SA Rugby’s Communication Officer Chris Hewitt seems to be the person amidst the allegations against Peter de Villiers about the existence of a sexual video. Mr Hewitt was suspended yesterday pending an internal investigation. Hewitt, who let De Villiers know of the existence of the video and apparently tried to blackmail him to include certain rugby players in his team selection, will still receive his salary during the course of the investigation.

Meanwhile, the Verenigde Gereformeerde Kerk (by word of James Mac Kay) where De Villiers is a member of have backed him, stating that he might be the target of supporters of the old regime because of his race.

Pieter de Villiers will name his first training squad since taking over as Springbok coach on Saturday 17 May. There is lots of speculation of who will be in and who not, so SARB has decided to add their two cents worth by putting together a 45 player squad we think should be there.

Forwards: Props: Gurthro Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Jannie du Plessis, BJ Botha, Brian Mujati(if qualifies), Beast Mtawarira(if qualifies). Hookers : John Smit(captain), Bismarck du Plessis, Schalk Brits. Locks : Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Andries Bekker, Johan Muller, Barend Pieterse, Adriaan Fondse. Loose Forwards: Schalk Burger, Juan Smith, Ryan Kankowski, Pierre Spies, Wikus van Heerden, Duanne Vermeulen, Luke Watson, Joe van Niekerk.

Backs: Scrumhalves: Fourie du Preez, Ricky Januarie, Rory Kockett. Flyhalves: Butch James, Pieter Grant, Morne Steyn. Centres: Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Waylon Murray, Wynand Olivier, Brad Barrit. Wings: Bryan Habana, Tonderai Chavanga, Akona Ndugane, Odwa Ndugane, Jongi Nokwe. Fullbacks: Conrad Jantjes, Pery Montgomery, Zane Kirchner. Utility backs: Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn, Meyer Bosman.

This is just an opinion, more that likely our new coach will have a few surprises up his sleeve when he announces his squad, and we are all waiting with eager anticipation for Saturday. The announcement will be broadcast on Supersport after the Sharks game, so around 21h00.

After losing their first 3 games in SA, the Stormers have recovered well and have now won 2 games on the trot whilst on tour. The Stormers outscored the Chiefs by 4 tries to 2 and picked up the bonus point as well. The victory moved the men from Cape Town into the top half of the Super14 log and keeps them in contention for a spot in the semi-finals. Final score: Stormers 35 Chiefs 26

Sat 07 Jun 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
15:00 South Africa Wales Bloemfontein, South Africa –
Sat 14 Jun 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
15:00 South Africa Wales Pretoria, South Africa –
Sat 21 Jun 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
15:00 South Africa Italy Kimberley, South Africa –
Sat 05 Jul 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
09:35 New Zealand South Africa Wellington, New Zealand –
Sat 12 Jul 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
09:35 New Zealand South Africa Dunedin, New Zealand –
Sat 19 Jul 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
11:00 Australia South Africa Perth, Australia –
Sat 16 Aug 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
15:00 South Africa New Zealand Cape Town, South Africa –
Sat 23 Aug 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
15:00 South Africa Australia Durban, South Africa –
Sat 30 Aug 08
Kickoff Home Away Venue
15:00 South Africa Australia Johannesburg, South Africa –

The Sprinbok squad suffered another setback. Victor Matfield, star line out jumper and man-of-the-match in the World Cup final, has withdrawn from the squad for personal reasons. Matfield wanted to stay in SA and reconsider his future and SA Rugby has agreed to give the superstar some time off. Matfield’s replacement in the squad is uncapped Free State lock, Barend Pieterse. Pieterse has been a fantastic player for the Cheetahs the last few seasons and many pundits considered him to be unlucky not to have been picked for the Springboks earlier in his career.

SA rugby also announced that John Smit will not captain the Springbok side that plays against the Barbarians due to his new club, Clermont Ferrand not releasing him for the game. Smit will be replaced in the squad to face the Baabaas by WP hooker, Tiaan Liebenberg. The game versus the Barbarians does not have test status so even if Liebenberg plays against the Baabaas he will not be capped as a Springbok.

A 26-man squad were announced for the end of year tour to Wales. Several or the RWC winning team were not considered for the tour because of injuries and club commitments. Os du Randt and Bob Skinstad have both retired, Percy Montgomery, BJ Botha, Jean de Villiers and Pierre Spies are all still on the injury list and Butch James, Gary Botha and Ashwin Willemse were not considered due to club commitments.

Two players have been drafted into the squad. Conrad Jantjies gets a recall after some impressive performances in the Currie Cup and Heinke van der Merwe gets his chance due to the retirement of Os du Randt.

The SA squad to play Wales and the Barbarians: Backs: Conrad Jantjies, JP Pietersen, Akona Ndungane, Bryan Habana, Frans Steyn, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Wayne Julies, Andre Pretorius, Fourie du Preez, Ricky Januarie and Ruan Pienaar. Forwards: Danie Rossouw, Wikus van Heerden, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Johann Muller, Albert van den Berg, CJ van der Linde, Jannie du Plessis, Heinke van der Merwe, Gurthro Steenkamp, Bismarck du Plessis and John Smit(captain)

Paul Treu, the Sprinbok sevens coach, named a squad of 20 players that will train in Stellenbosch as they prepare for the start of the IRB World Sevens Series. The IRB Series starts on the 30th of November in Dubai and then moves to George on the 7th of December. The 20-man squad will be reduced to 12 just before the team leaves for Dubai on the 21st of November.

Bok sevens squad: Danwell Demas, Trompie Nontshinga, Neil Powell, Renfred Dazel, Frankie Horn, Andries van Schalkwyk, Baldwin McBean, Norman Nelson, Mzwandile Stick, Fabian Juries, Jonathan Mokuena, Giscard Pieters, Tobela Mdaka, MJ Mentz, Terry Jacobs, Mpho Mbiyozo, Joe Pietersen, Mpho Matsaung, Schalk van der Merwe, Vuyo Zangqa

Jake White called a press conference for Wednesday(today) at lunch-time where he will probably announce that he will step down as Bok coach. It is unclear if this will be with immediate effect or if White will still travel to Wales with the Springboks.

This development follows confirmation by the Australian Rugby Union that White has expressed interest in the vacant position to coach Australia. Jake’s agent, Craig Livingstone, contacted Pat Howard, the ARU high performance manager to express interest. White has till Friday to apply for the Australian post.

It now seems likely that White will be persuing other international coaching opportunities when his tenure runs out out the 31st December.

The Cheetahs retained the ABSA Currie Cup when they overcame a valiant Lions side in Bloemfontein. After all the euphoria of the RWC these two teams had to come up with something special and this they did. Both sides were keen to play rugby and there were plenty of action in the game.

The Cheetahs started like a house on fire, dominating the early exchanges, and they dually took the lead through a Willem de Waal penalty. The Lions drew level almost immediately when Louis Strydom slotted a penalty. Fantastic defence by both teams saw no tries in the first half, with the Cheetahs going into the break 6-3 in the lead after another de Waal penalty.

The second half provided loads of action. Darron Nell, Cheetah 8thman, received a yellow card, and the 10 minutes he spent in the sin bin saw the Lions take control of the game. Two tries, a conversion and a penalty saw the Lions take a 18-6 lead with only 20 minutes left on the clock. The Cheetahs refused to stop trying and the last 15 minutes saw them display the talents that have won them the previous two Currie Cup competitions. They stayed calm and managed to score two converted tries, the last conversion slotted by Willem de Waal right from the touchline to give his team a 2 point lead with only 3 minutes to play. The Cheetahs held on to this slender lead with determination and they celebrated in style when the final whistle went. Final score: Cheetahs 20 Lions 18

In the under 19 and under 21 finals WP were victorius over the Bulls in both games. The under 19 result was 29-27 to WP and in the under 21 clash WP beat the Bulls by 31-17.

Just two days after receiving a surprise call up to the SA squad, Jannie du Plessis is set to start the quarterfinal game against Fiji. Du Plessis will join his team mates on Wednesday and he will pretty much step of the plane and onto the training field. This is all due to CJ van der Linde picking up a knee injury during practise that force him to the sidelines for this weekend’s action. CJ is expected to fully recover and be available for a possible semi-final and final. Gurthro Steenkamp will move onto the bench and John Smit will provide cover for the tight head side of the scrum.