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/ 3 June 2008

Gatland: Fitness could give Boks an edge

Wales coach Warren Gatland said that the physical conditioning of South African players could give the world champion Springboks an edge in the first Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday. ”That’s one of the biggest fears we’ve got — how physical and fit these South African players are from the Super 14,” said Gatland.

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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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/ 31 May 2008

Wales expecting no miracles

Six Nations champions Wales will be looking to match everything the Springboks throw at them in the next fortnight when the teams meet in a two-Test series. But coach Warren Gatland said he was expecting no miracles from his injury-depleted squad that arrived in South Africa on Friday morning.

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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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/ 9 April 2008

IRB looks to control Super 14 referees

It probably cannot all be put down to Australian referee Paul Marks’s inept handling of the Super 14 match between the Hurricanes and the Sharks in Wellington on Saturday, but there are now thoughts of the International Rugby Board (IRB) appointing Super 14 referees rather than the three Sanzar unions.

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/ 17 March 2008

Wales to take strongest side to SA

Wales coach Warren Gatland will take his strongest available side to South Africa for two Tests against the world champions in June after guiding his team to the Six Nations grand slam in his first season in charge. In recent years, Six Nations sides have rested leading players when travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in the off-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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/ 18 February 2008

French out to avenge World Cup woes

France and England meet next Saturday in the Six Nations at the same venue where French World Cup hopes were extinguished by their bitter rivals. New French coach Marc Lievremont has swept out a lot of the old guard and replaced them with fresh faces with a view to rebuilding for the 2011 World Cup.

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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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/ 3 February 2008

Wales skipper’s greatest day

Wales skipper Ryan Jones hailed his team’s stunning 26-19 Six Nations win over England in London on Saturday as the greatest day of his career. Wales were 16-6 down at the break and were still trailing by 10 points with 20 minutes left before they ran in two tries to record their first victory at Twickenham in 20 years.

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/ 4 December 2007

Sevens seeks to ride World Cup wave

Rugby Sevens, the abbreviated form of rugby union, is seeking to ride the wave of popularity in the sport generated by the highly successful World Cup in France. The three-day season-opening Dubai leg of the World Series Sevens circuit attracted 32 000 spectators a day, but importantly offered a showcase for many future international stars.

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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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/ 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.