Super 14 Injury Worries
Matt Giteau is in a race against time to be fit for Friday's clash with the Force.
With rugby’s most anticipated tournament less than five days away, many of the top teams are facing injury worries.
With the Sharks Argentinean flyhalf Juan Hernandez long departed, and the ever-injury-prone André Pretorius pulling out of the entire Super 14 with a hamstring ailment on the weekend, it seems like many teams are struggling with the crucial No 10 position in the run-up to the start of the season.
The Brumbies flyhalf Matt Giteau – back after a three-year sojourn with the Western Force – is also struggling with a leg injury, after he suffered a tear in his left thigh in training two weeks ago. Should he not be fit for the Brumbies opener with his old team the Force on Friday, it will be a significant blow for the Canberra-based side.
New Zealand’s Blues, based in Auckland, also have a fair share of injury concerns leading up to the tough derby with local rivals the Hurricanes on Friday. Fullback Paul Williams took a blow to the head, and will have to undergo cognitive testing this week; George Pisi is nursing a damaged shoulder; Anthony Tuitavake is out indefinitely and Luke McAlister is out for the first three Super 14 matches.
Fortunately for Stormers fans, Schalk Burger’s shoulder injury – sustained in the warm-up friendly against Boland on Saturday – is less serious than originally expected, and he should be fit to play on Saturday.
Spencer’s Thrilling Debut
Carlos Spencer thrilled fans at his Lions debut.
Carlos Spencer won high praise for his debut effort in a Lions jersey as the Johannesburg Super 14 franchise wrapped up their preseason campaign.
Spencer, the former All Black and Blues star who is the Lions big signing as he returns to the Super Rugby scene following his English sojourn, helped his team beat Currie Cup newcomers the Pumas 24-17 in Witbank.
While the Lions were generally panned for their performance as a team, there were words of encouragement for Spencer who new coach Dick Muir had kept on ice until the final match of their warmup programme.
It seems that Spencer was full of the sorts of tricks that made him such a crowd-pleaser during his peak in New Zealand.
”The outstanding ray of light in a rather dull performance was former All Black flyhalf Carlos Spencer. He showed in no uncertain manner that the move to lure him to Gauteng was a good one,’ reported the SuperSport website in its coverage of the match.
“Spencer kept the Pumas on the back foot with cross kicks and was sharp in his distribution. His quick thinking launched an attack for the Lions’ wing youngster, Wandile Mjekevu, who crossed the try line in the 12th minute.
“Despite King Carlos’s inspiring performance, the rest of the Lions couldn’t finish on countless occasions in the main match, although inside centre Doppies le Grange also had a solid game and is one of the few who can be satisfied about his game.”
The Lions have signalled their intentions to try to rebuild the once-proud outfit by hiring former Sharks mentor Muir who is now part of the Springboks coaching setup, and luring the 34-year-old Spencer to the republic.
The Lions host the highly-touted Stormers side at Ellis Park in the opening round on Sunday.
Courtesy of stuff.co.nz
HAVE YOUR SAY: Is this game the deciding factor that Spencer will turn around the Lions fortunes?
Out With The Old, In With the New
Greenpoint Stadium hosted its first rugby match.
For the first time in history, a big rugby game in the city was not played at Newlands. The mountain did not move, nor did the sea swallow up Cape Town.
The World Cup soccer venue hosted its first rugby match on Saturday when a Boland XV played the Stormers in a Super 14 warm-up and the spectacle was breathtaking.
WP’s current home at Newlands in the city’s southern suburbs suddenly looks like a geriatric relative.
The change is inevitable, and not all bad. Newlands comes with its baggage of segregation whereas the new stadium’s crowd reflected a diversity on Saturday that was refreshingly spontaneous.
Still, there will be howls of protest and weeping nostalgia when the move is made.
It has been a favourite ground and the change will be wrenching.
In those days, you would watch a wonderful array of rugby talent, with five club games on the programme.
The press box nestled in the lower grandstand, cheek by jowl with the prime season ticket-holders. Over years, we got to know them, watched them grow old and indulged their crackpot opinions.
So the people at Western Province rugby shove their pride and tradition, sell off the Grand Old Lady and shift to the other side of the mountain.
Even though the old team will turn in their graves.
Courtesy of Archie Henderson
HAVE YOUR SAY: What stands out the most for you about the Newlands Rugby Stadium? What will you miss about the it?
Animal Magic of Richie McCaw Offers Lesson To Six Nations
Richie McCaw remains the world's best
Ian McGeechan calls them “Test match animals”. According to Sir Ian, and he’s identified a few in his time, they are a special breed of rugby player. As the demands get greater they get better. From club rugby, to the leagues, on to European competition and then to internationals … with every step up they go up a notch.
It’s not just a talent thing. There are plenty of guys who have bags of talent but fall short. The ones that matter have the full package. Talent, skill, fitness, and athleticism almost go unsaid. It’s the brain that adds the extra. The mind to fit the occasion.
Look at Richie McCaw, the All Blacks captain, twice world player of the year and a near-perfect example of Sir Ian’s Test match animal. Even the casual spectator has to be impressed by his all-action style of play – the number of tackles he makes, how often he’s involved in attacks and the number of times he gets his hands on the ball. However, it’s when you look a little deeper that you begin to understand the real value of the man to his team.
Even in those mad moments at the breakdown, he has a cold eye. To see him tackle, get back to his feet and then either strip the ball from an opponent or, in all probability, win a penalty for holding on is one of those magic moments in the game. But even that is not the end of it.
McCaw, more than anyone I can think of, lives as close to the line of legality as possible. Some referees think he steps over it and there are times when the amount of ball he wins has to be weighed against the penalties he concedes. I said penalties not points, because McCaw has that happy knack, an extra sense if you like, only to transgress (or almost only) when the penalty is safely out of range of the opposition’s goal-kicker.
However, most of the time McCaw seems to have an in-built ability to know just how far he can go. When he’s penalised you can almost see him rethink his approach. It’s a bit like recalibrating an instrument or an engineering tool. Add a millimetre here, take away a fraction of an inch there. When he’s satisfied that the referee is satisfied, then it’s back into those parts of the game that often go unseen by the fan on the terrace or in the stand.
So we have the near-perfect example of a Test match animal and I hope there will be plenty around this weekend at Murrayfield, Croke Park and especially Twickenham, where England take on Wales in the best possible match-up at the start of a Six Nations. As an Englishman I obviously have a foot in both camps, but even before I started coaching with Wales, even before I switched codes and began working in rugby union, I always understood that England versus Wales – it didn’t matter whether it was in Cardiff or London – was a bit special. After two years coaching in the Six Nations I now know how special.
Merely thinking about it brings me out in a sweat and this is where Sir Ian’s man comes in. Looking at Martin Johnson’s side, with the speedy Mathew Tait chosen ahead of Dan Hipkiss or Shontayne Hape at outside-centre, and such men as Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage in the back three, it’s obvious that England have changed tack a little and are going for pace whereas Wales are, perhaps, more settled.
However, looking at the teams in isolation, examining two bits of paper doesn’t tell half the story. International rugby is not called a Test for nothing. At the most obvious level it’s a test of skills – passing, running, kicking, scrummaging, leaping in the lineout, catching the high ball – and fitness – doing it all for 80 minutes, the last 20 probably on wobbly legs if you have been scrummaging, rucking and mauling all afternoon.
But on another, less understood and less fashionable level, it’s also a test of manhood, being prepared to put yourself where “normal” people wouldn’t go. And doing it with a clear head.
Aggression is fine, but if that alone was enough, then we might as well pick a bunch of bouncers or dancehall doormen, guys who like a rumble. Winning Test rugby demands more – guys who can stay cool during the mayhem, players who keep their wits about them when all around seems madness.
With thanks to The Guardian
Pretorius Out of Super 14
Andre Pretorius is out of The Super 14 after an injury.
It’s been hard luck for Emirates Western Force fly-half Andre Pretorius as he will miss the Super 14 competition after sustaining a season ending hamstring injury at training this week.
Pretorius, who joined the Emirates Force this season as the club marquee player, felt pain in the back of his left leg during Wednesday’s session and was treated by club medical staff.
A consultation with a specialist revealed the severity of the injury and showed the World Cup winning Springbok had torn his left hamstring from the bone.
The injury will require surgical reattachment and about three months of recovery, so he will not take part in the Emirates Western Force 2010 season.
“They’ve gone to work with the boys for so long now and it has been my best pre-season in many years. I’m really disappointed that I won’t be able to have the opportunity to represent the Western Force and play rugby with the new mates that I have made here,” Pretorius said.
“My body was in the best condition it has been in a long time and after watching the video footage of the training session and seeing when the injury occurred it didn’t look like much at all. The physios at the club said it was a just a freakish type of injury,” he said.
“I still want to remain involved and offer any assistance I can to help make this a successful season for the Force,” Pretorius added.
Pretorius made the move to Western Australia after 69 Super Rugby caps with the Lions in South Africa and had been rejuvenated by the switch to the Emirates Western Force.
The 31 year old completed a solid pre-season build-up and played in the clubs trial match win against the Sharks in Cape Town a week ago.
The Emirates Western Force will assess their options in relation to a replacement player and are in discussions with the Australian Rugby Union to derive a suitable outcome. ARU rules allow a club to recruit only one marquee player per season.
Pretorius, who signed a one year contract with the Emirates Western Force, the maximum allowed under the ARU marquee system, has recently concluded a multi-year contract to play in Japan following the 2010 Super 14 season.
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