New Zealand won their home tournament for a second year in a row after beating closest rivals Fiji 24-7 in the Cup Final. England beat Samoa 21-12 in the playoff for third place.

Having gone unbeaten on the opening day, the Blitzbokke were relegated to the Plate division with a 21-5 loss to Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals, their first outing of match day two. They were then made to work hard against a determined Canadian side, who lost a close fought encounter 21-19.

Tries by Stephan Dippenaar, Cornal Hendricks, Kyle Brown and three conversions by Afrika saw South Africa through against a stubborn Canada in the Plate semifinals.

In the Plate Final, South Africa scored a convincing win over Tonga who could not repeat their excellent from of the previous day, when they qualified as unbeaten pool leaders for the Cup quarterfinals. A brace of tries by Afrika, the current IRB Sevens Player of the Year, and one each by Frankie Horne and Brown, secured victory for the Blitzbokke.

Brown, the Springbok Sevens skipper, said afterwards: “I suppose when you lose out in a Cup quarterfinal you’ve got to maximise your points for the rest of the tournament, and we did that. We had a really tough game against Canada. They’re really showing how they’re growing every single week, and then we met up with Tonga and played as clinically as we could to win.”

The Series now moves to the United States, where South Africa is the defending Las Vegas champions.

“The USA Sevens has been good to us these last couple of years. We enjoy playing there so we’ll go there now and just try and be as clinical as we have been today,” added Brown.

USA Pool draw

Meanwhile, the IRB has confirmed the pool draw for round five of the World Series in Las Vegas, on 10-12 February. South Africa are seeded second in Pool C and will play against France, Wales and South American qualifiers, Uruguay.

As Wellington Sevens champions, New Zealand top pool A at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. They face a tough trio of matches against former Series champions Samoa, trans-Tasman rivals Australia and Japan.

Fiji reached their second Cup final of the Series in Wellington and, as runners-up, head Pool B and face matches against Canada, Argentina and tournament hosts, USA.

Kenya headed the draw in Pool D, where the Series’ third-ranked side England will start as favourites alongside Scotland and Brazil.

Current World Series champions New Zealand raced into the lead on top of the standings with 73 points, three clear of Fiji on 70 with England third on 64 and South Africa fourth with 61.

Boom Prinsloo. Photo by Mark Nolan/ Getty Images

South Africa finished their pool schedule unbeaten and will play against Fiji early tomorrow (4:49am, SA time) in one of the mouth-watering Cup quarterfinal clashes of the New Zealand Sevens in Wellington.

The Springbok Sevens came from behind to beat England 14-5 in their final Pool B match earlier this morning to top their group and advance unbeaten to the knockout phase of the fourth HSBC Sevens World Series event of the season.

Fiji booked their place thanks to a convincing 19-0 win over Wales, who failed to advance after Tonga managed to top Pool C.

Tom Mitchell gave England a 5-0 lead at halftime against South Africa, who struggled to get their hands on the ball during the first half. Two converted tries by Mark Richards and Branco du Preez gave  South Africa the lead before Greg Barden scored England’s second try right at the end.

Earlier, the Blitzbokke got their campaign off to a good start with convincing victories over the USA (21-0) and the Cook Islands (43-0).

IRB Sevens Player of the Year, Cecil Afrika, scored a brace and Steven Hunt also dotted down against the United States, who are still searching for their first win after 20 attempts against the Blitzbokke.

Afrika, who was rested for the final match of the day against England, scored another try and added three conversions against the Cook Islands which enabled him to surpass 650 points in the World Series. Cornal Hendricks (2), Hunt, Paul Delport, Boom Prinsloo and Frankie Horne all scored for South Africa.

Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu, who rested Kyle Brown and Afrika against England,  said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance. “We started a bit slow against the USA, got our into our rhythm against the Cook Islands and played a good structured match against a strong England side. While I’m happy that we managed to win all three our pool matches, we all know that what really counts is how well you play on day two. Cecil and Kyle each played two hard matches and we thought it would be in the best interest of the team to rest them against England,” said Treu.

Fiji is always a dangerous opponent but Treu said his team will focus on achieving their own targets. “We have our goals and will focus on those instead of other things. Hopefully, we will be able to keep the momentum from the start tomorrow.”

The Cup quarterfinal draw is:

New Zealand vs. France

Tonga vs. England

Canada vs. Samoa

South Africa vs. Fiji

SuperSport will show matches live from Wellington.

2012 Wales Six nations Squad

The Wales 2012 RBS 6 Nations squad has been pictured as they have never collectively been seen before – each wearing the club kit which they wore at the start of their rugby careers.

Head Coach Warren Gatland’s 37-man squad took time out from their busy training schedule this week to pay homage to the 13 Principality Premiership clubs (at times of appearances) that helped to get the players where they are today.

Every member of the squad, which has just returned from a pre-tournament training camp in Poland, has featured in Wales’ top club rugby competition for at least one club and each of the players were asked to nominate the side they felt most synonymous with.

In instances where players had featured for more than one club and they felt equal allegiances, the club was chosen for them, but, to-a-man, each player relished the opportunity to show a little piece of their personal heritage for the historic photo.

Llanelli RFC can boast to having made the greatest contribution to the current squad, they could almost field an entire backline of internationals, with a grand total of 10 players, including four uncapped, representing one of the WRU’s original member clubs – their players are: Mike Phillips, Stephen Jones, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, Rhys Priestland, Lee Byrne, and the uncapped Liam Williams, Rhodri Jones, Aaron Shingler and Lou Reed.

The next highest representation is from Wales’ capital club, Cardiff, with five internationals, plus the uncapped wing Harry Robinson.

Neath have provided five players in the current squad and Aberavon, Bridgend, Glamorgan Wanderers, Pontypridd and Swansea have all sent two players each from grass roots to international stardom – with the Wanderers providing squad captain Sam Warburton.

Single, but vital contributions, come from Cross Keys (Toby Faletau), Ebbw Vale (Dan Lydiate), Llandovery (George North) and Newport (Andy Powell).

“Welsh rugby must never forget its roots,” said WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewis.

“Our premiership clubs are the foundation stones upon which the international game is built.  This picture is a wonderful way of expressing how important the Principality Premiership is to Welsh rugby.

“The fact every member of the current squad has worked their way up through the pathway structure we have in place to develop players is something we should all be proud of.

“All the boys are extremely proud of their rugby heritage and they were very enthusiastic about taking part in this photograph.”

Graeme Yorston, Chief Operating Officer of Principality Building Society, sponsors of the Premiership commented:  ‘Principality believes that the Premiership is pivotal in the Welsh rugby triangle and this photograph demonstrates just how valuable the league is in developing young talent from the village playing field to the national game. We are extremely proud of the contribution we have made in supporting the success of the 6 Nations Squad.’

WALES’ 37-MAN RBS 6 NATIONS SQUAD PLAYERS ARE PICTURED REPRESENTING THE FOLLOWING CLUBS: 

ABERAVON: Justin TIPURIC, Ashley BECK

BRIDGEND: Ryan BEVINGTON, Ryan JONES, Rhys WEBB

CARDIFF: Alex CUTHBERT, Bradley DAVIES, Rhys GILL, Leigh HALFPENNY, Jamie ROBERTS, Harry ROBINSON

CARMARTHEN QUINS: Ken OWENS

CROSS KEYS: Toby FALETAU

EBBW VALE: Dan LYDIATE

GLAMORGAN WANDERERS: Sam WARBURTON, Lloyd WILLIAMS

LLANDOVERY: George NORTH

LLANELLI: Lee BYRNE, Jonathan DAVIES, Rhodri JONES, Stephen JONES, Mike PHILLIPS, Rhys PRIESTLAND, Lou REED, Aaron SHINGLER, Liam WILLIAMS, Scott WILLIAMS

NEATH: Ian EVANS, James HOOK, Paul JAMES, Adam JONES, Craig MITCHELL

NEWPORT: Andy POWELL

PONTYPRIDD: Gethin JENKINS, Matthew REES

SWANSEA: Huw BENNETT, Gavin HENSON

Boom Prinsloo. Photo by Mark Nolan/ Getty Images

Kyle Brown will lead a South African Sevens team that will be aiming for their first tournament title in ten years in New Zealand when the fourth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series kicks off early tomorrow morning (SA time) in Wellington.

The Blitzbokke last won the Kiwi title a decade ago when current coach, Paul Treu, was still playing. Brown and his team mates will look to turn the tables on their Kiwi hosts who beat them in a thrilling Cup Final at the first SA Sevens to be staged at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in December.

South Africa is currently third on the HSBC Sevens World Series log with 48 points, just three behind joint leaders Fiji and New Zealand. They will again pin their hopes on the dangerous halfback combination of IRB Player of the Year, Cecil Afrika, and Branco du Preez. Brown and veteran Frankie Horne are the two main forward stalwarts.

Stephan Dippenaar will make his debut in the New Zealand capital while Cornal Hendricks will make only his second Bok Sevens tournament appearance following his debut in Port Elizabeth.

Following their last-minute victory at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, New Zealand were drawn in Pool A as the top seeds alongside Samoa, Scotland and Japan. All Black wing Hosea Gear has been selected to play for the hosts in the fourth round of the World Series.

Fiji, Wales, Argentina and Tonga are grouped in a very strong Pool C while resurgent France, Australia, Canada and Kenya will battle it out for two Cup qualifying spots in Group D.

The top of the Series standings:

1. Fiji, New Zealand 51 points; 3. South Africa 48; 4. England 47; France 39

The Springbok Sevens squad for Wellington is:

1. Chris Dry
2. Frankie Horne
3. Boom Prinsloo
4. Cornal Hendricks
5. Kyle Brown (captain)
6. Branco du Preez
7. Bernado Botha
8. Paul Delport
9. Cecil Afrika
10. Steven Hunt
11. Mark Richards
12. Stephan Dippenaar (debutant)

SuperSport will show the full tournament live from 2am on Friday. The Blitzbokke start their campaign against the USA at 2am. Their second Pool B match is against the Cook Islands at 4:56am and this will be followed by their possible pool-decider against England at 9:50am.

The changes follow a cross-country Working Group meeting with representatives across all areas of the game held in September last year, which conducted a ‘clean sheet’ review of the SANZAR judicial process.

The objectives of the review were to provide a system that is fair, consistent and simple with fewer full hearings and consequently reduced costs.

“SANZAR has long held the view that the disciplinary process could be enhanced to provide for a more consistent and simplified outcome,” said Peters.

“We believe that these changes are an important step in the right direction”.

Key Changes:

1     On-field Referee Referral to Citing Commissioner

• Instances where a referee thinks an act of foul play has occurred but is not sure if a red card is warranted, or is unsure of the identity of a player
• Where a player makes a complaint to a referee who did not see an incident
• Can be in addition to a yellow card or penalty
• Referred to the Citing Commissioner for review

2     Citing Commissioner issues an “Off-Field Yellow Card”

• Instances where a Citing Commissioner observes a serious act of foul play that is close to but not quite a red card
• The Off-field yellow card is logged on the player’s disciplinary record in the same manner as an On-Field yellow card

3      Duty Judicial Officer

• Performs an initial assessment of citings, red cards or three yellow cards
• Duty Judicial Officer may hold a brief teleconference with the player and/or his representative
• Determines whether or not to offer the player a preliminary indication of penalty
• May refer to a full judicial hearing
• The player must accept he committed an act of foul play to be offered an indication of penalty
• If player does not accept the indication of penalty the matter will be referred to full hearing

4    Judicial Hearings

• Where a full judicial hearing is required it will be held by videoconference or teleconference with ‘in-person’ hearings only taking place in exceptional circumstances
• Other processes for the hearing will be the same as previously

5     Appeals

• SANZAR has a right of appeal the outcome of a judicial hearing on the following grounds:

-          Where there is substantial unfairness, or the penalty imposed on a player is clearly excessive or inadequate

-          Where there has been a fundamental error by the Judicial Officer in reaching his decision

• Normal rights of Appeal apply for players

The SANZAR trial has been approved by the International Rugby Board (IRB) and will form an important part of the IRB’s own full review of Regulation 17 that governs the disciplinary process internationally.

The new system will come into operation when the Super Rugby tournament kicks off on February 24.

One man that can tame the physical Samoans, Namibian captain Jacques Burger.

Cape Town – Namibia’s Welwitschias have pulled out of this year’s Vodacom Cup competition due to financial constraints.

SARU’s head of communication, Andy Colquhoun, confirmed to the Volksblad newspaper that Namibia pulled out of the competition.

Their absence will, however, not disrupt the schedule negatively. Teams will now instead receive byes where they would have played against the Welwitschias.

(Volksblad)

Victor Matfield and Derick "Liefling" Hougaard. Photo by Anton Geyser / Rugby15

Former Springbok captain Victor Matfield this week joined 17 other coaches from the Blue Bulls in becoming certified on the BokSmart national rugby safety programme. The certification is compulsory for anybody who wants to coach or referee rugby in South Africa at any level.

For many of the professional Vodacom Bulls coaches and conditioning staff, it was their second BokSmart course in the last two years.

Matfield, who retired from all rugby at the end of 2011, having amassed 110 Tests for the Springboks and 116 Vodacom Super Rugby caps for the Vodacom Bulls, joined the coaching staff of the Pretoria-based team a few weeks ago as a consultant.

Apart from Matfield, two-time Vodacom Super Rugby winning head coach Frans Ludeke, as well as former Springbok wing Pieter Rossouw, who is the Vodacom Bulls’ backline coach, Pine Pienaar (Absa Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup head coach) and Basil Carzis (strength and conditioning coach) were also in attendance.

Matfield said: “It is unbelievable to think that we can get all coaches in the country on the same level in order to improve this game we love so much and make it safer for all.”

Dr Wayne Viljoen, BokSmart Manager at the South African Rugby Union, said it was wonderful to see top professional coaches get behind the programme.

“Guys like Victor, Frans, Pieter and Pine, to name but a few, all coach at the top level and they set an exemplary example for the many other coaches out there. Nothing is more important than the on-field safety of our rugby players,” said Viljoen.

According to Pienaar, who will be in charge of the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Vodacom Cup in the next few months, BokSmart is a very useful tool for school, club and amateur coaches.

“Every coach’s first priority has to be the player. Player safety always comes first and it doesn’t matter the level he plays on. It’s a good checklist for coaches and players in amateur rugby,” said Pienaar.

A man who has heaps of experience at coaching at school boy and under-age level, Paul Anthony (the Blue Bulls U19 coach), knows of the pitfalls when injured players do not receive the right treatment straight away.

“Teachers at high schools need to show more concern for their injured top players and not force them to play with injuries,” said Anthony.

“Fourteen players at our High Performance Centre arrived with long term injuries, which they played with at school and are now in a six to 12 week rehabilitation programme. Teachers must consider the health and future of the players above all.”

For more information about the BokSmart programme, please visit www.boksmart.com, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/BokSmart) or follow us on Twitter (@Boksmart).

Jaco Peyper

South Africa’s top referees scrummed against each and were given master classes from top coaches as part of a recently completed four-day training camp prior to the start of the 2012 rugby season.

Former Springbok prop Balie Swart had SA’s top whistlers packing down to demystify the intricacies of scrumming while Rassie Erasmus and Rudolph Straeuli took referees through examples of their pre-match analysis. They also put the match officials through the same training drills used by many of the teams.

“Feedback from those attending – and it included referees with Rugby World Cup experience – was that the pre-season camp was one of the best of its kind they had yet experienced,” said South African Rugby Union general manager of referees André Watson.

“In addition to the technical Law reviews and input from experienced coaches, they also underwent fitness testing, completed the updated BokSmart programme, participated in a motivational/self-analysis presentation and wrote the National Laws Exam.

“I’m confident that our Super and National Panel referees are now well prepared for the season and I’m personally looking forward to the first blast of the whistle on opening day.”

Material covered at the SA Referees’ Camp at Konka included the outcomes of a recent SANZAR workshop.

“We’re committed to ensuring uniform application of the Laws across all of the rugby competitions in which we officiate,” said Watson. “We met in Sydney with our SANZAR partners in the middle of January and agreed on protocols for the coming season.

“While there are no Law changes to be implemented, it was a platform to review the highs and lows of last year and agree on common expectations for the coming year.”

The so-called ‘Big Five’ – tackle, scrum, offside, ruck, and maul – remain the priority areas as in previous years but with additional emphasis on the following points:

Scrum

• Alignment – front rows must be in a position to interlock on engagement; there must be no touching of heads.
• Early engagement – both teams must start the engagement process simultaneously on the referee’s call.
• Engagement angles – front rows must push straight and parallel to the touchlines; loose-head props must not ‘walk’ the scrum around the tight-head.
• Binding – front rankers must bind on their opponent in the appropriate manner; no hands on the ground for support.
• Post-engagement infringements – illegal wheeling on purpose, so-called ‘whip wheeling’ and not pushing straight and parallel to the touchline are all actions to be penalised.

Tackle

• The tackler must release and clear away after the tackler.
• The tackler-assist must release in a clear and obvious manner before going for the ball.
• Arriving players must not go past the ball into an offside position and try to obstruct the opposition going for the ball.
• Players must respect the offside lines at the ruck and maul (the hindmost foot of their player in the ruck or maul).
• Arriving players not attempting to clean-out the opposition must demonstrate positive actions to stay on their feet.
• A player who uses correct technique but ends up off his feet after removing a threat is not penalised.

Assistant Referees at Vodacom Super Rugby level will also be called on to take a more involved approach to the game without becoming an interference or hindrance to the referee. This will involve greater monitoring of offside lines at the ruck and maul and infringements close to the touchline where the referee may be unsighted.

Dippenaar replaces Chase Minnaar and his versatility means that the team can use him either as a mobile forward or a strong runner from centre or wing. Renfred Dazel is the other non-playing member of the South African squad.

An ankle injury ruled Dippenaar out of contention for the Nelson Mandela Bay SA Sevens in December. However, his impressive display for the newly established SA Sevens Academy team in Punta del Este earlier this month, propelled him back into contention for a place in the Springbok Sevens squad.

The HSBC World Series resumes on 3 and 4 February in the New Zealand capital after a new-look opening leg of three tournaments towards the end of 2011 in Australia, Dubai and South Africa respectively. Following the stopover in Wellington, which is regarded as one of the most popular Series destinations, the Blitzbokke will then defend their USA title in Las Vegas from 10 to 12 February.

South Africa are currently third on the Series log, three points behind joint leaders Fiji and New Zealand, who have 51 points each. Just one point separates South Africa and England in the standings after three exciting tournaments.

The Blitzbokke last won the New Zealand title ten years ago, when current coach, Paul Treu, was still playing for the SA Sevens team. Treu described the New Zealand event as one of the most difficult challenges of the season.

“We came very close to winning our own tournament last December in Port Elizabeth and are fully aware that we will have to play even better here in Wellington. New Zealand is a demanding challenge for any rugby team, but we back ourselves to be in contention on Saturday,” said Treu.

He added newcomer Dippenaar should have no problem fitting into the team. “He has been with us for a while now and is familiar with our structures and work ethic. His versatility means he can slot into a few positions, which increases our tactical options.”

South Africa’s Pool B opponents are England, Wales and the Cook Islands.

The Springbok Sevens squad for the Hertz New Zealand Sevens in Wellington is:

1. Chris Dry
2. Frankie Horne
3. Boom Prinsloo
4. Cornal Hendricks
5. Kyle Brown (captain)
6. Branco du Preez
7. Bernado Botha
8. Paul Delport
9. Cecil Afrika
10. Steven Hunt
11. Mark Richards
12. Stephan Dippenaar

Afrika joins IRB Sevens for live Twitter chat

Earlier this morning IRB Sevens Player of the Year Cecil Afrika took part in the first World Series live chat on Twitter from Wellington.

In one of the questions posed by a fan on Twitter, the new IRB Keep Rugby Clean ambassador for Rugby Sevens was asked what he made of this weekend’s tournament and the Series overall.

“The pool is tough, but we as a team will take it one game at a time and not worry about the outcome. In the last three tournaments there were five different finalists and it demonstrates the competitiveness of the Series and that a lot of teams are performing well.”

Read his complete answers via the IRB Sevens Twitter account, twitter.com/irbsevens or on the Springbok Facebook page www.facebook.com/springboks.

“The decision to include the Southern Kings in the 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby tournament was unanimously confirmed by the members,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU on Friday.

“We will now look at the options to identify the other entrants to the competition, which will include further discussions with our SANZAR partners on the possibility of including a sixth South African team in the competition.

“The Unions will also be making their own recommendations and the outcome of those discussions and other proposals will be tabled for the Executive Council and ultimately a General Meeting to consider.”