Friday 8 June 2012

Junior Rugby World Championships

@ University of Western Cape, Bellville

14:45 Fiji v Samoa
16:45 France v Scotland
18:45 South Africa v Italy

@ Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch

14:45 Australia v Argentina
16:45 New Zealand v Wales
18:45 England v Ireland

Saturday 9 June 2012

International Test matches

09:35 New Zealand v Ireland (Auckland)
Ou Grote: New Zealand by 12
Bet.coza: New Zealand (0.1 / 7)
TheBounce: New Zealand by 21

12:00 Australia v Wales (Brisbane)
Ou Grote: Australia by 3
Bet.coza: Australia (0.5 / 1.8)
TheBounce: Australia by 4

17:00 South Africa v England (Durban)
Ou Grote: South Africa by 3
Bet.coza: South Africa (0.33 / 2.5)
TheBounce: South Africa by 6

20:40 Argentina v Italy (San Juan)
Ou Grote: Argentina by 3

French Top 14 Final

18:00 Stade Toulousain v RC Toulon
Ou Grote: RC Toulon by 3
Bet.coza: Stade Toulousain (0.5 / 1.6)

A nightmare start to the Junior Rugby World Championships could see the Baby Boks fail to progress out of the group stage at their home tournament, after being comprehensively outplayed by their Irish counterparts in Stellenbosch yesterday.

Coach Dawie Theron put the defeat down to “small errors” on the part of his team, while captain Wiaan Liebenberg blamed the referee “I think there were several calls that didn’t go our way. I was frustrated with that, especially with their bodies lying all over the ball.”

Neither coach nor captain took responsibility for their team being dominated at the breakdown, destroyed in the set-pieces and simply being outplayed and out-thought in all facets of the game. The game plan appeared to be the standard bash it up and kick possession away that has become the staple of South African coaches. The Baby Boks play England next but face an almost impossible task to progress in the tournament.

All the results from day one:

Monday June 04 2012

South Africa 19 – 23 Ireland
France 15 – 18 Argentina
New Zealand 63 – 0 Samoa
England 64 – 5 Italy
Wales 44 – 18 Fiji
Australia 67 – 12 Scotland

From Sport24

Local rugby writer Mark Keohane has resigned as spokesperson for South Africa’s Olympic team after allegations of drug abuse and sexual harassment. According to Rapport, Keohane resigned from his post on Friday, while also stepping down as director of publishing company, Highbury Safika Media (HSM).

Former female employees of Keohane claim he suffers from a “miserable cocaine addiction”, visits prostitutes and also sexually harasses women. Read more on Sport 24

Springbok 32 man squad for the 2012 test series against England.

FAQ

What’s the game plan?
Backline coach Ricardo Loubscher: “We have to earn the right to go wide. We are going to play directly and attack the 10-12 channel. So obviously the wings won’t get the ball in the early phases. If we create overlap opportunities we’ll be in business. We have a philosophy that we believe in. Our job is to get in behind the pack of forwards and to get guys to finish from there.”

How many from each province?
Bulls 13 / Sharks 11 / Stormers 3 / Lions 2 / Cheetahs 2 / Overseas 1

What? Only 3 players from SA’s top Super 15 side?
Allister Coetzee will be looking forward to the rest of the Super 15 with his fresh / discarded players

Who are the uncapped players?
Flank Marcell Coetzee (MC: “You don’t want to think about it like that (being picked ahead of Brüssow), but Heinrich’s a very respected player. What he’s done for South African rugby is enormous. I respect him a lot and I’m sure he’ll come back fighting. It (my selection) shows the belief the coach has in me and hopefully I won’t disappoint. England bring a real physical presence which you could see when they played the Barbarians last week. They’re a new, young squad with lots of enthusiasm. We clearly won’t underestimate them. They like to play with their forwards and they like to take the ball up and attack the gain-line. Their backline seems to have a new dimension to it with a bit of flair. We will do our studies on them but we would focus on ourselves rather than the opposition.”), wing JJ Engelbrecht, lock Eben Etzebeth (EE: “I was so ecstatic, there was a tear rolling down. It was by far the best day of my life. I don’t know what to expect. It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be hard and tough. That’s Test match rugby and hopefully I get my chance. They’ve been quite good this year. I saw them playing against the Barbarians last weekend when they put up quite a good performance. It will be a tough series.”), flyhalf Elton Jantjies, lock Juandré Kruger, prop Coenie Oosthuizen, flank Jacques Potgieter, lock Franco van der Merwe, scrumhalf Jano Vermaak.

What the hell are they doing there?
Wynand Olivier, Zane Kirchner and Ryan Kankowski

Where the hell are?
Heinrich Brussow (HM: “That was a tough call because Heinrich is still up with the best opensides in the game, but the game has changed. They’re being penalised more and hookers are stealing more ball now. If the laws change, which they will, then he’ll definitely be in the mix. But at the moment it’s up to him to adapt to the laws.”), Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon, Siya Kolisi and Peter Grant?

I guess there’s nothing we can do about…
Pierre Spies, Flip van der Merwe, Ruan Pienaar

What happened to…
Fourie du Preez – wasn’t he offered the captaincy?
(HM: “I have a lot of respect for Fourie but he knows my motto is team first. I had a few meetings with him and he said he wasn’t 100 percent sure he’s at his best, having not played for two-and-a-half months. It was a hard decision to leave him out but it shows the character of the man that he told me to go with the youngsters if I felt he was a 50-50 selection. I will now chat to the senior players before naming my captain.”) Jean de Villiers has been named as captain for the 3 test series against England.

What did Heyneke Meyer say?
‘We were always looking to start the season with an experienced squad to face England, but injuries to certain players and the non-availability of others have made it difficult.

‘What we’ve lost in experience, we’ve made up in passion and desire to play for the Springboks. We have put together a squad with a nice balance between a number of veterans and players with less experience as we start to build for the rest of the season.

‘Working with these players during our four planning camps this season has been great and really made a very difficult selection process a bit easier. There were a few unlucky players that didn’t make it and they will get opportunities in future as long as they keep on knocking on the door.

‘The nine uncapped players have all put up their hands during Super Rugby this year and we know they have what it takes to succeed at the highest level. We realise that it is impossible to please everyone when it comes to selecting squads like these, but we would really like to see the entire country stand behind us as we take on England.’

The Squad

  • Willem Alberts
  • Bjorn Basson
  • Marcell Coetzee
  • Keegan Daniel
  • Jean de Villiers (Captain)
  • Bismarck du Plessis (VC)
  • Jannie du Plessis
  • JJ Engelbrecht
  • Eben Etzebeth
  • Bryan Habana
  • Francois Hougaard
  • Elton Jantjies
  • Ryan Kankowski
  • Zane Kirchner
  • Juandré Kruger
  • Werner Kruger
  • Patrick Lambie
  • Tendai Mtawarira
  • Lwazi Mvovo
  • Wynand Olivier
  • Coenie Oosthuizen
  • Ruan Pienaar
  • JP Pietersen
  • Jacques Potgieter
  • Chiliboy Ralepelle
  • Pierre Spiesv
  • Frans Steyn
  • Morné Steyn
  • Adriaan Strauss
  • Flip van der Merwe
  • Franco van der Merwe
  • Jano Vermaak

Gauteng

Parktown 18 – 29 St Alban’s
Jeppe 22 – 26 St Stithians
Florida 65 – 0 Marais Viljoen
KES 17 – 20 Pretoria Boys’
Garsfontein 33 – 28 Centurion
EG Jansen 68 – 15 Jeugland
Middelburg 25 – 19 Nelspruit
Klerksdorp 45 – 10 Potch Gym
Waterkloof 85 – 0 Zwartkop

Kwazulu-Natal

Kearsney 30 – 10 Maritzburg College
DHS 15 – 44 Hilton
Michaelhouse 44 – 0 Northwood

Eastern Cape

Grey PE 22 – 9 Dale
St Andrew’s 31 – 28 Queen’s
Newton 10 – 60 Daniel Pienaar
Die Brandwag 38 – 11 Otto du Plessis
Alexander Road 5 – 18 Graeme
Nico Malan 44 – 12 Muir
Selborne 17 – 12 Port Rex
Kingswood 39 – 10 Stirling

Western Cape

Bishops 5 – 80 Paarl Boys’
Boland Landbou 10 – 13 Drostdy
Oakdale 15 – 25 Paarl Gym
Wynberg 12 – 29 Paul Roos
Rondebosch 17 – 36 SACS
Outeniqua 36 – 6 Langenhoven