Month: October 2012

The 31-man Springbok squad to take on Ireland, Scotland and England on the end of year tour has been named.

OUT: Bryan Habana – injured his knee in the Currie Cup final.
IN: Raymond Rhule – the young Cheetahs wing makes the squad.
IN: Schalk Brits – the London-based Brits comes in as cover hooker off the bench.
IN: Gurthro Steenkamp – France-based Steenkamp comes in to cover at prop.
IN: JP Pietersen – returns after sitting out The Rugby Championship.

Uncapped players making the squad: Jano Vermaak, Franco van der Merwe, Lionel Mapoe and Arno Botha.

Provincial make-up: Bulls (8), Sharks (7), Lions (6), Overseas (4), Western Province (4), Cheetahs (2)

The Springbok Squad

Willem Alberts (The Sharks) – Loose forward, 17 Tests
Arno Botha (Vodacom Blue Bulls) – Loose forward, 0
Schalk Brits (Saracens, England) – Hooker, 3
Pat Cilliers (MTN Golden Lions) – Prop, 3
Marcell Coetzee (The Sharks) – Loose forward, 9
Juan de Jongh (DHL Western Province) – Centre, 12
Jean de Villiers (captain, DHL Western Province) – Centre, 81
Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks) – Prop, 39
Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province) – Lock, 8
Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls) – Scrumhalf / Wing, 24
Elton Jantjies (MTN Golden Lions) – Flyhalf, 2
Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls) – Fullback, 21
Juandr̩ Kruger (Vodacom Blue Bulls) РLock , 5
Pat Lambie (The Sharks) – Fullback / Flyhalf, 17
Francois Louw (Bath, England) – Loose forward, 14
Lionel Mapoe (MTN Golden Lions) – Wing / Centre, 0
Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks) – Prop, 41
Lwazi Mvovo (The Sharks) – Wing, 7
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N Ireland) – Scrumhalf, 60
JP Pietersen (The Sharks) – Wing / Centre, 45
Chiliboy Ralepelle (Vodacom Blue Bulls) – Hooker, 21
Raymond Rhule (Toyota FS Cheetahs) – Wing, 0
Gurthr̦ Steenkamp (Toulouse, France) РProp, 38
Morn̩ Steyn (Vodacom Blue Bulls) РFlyhalf, 41
Adriaan Strauss (Toyota FS Cheetahs) – Hooker, 18
Jaco Taute (MTN Golden Lions) – Utility back, 2
CJ van der Linde (MTN Golden Lions) – Prop, 73
Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls) – Lock, 20
Franco van der Merwe (MTN Golden Lions) – Lock, 0
Jano Vermaak (Vodacom Blue Bulls) – Scrumhalf, 0
Duane Vermeulen (DHL Western Province) – No 8, 4

Written off by everyone except myself, Western Province put in a gutsy performance to deny the Sharks in Durban. The final score was 25 – 18. Key aspects of the game were John Plumtree’s poor substitutions (particularly taking Jannie du Plessis off), Craig Burden’s terrible lineout throwing, Demetri Catrakilis’ drop-goals, and Juan de Jongh’s brilliantly taken try. Luckily Jaco Peyper’s shocking refereeing performance did not influence the result.

The nominations are out for the 2012 SA Rugby Player of the Year. Winners will be announced at Saru’s annual awards ceremony in Cape Town on 1 November.

SARU Player of the Year nominees (Ou Grote’s pick in bold)

Player of the Year
1. Keegan Daniel
2. Eben Etzebeth
3. Bryan Habana
4. Pat Lambie
5. JP Pietersen

Young Player of the Year
1. Marcell Coetzee
2. Eben Etzebeth
3. Johan Goosen
4. Elton Jantjies
5. Raymond Rhule

Team of the Year
(more…)

2012 Currie Cup Final predictions

Saturday 27 October 16:30 Sharks v Western Province
 
 
Sharks
 v
Western Province
 
Rob (Ou Grote): Western Province by 3
James (Ou Grote): Sharks by 9
Bet.coza: Sharks (0.50 / 1.70)
Ben (The Bounce): Sharks by 8
Mark (Keo): Sharks
Gareth (Keo): Sharks by 15
Johan Ackermann (Lions coach): Sharks by 15
Tank (FRG): Sharks by 7
 

Teamsheets

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Keegan Daniel (captain), 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Jandre Marais, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Odwa Ndungane.

Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Don Armand, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache, 22 Joe Pietersen

Details

Date: Saturday, October 27
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Christie du Preez, Stefan Breytenbach
TMO: Johann Meuwesen

Other fixtures

Friday 26 October

Currie Cup Promotion/Relegation
19:10 – EP Kings vs Cheetahs (PE)

Saturday 27 October

Under 19 Competition
12:00 – Western Province vs Blue Bulls (Durban)

Under 21 Competition
14:00 – Western Province vs Blue Bulls (Durban)

2012 Currie Cup semifinals predictions

Game 2 of 2 Saturday 20 October 19:00 Lions v Western Province
 
 
Lions
 v
Western Province
 
Rob (Ou Grote): WP by 3
James (Ou Grote): WP by 7
Bet.coza: WP (0.67 / 1.45)
Ben (The Bounce): WP by 6
Rob (Sharksworld): Lions by 3
Gareth (Keo): Lions by 5
Tank (FRG): WP by 7
 
Next

2012 Currie Cup semifinals predictions

Game 1 of 2 Saturday 20 October 16:30 Sharks v Bulls
 
 
Sharks
 v
Blue Bulls
 
Rob (Ou Grote): Sharks by 11
James (Ou Grote): Sharks by 5
Bet.coza: Sharks (0.46 / 2.05)
Rob (Sharksworld): Sharks by 4
Ben (The Bounce): Sharks by 5
Gareth (Keo): Sharks by 12
Tank (FRG): Sharks by 7
 
Next

2012 Currie Cup round 10 predictions

Game 3 of 3 Saturday 13 October 19:10 Lions v Bulls
 
 
Golden Lions
 v
Blue Bulls
 
Rob (Ou Grote): Lions by 6
James (Ou Grote): Bulls by 5
Bet.coza: Bulls (0.50/2.00)
Rob (Sharksworld): Bulls by 14
Gareth (Keo): Bulls by 8
Tank (FRG): Bulls by 5
 
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2012 Currie Cup round 10 predictions

Game 1 of 3 Friday 12 October 19:10 Sharks vs Griquas (Durban)
 
 
Sharks
 v
Griquas
 
Rob (Ou Grote): Sharks by 5
James (Ou Grote): Sharks by 11
Bet.coza: Sharks (0.16/5.00)
Rob (Sharksworld): Sharks by 15
Gareth (Keo): Sharks by 15
Tank (FRG): Sharks by 14
 
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