Month: November 2009

Team of the Year – The Springboks (South Africa)
Player of the Year – Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
Coach of the Year – Declan Kidney (Ireland)
Sevens Player of the Year – Ollie Phillips (England)
Junior Player of the Year – Aaron Cruden (New Zealand)

Scorers
Ireland 15 (6)
Penalties: Jonathan Sexton (5)

Springboks 10 (10)
Try: Schalk Burger
Conversion: Morne Steyn
Drop goal: Morne Steyn

Match Details
Date: Saturday 28 November 2009
Venue: Croke Park
Time: 16:30 SA (14:30 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistants: Chris White (England), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
TMO: Hugh Watkins (Wales)

Teamsheets
Ireland – 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (captain), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O’Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Cian Healy.
Subs: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Gordon D’Arcy.

Springboks – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Dewald Potgieter, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Jean de Villiers.

Scorers
Italy 10 (7)
Try: Gonzalo Garcia
Conversion: Craig Gower
Penalty: Craig Gower

Springboks 32 (12)
Tries: Bryan Habana, Jaque Fourie, Fourie du Preez, Wynand Olivier
Conversions: Morne Steyn (2), Ruan Pienaar
Penalties: Morne Steyn (2)

Teamsheets
Springboks – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Adi Jacobs, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Subs: 16 Beast Mtawarira , 17 BJ Botha, 18 Victor Matfield, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier.

Italy – 15 Luke McLean, 14 Matteo Pratichetti, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Simon Piccone, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Subs: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Ignacio Rouyet, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Gonzalo Canale.

Dick Muir’s inexplicable need to make wholesale substitutions of the wrong players at the wrong time has once again cost his side victory. He couldn’t get it right at the Sharks and he continues his ineptitude with the Boks. James Jones, the referee, didn’t help matters either with what must surely go down as the single worst performance by a referee in the professional era (although some Kiwis might disagree). The players are not completely blameless either, with the likes of Ndungane, Pienaar, Hargreaves, Hougaard and Heinke van der Merwe playing themselves completely out of Bok contention. The end result – Saracens 24 – Springboks 23 making it three losses from three for South Africa on what is fast becoming a nightmare European tour.

Scorers
Saracens 24 (6)
Tries: Ernst Joubert, Brad Barritt
Conversions: Derick Hougaard
Penalties: Derick Hougaard (3)
Drop goal: Derick Hougaard

South Africa 23 (18)
Tries: Juan de Jongh, Jongi Nokwe (2)
Conversion: Ruan Pienaar
Penalties: Ruan Pienaar (2)