IRB World Rankings
Welcome back!
South Africa have reclaimed the second spot on the IRB World Rankings after their win over Australia 53-8 in Johannesburg. Australia can reclaim second spot with a win against New Zealand in Brisbane.
No other changes occured in the Top 10 due to a lack of international rugby matches.
The list of the top 10 are below;
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Argentina
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Scotland
Italy
IRB World Rugby Rankings
The IRB latest world ranking’s have been a major blow to the South African Springboks as they have dropped from No 1. at ths start of the year to No 3. behind the New Zealand All Blacks and Australian Wallabies.
South Africa have had a horror Rugby Tri-Nations series while Australia have improved dramatically after being fourth at the start of the Rugby Tri-Nations series.
The list of the top 10 are below;
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Argentina
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Scotland
Italy
IRB World Rankings
The International Rugby Board (IRB) announced the latest rankings of all Rugby playing nations on 16 June 2008.
The only movement within the top 10 from last week is Scotland moving up one place after their surprise victory against Argentina and Fiji dropping back one spot as a result of the Scottish win. Among other major top 20 nations Samoa has moved from 13th to 12th spot and Japan from 16th to 15th after recent performances in the Pacific Nations Cup.
The top 10 are;
South Africa
New Zealand
Argentina
Australia
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Scotland
Fiji
A full list can be viewed at the Official IRB Rugby site.
Shane Williams Welsh Maestro
Shane Williams is a sensational player and for anyone requiring any convincing this try against South Africa on the weekend should be proof that he is the best winger in the game. Williams evasive step and individual brilliance is a sight to be behold and we hope to see him delivering for a few years yet.
Check out the amazing try where he bamboozled four South African defenders coming across in cover.
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South Africa 37 Wales 21
South Africa will be pleased with the win over Wales but were not as convincing as their last encounter. South Africa were able to scramble their way to victory but were unconvincing in stages against a more spirited Welsh side.
South Africa struck with two early tries to De Villiers and Januarie which gave them a 14-3 after 17 minutes when the Welsh staged a comeback. A crafty try from a lineout on the Springbok quarter line led to a good try off a well worked move to Gareth Cooper. The Welsh struck again with a sensational try to Shane Williams the Welsh genius who picked up a ball near half way and bolted for the line evading Luke Watson and the cover defense to score. It was a sensational individual try that gave the Welsh a 15-14 lead near half time. Butch James struck back close to half time with a penalty goal to give South Africa a 17-15 lead.
The second half traded penalties with the Welsh leading 21-20 until the Springboks started to get their act together as the Welsh could not sustain the momentum. The Springboks took the lead back through a Butch James penalty and then a try to De Villiers under the posts setup a 9 point lead. The victory was clinched with a try on the siren to Bismarck De Plessis.
The South Africans will be happy with the win but will need to lift for what is shaping as a classic Tri Nations series.
South Africa 37
Tries: Jean De Villiers 2, Enrico Januarie, Bismarck du Plessis
Goals: Butch James 3 penalties, 4 conversions
Wales 21
Tries: Gareth Cooper, Shane Williams
Goals: Stephen Jones 3 penalties, 1 conversion
South Africa vs Wales Preview
South Africa will be keen to make it to two from two against a Wales team who are desperate for a win to end their tour of South Africa on a high note. South Africa welcome back Victor Matfield to the starting lineup in what is shaping as another good hit out for South Africa ahead of the Tri Nations. Wales will be keen to show they are up for a challenge tonight but will need to stay on the game for the full 80 minutes which they struggled with last weekend in their loss.
South Africa have speed and skill in their backline with de Villiers, Habana and Butch James waiting for their chance to tear the Welsh apart again. Buth James was sensational last week and a similar performance for him tonight will have Wales packing their bags at halftime. The addition of Matfield is a huge boost as around the park and in the lineout he is perhaps one of the best in the world. Certainly a lineout with Matfield is a near impossible task to beat.
Wales are not without hope if the stars all align but will need their backline to show flair and the Welsh forwards will have to shape up and at least match the Springboks. Hook, Shane Williams and Stephen Jones will have to deliver and the halves combination will need to improve on last week’s effort.
I can’t see Wales getting close enough to South Africa to give them a scare but I expect a more competitive Welsh side than last week knowing they have more than pride on the line tonight with their performance. South Africa by 15.
South Africa
Conrad Jantjes, Tonderai Chavhanga, Adrian Jacobs, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Ricky Januarie, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Luke Watson, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit, BJ Botha.
Reserves: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Bolla Conradie, Frans Steyn, Percy Montgomery.
Wales
James Hook, Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Gareth Cooper, Gareth Delve, Jonathan Thomas, Ryan Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones, Rhys Thomas, Richard Hibbard, Gethin Jenkins.
Reserves: T Rhys Thomas, Duncan Jones, Ian Evans, Dafydd Jones, Warren Fury, Andrew Bishop, Tom James.
IRB World Rankings
The International Rugby Board (IRB) announced the latest rankings of all Rugby playing nations on 9 June 2008.
The Top 10 are pretty much as expected and will depending on results in the current rugby season show some movements. South Africa are still ranked No. 1 after winning the 2007 World Cup. New Zealand are ranked No. 2 and will be keen to win the Tri-Nations to return to the No. 1 spot they have held for many years but failed to deliver at World Cup level. Argentina have pipped Australia for the third spot after a sensational World Cup campaign that surprised the rugby world. Australia will also been keen for a strong Tri-Nations to move back up the world rankings.
The top 10 are;
South Africa
New Zealand
Argentina
Australia
England
Wales
France
Ireland
Fiji
Scotland
A full list can be viewed at the Official IRB Rugby site.
South Africa 43 - Wales 17
South Africa were dominant in their first performance of the season with a convincing four tries to two victory in from of their home crowd. It was Butch James who delivered a commanding performance while capping it off with 5 penalties and 4 conversions.
The match began with a series of penalties to firstly the home side where James put the Springboks out to a 6-0 lead only for Jones added a penalty for Wales to bring the score back to 6-3. It did not take long for James to extend the lead to 12-3 with two more conversions until the home side were able to bring up their first try to Conrad Janjtes who finished off a good move. Wales soon struck back with a good try to Roberts in the corner after some classy Shane Williams footwork to evade a few tacklers. South Africa were ahead 22-10 at halftime after another penalty near the break to Butch James.
The second half was when the Sprinkgoks sprung into gear scoring three tries to one on the second half. Tries to de Villiers and Spies extended the lead further and with Butch James in hot form with the boot the lead had extended to 36-10. Wales struck back though thanks once again to Shane Williams who this time went over for a try after stepping Bryan Habana. Alas Wales were unable to mount a more spirited comeback as Montgomery went in for the Springboks fourth try.
Wales will need to improve considerably for the next game in Pretoria to be a chance and the signs for South Africa look reasonably good for the upcoming Tri-Nations against the All Blacks and South Africa.
South Africa 43
Tries: Jantjes, De Villiers, Spies, Montgomery
Goals: James, 5 penalties and 4 conversions
Wales 17
Tries: Wallace
Goals: Jones, 1 penalty and 1 conversion. Hook, 1 conversion
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.