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/ 2 June 2008

Gatland opts for experience against Boks

Warren Gatland has opted for experienced flyhalf Stephen Jones over James Hook to spearhead Wales’ assault on world champions South Africa in their opening Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Jones made his Test debut in Wales’ record 96-13 defeat to the Springboks in 1998 and is embarking on his third tour of South Africa.

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/ 30 April 2008

Wales set for big chill ahead of Bok clash

Wales players are set to be exposed to a week of training at a cryotherapy centre ahead of the Six Nations Grand Slam winners’ two Test tour of South Africa in June, coach Warren Gatland announced on Tuesday. Cryotherapy is a process in which the body is briefly subjected to extremely low temperatures below -110°C.

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/ 15 April 2008

Wales hope for full-strength squad for Bok clashes

Warren Gatland has promised he will select his strongest possible Wales squad when his Six Nations title-holders travel to world champions South Africa for a two-Test tour in June. Northern hemisphere sides have often been criticised for taking weakened teams on their travels to the Tri-Nations countries at the end of a long European season.

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/ 15 March 2008

Wales claim Six Nations grand slam

Wales produced a gutsy display of tenacious defence to beat France 29-12 in Cardiff on Saturday to claim their second Six Nations grand slam in four years. The Welsh completed their remarkable transformation from a side that crashed out of last year’s World Cup in the group stages.

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/ 10 February 2008

Williams double delights Wales

Shane Williams scored two tries as Wales beat Scotland 30-15 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday to make it back-to-back Six Nations wins under new coach Warren Gatland. But they found it hard to finally see off a Scotland side that stayed in the game until the final quarter thanks to the boot of the recalled Chris Paterson.

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/ 25 November 2007

I won’t be bored, says White

Departing South Africa coach Jake White insisted he wouldn’t miss the demands of international rugby after seeing his last Test in charge of the Springboks end in a 34-12 win for the world champions over Wales in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. ”I am not going to get bored at all,” White said.

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/ 24 November 2007

Jake White bows out with victory

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.

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/ 22 November 2007

Habana hopes Boks build on White legacy

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.

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/ 22 November 2007

Johnson urges Lions to learn lessons from SA

Martin Johnson has urged the British and Irish Lions to be creative with their selection policy when it comes to picking a squad for the 2009 tour of South Africa. An enduring fascination is that players who have not shone or even played at all for England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales can become stars when they put on the red shirt of the Lions.

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/ 21 November 2007

Kankowski set for Springbok debut

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.

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/ 20 November 2007

White rules out England job … for now

Jake White, South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach, on Monday played down suggestions he would be replacing Brian Ashton next month as the man in charge of England, although he didn’t rule himself out of the job at some point in the future. White is stepping down when his contract runs out in December.

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/ 19 November 2007

Fourie du Preez becomes latest Bok casualty

Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez has become the latest player to withdraw from the national squad ahead of Saturday’s one-off Test against Wales in Cardiff. This was confirmed by a Springbok management member on Monday morning. Du Preez will miss the last Test of the year, and the last of Jake White’s tenure as coach, due to the shoulder injury that has troubled him for much of this year.

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/ 8 October 2007

French defeat brings Henry’s All Blacks time to an end

Graham Henry will be replaced as All Blacks coach by the end of the year after his highly fancied team crashed out of the World Cup at the hands of France in the quarterfinals. The New Zealand Rugby Union board said on Sunday that a new coaching team should be in place by Christmas, even though Henry and his assistants have contracts until March 2008.

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/ 7 October 2007

France stun NZ to reach Cup semifinal

France upset the odds in dramatic style to come from behind and beat tournament favourites New Zealand 20-18 in the World Cup quarterfinal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday. For the All Blacks, 13-0 up as early as the 30th minute, defeat was arguably as devastating as their equally unexpected 43-31 loss to France in the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.

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/ 4 October 2007

Time has not erased New Zealand pain

Time has done little to erode the shock and nothing to erase the pain felt in New Zealand after France came back from the brink to win the 1999 World Cup semifinal. A match New Zealand had seemingly won was lost in the most astonishing reverse in the 20-year history of the World Cup.

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/ 3 October 2007

Confident McCaw eyes Cup glory

Richie McCaw admits he is ready to take New Zealand all the way to the 2007 World Cup title. The All Blacks captain will lead his side into the quarterfinal crunch clash against France at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday. New Zealand have enjoyed a smooth passage into the last eight with comfortable victories against European outfits Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Romania.

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/ 20 September 2007

Wales find form to rout Japan 72-18

Wales rediscovered their attacking spirit to rout Japan 72-18 in their World Cup Pool B match at the Millennium Stadium on Thursday. They had the bonus point in the bag by halftime after four tries in the first 40 minutes and kept up the tempo after the break to score 11 in total.

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/ 16 September 2007

Fiji dream of quarters with Canada victory

Fiji beat Canada 29-16 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday as they sighted a return to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1987. The Pacific islanders moved into second place in Pool B behind Australia, piling the pressure on to Wales who they’ll meet in a winner-takes-all clash in Nantes on September 29, with the prize of a last-eight place at stake.

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/ 15 September 2007

Australia too strong for battling Wales

Two-time champions Australia beat Wales 32-20 in a bruising World Cup clash at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday to virtually make sure of avoiding South Africa in the last eight. The Wallabies, who had two players sin-binned late in the game, scored four tries but were pushed all the way by a spirited home side who had been on the ropes at 25-3 down at the break.

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/ 25 August 2007

Wales rocked by World Cup cash row

Welsh rugby was plunged into a financial row on Friday just two weeks before Gareth Jenkins’s team open their World Cup campaign against Canada. Wales’s four regional teams have met with the Welsh Rugby Union seeking compensation of almost £1-million for the loss of their leading players for the duration of the World Cup.

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/ 26 February 2007

Arsenal, Chelsea face censure over Cup brawl

Arsenal and Chelsea face disciplinary action from the English Football Association after the mass brawl that marred their League Cup final clash on Sunday. Arsenal duo Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor and Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel were all sent off by referee Howard Webb in stoppage time of Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

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/ 18 November 2006

Nine-try Wales warm up for All Blacks in style

Wales ran in nine tries to crush Canada 61-26 at the Millennium Stadium on Friday and gain a confidence booster ahead of their testing clash with the All Blacks next week. The Welsh overcame the loss of centre Gavin Henson, who withdrew just before kick-off with an infected toe, to clinch a win that would still have left coach Gareth Jenkins with plenty to think about.