Year: 2009

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)

Match Details
Date: Tuesday, November 17
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London
Kick-off: 21.45 SA (19.45 GMT)
Referee: James Jones (Wales)   
Assistant referees: Rob Debney, Paul Dix
TMO: Brian Abrahams, David Matthews

Teamsheets
South Africa: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 6 Jean Deysel, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 François Hougaard, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Riaan Viljoen.

Saracens (South Africans in bold): 15 Michael Horak, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Melck, 6 Wikus van Heerden (c), 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Richard Skuse, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Rhys Gill.
Subs: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 George Kruis, 19 Andy Saull, 20 Kevin Barrett, 21 Alex Goode, 22 Rodd Penney.

The trio of Rastas that bungled the SA anthem before the game against France have expressed surprise at being told they sucked. The South African embassy chose the singer of South Africa’s national anthem in Toulouse on Friday night. ‘Every time we welcome a foreign side, we ask the embassy to propose people for the national anthems,’ said French team manager Maso. ‘It’s the South African Embassy that put forward this man and we respected their choice.’

Durban local Ras Dumisani, who now records out of Paris, sang the anthem and was astounded when told players and coach Peter de Villiers were unhappy at his performance, saying  ‘everyone at the stadium told me I sang well, even after the match. The Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika has been my tune since a baby’ he added. ‘How can I not know the words? There are four languages: Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, English. It’s just four bars, always saying the same thing. I am the biggest reggae man in South Africa and the Springboks are my team. Everyone has their own tastes and you can’t always account for that but most people find my music so beautiful.’

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcMA4Bz1SHI