Category: Springboks

News and discussion about the Springboks

Wales 25 (17)
Tries: George North (2), James Hook
Conversions: Stephen Jones (2)
Penalties: Stephen Jones (2)

Springboks 29 (9)
Tries: Willem Alberts, Victor Matfield
Conversions: Morne Steyn (2)
Penalties: Morne Steyn (5)

Bok player ratings

Other tests
Italy 16 – 22 Argentina
England 35 – 18 Australia
Ireland 20 – 10 Samoa
France 34 – 12 Fiji
Scotland 03 – 49 New Zealand

Date: Saturday 13 November 2010 | 16:40 SA Time
Venue: Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales

Wales: 15 Lee Byrne; 14 George North, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 James Hook, 11 Shane Williams; 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips; 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Matthew Rees (C), 3 Adam Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Martyn Williams, 8 Jonathan Thomas
Substitutes: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Paul James, 18 Ryan Jones, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Andrew Bishop, 22 Chris Czekaj

South Africa: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne 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 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 TBA, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Zane Kirchner, 22 Pat Lambie

Other tests
16:00 Italy v Argentina
16:30 England vs Australia
16:30 Ireland vs Samoa
19:00 France v Fiji
19:15 Scotland vs New Zealand

Date: 6 November 2010 | 19:30 SA Time
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Ireland
Conditions: 70% chance of rain

Ireland – 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Tony Buckley, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 5 Mick O’Driscoll, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 David Wallace, 8 Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Keith Earls.

Springboks – 15 Gio Aplon, (more…)

A 39-man group to attend a two-day training camp in Joburg next Friday has been named.

The group is:

Backs (15)
WP (5): Gio Aplon, J de Jongh, J de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Ricky Januarie
Bulls (4): Francois Hougaard, Zane Kirchner, Wynand Olivier, Morne Steyn
Sharks (4): Adrian Jacobs, Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo, JP Pietersen
Griquas (1): Bjorn Basson
Lions (1): Elton Jantjies

Forwards (24) (more…)

UPDATE Erasmus has told The Cape Times that he knows nothing of an offer and that the position is just media speculation. He said he remains committed to the Stormers and WP and is contracted until 2012.

Rob Wagner, MD of Western Province Rugby said, “Rassie Erasmus is contracted to WP Rugby until the end of 2012 and will not be leaving WP to take up a coaching position with SARU. Rassie is committed to WP Rugby and is a valued and respected member of the coaching staff. The rumours of a rift and an imminent move have absolutely no basis. There will be no further comment on the matter.”

Original story Western Province Senior Professional Coach Rassie Erasmus will be brought into the Springbok management team as a strategic consultant and technical adviser.

SARU wants Erasmus to join hapless coach Peter de Villiers and his assistants Gary Gold and Dick Muir on the Boks’ end-of-year tour in November. They are reportedly so desperate that they will pay any amount for him to be released from his contract with Western Province.

WP defence coach Jacques Nienaber will likely follow Erasmus if he accepts the post, meaning that Gary Gold becomes surplus to requirements with his two areas of responsibility being covered by others (the forwards by Os du Randt and Rassie Erasmus, defence by Nienaber). De Villiers, as always, remains untouchable.

The disharmony between Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and his assistants Dick Muir and Gary Gold has reached a head, with De Villiers seemingly in a desperate search for new assistants before the Springboks embark on their end-of-year tour. This despite SARU having stated that the current Springbok management would stay intact. (more…)

Australia and New Zealand must have breathed a collective sigh of relief as SARU decided to keep the Springbok coaching team intact. The decision emerged after today’s review of the shocking performance of the national side under Peter de Villiers, Dick Muir and Gary Gold.

“The committee’s focus was very much on examining areas where we can assist the Springbok team and coach in making sure they arrive at the field in the best possible state of preparation,” said James Stoffberg, chairman of the review committee. “We reviewed the season to date and have discussed options for assisting the team in those preparations. It was a frank meeting but a positive one. The results of the Springbok team are of paramount importance to our organisation and everyone in the room was committed to providing the team with the best conditions in which to succeed.”

Peter de Villiers said: “It was a very helpful process as we have thoroughly reviewed all our systems. We know there are areas in which we must improve and we will be focusing on those in the remainder of the season.”

Oregan Hoskins said: “We are almost finished with our review. It was really advantageous. But we will treat the issue in confidence as it related to an employee. We are asking people to give us a chance to digest what happened here today.” When asked whether the Springbok coaches’ jobs were safe Hoskins simply said: “I’m not going to answer that, sorry.”

One of the reasons held up by SARU for not being able to get rid of the underperforming Springbok coaching staff of Peter de Villiers, Gary Gold and Dick Muir was that they would not be able to afford to pay out the remainder of the coaches’ contracts. Now, in a situation of supreme irony, it appears that SARU does have the money to be able to fire them all. Where did it come from? The Springboks played so poorly in the Tri Nations that SARU was not required to pay out performance and win bonuses totalling R4 million. It turns out that this is more than enough to buy out the coaching team’s contracts – with change to spare.