The kick-off times for the 2009 British and Irish Lions Tour of South Africa have been confirmed.
The schedule is as follow:
Sat, May 30 - Highveld XV v Lions Rustenburg: 3pm
Wed, June 3 - Xerox Golden Lions v Lions Johannesburg: (7-10pm)
Sat, June 6 - Vodacom Free State Cheetahs v Lions Bloemfontein: (3pm)
Wed, June 10 - Sharks v Lions Durban: (7-10pm)
Sat, June 13 - Vodacom WP v Lions Cape Town: (3pm)
Tues, June 16 TBC - Coastal Xv v Lions Port Elizabeth: (3pm)
Sat June 20 - South Africa v Lions Durban: (3pm)
Tues, June 23 - Emerging SA v Lions Cape Town: (7-10pm)
Sat, June 27 - South Africa v Lions Pretoria: (3pm)
Sat, July 4 - South Africa v Lions Johannesburg: (3pm)
The President’s Council of the South African Rugby Union resolved yesterday to move the Springbok emblem to the right-hand side of the national playing jersey.
“The decision was taken to accommodate the application of the National Sports Emblem – the King Protea – and to bring SA Rugby in line with other South African sports federations and planned legislation.
As a consequence of the change the Protea that is currently displayed above the leaping Springbok, will be removed from the Springbok logo.
“The Council took cognisance of the advice they received from the Sports Minister on pending national legislation and a consensus was reached,” said Mr Oregan Hoskins, SARU President.
“The possibility of retaining the Springbok on the left-hand side was discussed, as council had not taken a decision on the positioning and legislation remains to be promulgated. However, it was the decision of council to avoid confusion by making the move now and to prevent a future necessity of making a second change in due course.”
The timing of the change will be confirmed once logistical considerations have been finalised.“
Source: sarugby.co.za
The Springboks crushed England on Saturday by beating them 42 - 6 at Twickenham by coming up with an excellent display of defence.
“Tries by Danie Rossouw, Ruan Pienaar, Adie Jacobs, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana and assured goalkicking by Pienaar after the break completed a hugely satisfying European tour with South Africa’s sixth win in a row against England.
On a day that marked the fifth anniversary of England’s 2003 World Cup triumph, the home side were given a stark reminder of how far they have fallen since that glorious night in Sydney and the heady days of seven successive wins over the Springboks.
“It was a brutal lesson,” coach Martin Johnson told Sky Sports News. “We created a lot of opportunities but the execution was poor.”
Springbok captain John Smit said: “We signed off in style. I asked a lot from the guys this week but they gave me more.
“I could feel it before the game, you know every guy is really on task and you get these wonderful days when everything comes together.”
England got off to a flyer with a Danny Cipriani penalty in the first minute but it was very much a false dawn as within 20 minutes the Springboks had raced into a 17-3 lead, with all the points coming from English mistakes.
A penalty levelled it before Rossouw showed great strength to get the first try after England lost possession 10 metres from the South African line.
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Bok coach Peter de Villiers named the Springbok team that’ll take on the English at Twuckenham on Saturday.
“Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis came into the front row in place of his injured brother Bismarck, with John Smit moving inside to hooker. There was also a change in the back row where Danie Rossouw is promoted from the bench to replace Juan Smith who took a blow to the head against Scotland and has not fully recovered.
The back division is unchanged – with Fourie du Preez still not fully recovered from a quadriceps injury – while there were two changes on the bench.
Flanker Heinrich Brussow could make his Test debut if he is called into action while Chiliboy Ralepelle covers for John Smit. They replace Rossouw and the injured Gurthro Steenkamp.
The team is as follow (test caps in brackets):
1. Beast Mtawarira (9)
2. John Smit (capt) (80)
3. Jannie du Plessis (6)
4. Bakkies Botha (54)
5. Victor Matfield (79)
6. Schalk Burger (48)
7. Danie Rossouw (35)
8. Pierre Spies (18)
9. Ricky Januaries (33)
10. Ruan Pienaar (26)
11. Bryan Habana (45)
12. Jean de Villiers (45)
13. Adi Jacobs (20)
14. JP Pietersen (23)
15. Conrad Jantjes (23)
Reserves:
16. Chiliboy Ralepelle (2)
17. Brian Mujati (11)
18. Andries Bekker (12)
19. Ryan Kankowski (6)
20. Heinrich Brussow (-)
21. Frans Steyn (26)
22. Jaque Fourie (35)
Source: sarugby.co.za
The South African Rugby union have released a statement on Tuesday evening, stating that they will not continue with any charges against South African loose forward Luke Watson about statements made about SA Rugby or the Springbok emblem / jersey.
“SA Rugby Press Release:
The South African Rugby Union initiated disciplinary steps against Mr Luke Watson after it came into possession of a recording of remarks made by Mr Watson at a function organised by the Ubumbo Rugby Club at UCT on 3 October 2008.
The recording was provided to SARU after it was already in the possession of the media. In the light of the remarks contained in the recording, which have been widely reported in the media, SARU had little choice but to take the action it did.
SARU accepts the ruling of Mr Nape Dolamo on 11 November 2008, who was appointed by it to conduct Mr Watson’s recent disciplinary hearing, to the effect that his appointment was unlawful owing to a lacuna (gap) in the relevant regulations. SARU has also noted his observation that, although it is open to SARU to remedy the problem by amending its regulations, such amendment may violate the presumption against retrospective application of enactments.
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South Africa made it two out of two on their British tour on Saturday by narrowly beating Scotland 10 - 14 on Saturday, after the Scots led 10 - 0 at halftime.
“For the second successive week it was the home coach who felt his team had played the better rugby and deserved to win, and Scotland’s Frank Hadden had even more right to do that here than Wales’ Warren Gatland did a week ago.
Scotland led 10-0 at half-time and were pressing for a try in the final minutes as they launched wave after wave of attack at a tired Bok defence. On a day where both kickers missed attempts at goal, it was Scotland who conspired most against themselves by fluffing no less than four shots at the posts.
It was not supposed to be this close against a Scottish team that now drops to ninth on the world rankings after this defeat, and which is at a low ebb at present. Just seven days ago the same Scotland team played the All Black second stringers and lost by 30 points, and much was made before this game of the fact the Scots had not crossed for a try at home in 14 months.
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Ricky Januarie have replaced Fourie du Preez in the starting XV for the Sprinbok game against Scotland on Saturday. Du Preez injured a quadriceps muscle in training yesterday. Januarie’s place on the bench has been taken by utility forward Danie Rossouw.
It’s not often that 2.01 m tall Bok vice-captain Victor Matfield gets to look up to someone. That is exactly what he did when the Springbok team crossed paths with the WWE SuperStars at Cardiff Airport on Sunday.
The American wrestlers had touched down in the Welsh capital just as the Bok squad was getting ready to fly to Edinburgh on the second leg of its end-of-season Northern Hemisphere tour.
As the excited Bok players were spotting their favourite wrestlers, man-mountain Kali stopped to greet them and have his picture taken. He made the pride of South Africa look small in comparison.
Matfield, a tower of strength in the Bok second-row, was dwarfed by the seven-foot giant who chatted briefly before moving off to the waiting bus.
Kali was amongst more than 30 wrestlers in the group. The Bok players who are keen followers of the WWE action on TV back home were in awe as the many well-known characters passed by.
Source: sarugby.co.za
Pic: ramanindia.blogspot.com
An intercept try by Jean de Villiers saved the World Champion Boks from a humiliating defeat against Wales on Saturday, with the experimenting by Peter de Villiers with Ruan Pienaar and John Smit having gone pretty smoothly. The Springboks won 20 - 15, with the halftime score 13 - 3.
“De Villiers’ try, converted by Ruan Pienaar, made it 20-3 with 28 minutes to go – 28 anxious minutes for the Springboks as replacement flyhalf James Hook slotted four penalties, Jaque Fourie was yellow-carded after the Boks had received a general warning for killing the ball at the breakdown and Smit spent a few minutes off the field having a cut on his nose stitched up.
Fortunately, though, the Welsh did not possess the necessary skill or accuracy to really make the Springboks pay and they were able to survive a scrappy performance to get their tour off to a winning start.
After opening the scoring with a superb try, completed by Adi Jacobs, as early as the fifth minute it did not seem as though the Boks would have too much trouble putting the Welsh away, especially when Ruan Pienaar, who had converted the try, added a penalty to make it 10-0 after just eight minutes.
However the Boks did not kick on against a team having their first outing since losing two tests to South Africa in June.
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The Springbok team chosen by Peter de Villiers to face Wales on Saturday, 8 November 2008 in their 23rd test meeting since 1906 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is as follow (number of tests in brackets):
1 Beast Mtawarira (7)
2 Bismarck du Plessis (19)
3 John Smit (captain) (78)
4 Bakkies Botha (52)
5 Victor Matfield (77)
6 Schalk Burger (46)
7 Juan Smith (52)
8 Pierre Spies (16)
9 Fourie du Preez (42)
10 Ruan Pienaar (24)
11 Bryan Habana (43)
12 Jean de Villiers (43)
13 Adrian Jacobs (18)
14 JP Pietersen (21)
15 Conrad Jantjes (21)
Reserves:
16 Brian Mujati (9)
17 Gurthro Steenkamp (18)
18 Andries Bekker (10)
19 Ryan Kankowski (4)
20 Ricky Januarie (31)
21 Frans Steyn (24)
22 Jaque Fourie (39)
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