The Lions suffered their second successive defeat in Australasia when they went down 24-13 to the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday.
The wet conditions made for a forwards battle which the Brumbies’ all-Wallaby pack dominated. The Lions had very little possession to speak of and never really troubled the Brumbies on the scoreboard.
Flyhalf Daniel Carter won a goalkicking duel with former teammate Stephen Brett to lead the Crusaders to a 33-20 win over the Blues in Super 14 rugby Saturday.
Carter kicked seven goals from seven attempts - three conversions and four penalties - for 18 points to steer the seven-time champions to their third win in four matches.
Brett, in his first match for Auckland against his former team, kicked four penalties and a dropped goal for 15 points. Canterbury scored tries through flanker George Whitelock plus centres Ryan Crotty and Robbie Fruean, while Auckland had a late try by halfback Alby Mathewson.
Referee Paul Marks denied the Sharks a penalty try at the death to gift the Waratahs a four point win in controversial circumstances in Sydney on Saturday.
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The Vodacom Bulls continued their impressive title defence in the Vodacom Super 14 following their 48-38 victory over the Waratahs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The victory by the Pretoria outfit was the only successful South African result after the Vodacom Cheetahs (24-31), Vodacom Stormers (19-17), the Auto & General Lions (33-18) and the Sharks (35-6) all conceded defeats this weekend.
Vodacom Bulls winger Francois Hougaard scored a brace of tries while Stephan Dippenaar, Gerhard van den Heever, Wynand Olivier and Jacques-Louis Potgieter all added five-pointers for the hosts.
The Waratahs though secured a bonus point for losing within seven of the Pretoria side. The defeat ensured that the Sydney franchise ended round three in eleventh position, while the Vodacom Bulls continued their dominance at the top of the log.
In Bloemfontein the Highlanders continued their undefeated run over the hosts in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The Otago side has now also won their last five games against the Vodacom Cheetahs, whose only win against the Highlanders was in Invercargill back in 1997 when the tourists outclassed the hosts to triumph 49-18.
The Auto & General Lions are still in search of their first victory in the 2010 Vodacom Super 14 following their 33-18 defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington. The hosts secured their third win of the competition and are currently in second position on the log after round three.
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The contract dispute between the Lions and Sharks regarding the services of Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik will be resolved on Wednesday.
The South African Rugby Union on Monday confirmed that a hearing into a complaint against the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union and the two players, Ludik and Alberts, would be heard on Wednesday.
In a statement the South African Rugby Union confirmed that Koos Basson – the former chairman of the SARU disciplinary committee – has been appointed as Judicial Officer and will hear the complaint at SARU’s offices in Newlands on Wednesday, February 10 at 10.00.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union last month laid a formal complaint with SARU against the Sharks - as well as Ludik and Alberts - after Alberts played in a pre-season game for the Sharks against the Force and Stormers at Newlands.
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The contract dispute between the Sharks and Lions over the services of Louis Ludik and Willem Alberts may land the Sharks in some hot water.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union on Wednesday laid a formal complaint with the South African Rugby Union (SARU) against the Sharks - as well as Ludik and Alberts - after Alberts played in a pre-season game for the Sharks against the Force at Newlands on Tuesday.
Manie Reynecke, the GLRU CEO, told rugby365.com that he has lodged the complaint, as promised, because the Sharks have breached SARU’s regulations.
“I have maintained, from day one, that they [Alberts and Ludik] have legal and binding contracts with us,” Reynecke told this website, adding: “There are rules and regulations for a reason and those should be adhered to.”
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Xerox Lions hooker Hans van Dyk has been cited for allegedly biting Vodacom Western Province flanker Francois Louw on the forearm during the first half of an Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Van Dyk was cited by commissioner, Attorney Mr Andy Prior of Durban, after reviewing video and other evidence.
Van Dyk is currently on leave and out of the country. A date for the hearing will be set on his return.
Via: sarugby.co.za
The Golden Lions Rugby Union Chief Executive Manie Reyneke have revealed that he has eight World-class coaches’ CVs on his desk - from New Zealand, Australia and England.
Media speculation has named White’s former Springbok assistant coach and current Western Province mentor Allister Coetzee as the front-runner for the position of Super 14 head coach.
However, Reyneke has dismissed the suggestion that they have already decided on a Director of Rugby, the position they advertised this week.
“The applications only close on Friday [October 9],” Reyneke said on Thursday.
“I have eight world class CVs on my desk - from New Zealand, Australia and England. There are also some very, very good applications from within South Africa,” he added.
Reyneke declined to name any names.
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The Cheetahs again had the Leopards‘ number when they ran in a convincing 60-17 victory over their North Western neighbours in their Currie Cup match in a wet Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Leopards started and finished with a bang, but the fireworks were delivered by a slick Cheetahs side who ran the Leopards ragged in difficult conditions.
Western Province secured a 2009 Currie Cup home semifinal berth in superb fashion with an emphatic 50-7 win over neighbours the Boland Kavaliers in the Absa Currie Cup derby at a sun-drenched Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly, the Boland side never at any stage looked like posing a threat to the vastly superior Province side, but they provided the ’soft’ sort of opposition that was ideal preparation for the Newlands-based outfit ahead of the semifinal in a fortnight’s time. Province served notice at the outset that they were there to play open rugby, and conditions at Newlands were ideal. At the end of it all, Province matched the sizzling hot weather with seven well-taken tries, against one from Boland.
The Blue Bulls moved to third place on the Currie Cup log when they beat Griquas 61-27 at Loftus on Saturday, and with the win dented their opposition’s hopes of playing in the semifinals. The Blue Bulls ran in eight tries to Griquas’ four, and were in complete control from just after midway through the first half, with Griquas getting little possession. The reality, however, is that the Blue Bulls did not look like possible Currie Cup champions except in spurts, when they were really impressive.
The Sharks were stretched all the way but killed off a determined Lions team to reach the Currie Cup playoffs after a rusty display by narrowly beating them 19-17 in the Absa Stadium on Saturday.
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The Sharks team selected to play the Lions is the strongest since the end of the Super 14 campaign.
As expected, Springbok skipper John Smit is resting his broken body after a tough Tri-Nations season, and while he enjoys his well-earned rest, Patric Cilliers will avail himself of the opportunity of getting additional experience by playing off the Sharks bench.
But all the other top Sharks Springboks are back, and with the exception of Adrian Jacobs, who plays off the bench on Saturday, they are all in the starting team. That means the Sharks will play the Durban match with an all Springbok front row, with Bismarck du Plessis joining his brother Jannie, while Tendai Mtwarira makes his first appearance of the Currie Cup season at loosehead.
JP Pietersen is also back from injury and will get re-acquainted with the No11 jersey, with Ruan Pienaar continuing at scrumhalf alongside Argentine import Juan Hernandez.
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The arbitration hearing between the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) and Springbok centre Jaque Fourie (regarding his move to Western Province) has been postponed until 12 October.
The hearing, which started on Monday, was adjourned on Tuesday after no conclusion had been reached.
“In reference to the arbitration between Jaque Fourie and the Golden Lions Rugby Union, no finality has been reached at this stage.
“As such, the hearing has been adjourned to reconvene on Monday, 12 October 2009,” read a brief statement by the GLRU.
Via: sarugby.com
The former Zimbabwean Springbok wing will probably play his rugby for the Lions from Gauteng next season.
Chavhanga was not at Western Province training on Monday as his wife was expecting his first child, but it has been confirmed that the wing has been in talks with the Johannesburg union and his agent, Neil Minnaar, told a Cape newspaper that Chavhanga has signed a two-year contract.
It is understood that Chavhanga was unhappy when he heard that Province have lured Springbok Bryan Habana to the Cape from the Bulls, and was less than pleased at the prospect of having to battle Habana, Sireli Naqelevuki and Nick Koster for a place in the Stormers starting team in the Super 14 season.
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