The Springbok and Wallaby teams have been named to play the seventh Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 28th of August in South Africa. It will be Victor Matfield’s 100th test for the Springboks. If victorious he will be the first Springbok to win his 100th test. Percy Montgomery lost his landmark game, and John Smit played his 100th test against the All Blacks in last week and lost.
Springboks
15-Francois Steyn, 14-JP Pietersen, 13-Jaque Fourie, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Francois Hougaard, 8-Pierre Spies, 7-Juan Smith, 6-Schalk Burger, 5-Victor Matfield, 4-Flip van der Merwe, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-John Smit, 1-Gurthro Steenkamp Reserves: 16-Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17-CJ van der Linde, 18-Danie Rossouw, 19-Ryan Kankowski, 20-Enrico Januarie, 21-Butch James, 22-Juan de Jongh.
Wallabies
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Faainga, 1 Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Ben McCalman, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Faainga.
The All Black and Springbok teams have been named to play the sixth Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 21st of August at 5pm, local time at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.
All Blacks:
15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.
Springboks:
15 Gio Aplon, 14 JP Pietersen, 13, Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (capt), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Danie Rossouw , Francois Louw, Ricky Januarie, Butch James, Wynard Olivier.
Points of Interest:
The match at Soccer City Stadium will be in front of over 90,000 fans.
The Springboks have made eight changes to the their team. Gio Aplon, JP Pietersen, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Francois Hougaard, Juan Smith, Jannie du Plessis and Flip van der Merwe come into the team.
The All Blacks have made two changes to their starting fifteen, with Ben Franks replacing his brother Owen at tighthead prop. Owen Franks drops out of the 22 and John Afoa comes onto the bench.
Jimmy Cowan returns from injury and replaces Piri Weepu, who moves to the bench. Israel Dagg replaces Benson Stanley on the All Black bench.
John Smit is playing his 100 test for the Springboks.
Victor Matfield is playing his 99th.
Keven Mealamu will join Ian Jones as the fifth-most capped All Black, with 79 tests.
Daniel Carter needs 3 more points to overtake Andrew Merhtens, who holds the record of most test points against South Africa for the All Blacks, with 207.
Joe Rokocoko has 9 tries against South Africa. He needs one more to equal Christian Cullen’s record of ten.
The Wallaby and All Black teams have been named to play the fifth Tri-Nations test and second Bledisloe Cup game of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 7th of August at 7.35pm, local time at AMI Stadium in Christchurch
Wallabies:
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Anthony Faingaa, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia; 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (capt), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Benn Robinson.
Reserves: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Cameron Shepherd.
All Blacks:
15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Piri Weepu; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Alby Mathewson, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Benson Stanley.
Points of Interest:
If the All Blacks win they will retain the Bledisloe Cup for 2010.
The Wallabies have lost the last 8 test matches in a row against the All Blacks.
The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 49-28 in Melbourne last weekend.
Jimmy Cowan suffered rib cartilage damage in that match and has been replaced by Piri Weepu in the only change to the All Black starting 15. Alby Mathewson joins the reserves bench. The only other change is Benson Stanley replacing Israel Dagg on the bench.
Tony Woodcock will overtake former team mate Greg Somerville as the most capped All Black prop, with 67 caps. He has scored 6 test tries, with 5 of them being against the Wallabies.
Ma’a Nonu will play his 50th test. He first debuted for the All Blacks against England in 2003. He has started 29 of the 31 tests since the 2007 World Cup.
Kurtley Beale and the Faingaa twins have been promoted to the starting Wallaby line-up. Kurley Beale starts at fullback, with Adam Ashley-Cooper moving to centre to replace the injured Rob Horne. Hooker Stephen Moore and Second-Five Berrick Barnes drop to the bench to be replaced by Saia Faingaa and Anthony Faingaa respectively.
The Faingaa twins became the 40th set of brothers and third set of twins to play for the Wallabies. This will be their first start together.
Cameron Shepherd comes onto the bench for possibly his first cap since 2008
The Wallaby and All Black teams have been named to play the fourth Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 1st of August at 8pm, local time at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
Wallabies:
15 Adam Ashley Cooper, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia; 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (capt), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Reserves: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Anthony Faingaa, 22 Kurtley Beale.
All Blacks:
15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.
Points of Interest:
There are only two changes from the Australian team who beat South last week. Stephen Moore in place of Saia Faingaa and Berrick Barnes comes in at no. 12 with Matt Giteau replacing the suspended Quade Cooper at 10.
If twin brothers Saia and Anthony Faingaa come off the bench they will become the 40th set of brothers to play a test together for the Wallabies.
Nathan Sharpe will equal the record for most tests by an Australian lock. It is currently help by John Eales with 84 test caps.
Joe Rokocoko will become the most capped All Black wing, over taking All Black greats John Kirwan and Jonah Lomu.
With 66 caps, Tony Woodcock will join former team mate Greg Somerville as the most capped All Black prop.
The Wallabies have lost the last 7 test matches in a row against the All Blacks.
Matt Giteau needs one more conversion to move ahead of Springbok Percy Montgomery for most conversions scored against the All Blacks.
The Wallabies and Springbok teams have been named to play the third Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 24th of July at 8pm, local time at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
WALLABIES:
15 Adam Ashley Cooper, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia; 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Saia Fainga, 1 Benn Robinson
Reserves: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.
Reserves: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Butch James, 22 Juan de Jongh.
Points of Interest:
This test will be the Springboks’ last away test of the Tri-Nations.
The Wallabies beat the Springboks in Brisbane last year 21-6. It was South Africa’s only loss of the tournament.
This Wallabies team contains 13 of the players who played in that match.
It will be the first Tri-Nations match for Rob Horne, Quade Cooper, Salesi Ma’afu and Saia Faingaa.
On the bench Kurtley Beale, Matt Hodgson, Rob Simmons and James Slipper could also make their Tri-Nations debut.
Springbok Gio Aplon comes on to the wing for the suspended Jean de Villiers
Ryan Kankowski replaces Francois Louw in the Springbok loose forwards, BJ Botha starts ahead of CJ van der Linde, and Ruan Pienaar replaces Ricky Januarie as starting halfback.
The All Black and Springbok teams to play the second Tri-Nations test of 2010. The match will take place on Saturday the 17th of July at 7:35pm, New Zealand time at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
All Blacks
15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Rene Ranger, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Reserves: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.
Springboks:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Jean de Villiers, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Reserves: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Butch James, 22 Gio Aplon.
Points of Interest:
There are only two changes to each starting team. Piri Weepu and Rene Ranger start for the the All Blacks. Danie Rossouw and CJ van der Linde start for the Springboks
Bakkies Botha has been banned from all rugby for nine weeks for headbutting Jimmy Cowan in the last test.
The Springboks were beaten by the All Blacks last week 32-12 at Eden Park, Auckland.
The All Blacks need just seven points to overtake France as the highest point scorers ever in test rugby. However, the will do it in a third less games. France has scored 11,792 in 660 tests; New Zealand has scored 11,786 points in 462.
The Bulls have won the 2010 Super 14, the last of it’s kind as it takes the form of a Super 15 next year complete with a new format. The Bulls won 25 points to 17 at Soweto’s Orlando stadium, with Morne Steyne kicking 20 points and missing just one kick. Francois Hougaard scored the Bulls only try in an impressive, individual effort. The Stormers will surely take heart from finally delivering on all their promise, and will be even better in 2011. They scored two tries, one to Enrico Januarie and the standard intercept try to Bryan Habana. Peter Grant converted both tries and kicked a penalty.
The Bulls always looked too strong and at one stage in the first half were leading 16-0. The Stormers came back to within 6 points but Morne Steyne penalty kicked the Bulls through to victory.
Morne Steyne continues his two-season dominance in Super Rugby scoring 263 Super Rugby points in 2010, a new record. In fact, he has eclipsed Crusaders fly-half Dan Carter’s record by 42 points. His epic point scoring is also an indication of just how dominant the Bulls have been this year.
It is the Bull’s third Super 14 title in four seasons. Fellow Super Rugby teams will be hoping the eventual retirements of old warriors like Victor Matfield and suspended lock partner Bakkies Botha will help bring the team back into line in the future. Australian and New Zealand teams will be hoping the same goes for many of the experienced Springboks dominating at all levels of rugby right now.
I was watching Invictus last night, and it reminded me how awesome Jonah Lomu was for the All Blacks at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. The above video shows his incredible game for the All Blacks versus English Rugby Team in the semi-final. In that game Jonah Lomu scored four tries, providing a showcase for his power, speed, swerve, and running lines. One particular signature world cup try features him bumping of two tackles and then trampling over Mike Catt while trying to regain his balance. Hard to believe he was only 20 years old.
At the tournament Jonah Lomu exploded onto the rugby scene, becoming the first rugby superstar. After the England semi-final, Will Carling was quoted as saying “He is a freak and the sooner he goes away the better”.
The youngest player to ever play a test for the All Blacks, he only had two caps going into the World Cup, and he still holds the record for most tries in World Cups, with 15. He also took the 1999 World Cup by the scruff of the neck, scoring 8 tries at that tournament. At the next Rugby World Cup, in New Zealand 2011, Joe Rokocoko will be one of the key challengers to that record should he be selected for the All Blacks. He would have had an extra world cup though, and currently sits at 11 tries from his two tournaments.
Over his career for the All Blacks he played 63 tests and scored 35 tries in a career that went from the amateur error in 1994 to kidney-disorder forced retirement. However, he has made a few attempts at rugby comebacks following a successful kidney transplant and at the time of writing is playing for third division French club team Marseille Vitrolles.
In the movie Invictus Jonah Lomu was played by Isaac Feau’nati and his character was prominent in all discussions regarding the Springboks chances in the final. Despite Lomu battling hard in the match, the Springboks were able to successfully able to target him in defence and he did not score a try. An interesting statistic about Jonah Lomu is that despite all his tries he was never able to score one against South Africa. It has been said that his barnstorming efforts at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa set in motion the process of rugby turning professional, which happened a year later in 1996.
The English Rugby Union, the RFU, have agreed to a date change, enabling New Zealand another attempt at a prestigious Grand Slam Tour. The All Blacks and England will now contest the Hillary Shield on December the 4th before playing Scotland on the November the 13th, Ireland on November the 20th and Wales on November the 27th.
This is an important concession for the NZRU as it means they get the All Black players back a week earlier than expected in order to recuperate before the big 2011 season ahead. The ‘knock-out’ tour element of a Grand Slam is in itself important 2011 World Cup preparation. The timing change also allows the NZRU a revenue-generating opportunity to arrange an Asian Bledisloe Cup test against Australia on the 30th of October.
The Grand Slam tour, where a team plays each of the home unions, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, on a single tour, is considered one of the hardest tours in rugby to complete. The All Blacks themselves have attempted it ten times and achieved it three times. Historically they have also been rare to even attempt due to the scheduling difficulties. The All Blacks did not even attempt a Grand Slam between their first successful attempt in 1978 and their second successful attempt in 2004. However, due to the increase of tests being played in a year and the temptation of additional tests being revenue sharing for the touring team, they have become much more common. New Zealand won another a few years later in 2008, while the Australia had a failed attempt in 2009.
The South African Springboks have the most successful Grand Slam tours of the Southern Hemisphere teams with four, and also have a Grand Slam tour scheduled in 2010. There last Grand Slam tours were failed attempts in 1998 and 2004. Their last successful tour was in 1969, so they will be especially keen for a successful tour in 2010.
