Super Rugby 2018

[Arzy]

Yay!

 

[Creag]

fark what a crybaby, twat should take lessons from someone like JdV sitting right next to him

Reminded me of the adage: "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". So he is.

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

Ja no, there's enthusiasm for your team of course because everyone has their team, even the commentators but you look at someone like Jean doing it, all gentleman like and then that poephol and it's just whiney and irritating, heh

 

[faniebraai]

Ja no, there's enthusiasm for your team of course because everyone has their team, even the commentators but you look at someone like Jean doing it, all gentleman like and then that poephol and it's just whiney and irritating, heh

Now you know what we have to endure with you week in and week out

 

[Arzy]

Brumbies fekking up my golden point...

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

The Vodacom Bulls have been rocked by the news that prop Pierre Schoeman has been cited for biting during Saturday’s 28-10 win over the Melbourne Rebels at Loftus Versfeld.

Link

:crylaugh:

 

[Vrotappel]

Pierre Schoeman suspended for 6 weeks. That sucks.

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

Well it was obvious there was evidence of the deed so it comes down to the stupid d00s did it, now he must suffer

 

[Pitbull]

Pierre Schoeman suspended for 6 weeks. That sucks.

6 weeks only? He's damn lucky!

There is no reason to bite in Rugby, that is a life ban offence!

 

[DanDango]

Springbok legend Bryan Habana has announced his retirement
http://forum.planetrugby.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=85240

Springbok legend Bryan Habana has announced his retirement from all rugby at the end of the current season.

The 34-year-old, who is South Africa's all-time leading try scorer with 67 tries from his 124 Tests, confirmed the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

"The inevitable moment has come knocking on my door and I’ve welcomed it in for a drink," Habana wrote.

"It's been more than a year of hoping, trying, pushing and willing to get back on the field for one last time, to taste the sweet victory or encounter that gut-wrenching despair.

"But it’s unfortunately just not to be. I, like most, would have liked my career to have ended differently, but sometimes things don’t turn out quite the way we hope for."
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh82LyNHVt_/

Habana will go down as one of the greatest Springboks of all time and one of the best wings in the game's history.

The highlight of his career was winning the 2007 World Cup with Jake White's Springboks while he is also a two-time Super Rugby winner with the Bulls

 

[DanDango]

Former Springbok captain Adriaan Strauss has given the strongest indication that he is set to return to international rugby after he confirmed he may reverse his decision if it was in the best interests of the national team.

Strauss retired at the end of 2016 when many thought he could still play on in the international arena.

But his decision, brought on partly by a back injury that needed surgery and partly by the desire to let younger hookers like Malcolm Marx have a decent run in the Springbok jersey, may well be rescinded if Rassie Erasmus looks keen to have the former captain back.

Already there have been reports that Erasmus has Strauss in his plans, and wants the hooker as a back-up to Marx, especially with Bongi Mbonambi still out and no real other contender at the moment for the back-up position.

And Strauss, who admits he is enjoying his rugby at the moment with the Bulls and is in fine form, may well answer if Erasmus comes knocking.

“To be honest with you I am enjoying every single minute, I don’t know how long I am still going to play for, especially in the last few years you enjoy every single second that you get and I am just focusing on every training session I get and every game that I get to play. With the Highlanders this weekend there is not a lot of space for anything else to think about right now,” he tried to sidestep the question when asked about it after a training session at Loftus Versfeld this week.

But when pressed on the matter, Strauss did admit that if he was wanted and could contribute, he would take the time to review his decision.

“It was a big decision and I took it very seriously when I decided to retire at the end of that year. So, to come back would be just as big a decision.

“I want to contribute any way that I can and if it is possible it is definitely something to look at, but to me it must be worth it. I must be able to contribute to SA Rugby and the team. Like I said, it wasn’t an easy decision to retire and it wouldn’t be an easy one to return, if I have the opportunity.”

http://www.sarugby.co.za/article.aspx?category=sarugby/springboks&id=4287974

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

Jesus, nothing has come from Rassie yet that has me excited .......

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Good on Habana. Pity it ends on a bit of a soft note, but great career in the green & gold.

 

[faniebraai]

Springbok legend Bryan Habana has announced his retirement
http://forum.planetrugby.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=85240

Ahh the times he was at his best on centre.....

 

[DanDango]

Ahh the times he was at his best on centre.....

View attachment 517369

+1

Doppies La Grange at 12 and Habana at 13

 

[Fulcrum29]

Sad... OT but has relevance.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports...nting-japanese-rugby-capitalizing-gains-2015/

Same old squabbles preventing Japanese rugby from capitalizing on gains of 2015

Three years ago, the Brave Blossoms produced one of the biggest upsets rugby — and indeed any sport — has ever seen when they beat South Africa at the Rugby World Cup.

A year later, the Japan sevens team shocked New Zealand on its way to a fourth-place finish at the Rio Olympics.

Sixteen months away from hosting the next Rugby World Cup and with the Tokyo Olympics following a year later, rugby should be on the crest of a wave.

But instead it finds itself in a similar old mess as the plethora of committees and cliques that run the various teams and competitions fail to adhere to a common playbook.

Off the field, for example, a recent spat between the Japan Rugby Football Union and the Sunwolves saw Jun Ikeda (the chief branding officer with the Super Rugby side) resign from the JRFU board, as it became clear there was no middle ground between ancient and modern views on how the sport should be run and marketed.

Ikeda’s cause hasn’t been helped by falling attendances — though he would be totally justified in feeling aggrieved that the Top League ran a street rugby festival on April 7 at the exact same time the Sunwolves were playing the Waratahs just a few kilometers away.

Meanwhile, on the field, a string of losses for the Sunwolves has resulted in certain members of the media making it very clear they want Jamie Joseph, who doubles as coach of the Brave Blossoms and the Super Rugby side, removed.

The adulation that followed some good results in November — when Japan hammered Tonga and drew with France in Paris — has been replaced with anger and impatience as the Sunwolves have made a mockery of their “Top 5 in 2018” slogan.

“I’m the leader of the team, and I have to set high goals so that my players can aspire to be the best against the best teams in the world,” Joseph said recently after the Sunwolves (now 0-8) lost their seventh straight game.

Joseph has not been helped by the intricacies of rugby in the Land of the Rising Sun, with the contract structure of the top players varying according to whether they are professional rugby players or company employees.

The Sunwolves — as do the national team, whose only real payment to the players is ¥4,000 per diem — rely on the generosity of the companies and while the relationship is far better than it has been, it does not make for smooth sailing.

And then there are universities, who have been known to demand the recall of a player from national team duty so he can play in the collegiate championship.

And it’s not just Joseph who has been affected.

Sevens coach Damian Karauna recently told a few home truths after his men’s team triumphed in Hong Kong to regain core team status on the 2018-19 World Sevens Series, having been relegated a year after just missing out on Olympic bronze.

“Ideally, like all World Series teams I’d like a centralized program,” Karauna told the South China Morning Post. “It’s the only way forward.”

“These guys are specialist 15s players. We have them for two weeks. That’s how little time we have with them.

“Unless we have more time with them then we are going to stay at this level and we can’t get better. The problem we have is consistency of players. We have such a large turnaround of players, we’ve got to plan ahead.”

But long-term planning doesn’t really seem high on the agenda of the various committees in charge.

The local organizing committee of the World Cup is only interested in 2019. And the JRFU is playing along by constantly changing the structure of the Top League and the rules on player eligibility in the hope Japan can repeat the heroics of 2015, at the expense of long-term development.

There is also confusion over the goal for the sevens team.

“We have to understand what we’re trying to achieve. Is it World Series or is it Tokyo?” questioned Kaurana.

When it comes to Jamie Joseph I tend to agree with the media, he is taking it back to the John Kirwan days… Since the Sunwolves are run by the Japan Super Rugby Association (JSRA), over and above the JRFU, their ties with the Top League has been diminishing. This is how I see it going about what I read and listen to.

The Top League also changed their rules, since the 2017/18 season they may have 5 (where 2 may be nationally capped) non-Japanese players in the 23-man squad. It used to be 3 where only 1 may be nationally capped. It is clear how they want to go about with their contracting program, knowing that there may soon be an agreement between the ARU and the Top League. So, in perspective it would mean in accordance with the article, more pro players and less company employees (noting that the best Japanese players are company employees).

I don’t see anything changing. Eddie Jones had the right idea, but the traditionalists disagreed. Filo Tiatia wanted to build on this, but when it came to the JSRA he walked, though I don't think as a Super Rugby coach only that he would have made any impact.

So, yah, they don't know what they want to achieve, too many people in disagreement, old boys’ vs new ideas, outsiders wanting control. Intelligent people with no direction in rugby, ego-explosive.

 

[Fulcrum29]

OT:

Japan A goes down against the Hurricanes A, 36-27. They had a good tour, I doubt the Sunwolves will do any better against the Hurricanes.

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

There really needs to be a Japan rugby thread .......

 

[Solitude]

Is it currently raining in Cape Town? That will change the game quite a bit.

 

[mbayshark]

Hopefully the Stormers can get their ducks in a row. Rebels can be dangerous, but Stormers should take them if they get going.