It’s another frustrating pre-season weekend as we build toward the start of Super Rugby. We take a look at the weekend times and teams.
Sure we have Varsity Cup on Mondays, and the Community Cup starts next weekend, and of course those bastions of the scrum are playing for the Six Nations crown on the mud islands … But all eyes are on that first weekend of Super Rugby … And by that we do not mean the Aussie false start next weekend!
As said last week, not a lot can be read into these pre-season games as coaches work with different combinations and bring players back from injury. But the Lions vs Kings should be a bit spicy, and it’s always a pleasure to take in rugby at the Cape Town stadium.
For us it is about the continued comeback of Juan Smith, what Frans Steyn looks like as a captain, how Andries Bekker’s back holds out, the form of Siya Kolisi after a long time away from the game and how Grant Kemp goes against JC Janse van Rensburg!
Stock the Coleman, man the Weber, and maak sag voor!
Super Rugby warm ups
Friday
19h00 – Sharks v Leopards
Sharks: 15. Riaan Viljoen 14. Odwa Ndungane 13. Tim Whitehead 12. Francois Steyn (Captain) 11. Lwazi Mvovo 10. Patrick Lambie 9. Charl McLeod 8. L ubabalo Mtembu 7. Jean Deysel 6. Jacques Botes 5. Franco van der Merwe 4. Pieter-Steph du Toit 3. Wiehahn Herbst 2. Kyle Cooper 1. Allan Dell
Bench: 16. Craig Burden 17. Tendai Mtawarira 18. Jandre Marais 19. Anton Bresler 20. Keegan Daniel 21. Cobus Reinach 22. Meyer Bosman 23. Paul Jordaan 24. Louis Ludi
Leopards: TBA
Saturday
14h15 – Lions vs Kings, Ellis Park, Referee: Marius Jonker
Kings: 15 Elric van Vuuren, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Wayne Stevens, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Siyanda Grey, 10 Wesley Dunlop, 9 Johan Herbst, 8 Jacques Engelbrecht, 7 Mpho Mbiyozo, 6 Rynier Bernado, 5 Darron Nell (captain), 4 Tomas Leonardi, 3 Grant Kemp, 2 Boetie Britz, 1 Lizo Gqoboko.
Bench: 16 Dane van der Westhuizen, 17 Khwezi Mkhafu, 18 Ross Gelbenhuys, 19 Daniel Adongo, 20 Thabo Mamojelle, 21 Scott Mathie, 22 George Whitehead, 23 Scott van Breda.
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Lions: 15 Marnitz Boshoff, 14 Andries Coetzee, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Derick Minnie, 7 JJ Breet, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (captain)
Bench: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Gavin Annandale, 19 Warwick Tecklenberg, 20 Whestley Moolman, 21 Deon Helberg, 22 Ruhan Nel, 23 Dylan des Fountain
14h45 – Boland vs Stormers (CT Stadium), Ref: Jonathan Kaplan
Boland: 15 Garth April, 14 Brendon April, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Albert Trytsman, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Ricardo Croy, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 Zandré Jordaan, 7 Thor Halvorsen, 6 Franzel September, 5 Nolan Clark, 4 PJ van Zyl, 3 Francois Hanekom, 2 Chris Buckle, 1 Ashton Constant (captain)
Bench (from): 16 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 17 Yagia Cook, 18 Rossouw Kruger, 19 Hanno Kitshoff, 20 Bradley Fortuin, 21 Junior Bester, 22 Dual Erasmus, 23 William van Wyk, 24 Llewellyn Adonis, 25 Cheswin Williams, 26 Cheslin Roberts, 27 Jonathan Francke
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Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Bench (from): 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Brok Harris, 19 De Kock Steenkamp, 20 Don Armand, 21 Nizaam Carr, 22 Nic Groom, 23 Louis Schreuder, 24 Pat Howard, 25 Gerhard van den Heever, 26 Joe Pietersen
17h00 – Bulls vs Cheetahs
Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Mornè Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Dewald Potgieter, 5 Juandrè Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Mornè Mellett
Bench: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Ulrich Beyers, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Wynand Olivier
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Cheetahs: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Phillip van der Walt, 7 Lappies Labuschagne, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain) 1 Trevor Nyakane
Bench: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Ligtoring Landman, 19 Juan Smith, 20 Sarel Pretorius, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Hennie Daniller, 23 Hansie Graaff
Kiwi and Aus games
Friday
05h30 Highlanders v Crusaders
10h00 Brumbies v ACT
11h00 Reds v Chiefs
13h00 Force v Tonga
Saturday
03h30 Blues v Waratahs
08h30 Rebels v Hurricanes
Six nations
Saturday
16:30 Scotland vs Italy (Edinburgh) Referee: Jaco Peyper
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (captain), 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Bench: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.
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Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Bench: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi , 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Kristopher Burton, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.
19:00 France vs Wales (Paris) Referee: George Clancy
France: 15 Yoann Huget, 14 Wesley Fofana, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Louis Picamoles , 7 Thierry Dusautoir (Captain), 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Jocelino Suta, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Bench: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Luc Ducalcon, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Damian Chouly, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Florian Fritz.
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Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (captain), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Bench: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.
Sunday
17:00 Ireland vs England (Dublin)
Ireland: TBA
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 James Haskell, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler
Bench: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Dave Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Thomas Waldron, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Manu Tuilagi
