George Kruis will miss England’s three-Test series against the Springboks in June due to injury. Kruis will be available for Saracens during the Premiership playoffs, but the club’s director of rugby Mark McCall confirmed the player will undergo corrective surgery at the end of the season for a recurring ankle problem. ‘He’s not going to tour. He’s going to have surgery… Read more →
The Blitzboks slumped to a 26-24 defeat against England in their bronze-medal match at the Singapore Sevens, while Fiji claimed a thrilling 28-22 victory over Australia in the final. CRAIG LEWIS reports. It’s a set of results that will be a bitter pill for the Blitzboks to swallow. Coming into this tournament, they held a tenuous three-point lead at the summit… Read more →
The Stormers’ win over the Rebels and the Bulls’ loss to the Highlanders sees the Cape side heading into the north-south derby with a fantastic opportunity, writes JON CARDINELLI. The Stormers scored four tries in their 34-18 win over the Rebels at Newlands on Friday. A day later, the Bulls went down 29-28 to the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld. The… Read more →
Griquas hammered the Leopards 80-14 in Kimberley, while there were also wins for the Blue Bulls, Western Province, Pumas, Free State XV and SWD Eagles in round two of the Provincial Rugby Challenge. The men from the Northern Cape were in imperious form as they scored 12 tries to get their second win in as many weeks. Griquas wing Enver… Read more →
Fiji overturned a 10-point deficit to claim a thrilling 12-10 semi-final win over the Blitzboks at the Singapore Sevens on Sunday. CRAIG LEWIS reports. Again, there is heartbreak for the Blitzboks against Fiji. Despite a dominant start to this contest from the Springboks Sevens, a young team was ultimately unable to display the necessary composure to close out a game… Read more →
Montpellier thrashed Pau 45-13, while there were also wins for Toulon, Oyonnax, Agen and Stade Français in the penultimate round of the Top 14. Frans Steyn and Ruan Pienaar combined to give Montpellier a 10-6 lead at the break, with the former scoring a try and the latter kicking the conversion and a penalty. It was one-way traffic after the… Read more →
Munster drew 24-24 with Ulster, while there were Pro14 wins for the Cheetahs, Scarlets, Ospreys, Connacht, Zebre and Edinburgh. In the final round of the regular season, hosts Munster came back from a 24-14 half-time deficit, with flyhalf JJ Hanrahan kicking a 68th-minute penalty to level the scores. Munster scored their first try in the second minute of the match… Read more →
Newcastle scored a late try to beat Leicester 25-23 at Welford Road, while there were also wins for Exeter, Saracens, Wasps, Bath and Worcester in the English Premiership. Before round 21 commenced, the Exeter Chiefs and Saracens had already booked their places in the semi-finals, with the Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers and Wasps vying for the remaining semi-final places. The Falcons… Read more →
What we learned from the 11th round of Super Rugby, according to CRAIG LEWIS. Lions, Bulls miss golden opportunities Both the Lions and Bulls should look back at their respective defeats on Saturday and wonder just how it went so wrong. After holding the Waratahs scoreless in Sydney the week before, the Lions came into their clash against the Reds… Read more →
Siviwe Soyizwapi scored a hat-trick of tries as the Blitzboks clinched a comfortable 24-12 win over Kenya in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Sevens on Sunday. CRAIG LEWIS reports. During day one of this tournament, the Blitzboks suffered significant blows when star players Rosko Specman and Kyle Brown went down with injuries, and it means that a couple of their… Read more →
