Scotland ended an 18-year losing streak against Argentina when they beat the Pumas 26-14 in a dour and cumbersome Test at Estadio José Amalfitani (Vélez Sarsfield), Buenos Aires, on Saturday.

Although the teams scored two tries each, it was the unerring boot of Chris Paterson that gave Scotland their first win against Argentina since November 1990.

Paterson celebrated becoming Scotland’s most-capped player by scoring 16 points of his team’s 26 points – four penalties and two conversions.

The result, which squared the two-Test series at one-all, following the Pumas’ 21-15 victory last week, also gave the Scots their first away win against Argentina – who finished third at the World Cup last year.

Scotland had lost to Argentina in the quarterfinals in France, so this win would have been particularly sweet.

Paterson, making his 88th international appearance and overtaking Scott Murray’s tally, kicked two penalties for a 6-0 lead, before Frank Hadden’s side grabbed the opening try at a packed stadium.

Ross Ford crossed the line after being set-up by Iain Morrison and Mike Blair, with Paterson adding the extras for a 13-0 lead, which became 16-0 at the break thanks to another penalty.

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New Wallaby head coach Robbie Deans pronounced himself “pretty pleased” with his team’s character-filled 18-12 win over a plucky Irish side in Melbourne at the weekend, but said he will be looking for a “huge improvement” in their next Test.

Deans now has two weeks to work on his team’s shortcoming, before the Wallabies meet France in Brisbane.

Reflecting on Australia’s narrow victory over Ireland, Deans said: “[I'm] happy with the win.

“Obviously it wasn’t flawless and clearly the guys’ legs were heavy at the end, the Irish played well, they asked a lot of us.

“Ireland rocked us. They profited a couple of times pretty easily which put us under pressure but the guys hung in there well. It was never going to be perfect first up.

“I was essentially [I'm] pretty pleased off a short background and [with] some of the character that was shown to close it off. As it was our first game, it was never going to be perfect. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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 –

Another setback has hit the Bokke just a few days before they play Wales. Fourie du Preez, the South African Super14 player of the year and probably the best scrumhalf in the world, has officially been withdrawn from the squad due to injury. Du Preez injured his shoulder during the latter part of the Bulls victorious Super14 campaign and took another knock to the shoulder during the RWC group game against England. The injury is to the AC joint and Du Preez should avoid any contact to the joint for 6-8 weeks according to Bulls team doctor, Tommy Smook. Du Preez is hoping to be fit for the start of the 2008 Super14 to help his franchise defend their title. No replacement will be named for Du Preez and either Ricky Januarie or Ruan Pienaar will start the game against Wales. Du Preez’s withdrawal now brings to 12 the number of World Cup winning Springboks not making the end of year tour.

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)

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.

England surprised the rugby world on Saturday evening when they beat France in their semi-final clash. England started the game like a house on fire, scoring the only try of the game after just two minutes when Josh Lewsey gathered a lucky bounce to crash over in the corner. France recovered from this early setback and took the lead through 3 penalties by flyhalf, Lionel Beauxis. This secured France a 9-5 lead at half time. England defended well the entire game and with their dominant pack of forwards providing good ball, Jonny Wilkinson kicked them into good field position. Two penalties saw England sneak into the lead with 8 minutes left on the clock. Wilkinson then sealed the victory when he slotted his 5th drop goal of the 2007 RWC. Final score: England 14 France 9

England now have the chance to become the first team to win back to back RWC titles when they defend their title next week Saturday.

Argentina made history when they beat Scotland in their quarterfinal of RWC 2007. The victory means that Argentina advances to the semi-finals for the first time ever.

The last of the quarter finals did not produce as much drama as the other 3 games. The game never really flowed, both teams made to many errors and relied on their kickers to get them into attacking positions. Scotland took the early lead through Dan Parks, but Argentina struck back through Felipe Contepomi’s boot. The only try of the first half belonged to the Pumas. The try was the result of some great pressure and a kick by Dan Parks got charged down. Scotland tried their best in the second half and managed to close the gap on the score board but to many errors saw their chance of winning the game slip out the back door. Argentina is still unbeaten at the RWC 2007 and deserve all the praise they are getting. Final score: Argentina 19 Scotland 13