Tag: Rugby

The Sharks were crowned Currie Cup champions when they claimed a 17-12 victory over Western Province in the final at Newlands on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a tightly contested match and momentum ebbed and flowed throughout but the Sharks got the rub of the green in the end as they committed less errors and eventually outscored their hosts by two tries to none.

The Sharks should have scored more tries, however, as they crossed WP’s tryline on three other occasions but they failed to ground the ball over the whitewash.

The match started cautiously with the teams feeling each other out during the opening exchanges and there was little interesting to report during the first 15 minutes.

Both teams had forays inside their opponents’ half during that period but neither side came close to scoring points until SP Marais opened the scoring in the 20th minute via a penalty after Louis Schreuder was blown up for playing the ball from an offside position.

Western Province held the upper hand at the scrums and pushed their opponents off the ball on a couple of occasions and would later capitalise from their ascendancy at the set-piece.

The Sharks thought they had taken the lead in the 30th minute when Thomas du Toit went over the whitewash from close quarters but his effort was disallowed after television replays revealed that Marais got his hand under the ball to prevent the grounding.

Two minutes later, the television match official, Shaun Veldsman, was called into action again when Jean Luc-du Preez dotted down against the base of the post but his effort was also disallowed due to a handling error in the build up.

Province’s scrum dominance continued and in the 34th minute Marais added another penalty after the Sharks’ pack infringed at the set-piece which meant the home side held a slender 6-0 lead at half-time.

However, the Sharks made the brighter start to the second half and four minutes after the restart, Akker van der Merwe scored the opening try when he barged over from close quarters after a superb line break from Marius Louw in the build-up.

Robert du Preez missed the initial conversion attempt, after referee Jaco Peyper ruled that WP’s players moved before he attempted his shot at goal, but he made no mistake with his second attempt which gave the visitors a 7-6 lead.

Five minutes later, WP regained the lead courtesy of another Marais penalty after Jean-Luc and Dan du Preez were blown up for a dangerous tackle on Sikhumbuzo Notshe.

Shortly afterwards, the Sharks strung several phases together inside WP’s 22 before Dan du Preez went over next to the uprights but he lost control of the ball after a superb cover tackle from Scarra Ntubeni.

However, WP had strayed offside in the build-up and Robert du Preez slotted the resulting penalty to give his side a 10-9 lead.

Midway through the half, the Sharks had a chance to extend their lead when Curwin Bosch attempted a penalty from 48 metres out but although his effort had the distance, it was wide of the target.

Despite that setback, the Sharks were slowly gaining the upper hand and in the 72nd minute Tyler Paul crossed for their second try from close range and Du Preez slotted the conversion to give the visitors a 17-9 lead.

Two minutes later, WP narrowed the gap via a Damian Willemse penalty and although they launched several attacks in the game’s closing stages, the Sharks kept them at bay with a solid defensive effort to clinch the win.

The scorers:

For Western Province:
Pens: Marais 3, Willemse

For Sharks:
Tries: Van der Merwe, Paul
Cons: R du Preez 2
Pen: R du Preez

Western Province: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 SP Marais, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Kobus van Dyk, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Michael Kumbirai, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Dan Kriel, 23 JJ Engelbrecht

Sharks: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Sibusiso Nkosi, 13 Jeremy Ward, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Aphelele Fassi, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (c), 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Tyler Paul, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Juan Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Jacques Vermeulen, 20 Luke Stringer, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Kobus van Wyk, 23 Leolin Zas

Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs, Cwengile Jadezweni
TMO: Shaun Veldsman

By David Skippers at Newlands

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Video highlights from New Zealand’s 37-20 victory over Australia.

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Following a 37-20 victory for the All Blacks over the Wallabies in their Bledisloe Cup encounter, here’s our five takeaways from Yokohama.

Perfect preparation for the European tour: It was evident that these teams had not played for three weeks. Both were rusty, made errors and, despite the pace of the game, it was a pretty frustrating watch. However, matters improved significantly and it turned into an excellent game until Tolu Latu’s yellow card and Ben Smith’s intercept try, which ended the match as a contest. The All Blacks face Japan next week but their main focus will be on England and Ireland, who will provide stern challenges, but this has just clicked them into gear. For Australia too, it was good preparation. While they will be disappointed with the end result, they were competitive for most of the encounter and will bemoan a couple of small errors which relieved the pressure on Steve Hansen’s men.

Beauden Barrett the difference once again: While it wasn’t necessarily his best and most controlled display, the fly-half showed several classy touches to help New Zealand pull away. His try was evidence of that. It looked so simple and Rieko Ioane did plenty of hard work but, after making the pass, Barrett immediately tracked the wing’s run and was rewarded for his support line by touching down. He also produced a couple of sumptuous moments, one of which saw him replicate Carlos Spencer’s through-the-legs pass from the 2003 World Cup, and resulted in Ioane crossing the whitewash to rubberstamp the win.

A mixed day for Israel Folau: Plenty of onlookers have wanted to see the Waratahs man at centre but he didn’t quite have the required impact. Most of his best work came off counter-attack from deep, where he would usually be when playing in the back three, while the pass for Ben Smith’s intercept score showed poor decision-making. To his credit, he scored a well-taken try but it was not a particularly convincing display by Folau. It is worth persisting with during the European tour, especially if Kurtley Beale’s injury is serious but, should the playmaker be available, then Michael Cheika may look to start Samu Kerevi at outside centre following his impressive cameo on Saturday.

Ardie Savea is a class act: The Hurricanes back-row has played most of his 32 Tests off the replacements bench, and only came into the world champions’ run-on side after first-choice openside flanker Sam Cane sustained a neck fracture against the Springboks in Pretoria, but Savea was one of the All Blacks’ star performers in Yokohama. He delivered a busy shift, gaining 25 metres on attack from seven runs which included a clean break and three defenders beaten. Also impressed on defence with nine tackles and stood up well in the breakdown battle against the twin threat of Michael Hooper and David Pocock.

Superb second half showing from New Zealand: The All Blacks’ victories in their two previous Bledisloe Cup encounters against the Wallabies this year had one thing in common – they dominated after half-time in both those matches and it was no different in Yokohama. A converted Sefa Naivalu try just before the interval meant the teams changed sides with All Blacks leading 17-10 and although Australia came out firing when the second half started, the world champions soaked up that pressure and turned on the style by taking control of proceedings as the game progressed. Tries from Beauden Barrett and Ben Smith set them up nicely and although the Wallabies struck back with a five-pointer from Israel Folau, that was scant consolation as the All Blacks finished the game in style with a Rieko Ioane try.

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Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac was full of praise for his players after they claimed a 41-34 victory over the Southern Kings on Friday.

The Welsh region had to work for their bonus point triumph in Port Elizabeth with the homeside getting off to a flying start scoring a try in the opening minute and keeping the pressure on their opponents throughout.

The Scarlets had to come back from behind on numerous occasions as the Kings scored four sensational tries of their own but the visitors’ grit and determination, and some fantastic individual displays in the pack, paid dividends and was enough to secure the victory.

“We saw a lot of what resembled last year’s performance out here, played in the same test window where we had something like 21 players in all unavailable for today’s game,” said Pivac after the match.

“I thought the boys showed a lot of heart and a lot of ability to stick to what we’d trained during the week to get that result, and the way we achieved it, coming from behind on numerous occasions. I’m very, very pleased for them.”

The Scarlets were forced to make a late change ahead of the game with Marc Jones falling foul of an illness.

“Marc Jones was due to start, we pulled him out an hour before leaving the hotel, the two young hookers got on and scored tries and I thought did very well,” said Pivac.

“Credit goes to some of the young guys today who stepped up well. Will Boyde and Josh Macleod have been immense since coming back from their injuries.”

Pivac went on to say: “We’re disappointed that we turned some ball over and gifted them some tries but we’re very pleased to have stayed in the fight and come away with the win.

“We’ll hopefully have a couple of players back next week including Kieron Fonotia back from suspension, that’ll be great. We went with a 6/2 bench tonight because we’re down on numbers really. Lewis Rawlins is not far off and Blade Thomson should be back with us next week today.

Hopefully we’ll go to Edinburgh with a little bit of confidence from today’s result. We know it’s going to be a big game as we’re both right up there in the mix.”

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Sidelined England fly-half Danny Cipriani believes that he has not been given the opportunity to show his quality over the past decade.

Red Rose boss Eddie Jones shocked many by not including the 30-year-old in his latest squad for the upcoming November internationals.

Cipriani has consistently been one of the form fly-halves in the Premiership and impressed in South Africa in June, helping Jones’ men end their barren spell when they beat the Springboks in the third Test.

However, that was his first start since 2008 and the pivot does not think that he has been played enough to warrant criticism over his performances in a white shirt.

“It’s frustrating for me when people say, ‘he’s had so many chances,’” Cipriani told the journal, Rugby. “What chances are they talking about? I had one start for England in 10 years.

“I know my skill set and what I can bring, and every time I have been given an opportunity at that level — whether it be off the bench for 10, 15 or 20 minutes — I’d like to think that I’ve had an impact on the game in a positive way.

“There are obviously lots of things I can work on as a rugby player, which I’m continuing to do, and I love that. I love being at Gloucester because there’s such a great challenge here.

“When I’m done in the next couple of years, I’ll know that I have given it my best shot.”

Cipriani joined Gloucester in the summer from Wasps but did not get off to the greatest start after being arrested following an incident at a Jersey nightclub.

The fly-half was fined, with it deemed minor by the magistrate, and the former Sale Sharks and Melbourne Rebels player believed that the episode was “misreported.”

He added: “I think the whole incident was a misunderstanding more than anything else. It was misreported, which happens. I would have loved to change things, but it’s happened now, it’s not going to shape who I am.

“It’s given some people a chance to say what they want about me, but I can’t worry about it. I couldn’t be happier where I am in my life right now.”

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New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen believes that there should be an extended off-season following concerns about player fatigue.

The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 37-20 in Yokohama on Saturday but still have to play four more games before their break.

They take on Japan, England, Ireland and Italy in their northern hemisphere tour but Hansen would like to see the players given more rest.

“They don’t get enough of a break,” he said. “You can’t keep going round and round and round without running out of petrol — at some stage you’ve got to recharge the tank.

“The one thing I’d really want is that everyone gets 16 weeks’ break between their last game and their next one.”

New Zealand go head-to-head with Japan next week before facing England and Ireland over consecutive weekends, two teams that are likely to provide their sternest challenge in November.

Eddie Jones’ men are particularly struggling with injuries and suspensions, however, and Hansen believes that they are still suffering the repercussions of the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour.

He said: “The England boys have suffered a bit from the Lions tour — and it’s not only one season, it kicks on. It’s a worldwide problem and probably the team that’s managing it best at the moment is Ireland.

“They go ‘you can’t play’ because they own the players and franchises completely. They’ve got a good model.”

The All Blacks are expected to beat the Brave Blossoms comfortably next weekend but Hansen insists that their focus has not already shifted to the England encounter.

“I don’t want to be awkward but we’ve chosen to take it really one game at a time and not get ahead of ourselves,” he added. “But you can rest assured we’ve got a lot of respect for England.

“They’ve got one or two people injured at the moment but so does everybody, that’s the nature of the beast. That’s why I keep harping on about the need for a global season that looks after the welfare of the players.”

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Stade Francais, Clermont Auvergne, Toulouse and Racing 92 all secured impressive victories in Top 14 on Saturday, while Agen and Grenoble ended in stalemate.

Results

Saturday
Clermont Auvergne 41-6 Castres
Agen 9-9 Grenoble
Perpignan 18-36 Toulouse
Racing 92 48-28 Pau
Stade Francais 25-20 Montpellier

Clermont Auvergne 41-6 Castres
Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin

League leaders Clermont comfortably brushed aside defending champions Castres 41-6 at Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin in Saturday’s opening Top 14 game.

Tries from Damian Penaud, Peter Betham, Alivereti Raka, Judicael Cancoriet and Peceli Yato proved far too much for Castres, who had only a pair of Rory Kockott penalties to show for their efforts.

After Castres had opened the scoring moments before with a Rory Kockott penalty, Clermont scored the game’s first try in the tenth minute when Penaud did well to latch on to a well-weighted grubber through. Clermont scrum-half Greg Laidlaw made no mistake with the conversion.

Ten minutes later, Castres loosehead Tudor Stroe and Clermont tighthead Rabah Slimani were given yellow cards as both sides went down to 14 men for 10 minutes.

Clermont capitalised from the scrum penalty when Betham went over from the resulting set-piece move as Laidlaw added the extras for a 14-3 lead.

Soon afterwards, it was 21-3 when Penaud intercepted and fed the ball timeously to Raka, who dived in to the corner as the home side took a resounding lead into the interval.

The beginning of the second half was largely uneventful, with two Laidlaw penalties and a yellow card handed out to Camille Gerondeau of Castres in the 63rd minute not helping the away side’s cause.

Seven minutes later, the hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage when Judicael Cancoriet powered over after a series of powerful carries from the forwards.

Yato put the cherry on the top with a try after the hooter to put the cherry on the top of a comprehensive 41-6 victory in the end.

The scorers:

For Clermont:
Tries: Penaud, Betham, Raka, Cancoriet, Yato
Cons: Laidlaw 5
Pens: Laidlaw 2
Yellow Card: Slimani

For Castres:
Pens: Kockott 2
Yellow Cards: Stroe, Gerondeau

Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Peter Betham, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 6 Arthur Iturria, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Etienne Falgoux
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Beqa Kakabadze, 18 Peceli Yato, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Charlie Cassang, 21 Patricio Fernandez, 22 George Moala, 23 Davit Zirakashvili

Castres: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Taylor Paris, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Florian Vialelle, 11 David Smith, 10 Yohan Le Bourhis, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Steve Mafi, 7 Camille Gerondeau, 6 Yannick Caballero, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Loic Jacquet, 3 Daniel Kotze, 2 Jody Jenneker, 1 Tudor Stroe
Replacements: 16 Kevin Firmin, 17 Antoine Tichit, 18 Thibault Lassalle, 19 Alex Tulou, 20 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 21 Armand Batlle, 22 Robert Ebersohn, 23 Marc Clerc

Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant referees: Adrien Descottes, Sebastien Hebert
TMO: Eric Gauzins

Agen 9-9 Grenoble
Stade Armandie

Gaetan Germain’s late penalty rescued a draw for Grenoble as the recently promoted outfit claimed their first points on the road.

It was a pretty turgid affair between two teams desperate for the victory but neither side could gain the ascendency. Instead, it was the accuracy of the respective kickers that dominated proceedings and it was the visitors that struck first through Germain.

Jake McIntyre responded almost immediately but the encounter remained level at 3-3 going into the interval.

Agen then opened the second period the brighter and moved in front for the first time via their fly-half before the opposition full-back responded on the hour mark.

Nerves duly began to take hold but McIntyre thought he had won the contest from the tee until Germain’s late effort helped Grenoble take a share of the spoils.

The scorers:

For Agen:
Pens: McIntyre 3

For Grenoble:
Pens: Germain 3

Agen: 15 Mathieu Lamoulie, 14 Timilai Rokoduru, 13 Sam Vaka, 12 Julien Heriteau, 11 Clement Laporte, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 Paul Abadie, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Vincent Farre, 6 Antoine Miquel, 5 Denis Marchois, 4 Tom Murday, 3 Yohan Montes, 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Morgan Phelipponneau
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Quentin Bethune, 18 Adrian Motoc, 19 Loic Hocquet, 20 Lucas Rubio, 21 Leo Berdeu, 22 Johann Sadie, 23 Xerom Civil

Grenoble: 15 Gaetan Germain, 14 Daniel Kilioni, 13 Taleta Tupuola, 12 Alaska Taufa, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Adrien Latorre, 9 Theo Nanette, 8 Loic Godener, 7 Fabien Alexandre, 6 Steven Setephano, 5 Leva Fifita, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 JC van Rensburg
Replacements: 16 Etienne Fourcade, 17 Dylan Jacquot, 18 Killian Geraci, 19 Taiasina Tuifua, 20 Lilian Saseras, 21 Franck Pourteau, 22 Pablo Uberti, 23 Beka Gigashvili

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos, Arnaud Blondel
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure

Perpignan 18-36 Toulouse
Stade Aime Giral

Perpignan remain winless in the Top 14 after Antoine Dupont’s hat-trick inspired Toulouse to a comfortable victory over the strugglers.

The Catalans’ record now stands at eight consecutive domestic losses since their promotion to France’s top-tier and once again they were outplayed.

Christian Lanta’s men started well enough, despite Zack Holmes’ early penalty, as Paddy Jackson’s three-pointer and Karl Chateau’s try took them into an 8-3 lead.

Chateau had been yellow carded earlier in the game but that failed to alter the momentum and, when Toulouse’s Rynhard Elstadt followed him to the sin-bin, the back-rower returned to the pitch to take advantage of that indiscretion.

However, ill-discipline continued to be a problem for the hosts and Mathieu Acebes was also sent from the field for 10 minutes. This time they were punished through Cheslin Kolbe before Dupont came to the fore in the second period.

The scrum-half moved Les Rouge et Noir in front and Selevasio Tolofua extended their buffer soon after.

Ugo Mola’s charges were now in control and Dupont scored twice more to seal the victory, despite late yellow cards for Maxime Medard and Sebastien Bezy, as well as a consolation effort from Genesis Lemalu.

The scorers:

For Perpignan:
Tries: Chateau, Lemalu
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 2
Yellow Cards: Chateau, Acebes

For Toulouse:
Tries: Kolbe, Dupont 3, Tolofua
Cons: Holmes 4
Pen: Holmes
Yellow Cards: Elstadt, Medard, Bezy

Perpignan: 15 Enzo Selponi, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Mathieu Acebes, 12 Adrea Cocagi, 11 Pierre Lucas, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Tom Ecochard, 8 Genesis Lemalu, 7 Alan Brazo, 6 Karl Chateau, 5 Berend Botha, 4 Yohan Vivalda, 3 Yassine Boutemane, 2 Seilala Lam, 1 Enzo Forletta
Replacements: 16 Raphael Carbou, 17 Quentin Walcker, 18 Tristan Labouteley, 19 Shahn Eru, 20 David Mélé, 21 Jonathan Bousquet, 22 Julien Farnoux, 23 Eric Sione

Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Sofiane Guitoune, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Alban Placines, 6 Rynhard Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Clement Castets
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 David Ainu’u, 18 Carl Axtens, 19 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 20 Sébastien Bézy, 21 Thomas Ramos, 22 Arthur Bonneval, 23 Maks van Dyk

Referee: Thomas Charabas
Assistant referees: Julien Castaignede, Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Laurent Sclafer

Racing 92 48-28 Pau
Paris La Defense Arena

Racing 92 got back on track in the Top 14 as Juan Imhoff scored two late tries to help them to a 20-point triumph over a battling Pau team.

Simon Mannix’s men were excellent in the early stages and the home supporters must have thought that another defeat at their new stadium was on the cards.

Despite a penalty from Teddy Iribaren, two tries from Thibault Daubagna gave the visitors a 14-3 advantage after 15 minutes.

However, Camille Chat immediately responded for the Parisians and that gave them the momentum they needed to display their quality. Although Iribaren was yellow carded, tries from Jordan Joseph and Ben Volavola saw them into a 24-14 lead at the break.

Laurent Bouchet’s effort did provide Pau with hope but, after Iribaren’s penalty, quick-fire scores from Virimi Vakatawa and Juan Imhoff effectively sealed the victory for Racing.

Florian Nicot crossed the whitewash for away side’s fourth try of the evening but the replacement was yellow carded late on and Imhoff’s second rubberstamped the win.

The scorers:

For Racing:
Tries: Chat, Joseph, Volavola, Vakatawa, Imhoff 2
Cons: Iribaren 4, Volavola, Lagarde
Pens: Iribaren 2
Yellow Card: Iribaren

For Pau:
Tries: Daubagna 2, Bouchet, Nicot
Cons: Hastoy, Daubagna 3
Yellow Card: Nicot

Racing: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Olivier Klemenczak, 12 Virimi Vakatawa, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Georges-Henri Colombe, 18 Boris Palu, 19 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 20 Antoine Gibert, 21 Raphael Lagarde, 22 Leonard Paris, 23 Census Johnston

Pau: 15 Charly Malie, 14 Julien Fumat, 13 Benson Stanley, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Watisoni Votu, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Thibault Daubagna, 8 Paddy Butler, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Ben Mowen, 5 Fabrice Metz, 4 Daniel Ramsay, 3 Malik Hamadache, 2 Laurent Bouchet, 1 Geoffrey Moise
Replacements: 16 Lucas Rey, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Baptiste Pesenti, 19 Martin Puech, 20 Julien Blanc, 21 Colin Slade, 22 Florian Nicot, 23 Lourens Adriaanse

Referee: Tual Trainini
Assistant referees: Francois Bouzac, Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Cedric Marchat

Stade Francais 25-20 Montpellier
Stade Jean-Bouin

Sekou Macalou’s late try helped Stade Francais return to second place in the Top 14 table and keep the pressure on leaders Clermont following this narrow win over Montpellier.

The Parisians have enjoyed an excellent season so far but they were tested by Vern Cotter’s men, despite the hosts going into an early 10-0 lead.

Heyneke Meyer’s outfit were dominant in the opening exchanges and deservedly went 3-0 ahead through Morne Steyn’s penalty.

His South African half-back partner was also prominent and Piet van Zyl’s sniping break led to the first try. Van Zyl spotted a gap around the ruck and, although he was eventually brought down, the ball was shifted right and Waisea Nayacalevu was on hand to touch down.

Back came Montpellier, however, as an Aaron Cruden-inspired visitors levelled matters towards the end of the half. Firstly, the former New Zealand international spotted space in behind, kicked ahead and exchanged passes with Wiaan Liebenberg for an excellent score, before the pivot added a conversion and penalty.

Unperturbed, Meyer’s charges responded after pressure in the opposition 22 resulted in Gael Fickou finishing brilliantly in the left-hand corner.

The second period was slightly tighter but it was Cotter’s team that initially threatened and Cruden reduced the arrears.

Stade seemed to have the answers when Steyn regained their five-point buffer, but they were soon behind as Ruan Pienaar re-gathered his own box-kick and combined with Liebenberg to send Kevin Kornath across the whitewash.

That appeared to be the decisive score before Fickou broke the line and, with the opposition defence in disarray, Macalou touhed down for the winning try.

The scorers:

For Stade Francais:
Tries: Nayacalevu, Fickou, Macalou
Cons: Steyn 2
Pens: Steyn 2

For Montpellier:
Tries: Cruden, Kornath
Cons: Cruden 2
Pens: Cruden 2

Stade Francais: 15 Kylan Hamdaoui, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Julien Arias, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Ryan Chapuis, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Laurent Panis, 1 Heinke van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Lucas Da Silva, 17 Siegfried Fisiihoi, 18 Alexandre Flanquart, 19 Mathieu De Giovanni, 20 Clement Daguin, 21 Jules Plisson, 22 Tony Ensor, 23 Ramiro Herrera

Montpelier: 15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Yvan Reilhac, 13 Arthur Vincent, 12 Alexandre Dumoulin, 11 Gabriel Ngandebe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Kelian Galletier, 5 Julien Ledevedec, 4 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Vincent Giudicelli, 1 Yvan Watremez
Replacements: 16 Romain Ruffenach, 17 Mikheil Nariashvili, 18 Martin Devergie, 19 Kevin Kornath, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Jan Serfontein, 22 Vincent Martin, 23 Levan Chilachava

Referee: Jerome Garces
Assistant referees: Ludovic Cayre, Thierry Guilloton
TMO: Denis Grenouillet

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The uncapped trio of Sergeal Petersen (wing), Ruhan Nel (centre) and JD Schickerling (lock) have been named in the Springbok squad of 36 for the tour of United Kingdom and France.

Apart from the inclusion of the three uncapped players from Western Province, there were recalls for Gio Aplon (outside back) and Louis Schreuder (scrum-half), who captained the Sharks in Saturday’s Currie Cup final.

Schreuder and the uncapped Western Province trio were among 10 players who rushed from the Currie Cup final to catch a flight to the UK to join the Springboks on tour.

Also on the flight after the final were Wilco Louw, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Damian Willemse (all Western Province) and the Sharks’ Sbu Nkosi and Thomas du Toit. The final of the Currie Cup was won by the Sharks by 17-12.

Trevor Nyakane (prop) and Lood de Jager (lock) are back in the Springbok fold after missing the entire international season to date due to injury, while Duane Vermeulen (loose forward) also returns after missing the Rugby Championship campaign.

All three experienced forwards, with a combined 115 caps between them, were part of a preliminary squad of 20 players who attended a week-long training camp in Stellenbosch, where they worked hard to prepare for the annual end of year tour.

Petersen played in a tour match for the Springboks against the Barbarians at Wembley in London in 2016, but is uncapped at Test level. Nel was part of the squad during the latter stages of the Rugby Championship.

The 23-year-old Schickerling, a former SA Under-20 representative, will get his first taste of senior international rugby, although he and Petersen played for the SA ‘A’ side against the touring England Saxons in June 2016.

Aplon is plying his trade in Japan nowadays and has 17 Test caps to his name, the last of which came in 2012. He is an exciting attacker with a good left boot and can play either full-back or wing.

Schreuder has one Test cap and cracked the nod for inclusion in the tour squad following some good performances for the Sharks in the domestic Currie Cup.

Rassie Erasmus, the SA Rugby Director of Rugby, has named 20 forwards and 16 backs for the month-long tour to England, France, Scotland and Wales.

“This tour to the northern hemisphere will be another tough test of our team’s character and we are looking forward to the exciting challenges against England, France, Scotland and Wales,” said Erasmus.

“It is always good to welcome new players to the Springbok environment and I’m excited to work with Sergeal and JD – I am sure they will bring a lot of energy into the group.

“Gio has a lot of experience of playing in the challenging European conditions from his club rugby stint in France, while Louis has been impressive in the Currie Cup and also brings a lot of experience.

“And we all know the value experienced players such as Lood, Trevor, and Duane will bring to the squad.”

Lionel Mapoe, who was part of the training squad in Stellenbosch, was ruled out of the tour due to injury and joins Tendai Mtawarira, Ross Cronje, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi, all of whom were part of the Rugby Championship squad, on the sidelines.

The Springboks face England at Twickenham on 3 November, followed by a meeting with the French in Paris one week later on 10 November. Their third Test on Tour is against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 17 November, and they wrap up their month-long tour with a visit to the Principality Stadium, where they are due to face Wales on 24 November.

Springbok squad:

Forwards: Schalk Brits, Lood de Jager, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (c), Francois Louw, Wilco Louw, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Franco Mostert, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Trevor Nyakane, JD Schickerling, RG Snyman, Duane Vermeulen, Warren Whiteley

Backs: Gio Aplon, Damian de Allende, Aphiwe Dyantyi, André Esterhuizen, Elton Jantjies, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Wille le Roux, Ruhan Nel, Sbu Nkosi, Embrose Papier, Sergeal Petersen, Handré Pollard, Louis Schreuder, Ivan van Zyl, Damian Willemse

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The French rugby federation confirmed that France scrum-half Morgan Parra has been ruled out of the November internationals with a wrist injury.

Parra’s place in the squad has been taken by Toulouse‘s Sebastien Bezy. It is more bad news for France coach Jacques Brunel, who had centre Wesley Fofana and loose forward Bernard le Roux ruled out earlier this week.

France tackle South Africa on November 10, followed by Argentina a week later and Fiji on November 24.

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Harlequins fly-half James Lang and Edinburgh utility back Darcy Graham have been added to the Scotland squad for their end-of-year Tests.

23-year-old Lang made his first and second Scotland appearances on the summer tour earlier this year as part of the side that defeated Canada and Argentina in Edmonton and Resistencia.

Lang has been drafted in as a replacement for injured Glasgow Warriors centre Sam Johnson, who sustained a knee injury in his club’s narrow PRO14 loss to Munster in Limerick on Saturday, and as cover for Edinburgh centre Matt Scott, who is suffering from concussion.

Meanwhile, the status of uncapped and in-form Graham has been elevated from ‘training with’ the squad, to a full squad member.

The 21-year-old product of Hawick RFC and the Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy is an accomplished back three player, having shone for Scotland U20 and Scotland Sevens.

He joined Edinburgh in February last year but a knee injury curtailed his early involvement. However, he returned to form with the abbreviated side – impressing at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games – and has gone on to be a standout performer in his club’s 2018/19 PRO14 and Heineken Champions Cup campaigns.

The Scotland medical team also confirmed that back-row trio Magnus Bradbury, David Denton and Luke Crosbie (who was training with the squad) will return to the care of their clubs’ medical teams for further care and assessment on shoulder, head and jaw injuries respectively.

Gregor Townsend’s side will face their Six Nations rivals, Wales, in Cardiff on Saturday, November 3 and contest the ‘Doddie Weir Cup’, as both teams honour the former Scotland and British & Irish Lions player who has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, and support his inspiring work to raise funds for MND research.

The game will provide Test-level build-up for the Scots’ own 2018 end-of-year Tests at Murrayfield, with capacity crowds confirmed for the opening Test against Fiji (Saturday, November 10) and South Africa (November 17) with the Argentina crowd close behind.

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