Category: Rugby

Highlights from the Super Rugby Qualifiers, starting with the Hurricanes’ 32-31 win over the Chiefs at Westpac Stadium.

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The Crusaders saw off the Sharks 40-10 with a clinical performance in Christchurch on Saturday to set up a semi-final meeting with the Hurricanes.

While the Sharks enjoyed plenty of decent periods in the game, they made too many errors and missed too many one-on-one tackles as a highly efficient Crusaders side ruthlessly exposed their mistakes.

It was a nightmare start for the visiting South Africans, who conceded two quickfire tries and a penalty in the opening exchanges, falling 13-0 behind in the blink of an eye, but they only had themselves to blame as both five-pointers were errors of their own making.

The home side made an early statement, winning a scrum penalty. Richie Mo’unga kicked for touch and, after a period of pressure in which Thomas du Toit was pinged for not rolling away, Mo’unga was able to give the hosts the lead with the resulting penalty.

Soon after, Sharks scrum-half Louis Schreuder kicked the ball out on the full with the Crusaders intelligently taking the quick lineout and catching the visitors’ backline napping, as they moved the ball from right to left, with Bryn Hall finishing in the corner.

Kieran Read then pilfered a Sharks lineout with the ball being shifted to Ryan Crotty, who did brilliantly to bust the line and play the final pass for David Havili to go over in the left-hand corner.

The away side seemed to recover from their difficult start and began to build some pressure. After Read’s run and pass off the back of the scrum was intercepted by Sharks winger Kobus Van Wyk, the visitors harried up field with some powerful carries. The ball was recycled where a good decoy run allowed Van Wyk to finish off a move he started. Fly-half Robert du Preez added the extras to cut the deficit to six.

Mounga added a penalty on the stroke of half-time as the home side took a 16-7 lead into the interval.

The Crusaders came flying out of the blocks after the break and had their third try just two minutes into the second period and once again it came from the lineout. The ball had been shifted out to the left once again, with Hall getting the offload away inside for Matt Todd to bash over.

Thereafter, the fly-halves would exchange penalties before Braydon Ennor took the game well and truly out of the Sharks’ reach in the 67th minute. The ball was shifted through the hands with Ennor selling the dummy and Read running a good decoy run as the replacement back was able to scythe through the visitors’ defence unscathed for a brilliant finish.

Four minutes later and nine minutes from time, the scoreboard was beginning to tell a brutal story. Todd pounced on a loose ball at the ruck before Mitchell Drummond slipped the ball inside for replacement loose forward Pete Samu, who had the fresh legs and gas to make it to the line and cap off an emphatic victory.

The scorers:

For Crusaders:
Tries: Hall, Havili, Todd, Ennor, Samu
Cons: Mo’unga 3
Pens: Mo’unga 3

For Sharks:
Try: Van Wyk
Con: Du Preez
Pen: Du Preez

The teams:

Crusaders: 15 David Havili, 14 Seta Tamanivalu, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Matt Todd, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Samuel Whitelock (c), 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tim Perry
Replacements: 16 Andrew Makalio, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Braydon Ennor

Sharks: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Ruan Botha (c), 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Wian Vosloo, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Makazole Mapimpi

Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)

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Take a check on the highlights from the Men’s first session on Day one at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco.

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World Rugby has confirmed that a Samoa player has been provisionally suspended from Rugby World Cup Sevens following an initial investigation into an alleged incident in the tunnel area after his team’s game against Wales on Saturday.

A statement from World Rugby read: “The alleged behaviour is not aligned with the sport’s values and the excellent spirit in which this competition has been played by the 40 participating teams.

“World Rugby has instigated an investigation and it would be inappropriate to make any further comment until the conclusion of that process. The Samoa player will remain provisionally suspended until the final conclusion of that process.”

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Take a check on the Day Two highlights from the Women’s RWC Sevens.

Video credit: World Rugby

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Take a check on the Day Two highlights from the Men’s RWC Sevens.

Video credit: World Rugby

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It was another thrilling day in the Men’s competition as South Africa, England, Fiji and New Zealand progressed into Sunday’s semi-finals.

South Africa outclassed Scotland in their quarter-final, winning 36-5, and will meet England, who edged USA 24-19 after extra-time, in the last four.

Indeed England progressed in dramatic fashion as Phil Burgess claimed the match-winning try following a perfect cross field kick from Tom Mitchell.

Fiji were too good for Argentina as they ran out comfortable 43-7 winners in a high quality performance and will face off with New Zealand in their semi-final, with the All Blacks Sevens coming from behind to defeat France 12-7, despite having three players sin-binned in the game.

Men’s Day Two Results

Bowl Quarter Finals
Tonga 29-33 Chile
Papua New Guinea 19-21 Uruguay
Jamaica 10-24 Hong Kong
Zimbabwe 10-24 Uganda

Challenge Quarter Finals
Kenya 14-24 Ireland
Canada 35-17 Japan
Australia 41-0 Russia
Wales 24-19 Samoa

Championship Quarter Finals
Scotland 5-36 South Africa
Argentina 7-43 Fiji
France 7-12 New Zealand
USA 19-24 England (AET)

Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby

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New Zealand became the first team in history to win back-to-back Rugby World Cup Sevens titles after beating France 29-0 in Saturday’s final.

A hat-trick from 22-year-old reigning World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year Michaela Blyde sealed the victory.

Australia claimed the bronze medal with a hard fought 24-14 victory over hosts USA on a day when a a noisy and enthusiastic crowd of over 33,000 packed in to the spectacular AT&T Park in San Francisco.

France had earlier dug deep to overcome 2018 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series champions Australia 19-12 in a thrilling semi-final while the indomitable Black Ferns Sevens came from behind to defeat a spirited USA side 26-21.

The semi-finals were rugby sevens at its very best – exceptional quality, intensity and competitiveness – showcasing to a huge and highly-engaged crowd just why women’s sevens was such a hit at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Women’s Day Two Results

Challenge 13/16 Place
Mexico 0-34 South Africa
Papua New Guinea 12-15 Brazil

Challenge Semi Finals
England 38-0 China
Fiji 14-15 Japan

Championship 5/8 Place
Ireland 20-15 Russia
Spain 26-14 Canada

Championship Semi Finals
Australia 12-19 France
New Zealand 26-21 USA

Challenge 15/16 Place
Mexico 0-32 Papua New Guinea

Challenge 13/14 Place
South Africa 0-22 Brazil

Challenge 11/12 Place
China 0-38 Fiji

Challenge Final
England 31-5 Japan

Championship 7/8 Place
Russia 10-22 Canada

Championship 5/6 Place
Ireland 7-12 Spain

Bronze Final
USA 14-24 Australia

Championship Final
New Zealand 29-0 France

Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby

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The Lions have received a boost with the news that flanker Cyle Brink should be available to face the Waratahs in the Super Rugby semi-final at Ellis Park.

Brink went off at half-time against the Jaguares after suffering a shoulder injury which caused weakness in his right arm but, after being assessed, the medical staff at the Johannesburg outfit confirmed that it had settled well.

Marnus Schoeman came on as his replacement and impressed as the South African Conference winners defeated the Argentinians, but the 29-year-old is set to be on the bench with Brink due to recover.

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Head of England Sevens Simon Amor says he is encouraged by England’s men in the wake of their second place finish at the World Cup Sevens in San Francisco last weekend.

Amor’s side were beaten 33-12 by the All Blacks in Sunday’s gold medal match, but showed tremendous resilience throughout the competition – knocking out hosts USA at the quarter-final stage in extra time, before a 29-7 win over HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champs South Africa in the semis.

“I’m delighted with the way the guys performed right the way through the tournament and came through some really close games and played some outstanding rugby,” said Amor.

“This marks the end of a very long year but I’m really pleased with the way we’ve grown as a programme and how the players have grown as well.

“Since the Commonwealth Games we’ve medalled at every tournament bar one, and alongside that we’ve got some really exciting young talent coming into the squad, so that’s really encouraging as we look ahead to next season.”

Despite finishing fifth in the World Series earlier this year, England strung together some fine performances toward the end of their season, clinching silver in Paris, bronze in Marcoussis and gold in Exeter.

Amor highlighted a high error count as one of the reasons for the loss to New Zealand in San Francisco, but believes his side adjusted well to the altered format of the tournament.

“The unique format makes it high-pressured with lots of drama which is great for all those fans watching,” he added.

“As a result you have to approach the competition in a different way, and I’m really pleased with the way that the guys adapted to this new knockout competition.

“Playing in a new city and new venue has been brilliant – the atmosphere in the stadium has been unbelievable right the way through the tournament, and we’re really grateful for all those who supported us.”

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