Just Rugby » Last Man Standing

Smith to get fit first
Newly appointed Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith might not be fit to start the tournament against the Stormers in Cape Town come 25 February. The All Black centre arranged a backpacking trip around the world, an agreement he had with New Zealand Rugby as well as with his employers the Hurricanes, and only returned to training [...]

Highlanders are walking wounded
The Highlanders will be starting the Super Rugby season without a few key players as their list of injured players continues to grow the closer we get to the start of the tournament. The latest casualties are centre Kendrick Lynn and wing Kade Poki. Lynn has been ruled out for at least two months, with [...]

Berry and van der Merwe get their shot
During the course of the 2012 Super Rugby season we will see two new South African referee’s on the field, with Lourens van der Merwe and Stuart Berry being appointed as two of the five new referee’s to be introduced. The other three are Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Angus Gardner and Andrew Lees (both Australian). [...]

Sarel to make Waratahs debut
Sarel Pretorius will make his Waratahs debut against Samoa this Friday after he was selected to play in the first run on team, which will play the first half of the game. He will partner Captain Berrick Barnes in the halfbacks, as the most likely first choice halfback pairing plays together for the first time. [...]

Flyhalf troubles for Coetzee
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is going to have to make a big call ahead of his team’s first Super Rugby game of the season, against the Hurricanes in Cape Town. Coetzee has told Die Burger that he has not been overly impressed with any of the four flyhalves he has seen play in the preseason [...]

Ref’s for first six weeks announced – updated
The referees for the first six weeks of Super Rugby action have been announced. The following men will be in charge of the South African fixtures: Bulls vs Sharks – Jonathan Kaplan Stormers vs Hurricanes – Marius Jonker Lions vs Cheetahs – Mark Lawrence Lions vs Hurricanes – Steve Walsh Cheetahs vs Bulls – Craig [...]

Lions lose hooker
The Lions have received a blow to their Super Rugby preparations after first choice hooker Bandise Maku tore a pectoral muscle, with the corrective surgery keeping the hooker on the sidelines for a few months. The full extent and length of Maku’s unavailability is yet to be confirmed, but it does mean that the Lions [...]

Joining Sharksworld @ Loftus!
We’re wanting to organise a meet-up at Loftus on Friday 24 Feb for our big start against the Bulls. Please e-mail me your confirmation and how many tickets u require asap! (Cut-off is Friday @ 15:00. Seems tickets are in the region of R150 for the game. (I will confirm asap, as I’m unable to [...]

I’ve been Sharksfrenzied!
Way back in the nineties, the Sharks were the pioneers in actually marketing a rugby team. The idea was great, innovative and for supporters it was “fricken awesome, dude!” Remember the “Hi, I’m Ollie..” although we hated the song, we SANG it for dear life, coz “we are, we are DYNAMITE! “ Needless to say, [...]

Somebody is going to be disappointed
Sharks coach John Plumtree has indicated that he will select a squad of 28 for Friday night’s warm-up match against Boland at Kings Park; it’s not currently clear whether he’s intending on picking what he considers to be the best 28, though, or if he’ll leave some stalwarts out in order to further evaluate his [...]

Could this be it?
Coach John Plumtree has come out and said that he will select his strongest possible squad to face the Kings in Port Elizabeth in two weeks time, meaning that his fringe players will get a run in the game on Friday night against Boland. This has left the door open to a few of the [...]

Sharks selection picture becomes a little clearer
John Plumtree has revealed that he sees the final warm up game, against the Kings in PE, as a “dress rehearsal” for the season opener against the Bulls the following week. That’s a pretty clear indication that he will field his strongest side in that game with this weekend’s outing against Boland earmarked for a [...]

Final thoughts on the Trial match
The Sharks’ internal trials took place on Friday night, and while there have been a few reports coming from various spectators on the night, I thought I would weigh in with a few views of my own. The game started with a bang for the Zambezi’s, with Craig Burden scoring a try in the left [...]

Bulls hold on to down Kings
The Bulls, fielding a weakened side, ran out to a 13-0 lead over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth on Saturday evening, but were forced to dig deep as their hosts came back at them strongly in the second half. The Pretoria side emerged 16-12 victors. Flyhalf Louis Fouche opened the scoring for the Bulls [...]

The Trial Match. A few observations.
The Sharks trial match was held this weekend and I thought I’d share a few of the insights I got from attending this event. Firstly, for anyone that happens to be in the area for the next trial match, do yourself a favor and come to the stadium, it’s a real treat and a completely [...]

Kings v Bulls likely to be delayed
Ahh – you just can’t make this stuff up! The Kings game against the Bulls in PE this afternoon is likely to kick off late for the unlikeliest of reasons… It seems SAA have lost the Bulls luggage, including, of course, all the kit they were meant to wear for this afternoon’s game. The kick-off [...]

Just in case you were wondering…
A fair few comments have been made since David Campese and Dick Muir were spotted at the Sharks trial match last night. Our information is that John Plumtree invited not only them, but a number of other specialists, including Mark Andrews and John Allan, to come along to watch the trials and share their insights. [...]

Sharks trial match
Two Sharks teams go head to head this evening in an open trial match at Mr Price Kings Park. Kick-off is at 6pm and we’ll have one or two folks there keeping us up-to-date with how the game is progressing. Let us know if you’re planning on going – or even better, are at the [...]

Strong probables side reveals Sharks thinking
While a number of definite starters have been left out of the pack for tonight’s Sharks trial match, the composition of the “probables” backline should be pretty close to the same unit that will line up against the Bulls in three weeks time – unless, that is, a stand out performance or two from within [...]

Cheetahs named for Stormers clash
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has named his side to face the Stormers in a pre-Super Rugby warm-up match on Saturday. The backline is unchanged from the unit that stuttered to a scrappy win over the Kings last weekend, with teenage sensation Johan Goosen retained at flyhalf ahead of Sias Ebersohn. In the pack, though, a [...]

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