Earl Rose scored a hat-trick to help the Xerox Lions secure their first win of the season when they beat the Valke 35-23 (half-time 18-8) in an ABSA Currie Cup game at Coca-Cola Park on Friday.

The game played at the stadium formerly known as Ellis Park, heralded the venue’s new name and the Lions administration will be hoping that the lucrative change of name deal will bring with it fortunes on the field as well.

The hosts bolted out of the blocks, playing at break-neck intensity from kick off and were immediately rewarded with a try in the second minute when eigthman Wilhelm Koch picked up a loose ball before off-loading to lock-cum-flank Franco van der Merwe who raced in from the 22m line.

The Lions pace characteristically fizzled out very quickly while the Valke showed they belong at this level and the final score reflects unfairly on the performance of the men from the East Rand.

Continue reading ‘Earl Rose scores hat-trick for Lions’

Australia scored 24 unanswered points in 20 minutes after the break to ease to a comfortable 34-13 win over a third-string French side at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.

Leading just 10-6 at half-time, the Wallabies stepped up the pace after the break to easily brushed aside the mediocre French outfit. France managed a late consolation try after the Wallabies eased up in the final 20 minutes.

It was a much better second half, especially if you were a Wallaby supporter but even if you were a neutral. Somebody struck a match and set the game alight - at least for half an hour.

In that half an hour the Wallabies raced clear. In fact it was 21 points in an 11-minute blitz that finished off the French side.

The big change for the Wallabies may have been the introduction of Phil Waugh or just a changed mindset that determined to make the tackle/rucks more effective. Till then the game had been a patchy affair with loads of handling errors and the tackle aggression coming from the French team, no doubt determined to get rid of their also-rans tag. After all there were no players from France’s top four teams - which is France’s fault, not Australia’s. Eventually that half-hour blitz put the French in their place, for they were well and truly beaten and it would have come as no surprise if the score had been much higher.

Continue reading ‘Australia smash France in Sydney’

Two late tries earned Vodacom Western Province a 26-17 come-from-behind Absa Currie Cup victory over archrivals the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Newlands in Cape Town, on Saturday evening.Despite trailing in possession stakes for most of the first 40 minutes, first-half tries from JP Joubert and Pedrie Wannenburg – with flyhalf Morné Steyn converting – helped the Vodacom Bulls into a commanding 14-3 at half-time lead.

That lead then became 17-9 in the second half, before replacement Bulls loose forward Hilton Lobberts was sin-binned in the 68th minute – setting up a heart-stopping finish as Vodacom WP launched a stunning fightback in the final 10 mintues.

Flyhalf Willem de Waal – who scored 20 points on his WP debut last week – had kept his side within striking distance with his metronomic boot for most of the match, but late tries by fullback Gio Aplon and inside centre Gcobani Bobo, with De Waal adding the extras, handed the home side a famous victory, much to the delight of the partisan Newlands crowd.

Continue reading ‘Currie Cup Round Up’

Backs:

Bolla Conradie, Jean  de Villiers, Peter Grant, Butch James, Conrad Jantjes, Adrian Jacobs, Ricky Januarie, Bryan Habana, Percy Montgomery, Odwa Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Ruan Pienaar, Frans Steyn.

Forwards:

Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Tendai Mtawarira, Brian Mujati, Victor Matfield, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, John Smit (c), Gurthro Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Joe van Niekerk, Luke Watson.

The surprises in the group are probably foremost BJ Botha who did not make it. JP Pietersen have been included, but have not played a test match since the World Cup. Tonderai Chavanga, Schalk Brits and Gcobani Bobo from the Western Province also did not make the group.

Friday - 27 June:

19:00 - Currie Cup: Sharks vs Boland

Saturday - 28 June:

11:45 - Australia vs France

15:00 - Currie Cup: Cheetahs vs Lions

17:00 - Currie Cup: Western Province vs Bulls

19:50 - Argentina vs Italy

20:30 - French Top 14 Final

John Mametsa scored a hat-trick of tries in his 100th game to help the Vodacom Blue Bulls to a 21-7 (half-time 6-0) win over the Xerox Lions in an action-packed ABSA Curries Cup first round game at Ellis Park on Saturday.It was a dream game for the popular Pretoria winger (who was the leading try-scorer in last year’s Absa Currie Cup, with 14 tries.) Mametsa became the first black player at the Bulls to play 100 games and he was deservedly awarded the man-of-the match prize to cap a brilliant performance.

Mametsa signalled his intentions as early as the third minute when he appeared to dot down in the left corner, only to be denied by the TMO after he was bundled into touch by Louis Ludik.

The match between the Gauteng neighbours may have been a low scoring event but it was by no means a dull affair as the teams exchanged enthralling tit-for-tat attacking forays till the final whistle.

The first half began with furious intensity with both threatening to score on numerous occasions, but neither crossed the line as a result of tight defence and it was not until the thirty fifth minute that points were put on the board through a penalty by Bulls flyhalf Morné Steyn. Continue reading ‘Blue Bulls too strong for Lions’

Scrumhalf Rory Kockott was the toast of Durban after he kicked a last-minute penalty to give the Sharks a nailbiting 28-25 (halftime 11-19) victory over Vodacom Western Province in their opening Absa Currie Cup match played at Absa Stadium in Durban on Friday night.Kockott, who was unlucky to miss out on Springbok selection after an excellent Vodacom Super 14 season, scored 23 points, made up of six penalties and a superb solo try, as the home team had to dig deep against a spirited WP side that had inexplicably been widely written off before the start of the match.

Indeed, for the opening half hour, coach John Plumtree’s troops looked to have the measure of their more inexperienced opponents, notwithstanding the unusual presence in the streeptrui of one AJ Venter, who just a few weeks ago was still playing in the black and white jersey.

The Sharks raced into an 11-3 lead after 15 minutes, with the men from Durban stronger in the scrums, more physical in the front-on tackle situation, and more incisive in the backs. Continue reading ‘Sharks sinks WP in Durban thriller’

It was a wet day at Newlands and perhaps that was why South Africa’s 26-0 win over Italy in this one-off test match will be recalled as one of the least memorable matches to be played at this famous ground.
The Boks scored four tries to nil and were full value for their victory in that, unlike last week, they set about the task of winning this game in the time honoured way that you do test matches — by suffocating their opponent with an approach that emphasised basics and forward control. In this way, it was much more like the first test win against Wales in Bloemfontein than last week’s clash at Loftus.
However, while their driving maul, which netted two of the tries, was a big positive for them to take onto the field in the event they face New Zealand or Australia in the wet in the Tri-Nations, there was not too much else to enthuse over in a turgid game which only briefly brought out any semblance of a test match atmosphere in the 36 000-strong crowd. Continue reading ‘Boks overpower Italy at wet Newlands’

New Zealand produced a stunning performance which included five tries to crush an abysmal England effort by 44-12 in the second Test in Christchurch.
The All Blacks were superior in every phase of the game, scoring tries at will through Richard Kahui, Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu, Sione Lauaki and Jimmy Cowan.
The English were always going to be under pressure in this match, regardless of the build-up to the Test. The drama of the past week regarding sexual assaults and midnight shenanigans would have interfered greatly with England’s preparations.
England seemed drained of any real energy for the challenge, and they succumbed to the impressive Kiwis even more meekly than they did last week.
New Zealand predictably opened the scoring through the boot of Dan Carter, who kicked an early penalty.
But of course England were out to prove a point following last week’s drubbing and the fiasco that followed them around this week. Continue reading ‘NZ thrash the Poms…again.’

The Springbok rugby team to face Nick Mallet’s Italy team is as follow:

15 - Conrad Jantjes

14 - Odwa Ndungane

13 - Gcobani Bobo

12 - Jean de Villiers

11 - Bryan Habana

10 - Francois Steyn

9 - Ricky Januarie

8 - Ryan Kankowsky

7 - Juan Smith

6 - Luke Watson

5 - Victor Matfield

4 - Bakkies Botha

3 - CJ van der Linde

2 - Bismarck du Plessis

1 - Beast Mtawarira

Replacements:

Schalk Brits, Brian Mujati, Andries Bekker, Joe van Niekerk, Schalk Burger, Peter Grant, Ruan Pienaar.