Weekend rugby results – 24 November 2012
Wales 10 – 33 New Zealand (Cardiff)
France 22 – 14 Samoa (Paris)
Scotland 15 – 21 Tonga (Edinburgh)
England 15 – 16 South Africa (London)
Ireland 46 – 24 Argentina (Dublin)
Italy 19 – 22 Australia (Rome)
28 seconds into the All Blacks test against Wales, Andrew Hore flattened Bradley Davies with a sucker punch from behind. Expect the New Zealander to receive a one week ban…
The Springbok team to take on England has been named.
– Pat Cilliers replaces CJ van der Linde on the bench.
РElton Jantjies replaces Morn̩ Steyn on the bench.
Heyneke Meyer: ‘It’s great to be able to field an unchanged team. We’ve been able to show some consistency in selection on this tour and that is a good thing. The players have worked extremely hard on the training field and it wasn’t easy to select the match 23 for each of the three Tests, but I’m happy that we managed to stick to combinations.’
Springbok team
15. Zane Kirchner (Blue Bulls)
14. JP Pietersen (Sharks)
13. Juan de Jongh
12. Jean de Villiers (captain, Stormers)
11. Francois Hougaard (Blue Bulls)
10. Patrick Lambie (Sharks)
09. Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N Ireland)
08. Duane Vermeulen (Stormers)
07. Willem Alberts (Sharks)
06. Francois Louw (Bath)
05. Juandre Kruger (Blue Bulls)
04. Eben Etzebeth (Stormers)
03. Jannie du Plessis (Sharks)
02. Adriaan Strauss (vice-captain, FS Cheetahs)
01. Gurthrö Steenkamp (Toulouse)
Replacements
16. Schalk Brits
17. Heinke van der Merwe
18. Pat Cilliers
19. Flip van der Merwe
20. Marcell Coetzee
21. Elton Jantjies
22. Jaco Taute
23. Lwazi Mvovo
England 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
2012 End of Year Internationals Round 3 predictions
| Game 6 of 6 – 19:15 Saturday 24 November Wales vs New Zealand, Cardiff | ||
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Wales
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New Zealand
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Rob (Ou Grote): New Zealand by 7 James (Ou Grote): New Zealand by 15 Bet.coza: New Zealand (0.06/8.00) |
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2012 End of Year Internationals Round 3 predictions
| Game 5 of 6 – 19:00 Saturday 24 November France vs Samoa, Paris | ||
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France
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Samoa
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Rob (Ou Grote): France by 18 James (Ou Grote): France by 9 Bet.coza: France (0.12/5.50) |
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2012 End of Year Internationals Round 3 predictions
| Game 4 of 6 – 16:30 Saturday 24 November England vs South Africa, London | ||
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England
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South Africa
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Rob (Ou Grote): South Africa by 15 James (Ou Grote): South Africa by 3 Bet.coza: Even (0.90/0.90) |
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2012 End of Year Internationals Round 3 predictions
| Game 3 of 6 – 16:30 Saturday 24 November Scotland vs Tonga, Edinburgh | ||
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Scotland
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Tonga
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Rob (Ou Grote): Scotland by 6 James (Ou Grote): Scotland by 11 Bet.coza: Scotland (0.12/5.50) |
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2012 End of Year Internationals Round 3 predictions
| Game 2 of 6 – 16:00 Saturday 24 November Ireland vs Argentina, Dublin | ||
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Ireland
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Argentina
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Rob (Ou Grote): Argentina by 3 James (Ou Grote): Ireland by 7 Bet.coza: Ireland (0.40/2.00) |
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2012 End of Year Internationals Round 3 predictions
| Game 1 of 6 – 16:00 Saturday 24 November Italy vs Australia, Rome | ||
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Italy
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Australia
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Rob (Ou Grote): Australia by 12 James (Ou Grote): Australia by 22 Bet.coza: Australia (0.08/6.50) |
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The Springbok backline play under coach Heyneke Meyer has ranged from shocking to abysmal. Many are pointing the finger at backline coach Ricardo Loubscher, and when you look at his coaching CV you can understand why.
His claim to fame to date has been coaching the backline of the Vodacom Cup winning Bulls in 2010. Hardly a reason to elevate him to his current position with South Africa’s premier team.
He served his apprenticeship under Meyer at the Bulls and it seems that he was merely brought in to be a yes-man to his controlling mentor. In any case, the man appears to be completely out of his depth.
Ricardo Loubscher Coaching CV
Ricardo Loubscher, a former Bok winger and fullback (4 tests), who was coached by Meyer at the Bulls as a player, was then lured into coaching in Pretoria and learned the trade under Meyer and Bulls coach Frans Ludeke for seven years.
Loubscher has been a backline coach to the Bulls junior teams, and was also the Bulls backline coach for the Vodacom Cup team that won the title in 2010.
He has also assisted Meyer in coaching the Tuks Varsity Cup team, splitting his role between Tuks and the Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup side.
Backline coach – Bulls – 2010 Vodacom Cup winners
Assistant coach – Tuks Varsity Cup team
Backline coach – Springboks