Tri Nations
Closing up on last weekend, PDV has been pretty vocal on a refereeing conspiracy http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6274109,00.html- the Boks aren’t losing because of your dodgy selections then? Here’s an interesting and balanced Kiwi view on last week’s match http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=80.
Whatever PDV has to say, 5 penalties given away by Ritchie McCaw and no yellow card is a bit ridiculous. The AB’s are such an awesome team, they don’t need to cheat, and it can backfire on them – Luke McAllister’s yellow card against France in the last World Cup was the turning point of the match for me.
Anyway, the Boks limp into Brisbane this week to see if they can breathe some life back into the corpse of their Tri Nations campaign so far. They will be desperate to get a win, and with a few key changes made in the team, they may well be able to do it.
It’s great to see Kankowski and Pienaar back in the team, and Aplon adds some much needed excitement to the back line. The Wallabies have Ben Robinson and Will Genia back in the team, both very talented players. The Wallabies looked pretty undercooked in their warm up matches and have been kicking their heels for two weeks now. It should be one hell of a match, and I’m going with the Boks because I don’t have a clue who’s going to win.
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (capt), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Ryan Kankowski, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (capt), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Butch James, 22 Juan de Jongh
Heineken Cup
This is the opening weekend of the Heineken Cup - can’t wait! Leinster and Racing Metro looks good, Toulon and the Ospreys, Munster/London Irish again! and Toulouse Wasps.
FRIDAY 8 OCTOBER, 2010
Pool 1 Northampton Saints v Castres Olympique 20.00
Pool 4 Ulster Rugby v Aironi Rugby 19.30
Pool 6 Glasgow Warriors v Newport Gwent Dragons 19.30
SATURDAY 9 OCTOBER, 2010
Pool 1 Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh 17.45
Pool 2 Leinster v Racing-Metro 92 13.30
Pool 2 ASM Clermont Auvergne v Saracens 16.30
Pool 3 Toulon v Ospreys 14.30
Pool 3 London Irish v Munster 17.45
Pool 5 Benetton Treviso v Leicester Tigers 14.30
Pool 5 Scarlets v Perpignan 15.30
SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER, 2010
Pool 4 Bath Rugby v Biarritz Olympique 13.00
Pool 6 Toulouse v London Wasps 16.00
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