With the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship just under 2 months away, the IRB have put together ths short teaser clip (below) to get the vibe going.

I managed to catch a few of the Baby Boks’ early training games this year, and they show a lot of promise. With the likes of Patrick Lambie and Sampie Mastriet joining the South African u20 squad, this year’s competition should promise a lot of excitement and I for one can’t wait to catch this year’s IRB Junior World Championship, to be held in Argentina from 5 – 21 June 2010.

The Final Stages:

The South African camp are in their final stages of preperation. This is what head coach, Eric Sauls had to say:

“We are now entering the final stages of our preparations for the forthcoming World Championship. We’ll be selecting the 26 players that will make up the final squad from the group of players that have been invited to this camp.

While our Vodacom Super 14 players will be allowed to continue to represent their franchises, we have quite a few players who have excelled in the Vodacom Cup who have also been also selected to this squad.

We are where we want to be in terms of exposing our players to international opposition as many of the guys that will join us next week have either played in the international friendlies against Argentina or were part of our tour to France in February.

These players will not participate in any matches during this camp, but the coaches will use this opportunity to fine tune our game structures to ensure that all players that could possibly make the Argentinean trip in June are on the same page.”

IRB Junior World Championship 2010: [irb]

South Africa Under 20 training squad: Read More >>

This from the Melbourne Rebels camp: The Melbourne Rebels are pleased to announce the appointment of leading sports administrator, Danny Corcoran, to the position of General Manager, Rugby Operations.

Chief Executive of Athletics Australia for the past six years, Corcoran steered the organisation through a prosperous time, seeing it achieve outstanding results at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Danny leaves the sport in great shape as the buildup to the 2012 London Games begins in earnest over the next twelve months. But the offer from the Rebels and a chance to get back into a team environment proved too great.

“I have had a burning desire to get back into a professional team sport environment,” said Corcoran.

“The winning, losing and being part of a close-knit team, on and off the field, is something that I have missed and is what I’m really looking forward to. Obviously, one of the key drivers is the challenge of being part of the team that is charged with setting up a new club. Read More >>

Hurricanes VS Crusaders: The Hurricanes performed one of the most noteworthy comebacks of the 2010 Super 14 so far when they made up an 18 point deficit and overtook the Crusaders in what was to become the 1st draw of the 2010 Super 14 season.    

It was the Crusaders who played most of the rugby in the first half, making it look as if the Hurricanes were in for yet another dismal game this season, but the Hurricanes came out of the half time break charging, scoring 20 unanswered points to take the lead for the 1st time in the game.    

Unfortunately for the Hurricane’s fans though, their team went into defensive mode thereafter and stayed there for the remainder of the match, allowing the Crusaders to claw their way back into the game and ultimately force the draw.    

My two cents worth:

• The Hurricane’s and All Black centre pairing of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith were near back to the kind of attacking form that earned them their test partnership in the 1st place. Nonu’s discipline, especially in the tackle, remains a worry though. 
• The Hurricanes defence needs to be praised after the Crusaders spent a total of 7min31secs in the Hurricanes 22m area and only managed to score 3 tries. 
• Jeremy Thrush made an incredible 19 tackles on the night. 
• Ma’a Nonu was solid on attack, gaining 120m with ball in hand and breaking the Crusader’s line twice. His defense on the other hand, needs work, missing 3 tackles on the night. 

• Congratulations to Dan Carter who became the second player this season, after Stirling Mortlock, to surpass 1000 Super Rugby points. 

Hurricanes VS Crusaders 2010 Highlights: [WRNrugbynews] Read More >>

Like an old horse going to the glue factory, Wallaby legend, Stirling Mortlock, has signed with the melbourne rebels for 2011. This just in from the Melbourne Rebels camp:

The Melbourne Rebels have announced a major signing with Stirling Mortlock, former Wallaby skipper and the highest point-scorer in Super Rugby history, joining the team for 2011.

Director of Coaching and Head Coach Rod Macqueen said,

“Stirling is yet another addition to our growing team of players with strong leadership skills. The opportunity to play out his career in Melbourne, and not overseas,  is great for both Australian rugby and Stirling as he helps us build the foundations of the new club.”

Mortlock will leave the CA Brumbies after a being a stalwart of the club since 1998. He succeeded George Gregan  as captain in 2004 leading the team to take the Super 12 title that year.

First selected for the Wallabies 1997 tour to Argentina out of club rugby by Rod Macqueen, the big match player became the 73rd player to captain the Wallabies in 2006  with highlights including his instrumental role in leading the Australians to an upset 20-15 victory over the All Blacks at the MCG in 2007 in front of a crowd of over 79,000 and in that same year, the great honour of captaining the Wallabies at the World Cup in France.

There is no doubt Stirling Mortlock’s reputation as one of the hardest running centres in the world will see Melbourne fans pack the brand new AAMI Park to see this inspirational Wallaby in Rebel colours.

Maties celebrate as winners once again.

The 2010 FNB Varsity Cup Final has seen the boys from Stellenbosch retain their title as varsity rugby champs. Maties,who also won the 2010 Cape Town Tens, muscled on to win their 3rd consecutive title as FNB Varsity Cup winners since the competition started back in 2008.

For those of you who missed the game, here is some catch up for you:

Maties survived a late UCT onslaught to win 17-14 in front of 20 000 people in Stellenbosch on Monday evening.

Outscoring their Cape Town rivals, FNB Ikey Tigers, by three tries to one, FNB Maties established themselves as the true university champions of South Africa – adding to the 2008 and 2009 titles they won in the country’s fastest growing competition.

The atmosphere at The Danie Craven Stadium was positively buzzing. Small pockets of visiting fans tried their best to make the UCT presence felt, but were drowned out by the swarms of Maties fanatics.

How the game played out?

The first half:

On the field, it was a nervy start from both sides and the players, who looked a bit daunted by playing in the high-pressure cauldron of a Final, looked to put boot to ball early on.

It was the visitors who showed the first signs of attacking intent and they put some good phases together. Flyhalf Doug Mallett – a late replacement for regular No.10 Matt Rosslee – distributed well to dangerous men outside him. Read More >>

Friday’s Games:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the KAK-est of them all?

Highlanders VS Lions: The Lions, despite scoring 5 tries to 3 on the night, managed to blow their only realistic chance of winning a game, so far in this year’s competition, when they went down 39 – 29 to the Highlanders in Dunedin.

This isn’t the first out-of-sorts loss for the hapless Lions this season after they recorded 65 points against the Chiefs and still lost the game. It seems like there is nowhere to go for Dick Muir’s men this season and they face the very real possibility of propping up the very bottom of the Super 14 table in 2010.

The Highlanders did well to record a win, but it was the Lions who were worse on the night than the Highlanders were good.

My two cents worth:

• Earl Rose showed once again just how kak he is at this level! I think that Springbok fans will shit themselves if he is once again chosen to be part of a Springbok touring squad this year!
• Israel Dagg has made a very strong impressionso far this season, gaining 103m with ball in hand and offloading in the tackle 3 times.
• There were 30 penalties in the game, and a penalty try. Stuart Dickinson is not exactly the poster child for the new “flowing game” we are meant to be experiencing.
• I think this game is a perfect example of how winning a rugby game is not just about tries, but playing to the laws and converting penalties/opportunities into points.

Highlanders VS Lions 2010 Highlights: [WRNrugbynews] Read More >>

We are mid-way into the 201 Super 14 campaign, and highlights of the weekend’s games will be up tomorrow, but something so much more exciting is happening in South African rugby this evening, The following are excerpts from Sports Network throughout the week

Full house signs went up for the Monday’s 18h30 kick-off 2010 Varsity Cup Final, between FNB Maties and FNB UCT  at the Danie Craven Stadium. 

Francois Pienaar, co-founder of the Varsity Cup was quoted, during the week, as saying,

“Who can forget those scenes in 2008 when some fans had to climb trees and walk up the mountains to catch a glimpse of that dramatic finale?

“I have no doubt we will see similar scenes come this Monday. Maties deserve a lot of credit for their various initiatives, and their huge crowds, but then again, who can blame the spectators for wanting to watch a cracking final (like Maties v the Ikeys)?”

“It’s a final that everyone is looking forward to and I have no doubt that it, and the two teams in the final, will once again do the Varsity Cup proud.”

Monday is not just about the Varsity Cup Final. The 2010 final will, again, be preceded by the Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships Final, this time between Steinhoff Dagbreek (Maties) and Steinhoff Vishuis (Shimlas).

The Koshuis Final between the country’s top rugby residences will kick-off at 16h15 and top SA singer Kurt Darren will also be performing at the Danie Craven Stadium, as he did last year, before the Varsity Cup Final gets underway.

It seems like just the other day that the FNB Varsity Cup, presented by Steinhoff International, was born. And, as a ‘parent’ of this exciting tournament, Francois Pienaar could not be any prouder of his so-called ‘baby’.

“I’d say this baby of ours is still crawling,” said Pienaar.

“It’s just about to stand up and grab hold of a chair… (and) I have no doubt that the Varsity Cup will be walking soon… then running… and, finally, sprinting!”

It is hard to blame Pienaar for being so proud of the Varsity Cup, a tournament that has, in just three years, captured the imagination of the South African rugby public.

Having kicked-off for the first time in February 2008, the first-ever Varsity Cup will best be remembered for its dramatic final at Coetzenburg a few weeks later when the Maties scored a try on the full-time hooter to beat UCT and lift the trophy.

Since then, the tournament has continued to make headlines. Not only for its exciting rugby and various cutting edge off-field innovations, but also because of its worth as a ‘feeder-system’ to the Currie Cup and Super 14 competitions.

Provincial talent aside, however, the Varsity Cup has also produced Sevens Springboks in Kyle Brown, Chase Minnaar and Robert Ebersohn and a full Springbok tourist in the shape of Juan de Jongh.

Pienaar and his Varsity Cup brainstrust will sit down after the 2010 tournament for their annual ‘audit’, to see what did and did not work this year, but he was happy to report that most of the new innovations this year had been very well received.

The Pink Shorts Campaign:

“I ‘borrowed’ the Pink Shorts concept from the IPL [cricket]. People were skeptical at first that the players wouldn’t embrace it, but it has produced a huge debate amongst the supporters and the players have treated it as a real honour. It’s been a great concept and we’ve also managed to do some good (through the Pink Shorts campaign) with the Varsity Cup Trust.

The Pink Shorts campaign is a campaign where every player who wins a man-of-the-match award gets to wear pink shorts in his next match, to show support for current and past rugby players living with cancer improve their circumstances.

You can also show your support for the pink Shorts Campaign by SMSing your favourite team’s name to 36199 and your R5 donation will go to The Varsity Cup Trust.

Scenes from 2009’s Steinhoff Varsity Cup final:[BEJStudios] Read More >>

Last week, in our segment looking at Springbok rugby players plying their trade abroad, we looked in on Butch James, this week, there have been talks of him making a hasty return to the Sharks and expressing interest in representing the Springboks at the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Brent Russell:

Brent Russell had mixed success during his time in the Springbok squad. His selection for the Springbok trials was unexpected, but his pace and fleet footedness left the opposition dazed and confused. Russell was voted as South Africa’s ‘Sevens Player of the Year’ award after having risen from relative obscurity at Western Province.

He literally blasted onto the scene in 2002 when he made his international debut against Wales in Bloemfontein, and shortly afterwards became know as the “pocket rocket” for his relatively small stature, rugby wise, and electrifying pace off the mark.

Brent Russell gained 23 Springboks test caps during his career in South Africa. He went on to make four appearances at flyhalf, seven at fullback, nine on the wing, and two at centre, before rounding off his full set in just his 16th appearance, by coming on as a replacement scrumhalf for the last 14 minutes against Wales in Cardiff, in November 2004.

(The only other player to have appeared in all possible positions in the backs is Ruan Pienaar)

Unfortunately for Russell, much like Pienaar, he was a victim of his own versatility and unique talent, often having to play off the bench and never really being afforded the opportunity to settle down and specialise in one position. He was ubruptly dropped from the Springbok squad after their los against France at Newlands in 2006.

Brent Russell has since been plying his trade at Clermont Auvergne, after a stint at South African English club, Saracens.

This is what Brent Russell has been up to: [top142009]

But is he needed?

For: There are few players in the modern era with the all-out pace and acceleration as Brent Russell has. He has the ability the create something out of absolutely nothing. He can step, at full pace, with the best of them and always leaves the opposition guessing when he has ball in hand. He is truly one of the most electrifying players to come out of South African rugby in recent years.

Against: The well used excuse about his size. Russell’s small stature works against him in regards with the South African style of play. The fact that the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup will be held on the wet fields of New Zealand, limiting the ability to play the type of game that Russell thrives on.

What are your views? Would you pick Brent Russell to be in your 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup squad?

France claimed their 1st XV Nations Grand Slam since 2004 when they beat out England at the weekend. The game was by no means a pretty affair, the conditions were wet and the play was scrappy, but France ground it out to take victory and with it, the 2010 VI Nations trophy.

In a game where there isn’t much to highlight on, England looked to be the better side, and scored the only try of the match, but their ill-discipline let them down, allowing France to outscore them and take the spoils.

Here are the highlights of the final round of the 2010 VI Nations:

France VS England 2010 VI Nations: [WRNrugbynews]

Ireland VS Scotland 2010 VI Nations: [WRNrugbynews]

Wales VS Italy 2010 VI Nations: [WRNrugbynews]

Schalk Burger bitch slapped Meyer Bosman on the weekend. Kak funny! What more do you want out of a good old South African derby match between the Stormers and Cheetahs? As far as I know, Burger hasn’t been cited.

Schalk Burger slaps Meyer Bosman: [CombatBok]