Category: Springboks

News and discussion about the Springboks

Reports say South Africa flanker Juan Smith has been ruled out for the entire Super 15 rugby season and may miss the World Cup after tearing his Achilles tendon.

The Super 15 website, quoting Cheetahs sources, says Smith will be sidelined for the next six to nine months. Smith would also miss the Tri-Nations, and possibly the World Cup in New Zealand in September.

Cheetahs captain Smith left the field just two minutes into his first game of the season against the defending champion Bulls in round two of the Super 15 on Friday. The report says he will have surgery early next week. The 69-times capped Smith, a World Cup winner in 2007, passed a late fitness test on an ankle injury before the match.

Barbarians 26 – Tries: Drew Mitchell (2), James O’Connor, Quintin Geldenhuys. Conversions: James O’Connor (3)

Springboks 20 – Tries: Odwa Ndungane, Bakkies Botha, Bandise Maku. Conversion: Elton Jantjies. Penalty: Elton Jantjies

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

@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)

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.