Phil Vickery has been handed the Captain responsibility for the 5th match against Western Province (Stormers) this Saturday as Paul O’Connell and Brian OI’Driscoll are not in the Match day 22.
W.P have named a strong squad however they will be without they will be without their two Super star players Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers. Luke Watson has been selected as Captain for W.P. against the Lions. Morgan Newman who was taken to the Springbok training camp will start at 13. Newman was a shock selection by Peter De Villiers for the training camp. Peter Grant who has 5 Springbok caps to his name will start at inside center.
W.P’s squad is pretty strong and I think we will have a good game on our hands.
Western Province squad:
15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Morgan Newman, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Gcobani Bobo, 10 Willem De Waal, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage; 8 Luke Watson (c), 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Anton Van Zyl, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Subs: 16 Hanyani Shimange, 17 JD Moller, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Zandre Jordaan, 20 Conrad Hoffmann, 21 JJ Engelbrecht, 22 Gio Aplon.
British & Irish Lions:
15 Rob Kearney (Ireland), 14 Tommy Bowe (Ireland), 13 Keith Earls (Ireland), 12 Riki Flutey (England), 11 Ugo Monye (England), 10 Stephen Jones (Wales), 9 Harry Ellis (England), 8 Andy Powell (Wales), 7 Martyn Williams (Wales), 6 Joe Worsley (England), 5 Nathan Hines (Scotland), 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (Ireland), 3 Phil Vickery (England), 2 Matthew Rees (Wales), 1 Andrew Sheridan (England)
Subs: 16 Ross Ford (Scotland), 17 Euan Murray (Scotland), 18 Simon Shaw (England), 19 Tom Croft (England), 20 Mike Blair (Scotland), 21 James Hook (Wales), 22 Gordon D’Arcy (Ireland)
Peter Grant will provide experience for WP's backline
One of my favorite memories of both Rugby and for my Country is of course the Rugby World Cup 1995. It was a very special time in South Africa and this great sporting even helped unite a Nation for the first time behind their Springboks or Ama-boko-boko (Zulu). I recall this world cup well even though I was a young boy and had just started my Rugby Career.
I recently learnt that a movie is currently in production about Nelson Mandela (Madiba) and his life around the time that apartheid fell and his term as President of the New South Africa. The movie also goes into how Mandela used the 95 RWC as a tool to unite South Africa. Even though I was young seeing Nelson in a Springbok jersey made me realize that change is happening and still to this day gives me goose bumps.
I found these pics of Morgan Freemen who plays Nelson and Matt Damon who plays the role of the Springbok captain Francois Pienaar. I think that Mr Damon should have bulked up for his role as he looks like a bit of a school boy in this pic.
Origional from 95
Morgan as Nelson Mandela
Matt as Francois Pienaar
As the First Lions test gets closer and closer, Jamie Roberts has
revealed that the fight for a place in the team is intensifying every
single day. The Lions take on South Africa on 20th June and every
single man in the squad will be doing all they can to get themselves
in the starting fifteen.
Roberts is set to play in the latest tour match tomorrow when the
Lions take on the Sharks, so he will have a chance to impress coach
Ian McGeechan ahead of the matches that everyone has been waiting for.
Speaking about the competition for places, Roberts said that ‘everyone
is fighting for that Test spot’, otherwise they wouldn’t be on the
tour. He also revealed that the coaches will not be picking the team
to face South Africa ‘until Test week’, meaning that each and every
player has a ‘fighting chance’ of being selected.
The Welshman is set to partner Brian O’Driscoll in the centre tomorrow
after the same pair impressed during the Lions’ 74-10 victory in last
week’s tour match against the Golden Lions.
This is something that Roberts is very happy about, because O’Driscoll
is a ‘really tough character’ that is ‘great to play alongside’. He is
also looking forward to being outside Irishman Ronan O’Gara who has
been ‘extremely successful this season’. Overall, Roberts is confident
that playing with these two will bring the best out of him as an
individual.
As much as he is keen to cement his place for the first South Africa
test though, Roberts believes that the team’s success has to come
first. He says that ‘individual ambition is put aside’ on this tour
because it is ‘all about the team over here’.
If Roberts was completely honest with himself though, he would admit
that he is desperate to play a huge part against South Africa.
Obviously he wants the team to win, but if they do so with him pulling
the strings in the centre, that would be perfect for the 22-year-old.
The Sharks have now announced the their match day 22 for Wednesday against the British and Irish Lions. Deon Carstens has been released from the Springbok training camp and has been named at No 1 for the Sharks. Rory Kockott will team up with Monty Dumond who had little game time in the Super 14.
The Sharks have Riaan Swanepoel and Andries Strauss as their centers and they have a great challenge ahead of them when they face Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll who are tipped to be the favorites for the test matches.
The Sharks will be missing 8 players from their Squad due to Springbok duties. These players are Ruan Pienaar (10), Francois Steyn (utility back), JP Pietersen (wing), Adrian Jacobs (Center), John Smit (Hooker/Prop), Ryan Kankowski (8th man), Bismarck du Plessis (Hooker) and Beast Mtawarira (Prop).
1. Deon Carstens
2. Skipper Badenhorst
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Steven Sykes
5. Johann Muller (C)
6. Jacques Botes
7. Jean Deysel
8. Keegan Daniel
9. Rory Kockott
10. Monty Dumond
11. Luzuko Vulindlu
12. Riaan Swanepoel
13. Andries Strauss
14. Chris Jordaan
15. Stefan Terblanche
Replacements:
16. Craig Burden 17. Patric Cilliers
18. Albert van den Berg
19. Michael Rhodes
20. Charl McLeod
21. Guy Cronje
22. Lwazi Mvovo
Players to watch: Kockott, Deysel, Terblanche, Sykes and Muller
Gerald Davies, and Head Coach Ian McGeechan have announced the team that will take on the Sharks at ABSA Stadium in Durban on Wednesday. Davies stated the important thing is that the tourists have remained unbeaten with over half of the provincial games over.
Here is the team to that will play in the Shark tank.
Starting 15:
15: Lee Byrne (Wales)14: Shane Williams (Wales)13: Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland) 12: Jamie Roberts (Wales)11: Luke Fitzgerald (Ireland) 10: Ronan O’Gara (Ireland) 9: Mike Phillips (Wales) 8: Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)7: David Wallace (Ireland) 6: Tom Croft (England) 5: Paul O’Connell (Ireland) 4: Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales) 3: Adam Jones (Wales) 2: Lee Mears (England) 1: Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
Replacements:
16: Matthew Rees (Wales) 17: Phil Vickery (England)18: Simon Shaw (England) 19: Joe Worsley (England) 20: Mike Blair (Scotland) 21: Riki Flutey (England) 22: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
The British and Irish lions played the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein this Saturday and escaped with a narrow victory.
The first 20 mins seemed to be a walk in the park for the B&I Lions as they were scoring a point a minute however they seemed to take it easy and coast through the rest of the game. While the Cheetahs had plans to try and topple the best of the UK and Ireland.
All credit to the men from the Free state who refused to back down and clawed their way to a 24-26 loss. A drop goal attempt in the last few mins went astray leaving the Lions with a win. The Cheetahs also missed a few kicks at goal and one wonders if they had a good game with the boot what the score line could have been.
Paul O’Connell openly admitted he wanted more from his team while Brian O’Driscoll was happy that the team faced a challenge and did not have another walk over game as they did with the Golden Lions.
The Cheetahs will now have to wait another 12 years before they can have a shot at beating the British and Irish Lions.
The Cheetahs will host the British Lions in Bloemfontein this Saturday and the starting line ups have been named for both teams.
British & Irish Lions:
15 Lee Byrne 14 Leigh Halfpenny 13 Keith Earls 12 Luke Fitzgerald 11 Shane Williams 10 James Hook 9 Harry Ellis 8 Andy Powell 7 Joe Worsely 6 Stephen Ferris 5 Paul O’Connell (c) 4 Donncha O’Callaghan 3 Euan Murray 2 Ross Ford 1 Andrew Sheridan
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Nathan Hines, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Gordon D’Arcy.
Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller 14 Danwel Demas 13 Corne Uys 12 Meyer Bosman 11 JW Jonker 10 Jacques- Louis Potgieter 9 Tewis de Bruyn 8 Hendro Scholtz (c) 7 Francois Uys 6 Heinrich Brüssow 5 David de Villiers 4 Nico Breedt 3 Kobus Calldo 2 Adriaan Strauss 1 Wian du Preez
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss 17 WP Nel 18 Frans Viljoen 19 Kabamba Floors 20 Gerrie Odendaal 21 Louis Strydom 22 Fabian Juries.
Cheetahs to look out for, Heinrich Brüssow who had a amazing Super 14 and was very unlucky not to make the Springbok squad. Meyer Bosman is a big strong runner and test the defense of the Lions.
All in all I am expecting a much better game than the Lion’s vs Lions from Wednesday.
Heinrich Brüssow one to watch
George Hook talk about this Lions Tour in his video Blog from Lionsrugbyteam.com
What would a Springbok Squad selection be without a few surprises. PDV has once again caused a commotion with selecting Earl Rose who he has dubbed the Tiger Woods of Rugby. Which is rather surprising as Rose could barely make it in the Super 14 and spent most of the tournament on the bench for the Golden Lions. Another decision that confuses me is that there seems to be no specialist fullback. Frans Steyn who is in the squad could possibly be the starting no 15 for his massive punts and long distance drop goals, however he didn’t play fullback all season. JP Pietersen could also be used as a fullback but who wants to move a player that is playing so well from his position. With all the talent in South Africa why not take a specialist for the No 15 jersey such as Zane Kirchner or Stefan Terblanche?
Another major omission was Heinrich Brussow who was in outstanding form all Super 14. The squad feels a little short of flankers.
This seems to be a contradiction from PDV as he said he cannot select Luke Watson for the Squad because there was better no 8 players then him and he didn’t see him play on the flanks. However when it comes to fullback it seems totally ok to select someone who has not played there all season? Strange!
Morne Steyn makes his first appearance in a Springbok squad which was so well deserved.
South African selection time will always be different to the rest of the major Rugby nations due to the quota system that is in place. I am very happy that there is development in South Africa but do you start with the national team? There are many great players of color in South Africa and they deserve to be in the team but Earl Rose I can’t agree with.
Behold! The Tiger Woods of Rugby
Spring Bok Squad Lions Tour 09:
Forwards:
John Smit (c), Victor Matfield, Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Deon Carstens, Bismarck du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Tendai Mtawarira, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Gurthrö Steenkamp
Backs:
Jean de Villiers, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Adi Jacob, Ricky Januarie, Odwa Ndungane, Jongi Nokwe, Wynand Olivier, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Earl Rose, Frans Steyn, Morné Steyn
The British and Irish Lions will play their second match of their South African Tour this Wednesday at Ellis Park (don’t like the Coca Cola Park).
Earl Rose who has been released from Springbok training camp has been named on the bench. André Pretorius will start at no 10 for the Golden lions.
The B&I Lions have a change in the Captaincy with Brian O’Driscoll being their leader for this match. There seems to be a lot of pace in this British team and I think we are in for a good game. Ellis park has a sellout crowd and the B&I Lions will have better opposition this week. We shall see if they can gel together for this game. No matter what happens there will be a victorious lions team, well unless there is a draw.
Golden Lions:
15 Louis Ludik, 14 Michael Killian, 13 Jannie Boshoff, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Dusty Noble, 10 André Pretorius, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (c), 5 Willem Stoltz, 4 Brad Mockford, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Lawrence Sephaka.
British & Irish Lions:
15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Ex-Bok Fly Half Pretorius will start at no 10