Month: November 2010

Date: Saturday 4 December 2010
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT (16:30 SA time)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos (Fr), Peter Allan (Sco)

Barbarians: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Joe Rococoko, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau (captain), 9 Will Genia, 8 Colin Bourke, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Rodney So’oialo, 5 Chris Jack, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Yapp, 18 Quintin Geldenhuys, 19 Daniel Braid, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Seru Rabini
Coach: Nick Mallett

Springboks: 15 Patrick Lambie , 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Lwazi Mvovo , 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Francois Hougaard , 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Juan Smith (captain), 6 Willem Alberts, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 AN Other, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Keegan Daniel, 21 Charl McLeod, 22 Gio Aplon.
Coach: Peter de Villiers

Previous results vs Barbarians
2007 Barbarians 22 – 05 South Africa
2000 Barbarians 31 – 41 South Africa
1994 Barbarians 23 – 15 South Africa
1970 Barbarians 12 – 21 South Africa
1961 Barbarians 06 – 00 South Africa
1952 Barbarians 03 – 17 South Africa

The Springbok statistics for 2010 are as follows:

Overall Statistics
Played: 14 | Won: 8 | Lost: 6
Win percentage: 57%
Points for: 397 | Points against: 344
Average points: 28 – 25

Tries
Tries for: 38 | Tries against: 35
Tries by forwards: 21 | Tries by backs: 17
(more…)

@VictorMatfield: On my way back to a sunny SA. So nice to get on the plane after a great performance like yesterday. The guys showed a lot of hard out there
Peter de Villiers was asked if he thought the win against England had saved his job:
“I never employed myself. It would be a lot easier if I did. I don’t care. The pressure I respond to is to deliver for the country, to give hope to South Africans. That does not mean we won’t make mistakes. You can slaughter me if I make a big mistake, I just hope you can sell the meat.”

England 11 (6)
Tries: Ben Foden. Penalties: Toby Flood (2)

Springboks 21 (6)
Tries: Willem Alberts, Lwazi Mvovo. Conversion: Morne Steyn. Penalties: Morne Steyn (3)

South Africa’s backs coach Dick Muir admits the Springboks management team could face the axe if they lose to England at Twickenham on Saturday. (more…)

Supersport’s senior rugby correspondent Gavin Rich joined from London for a Q&A session ahead of the clash with England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Q: Hi Gavin, what do you think the chances are of Peter de Villiers getting fired? You said before the tour that any mishap either on or off the pitch on this tour might cost him his job.
A: I think he is one 80 minute poor performance from being fired. If the Boks lose at Twickenham, I would say he is certainly gone. Even if they win, this is something they need to look at – the Boks aren’t growing their game at all and have regressed significantly not only in this past year, but from where they started after 2007.

Q: Reading the Supersport blogs, I can see that many people are very angry with PDV because of the lost to Scotland. Many want PDV to be fired. What are your comments on that. (more…)

Date: Saturday, November 27
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 16.30 SA (14.30 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant refs: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ire), Simon Mcdowell (Ire)
TMO: Iain Ramage (Scotland)

England: 15 Ben Foden; 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto; 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs; 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Coles, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Hendre Fourie, 20 Danny Care, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Matt Banahan.

South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 François Hougaard, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 Adi Jacobs.

The Boks’ grand slam ambitions are over after being beaten by Scotland on the weekend. The Scots were poor but thoroughly deserving of their victory over the diabolically dumb Springboks who played their worst game since the 49-0 drubbing at the hands of Australia.

In a post-match interview a seemingly jovial Peter de Villiers gave the impression that he didn’t care about what had just transpired on the field. “All credit to Scotland, but we only had ourselves to blame. Some of the refereeing decisions were puzzling, however we did not respond the way we should have done. We now have to pick ourselves up physically and mentally for the challenge of playing England next weekend.”

Victor Matfield seemed in a foul mood on Saturday, almost losing the plot with referee Stuart Dickinson. It must have been the inconvenience of having to play a game of rugby during his golf tour of Scotland. Just look at his build-up to the big game on Saturday:

Tues 16th: Another set back today with Bryan breaking his hand. The only good news this last two days is that we got in at St Andrews Old Course.
Wed 17th: Dick Muir had a hole-in-one on the 11th at St Andrews. How spesial is that.
Thurs 18th: Really enjoyed yesterday at St Andrews. Just an unbelievable place but now its back to business.On our way to training.
Thurs 18th: Didnt want to be arrogant but Spies and myself took Jean and Hougies money. We were all square walking down the 18th.You cant buy experience.

No wonder the players want de Villiers to remain as coach – it’s just one long holiday while he’s in charge. Well done for not taking Scotland lightly…

Scotland 21 (12)
Penalties: Dan Parks (6). Drop goal: Dan Parks

Springboks 17 (9)
Try: Willem Alberts. Penalties: Morne Steyn (4)

Date: Saturday 20 November 2010 | 16:30 SA Time
Venue: Murrayfield, Scotland

Scotland – 15. Hugo Southwell, 14. Nikki Walker, 13. Max Evans, 12. Graeme Morrison, 11. Sean Lamont, 10. Dan Parks, 9. Rory Lawson (c), 8. John Barclay, 7. Kelly Brown, 6. Nathan Hines, 5. Scott MacLeod, 4. Richie Gray, 3. Euan Murray, 2. Ross Ford, 1. Allan Jacobsen
Subs: 16. Dougie Hall, 17. Moray Low, 18. Richie Vernon, 19. Ross Rennie, 20. Greig Laidlaw, 21. Ruaridh Jackson, 22. Chris Paterson

South Africa -15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Francois Steyn, 12. Jean de Villiers, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Morne Steyn, 9. Francois Hougaard, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Juan Smith, 6. Deon Stegmann, 5. Victor Matfield, 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Beast Mtawarira
Replacements: 16. Adriaan Strauss, 17. CJ van der Linde, 18. Flip van der Merwe, 19. Willem Alberts, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Patrick Lambie, 22. Adrian Jacobs

South Africa’s Chiliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson have failed dope tests and will play no further part in the tour of Britain and Ireland, the world champions announced on Monday. (more…)