Watch Live Rugby
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Italy announce Squad
The Italian coach Nick Mallett has announced his 29-man squad to for the upcoming three tests in November.
Italy will play Australia on 8th November, Argentina a week later, then the Pacific Islands on 22nd November.
The Italian side is;
Forwards:
Robert Barbieri (Treviso)
Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais/FRA)
Salvatore Costanzo (Treviso)
Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Ulster/NIR)
Santiago Dellape (Toulon/FRA)
Paul Derbyshire (Padua)
Jaco Erasmus (Viadana)
Carlo Festuccia (Racing Metro/FRA)
Leonardo Ghiraldini (Calvisano)
Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing Metro/FRA)
Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais/FRA)
Salvatore Perugini (Toulouse/FRA)
Tommaso Reato (Rovigo)
Michele Rizzo (Padua)
Alessandro Zanni (Calvisano)
Backs:
Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais/FRA)
Gonzalo Canale (Clermont/FRA)
Pablo Canavosio (Viadana)
Gonzalo Garcia (Calvisano)
Andrea Marcato (Treviso)
Andrea Masi (Biarritz/FRA)
Luke McLean (Calvisano)
Luciano Orquera (Brive/FRA)
Riccardo Pavan (Parma)
Simon Picone (Treviso)
Matteo Pratichetti (Calvisano)
Kaine Robertson (Viadana)
Michele Sepe (Capitolina Rome)
Giulio Toniolatti (Capitolina Rome)
Scotland name 50 man squad
Scotland coach Frank Hadden named his 50 man training squad for the upcoming internationals in November. The training squad will go into training on 22 September at Murrayfield in preparation for the clashes against New Zealand on 8 November, South Africa on 15 November and Canada on 22 November.
The full Scotland squad is;
Backs: Mike Blair, Ben Cairns, Chris Cusite, Simon Danielli, Nick de Luca, Rob Dewey, Max Evans, Thom Evans, Phil Godman, Andrew Henderson, Stephen Jones, Rory Lamont, Sean Lamont, Rory Lawson, Calum MacRae, Mark McMillan, Graeme Morrison, Dan Parks, Chris Paterson, Gordon Ross, Hugo Southwell, Nikki Walker, Simon Webster
Forwards: John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown, Dave Callam, Geoff Cross, Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Dougie Hall, Craig Hamilton, Jim Hamilton, Nathan Hines, Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen, Alastair Kellock, Gavin Kerr, Scott Lawson, Moray Low, Scott MacLeod, Euan Murray, Scott Murray, Matt Mustchin, Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch, Simon Taylor, Fergus Thomson, Dan Turner, Jason White
Scotland coaching shake-up
The Scotland coach Frank Hadden has added Mike Brewer and Graham Steadman to his coaching squad. In a canny recruitment move they have secured the former All Blacks captain Mike Brewer and former Irish assistant coach Graham Steadman.
Mike Brewer, 43, who has most recently been with Leinster as forwards coach will become the new Scotland forwards coach. Brewer’s international experience and pedigree will be of huge assistance to the Hadden and the Scots.
Graham Steadman, 46, the former rugby league international has been appointed as the defensive coach for the Scots. Steadman has delivered a similar role in recent times for Munster and the Ireland.
Scotland have recruited very shrewdly and look to be on the cusp of a rejuvenation at the international level. Hopefully with the strong coaching team they can bring this on sooner rather than later.
Scotland’s next match is on 8 November against New Zealand.
IRB World Cup bids confirmed
The IRB have confirmed bids for the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and 2019. 10 unions have expressed an interest and including exotic Rugby nations like Russia and Jamaica alongside stalwarts such as Australia, England, South Africa and Ireland.
Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales have submitted an interest in 2015.
While Australia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales are looking towards 2019.
The next Rugby World Cup will be held in New Zealand in 2011. The 2015 and 2019 World Cup’s will be announced in July 2009.
If the IRB is serious about expanding the game which I believe they are then they need to award at least one of the World Cup’s to a developing Rugby nation like Italy or Japan. Japan was overlooked for the 2011 World Cup after getting pipped by New Zealand for hosting rights. In July 2009 the IRB will be able to undo the mistake of not selecting them for 2007.
Who do you think should be awarded the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup?
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South Africa 26 Italy 0
South Africa were dominant in a 26-0 win against Italy at home but will be still looking for more improvement leading into the Tri-Nations series. The South African’s dominated around the ground, in the scrum, lineout and breakdown but a spirited effort from the Italians ensured a respectable scoreline. Heavy rainfall fell throughout the match yet the Springboks continued to play an attacking and open game looking to exploit every possible opportunity.
South Africa were on the scoreboard after 6 minutes with a fantastic try to Steyn after Habana broke open the Italian defence from his own quarter before Steyn kicked behind the defence line on his own half and chased to recover the ball and score a fantastic try. Bismarck du Plessis was next to score after after a solid lineout win to Victor Matfield and a dominant rolling maul allowed du Plessis to dive over for a try.
It was 14-0 at halftime and South Africa came out firing after the break with another lineout win to Matfield and on the back of another rolling maul Bismarck du Plessis was able to score his second try. The South Africans continued to dominate and it was the giant prop Beast Mtawarira who scored in the 55th minute after a series of precision passes and great runs from the Springboks. The score looked likely to blow out from here but it was the end of the scoring. The South African’s had their chances but were unable to capitalise in the final stages.
South Africa will be pleased with their performance but will be hitting the training paddock before their first Tri Nations international in two weeks. Nick Mallett can be proud of his Italian side who gave it their all and were far from humbled despite the loss. The young Italian side will be better for the run and can look forward to further improvements under the South African coach Mallett.
South Africa 26
Tries: Francois Steyn, Bismarck du Plessis (2), Beast Mtawarira
Goals: Francois Steyn 3 conversions
Italy 0
Sebastien Chabal to tour Australia
The French team to tour Australia has been announced and features the man known affectionately as the Caveman Sebastien Chabal in the team. Chabal who played no part in the French Six Nations team will be keen to show he still has plenty left to offer the French team after a strong World Cup campaign where be became the face of French Rugby last year.
The eight months since the World Cup has resulted in a vastly different French team to tour. Also affecting the team announced has been the non release of the major players from the top four teams in the domestic competition as they embark on their finals campaign. This has caused some considerably ire by the Australian management as they say this devalues the seriousness of the test matches. Still the French team touring will not accept they are second string and will be all out to show they have something to offer the new French coach Marc Lievremont.
The French team to play the Wallabies on 28th June and 5 July is;
Forwards: Sebastien Bruno, Benjamin Kayser, Lionel Faure, Pierre Correia, Benoit Lecouls, Renaud Boyoud, Lionel Nallet (captain), David Couzinet, Sebastien Chabal, Louis Picamoles, Imanol Harinordoquy, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Mathieu Lievremont, Yannick Caballero.
Backs: Dimitri Yachvili, Sebastien Tillous-Bordes, Francois Trinh-Duc, Benjamin Boyet, Damien Traille, Thibault Lacroix, Maxime Mermoz, Benjamin Thiery, Jean-Baptiste Peyras, Alexis Palisson, David Janin, Pepito Elhorga.
South Africa vs Wales - Preview
South Africa play Wales tonight in what will be a good warm up for South Africa ahead of the upcoming Tri-Nations. Wales had a fantastic Six Nations and will be keen to show they were no one hit wonder when they take on the Springboks in Bloemfontein.
Wales are without a few of their Six Nations winning team and will face some challenges to step up, meanwhile the Springboks are undergoing a major transition after losing some major stars after their recent world cup win. The Springboks line up with just five of their starting world cup winning team will find the going tough and the decision to leave Victor Matfield on the bench seems a little odd given his line out dominance in recent years.
South Africa will be expected to win on home soil but Wales will give them a real scare if they are on song. I reckon the Springboks will win by 5 in a tight game and Wales will show they were no one hit wonder in the Six Nations.
South Africa: Conrad Jantjes, Tonderai Chavanga, Adrian Jacobs, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Bolla Conradie, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Luke Watson, Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Brian Mujati, John Smit (c), Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: CJ van der Linde, Bismarck du Plessis, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Ruan Pienaar, Peter Grant, Percy Montgomery.
Wales: Jamie Roberts, Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Sonny Parker, Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Gareth Cooper, Ryan Jones (c), Dafydd Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ian Gough, Adam Jones, Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: Duncan Jones, Richard Hibbard, Ian Evans, Gareth Delve, Warren Fury, James Hook, Morgan Stoddart.