Can SA Rugby build on the euphoria of the first black captain leading his side to glory?
Battling Sonny Bill Williams will remind the former Bok of the glory he has potentially sacrificed.
In the third season of a 15-team structure for Super Rugby, questions are being asked about inconsistencies in the format.
A hamstring injury has ruled Springbok full-back Francois Steyn out of the Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand.
Bok coach Peter de Villiers says he had no choice but to include Francois Steyn in the world champions’ midfield for their clash against Wales.
Australia flanker David Pocock expects SA to be boosted by the return of fullback Francois Steyn in Saturday’s Tri-Nations match in Pretoria.
Struggling South Africa have made two backline changes for a Tri-Nations Test against Australia at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
There is no guarantee of a place for Francois Steyn in Saturday’s Test against Australia, despite pressure to bring him back into the team.
The three top players released from the Springbok squad for Saturday’s Test against Argentina were left out so they could get valuable playing time.
Having beaten Wales, South Africa get another chance to test their strength in depth before the Tri-Nations when they tackle Italy on Saturday.
Bafana Bafana fans should take heart that it’s the Springboks and not the football side taking on the Azzuri of Italy this weekend.
JP Pietersen’s lack of form in the Super 14 season has cost him a place in the Springbok squad that was named in Somerset West on Wednesday. The Sharks’ World Cup-winning wing failed to score a try in the 2008 series after he finished the 2007 Super 14 season as the leading try scorer.
New South Wales (NSW) will travel to Christchurch to play the Canterbury Crusaders in the Super 14 rugby final after beating the Sharks 28-13 in Sydney on Saturday. The Waratahs scored four tries to one and were never in any real trouble against a disappointing Sharks outfit.
New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is spoilt for choice ahead of the Springboks’ first Test of the year, against Six Nations champions Wales on June 7 in Bloemfontein. De Villiers, who took over from World Cup-winning coach Jake White at the beginning of the year, names his first South Africa squad on Saturday.
The Sharks lost their discipline and unbeaten Super 14 rugby record as the tenacious ACT Brumbies stormed home for a dramatic 27-21 victory on Saturday. Last year’s beaten finalists looked set to stay unconquered after nine matches with a composed opening half to lead 18-7 at half-time, but the Brumbies steamed home in the second term.
South Africa’s Sharks overcame an 11-point deficit after 20 minutes to beat the Otago Highlanders 19-17 Friday and maintain their unbeaten record through nine rounds of rugby’s Super 14. Twelfth-placed Otago threatened one of the bigger upsets of the season when they scored early tries to lead the second-placed Sharks 14-3.
The Hurricanes and the Sharks battled to a 13-all draw in a controversial Super 14 rugby match played in atrocious conditions in Wellington on Saturday. Australian referee Paul Marks handed out a red card, a yellow card and awarded a penalty try, before ending the game without reacting to Hurricanes centre Conrad Smith being taken out of play in a potentially try-scoring move.
The Sharks put their unbeaten record on the line in their opening Australasian tour match of the Super 14 rugby series against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday. The Durban-based team, along with table-topping Canterbury Crusaders, are the only two teams yet to taste defeat in the southern hemisphere provincial competition.
The Coastal Sharks maintained their impressive start to this year’s Super 14 competition with a hard-fought 16-8 win over the Golden Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday. With five victories out of five, the men from Durban moved back into second spot on the southern-hemisphere rugby championship points table.
Bulls prop Jaco Engels received a three-week suspension and centre JP Nel a one-week ban on Monday following incidents in the weekend’s Super 14 loss to the Sharks. Cited after the 29-15 defeat at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s final, the pair fronted up to a judiciary at the stadium.
No image available
/ 29 February 2008
Football gets by on 11 rules: a simple game for simple folk. Rugby has 22 laws, each one of which has myriad sub-clauses. On top of that there are the variations, laws adapted for under 19-rugby and different ones for seven-a-side. Now the big boys have their own discrepancies.
No image available
/ 15 February 2008
Stefan Terblanche scored the try that sealed the Sharks’ 17-10 win over the Western Force in their Super 14 match in Durban on Friday. Fullback Terblanche, who was not in the 22 named for the match, was called into the team when French flyhalf Frederic Michalak withdrew with a calf injury.
No image available
/ 15 February 2008
South African rugby will enjoy an auspicious season this year. We begin the year as the envy of the rugby-playing nations, champions of both the world and the Super 14. Even the internecine wrangling for power in the South African Rugby Union (Saru) has failed to dim that envy.
No image available
/ 14 February 2008
The new Super 14 season, which begins on Friday, could help determine whether South Africa’s dominance of world rugby was a one-year wonder. South Africa provided both teams in last year’s Super 14 final — the Bulls beat the Sharks — and the Springboks went on to win the sixth World Cup in France.
No image available
/ 13 February 2008
South Africa’s five Super 14 teams will have to produce some of their best rugby yet if they are to retain the title they so famously won, for the first time, last year. After years of being denied the title by the Australian and New Zealand teams, South Africa’s Northern Bulls finally went all the way in 2007.
No image available
/ 29 December 2007
The early stages of the 2008 Super 14 competition could be especially challenging for the five South African franchises — three of the teams have new coaches, and the training of all five has been affected to various degrees by the resting of their Springboks after the United Kingdom tour.
No image available
/ 1 December 2007
Jake White’s last match as coach of world champions South Africa ended with a defeat as the invitational Barbarians beat the Springboks 22-5 in a non-cap international at Twickenham on Saturday. The Barbarians outscored South Africa three tries to one with Australia’s Matt Giteau, Wales flanker Martyn Williams and Wallaby forward Rocky Elsom all crossing the line.
No image available
/ 29 November 2007
South Africa have made three changes for Saturday’s non-cap international against the Barbarians at Twickenham — Jake White’s last match as coach of the world champions. Bismarck du Plesis takes the place of World Cup-winning captain John Smit after the hooker’s French club, Clermont Auvergne, refused to release him for this fixture.
No image available
/ 24 November 2007
Jake White’s final Test as South Africa coach ended with a win as the world champions beat Wales 34-12 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday. JP Pietersen was in superb form, the wing scoring one of South Africa’s five tries and setting up two for centre Jaque Fourie.
No image available
/ 22 November 2007
Springbok World Cup hero Bryan Habana believes South Africa have been given a great inheritance by departing coach Jake White. This Saturday sees White, barely a month after masterminding the Springboks’ march to the World Cup title in France, coach South Africa in a full international for the final time when his side face Wales.
No image available
/ 21 November 2007
South Africa captain John Smit and star wing Bryan Habana are among nine members of the Springboks’ victorious World Cup final starting XV named to face Wales in Saturday’s one-off rugby union international at the Millennium Stadium. Although several players are missing from the two-match tour, the side still contains plenty of experienced campaigners.
No image available
/ 13 November 2007
Forwards Danie Rossouw, Wickus van Heerden and Gurthro Steenkamp withdrew injured on Monday from South Africa’s short rugby tour of Britain. Star scrumhalf Fourie du Preez also looks like staying home and missing the Test against Wales at Cardiff and the celebration match with the Barbarians at Twickenham on December 1.