cheetahs at Loftus Versfld, by 26 / 21, the Bulls are keen to continue this trend when they meet the injury-decimated DHL Stormers on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld, at 19:10 SA Time.
A traditional North-South derby always makes for excitement and the Bulls will have to be at their best against a Stormers side which has seen some dramatic improvements in recent weeks.
Loosehead prop Oliver Kebble is likely to start for the Stormers in their Super Rugby clash against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.