General Chat

SOUTH AFRICA V SCOTLAND...

SECOND HALF

At half time the score stood at 19-6 to South Africa.

SA's Fly Half Handre Pollard kicks off.

SA trying to push forward, but the Scots are still fighting hard.
Jannie Du Plessis is tackled by Rob Harley and is taken several metres back.

Scotland concede a penalty for Ross Ford being Offside at the Ruck.
Handre Pollard steps forwards and its now- 22- 6 to South Africa.

Seymour pushing forward for Scotland. He is playing well.

South Africa Replacement-
Van der MERWE on. OOSTHUIZEN off.

Scotland's Tim Swinson penalised for holding on to the ball on the floor.
In play that follows he takes out FRANCOIS HOUGAARD off the ball at the ruck ...

...so it's a YELLOW CARD for TIM SWINSON- SCOTLAND Number 4. 10 MINUTES in the Sin Bin for him.
"HARSH" was the opinion of our IEUAN EVANS who is pitchside commentating.

SCOTLAND 1 MAN DOWN AGAINST THE SPRINGBOKS...Doesn't bear thinking about! :-0 :-0 :-0

SA get a line-out inside Scotland's 22. They launch a terrific drive!
Hooker MARCELL COETZEE is controlling the ball at the base of the maul.
Here comes the Try-Line and he over he goes!...2nd TRY for COETZEE!

Converted by Pollard
Score now 29-6 to South Africa.

South Africa Replacement-
STRAUSS on. Bismarck du PLESSIS off.

The South Africans are again on the attack!
le Roux throws a long pass to Pietersen. He runs, seeing off 2 Scottish tackles. He scores in the right-hand corner.
IT GOES TO TMO HOWEVER. The ref wants to check the grounding.

TRY AWARDED - J.P. PIETERSEN.
This time Handre Pollard misses the conversion. 34-6 to South Africa.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER FOR SPORT is being interviewed in the arena. What points does he think South Africa will have scored by the end of the match? he is asked...50 IS HIS REPLY! We shall see!

ALL AROUND THE STADIUM THE CROWDS ARE DOING THE MEXICAN WAVE :-D

A burst of good play for Scotland by Hogg and Dickinson.

Scotland Replacements-
BRYCE on. FORD off.
Johnny GRAY on SWINSON off.

Scotland break away from a Ruck by PYRGOS at the SA 10 metre line. He throws long... BUT STEAL BY MVOVO.... he runs like lightning down the pitch.
and it's a 2nd TRY for LWAZI MVOVO.
Handre Pollard converts. Score now stands at 39-6 to South Africa.

Just 3 minutes later there is another Try for South Africa.
Ball carrying Coetzee is tackled down by Tyrone Holmes but manages to offload to SA number 4 LOOD DE JAGER for his very 1st INTERNATIONAL TRY.
What a proud moment for him! He is beaming!
And another conversion by Pollard.
Score now stands at 48- 6 to South Africa.

South Africa Replacements-
MOHOIE on VERMEULEN on.

SPRINGBOK DEBUT FOR OUPA MOHOIE...
who was awarded VARSITY CUP PLAYER THAT ROCKS 2013!

More South African Debuts now as STEPHAN LEWIES and MARNITZ BOSHOFF come on as does TREVOR NYAKANE.
They haven't announced the retiring players. But I have deduced that 2 were Captain Matfield and Handre Pollard.

Scotland are not rolling over and dying. They are hammering now at the Springboks Line, but it's like hitting a brick wall. The sheer physicality of the South Africans is just too much for them.
Gray, Holmes and Bryce carry well, but the Scots concede a penalty as Moray Low and Euan Murray infringe at a ruck.

Next, Trevor Nyakane is penalised for illegal scrummaging. Duncan Weir kicks for position and puts the ball out just outside the SA 22metre line.

The Scots are facing an all out attack by the South Africans now,deep inside Scoltand's 22!
DE JAGER takes the ball, and with two defenders on his back, crashes over the TRY LINE! and gets CRAMP!
Try Converted by Pollard's Replacement Marnitz BOSHOFF.
Score 55-6 to South Africa.

THE CLOCK HAS GONE RED.
Scotland is pushing forward. A CONSOLATION TRY WOULD BE GREAT!

But not to be!

WHISTLE GOES .. SOUTH AFRICA HAS BEATEN SCOTLAND 55-6!

Scotland lost their 4th and Final Test Match of their Summer Tour Season.

SOUTH AFRICA HAVE A CLEAN SWEEP!

POINTS:

SOUTH AFRICA
Tries-
Marcell Coetzee (2); Willie le Roux; Pietersen; Mvovo (2); de Jager (2)
....................................................................... 40points
Conversions- Pollard (5); Boshoff ......................12points
Penalties-Pollard ...............................................3points TOTAL POINTS - 55

SCOTLAND
Penalties-Weir(2) ............................................. 6points TOTAL POINTS - 6

Congratulations to South Africa, RolloTheRed, and all GR Springboks Fans:-)
Commiserations to Scotland, Our Emms GoldenGirl1, and all GR Scotland Fans:-(

FINAL SCORE;
SOUTH AFRICA 55 -- SCOTLAND 6

So with this match, the Summer Tours have come to an end.

Thank you to my pal Allan and the lovely Elizabeth Of Seasons for your posts:-)

THIS "RUGBY REPORTER" ;-) :-D :-D ..
IS NOW PUTTING AWAY THE NOTEPAD AND PEN!

THANK YOU TO ANY OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN INTERESTED ENOUGH TO READ MY RUGBY BLOGS :-) :-)

SOUTH AFRICA V SCOTLAND 28th June 2014

MATCH REPORT

SOUTH AFRICA 55 -- SCOTLAND 6

Poor Scotland tried their hardest yesterday! but sadly for Scotland, they were no match for the sheer physicality, the power, and the strength that is the South African Springboks!

The two teams met, with both sides unbeaten in their test matches this summer.
The only real threat to the South Africans was WALES <3 when they ALMOST beat them, only to lose in the last 2 minutes of play :-(

It was made even harder for Scotland, having been depleted- they had lost 12 of their best players. Due to this match being scheduled rather late in the summer, they had to return home from South Africa due to Club commitments.

THE TEAMS:

SOUTH AFRICA

BACKS:
15 Le Roux, 14 Hendricks, 13 Pietersen, 12 Serfontein, 11 Mvovo, 10 Pollard,
9 du Preez
FORWARDS:
1 Oosthuizen, 2 B du Plessis, 3 J du Plessis, 4 de Jager, 5 Matfield (capt), 6 Coetzee, 7 Burger, 8 Vermeulen

Replacements: 16 Strauss, 17 Nyakane, 18 van der Merwe, 19 Lewies, 20 Mohoje,
21 Hougaard, 22 Boshoff, 23 Kirchner.

SCOTLAND

BACKS:
15 Hogg, 14 Maitland, 13 De Luca, 12 Horne, 11 Seymour, 10 Weir, 9 Pyrgos;
FORWARDS:
1 Dickinson, 2 Ford, 3 Cross, 4 Swinson, 5 Gilchrist (capt), 6 Harley, 7 Fusaro,
8 Ashe.

Replacements:
16 Bryce, 17 Low, 18 Murray, 19 Gray, 20 Holmes, 21 Hart, 22 Fife, 23 Murchie

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)

THE MATCH:

The teams met (both unbeaten in Test Matches this season) at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.The stadium was nearly packed to capacity.

One of the Pitch-side Commentators for Sky Sports is WALES former International Rugby Union star- IEUAN EVANS :-)

THE ANTHEMS

First the Scottish Anthem-
O FLOWER OF SCOTLAND ... sang by ANDRIETTE NORMAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ5fLBEpKo8
This version by the late Roy Williams of the Corries

Brought a tear to my eye and I'm not Scottish- I'm Welsh!!! :-D
Beautiful pictures of Scotland on this YouTube Clip!

Next the South African Anthem-

NKOSI SIKELEL iAFRIKA (God Bless Africa).... sang by PHELO BALA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhUMsqei7kM

Scotland's Duncan Weir kicked off!

Scotland concede early penalties to South Africa, the second of which was due to Scotland being Off-side.

The South Africans decide not to go for the 3 points. They kick the ball to the Scottish 5 metre line. Line-out- up, down and drive.

Scotland defend hard on theTry Line, but they are no match for the Mighty Springboks.
Just 4 minutes into the game-South Africa's MARCELL COETZEE is driven over the Try Line by Vermeulen, right between the posts. TRY!

IRB JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR- HANDRE POLLARD CONVERTS.

SOUTH AFRICA 7 -- SCOTLAND 0

South Africa again get a penalty advantage for a Scottish Offside.
Play for them halts momentarily however, as Scotland turnover the ball, by a brilliant STEAL from newly capped Nick Fusaro.

Scotland get a penalty, as SA's Marcell Coetzee was offside at the ruck.

Duncan Weir steps up. He is going to go for the 3 points. His first kick of the match!
He slides it in. Now it's SOUTH AFRICA 7 -- SCOTLAND 3

Good play by Duncan Weir and Scotland now, but they are no match for the Springboks. SA get a penalty advantage for another Scotland Offside.

At just 11 minutes, the South Africans are again on the attack.
Fantastic run by SA's Jan Serfontein.Three Scottish defenders give chase. But there is a 4 man overlap. Pollard and JP Pietersen are both there....
and then WILLIE LE ROUX rounds it all off! TRY in the right-hand corner!
Converted again by Handre Pollard.

SOUTH AFRICA 14 -- SCOTLAND 3

At this point in the match, South Africa has had 84% possession of the ball to Scotland's 16%.

Scotland fight on bravely.They get a penalty advantage as South Africa's number 4- de Jager was offside at ruck. The Referee warns SA's captain.

But eventually there is a fantastic "Steal" by an on the run Pietersen. He kicks the ball, it is grabbed by MVOVO, who dives over the Try Line.
It goes to TMO, but it is awarded- TRY
This time Pollard misses the Conversion. SOUTH AFRICA 19 --SCOTLAND 3

Scotland still fighting on with Scotland's Stuart Hogg and Henry Pyrgos playing well.

SA's Willie le Roux sustains a blood injury following a clash of heads. He is temporarily replaced by Zane Kirchner.
This was deemed to have been from a late Scottish Tackle by number 2 Ross Ford who is on his debut.

Scrum and scrum problems as the scrum collapses and also SA illegal scrummaging- Coenie Oosthuizen is penalised for dropping his bind at a scrum.

South Africa Replacement-
HOUGAARD on, du PREEZ off.

Scotland on attack with Tommy Seymour playing superbly. However, he doesn't release the ball in the tackle, and Scotland are again penalised.

Serfontein makes a break but Fusaro brings him down, but he manages to offload to Mvovo who then knocks on.
Oosthuizen is penalised again for illegal scrummaging.

Duane Vermeulen slows the ball down deliberately at a ruck. and Scotland have a chance of 3 points.
DUNCAN WEIR is 50 metres out from the goal posts-CAN HE DO IT? YES!
South Africa 19 -- Scotland 6.

The Scots are attacking well now, in particular Henry Pyrgos.
SA is finding it hard to keep them contained. Then a knock on by Tim Swinson brings play to a halt.

THE REFEREE BLOWS HIS WHISTLE FOR HALF TIME.

At half time the score stands at SOUTH AFRICA 19 -- SCOTLAND 6.

BOKKIE IS OUT DOING A DANCE :-D

TO BE CONTINUED :-D

LATEST NEWS:

SOUTH AFRICA 55 -- SCOTLAND 6

It has been a "BATTLE FOR THE BOX" in our house of late!

MEN versus ME :-(

The men in my household would rather watch a boring game of kicking a ROUND ball about :-0 :-|

Therefore- being outnumbered 2-1, I have had to wait until this evening to watch the MUCH MORE EXCITING ....OVAL BALL SPORT!

So as a consequence of this very unfair situation ;-)

SOUTH AFRICA V SCOTLAND MATCH REPORT TOMORROW :-D :-D :-D

Thank You so much Elizabeth :-) <3

I hope you are well :-) :-)

Dear Jemima

Hello

I have enjoyed your postings about the rugby.

Thank you for them.

It would have been nice if we had done better in the World Cup but you can't win 'em all!


Take gentle care
With good wishes
Elizabeth,
xx

The Rugby Union International Summer Tours of 2014 are coming to an end.

LAST MATCH:

SOUTH AFRICA v SCOTLAND

SATURDAY JUNE 28th ... Kick Off 4.00pm (UK time)
International Match, Sky Sports 3 coverage starts at 3.30pm

Check Radio / TV Stations in the areas where you live :-)

WALES 30 -- SOUTH AFRICA 31

This amazing game, where WALES ALMOST BEAT SOUTH AFRICA, only beaten in the last 2 minutes of play, is recorded on the ..

WELSH RUGBY NEWS- SOUTH AFRICA TOUR 2014 thread.

AIthough I am gutted ...I AM SO PROUD OF WALES <3

NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND

SECOND HALF

Television Studio Commentators say that England will be aiming for "Damage Limitation" now.

Second Half replacement for England-
Luther Burrell on. Kyle Eastman off.
New Zealand Replacement-
Liam Messam on. Kieran Read off.

Aaron Cruden kicks off the second half.

A DIFFERENT ENGLAND SIDE HAS EMERGED IN THE SECOND HALF!

An early penalty to England for McCaw "off his feet" . Burns kicks to touch. Line out at 10 metres. England catch, Ben Youngs runs to within a metre of the Try Line.
MARLAND YARDE gets the ball and FIRST TRY FOR ENGLAND!
Conversion by Burns makes the Score: 29-13 to New Zealand.

New Zealand Replacements:
Beauden Burrell on. Aaron Cruden off.
Keven Mealamu on. Dane Coles off.

Ben Youngs is now playing like a "right little Crackerjack". Excellent play by Yarde also.
Ben Youngs is starting to make England Tick!

Runs, Great Tackles, Scrums and Counter Scrums follow. Some good defending too. The game has opened up.
England are now playing well.

England replacements-
Roy Webber on.Dylan Hartley off
Danny Cipriani on Freddie Burns off
Ben Morgan on. Billy Vunipola off.
Kieran Brookes on. David Wilson off.

Excellent play by Jane and Barrett for New Zealand, but a Try was prevented by a knock on.

New Zealand Changes-
Wyatt Crockett on. Tony Woodcock off.
Charlie Faumuina on. Owen Franks off.
Ryan Crotty on. Malakai Fekitoa off.

England replaces Joe Launchbury with Dave Attwood again.

BEN YOUNGS IS REPLACED. The boy has had a great second half! Lee Dixon on.
No sign of this match going flat. Still plenty of exciting play. Yarde has a brilliant break again, but is eventually brought down by Nonu and Savea.

WYATT CROCKETT YELLOW CARDED FOR "COMING IN AT THE SIDE"
.. but this was because of persistent offending by the All Blacks.Sin Bin for 10 minutes for him!

England has been playing with strength, foundation and character this second half

NZ-
TJ Perenara on. Aaron Smith off.
Patrick Tuipulotu on.Brodie Retallick off.

The closing minutes of play now.
England have played a lot of territory in the second half, and have played the better game.
At the closing stages of the game, they could declare the second half a victory!
They have only conceded 6 penalties whereas New Zealand have conceded 12.

England get a penalty on their own 10 metre line. They run it hoping to end the series on a high.

THE CLOCK HAS GONE RED

New Zealand have the same idea. They get possession of the ball JANE speeds down the right hand side- off loads to JULIAN SAVEA and he's over the TRY LINE for his HAT TRICK at 81.42 minutes!
Beauden Barrett converts.

That last Converted Try however, changes the statistics of the Second Half of the game. Now England and New Zealand statistically have drawn!

FINAL SCORE:
NEW ZEALAND 36 -- ENGLAND 13

THE POINTS:

NEW ZEALAND
Tries-
Julian Savea (3); Aaron Smith (2)................... 25points
Conversions-
Aaron Cruden (3); Beauden Barrett ................8points
Penalty-
Aaron Cruden ................................................3points ... TOTAL POINTS - 36

ENGLAND
Try-
Marland Yarde ...............................................5 points
Conversion-
Freddie Burns ...............................................2points
Penalties-
Freddie Burns (2) ..........................................6points ... TOTAL POINTS - 13

Congratulations to New Zealand, Persie and all GR All Black Fans
Commiserations England, Wend, Mike, Roy and all GR England Fans

I have now watched the match, made copious notes ...
...so here is my promised Match Report :-D :-D

THIRD TEST MATCH:

NEW ZEALAND 36 -- ENGLAND 13

England suffered a crushing defeat by New Zealand in Hamilton, resulting in a 3-0 Series Whitewash.

In the first half of this match, England were ripped apart, by onslaught after onslaught by the Mighty Machine that is The All Blacks.

At the end of the first half, The All Blacks had scored 4 Tries and were leading by 29-6

In the second half, England rallied following a dressing down by their Coach.
During the majority of the second half, England not only matched, by were more dominant, with players such as Scrum Half Ben Youngs, and Marland Yarde (number 11) excelling.

However, at the very end of this match, a final Try by New Zealand's Julian Savea made the second half play statistics equal.

THE TEAMS:

ENGLAND TEAM:
There was a change to the announced England side.
This was because Geoff Parling sustained a hamstring injury. So Joe Launchbury, who was on the replacement bench (having lost his place to the returning Courtney Lawes) took his place.

BACKS:
15 Mike Brown; 14 Chris Ashton; 13 Manu Tuilagi; 12 Kyle Eastmond; 11 Marland Yarde; 10 Freddie Burns; Ben Youngs.
FORWARDS:
1 Joe Marler; 2 Dylan Hartley; 3 David Wilson; 4 Joe Launchbury; 5 Courtney Lawes; 6 Tom Wood; 7 Chris Robshaw; 8 Billy Vunipola.

REPLACEMENTS:
16 Rob Webber; 17 Matt Mullan; 18 Kieran Brookes; 19 David Attwood; 20 Ben Morgan; 21 Lee Dickson; 22 Danny Cipriani; 23 Luther Burrell.

NEW ZEALAND TEAM:

BACKS:
15 Ben Smith; 14 Cory Jane; 13 Malakai Fekitoa; 12 Ma'a Nonu ;11 Julian Savea;
10 Aaron Cruden; 9 Aaron Smith.
FORWARDS:
1 Tony Woodcock; 2 Dane Coles; 3 Owen Franks; 4 Brodie Retallick; 5 Samuel Whitelock; 6 Jerome Kaindo; 7 Richie McCaw (Captain); 8 Kieran Read.

REPLACEMNTS:
16 Keven Mealamu; 17 Wyatt Crockett; 18 Charlie Faumina; 19 Patrick Tuipulotu;
20 Liam Messam; 21 TJ Perenara,; 22 Beauden Barrett; 23 Ryan Crotty.

THE ANTHEMS:

First REBECCA NELSON sang ENGLAND's National Anthem GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

Then LIZZIE MARVELLY sang NEW ZEALAND's National Anthem-
GOD DEFEND NEW ZEALAND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOB3zMLv5ZI
Lizzie singing NZ Anthem at an earlier All Blacks Match- beautiful voice!

THEN COMES THE FEAR-INSPIRING HAKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JphKPhW_m68

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofj3dCKyI38
Not yesterday's but brilliant New Zealand Haka YouTube Clips

THE MATCH:

Fly Half Freddie Burns kicked off for England. He has replaced the injured Owen Farrell. Not a great start, as the ball has only gone 10 metres, and also into touch.

Scrum follows. All Black Kieran Read holds on to the ball, so the first penalty of the match goes to England in the first minute of play.
It's within range of the goal- can Burn make amends for his poor start?
No he missed- ball goes wide.

Just 5 minutes into the game-
TRY for NZ's Julian SAVEA. The Try is not converted however, as Aaron Cruden hits the post:....Score 5-0 to New Zealand.

8 minutes into the game- Freddie Burns has another opportunity to redeem himself when England are given a penalty for NZ Off-Side at the ruck.
This time he succeeds ..... Score 5-3 to New Zealand.

Scrappy play follows. All Blacks get a quick ball. Cruden runs straight through Billy Vunipola, loop passes to SAVEA, and it's another World Class Try for the winger!
Cruden converts this time: Score- 12-3 to New Zealand.

There has been heavy rain in New Zealand which has made the ground very slippery.This caused Scrum problems as both teams collapse.

SAVEA gets a third Try.. but the referee has spotted a forward pass from Ben Smith in the lead up so Savea's Hat Trick Try is disallowed.

A Ruck Offence leads to England being penalised yet again! Cruden goes for the Penalty Goal- and he gets it! Score: 15-3 to New Zealand.

This time it's New Zealand's turn to be penalised, as their Captain Richie McCaw comes in at the side at the ruck- "Cynical Play"!
Burns comes up for the Penalty and this time "Nails It" with a clever little chip.
Score: 15-6 to New Zealand.

BILLY VUNIPOLA IS YELLOW CARDED FOR A HIGH TACKLE! :-0 :-0
In my opinion, there was no "Intent". He started ok and then his arm slid up higher. He being such a big man would make that very dangerous. So Billy's off to the Sin Bin for 10 minutes!

Joe Launchbury is assisted off the field following an injury.Dave Attwood takes his place.

A dangerous situation again for England. New Zealand look certain to get another Try, but pass from Cole hits Ashton and goes into touch.

Excellent playing by New Zealand's MALAKAI FEKITOA who receives his FIRST CAP TODAY.

England make a mistake at the Line-Out. CORY JANE gets the ball. Marland Yarde can't catch him. He offloads to AARON SMITH. This time the slippery ground is a great help! He slips, but SLIDES OVER the Try Line.

The Ref goes to the TMO however, as he thinks there may have been a forward pass from Cruden to Fekitoa. But it is awarded. Converted by Cruden.
Score: 22- 6 to New Zealand.

New Zealand have a penalty now for an England Ruck Offence, but decide not to go for the 3 points. Instead they take a Scrum, which backfires on them.

Joe Launchbury is now back on, having had his head injury checked out.

Billy Vunipola is "released" from the Sin Bin.

A fourth Try for New Zealand now, as a "dummy" by Ben Smith gets him past Yarde. He offloads to AARON SMITH, who dashes under the posts!
Conversion by Cruden. Score: ... 29-6 to New Zealand.

A rare attack by England now by Ben Youngs and Chris Ashton, but they are turned over by Ben Smith.
England are fighting back now!

HALF TIME NOW- SCORE NEW ZEALAND 29- ENGLAND 6

AUSTRALIA 39 -- FRANCE 13

Australia thrashed France today in Sydney.
The Wallabies scored the opening Try, when Will Skelton powered over ht Try Line on his debut for Australia.

AUSTRALIA TEAM:

BACKS:
15 Folau, 14 Ashley-Cooper, 13 Kuridrani, 12 Toomua, 11 Cummins, 10 Foley, 9 White.
FORWARDS:
1 Slipper, 2 Polota-Nau, 3 Kepu, 4 Simmons, 5 Skelton, 6 Fardy, 7 Hooper (capt), 8 Palu.

Replacements:
16 Charles, 17 Sio, 18 Weeks, 19 Horwill, 20 McCalman, 21 Phipps, 22 Beale, 23 Horne.

FRANCE TEAM:

BACKS:
15 Dulin, 14 Huget, 13 Bastareaud, 12 Fofana, 11 Bonneval, 10 Tales, 9 Parra
FORWARDS:
1 Menini, 2 Guirado, 3 Slimani, 4 Flanquart, 5 Maestri, 6 Dusautoir (capt), 7 Ouedraogo, 8 Chouly.

Replacements:
16 Tolofua, 17 Debaty, 18 Mas, 19 Le Roux, 20 Picamoles, 21 Nyanga, 22 Machenaud, 23 Lamerat.

POINTS:

AUSTRALIA
Tries-
Skelton; Folau (2); Hooper; Phipps .....25points
Conversions- Foley (4) ...........................8points
Penalties- Foley (2) ................................6points ...TOTAL POINTS .. 39

FRANCE :
Tries-Guirado ........................................5points
Conversions - Machenaud....................2points
Penalties- Dulin; Machenaud ................6points ... TOTAL POINTS .. 13

Congratulations AUSTRALIA and all GR Wallabies Fans :-) :-)
Commiserations France

SCOTLAND 21-- ARGENTINA 19

This was the 3rd Test match for Scotland on a tour involving two Scottish Squads, playing games in three Continents, over a four week period.They have already played in the USA and Canada. Next week Scotland will face South Africa.

Scotland had already won their last 3 Test Matches in Argentina (2008; twice in 2010) Yesterday's win (Friday, 20th June) was the fourth successive Test Match win on Argentine Soil.

When Grant Gilchrist led the Scottish Team out onto the pitch at Estadio Mario Kempes in Cordoba, Argentina yesterday, it was for his very first time as Captain. It was only his 7th International match.

Scotland's Ross Ford became Scotland's Most Capped Hooker (number 2) on this his 76th appearance.

THE TEAMS:

SCOTLAND:
S Hogg (Glasgow); S Maitland (Glasgow), N De Luca (Edinburgh), P Horne (Glasgow), T Seymour (Glasgow); D Weir (Glasgow), G Hart (Edinburgh); A Dickinson (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), G Cross (Glasgow), J Gray (Glasgow), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh, capt), R Harley (Glasgow), B Cowan (London Irish), K Low (London Irish).

Replacements :
P MacArthur (Glasgow), G Reid (Glasgow), J Welsh (Glasgow, T Swinson (Glasgow), C Fusaro (Glasgow), H Pyrgos (Glasgow), T Heathcote (Bath), D Fife (Edinburgh).


ARGENTINA:
L Gonzalez (Oyonnax); S Cordero (Regatas Bella Vista), M Orlando (Huirapuca), S Gonzalez Iglesias (Asociacion Alumni), M Montero (Pucara); N Sanchez (Beagles Bordeaux) , T Cubelli (C) (Belgrano Athletic); B Postiglioni (La Plata), J Montoya (Newman), M Diaz (Highlanders), M Carizza (Stormers), M Alemanno (La Tablada), R Baez (Liceo), J Ortega Desio (Parana Students), T De la Vega (CUBA).

Replacements:
S Iglesias Valdez (University), L Noguera Paz (Lince), N Tetaz Chaparro (La Plata), T Lavanini (Hindu), A Ahualli de Chazal (SIC), M Landajo (CASI), M Moroni (CUBA), J Tuculet (Libre).

THE MATCH:

Scotland's Stuart Hogg kicked of this match, and after only 7 minutes, he also scored their first TRY.
This was set up by a great pass by Nick de Luca to Tommy Seymour who, running at speed, broke away, and off-loaded to Hogg who plunged over the Try Line.
Duncan Weir converted perfectly, taking the sore to 7-0 to Scotland.

Next came a Try for Argentina from Ortega Desio. Nicolas Sanchez however, missed the conversion. Score 7-5 to Scotland.

An outstanding Sanchez Drop-Goal followed at 26 minutes, taking Argentina into the lead. Score 7-8 to Argentina.

Nicolas Sanchez narrowly misses a second drop-goal.

HALF TIME SCORE STANDS AT SCOTLAND 7 -- ARGENTINA 8.

Sanchez kicks off the second half. It's not long before Argentina is awarded a penalty. Sanchez has no problem with this "spot on" goal. Score 11-7 to Argentina.

Then a penalty apiece-

First for Scotland courtesy of Duncan Weir. This came after a hard fought, but failed attempt for a Try, against strong defending by Argentina. 11-10 to Argentina.
Followed 2 minutes later by a Penalty for Argentina for Scotland "not releasing".
Again Argentina's lead has increased and now stands at 14-10.

Joaquin Tuculet for Argentina scores their 2nd TRY. Despite a commendable effort to prevent it by Scotland's Sean Maitland, Tuculet gallops over the Try Line.
Sanchez misses the conversion this time. Score now stands at 19-10 to Argentina.

Next comes a penalty to Scotland, as Argentina could not withstand the strength of the Scots in the scrum. Weir decreases Scotland's deficit by 3 points- 19-13 to Argentina.

At 73 minutes Scottish Replacement Henry Pyrgos scores a Try following brilliant play by Nick de Luca and Tommy Seymour.
Weir, however, misses the Conversion. Score 19- 18 to Argentina.

THE END OF THE MATCH IS LOOMING...ONLY A FEW MINUTES LEFT... SCOTLAND GET A PENALTY FOR A LINE-OUT INFRINGEMENT!!!

CAN DUNCAN WEIR DO IT?
SCOTTISH FANS ARE HOLDING THEIR BREATH...RIGHT THROUGH THE POSTS

SCOTLAND WITH JUST 1 MINUTE TO GO ARE LEADING BY 2 POINTS :-) :-)

BUT WAIT!...... 80 minutes on the clock and horror of horrors...
NICOLAS SANCHEZ HAS THE BALL....AND HE'S GOING FOR A DROP-GOAL! :-0 :-0

HE'S MISSED...AND IT'S ALL OVER

SCOTLAND 21 ---ARGENTINA 19

Congratulations Scotland, Emma GoldenGirl1, and all GR Scottish Rugby Fans :-)
Commiserations Argentina

NEXT INTERNATIONAL MATCHES:

FRI 20TH JUNE

ARGENTINA v SCOTLAND ......8:10 pm Kick- Off (UK time)
International Match, Sky Sports 3- coverage from 8:00 pm


SAT 21ST JUNE

AUSTRALIA v FRANCE ..... 6.00 am Kick- Off (UK time)
International Match, Sky Sports 1- Live coverage from 5:45 am

NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND ..... 8:35 am Kick- Off (UK time)
International Match, Sky Sports 1- Live coverage from 8:00am

If you do not have Sky Sports (as Mainstream TV Companies and/or Rugby Governing Bodies seem to have let down their Rugby Fans:-| :-|).. it may be worth checking on your local Radio Stations to see if the matches for your Countries are being broadcast.

SOUTH AFRICA v WALES <3..... 2.00 pm Kick- Off (UK time)
International Match, Sky Sports 1- Live coverage from 1.:30 pm......

....also live broadcast of the South Africa v Wales Match on..
BBC RADIO WALES / CYMRU and RADIO JEM ;-) ...
A. K. A. The WELSH RUGBY NEWS- SOUTH AFRICA TOUR 2014 Thread :-D :-D

ENGLAND 38 -- CRUSADERS 7

England, led by Captain Ed Slater, played an impressive game against The Crusaders in the 3rd out 4 matches on their New Zealand tour, last Saturday.

The Crusaders, formerly called the Canterbury Crusaders, are a Professional Rugby Union Team based in Christchurch.

England scored 6 Tries in this exciting game, which should do wonders to lift the morale and confidence of the England Squad, who have yet to win a Test Game against New Zealand this year.

ENGLAND TEAM:

BACKS:
15 Goode, 14 Foden, 13 Trinder, 12 Barritt, 11 Watson, 10 Cipriani, 9 Dickson
FORWARDS:
1 Waller, 2 Gray, 3 Thomas, 4 Slater (capt), 5 Attwood, 6 Haskell, 7 Kvesic, 8 Johnson

Replacements-
16 Ward, 17 Catt, 18 Sinckler, 19 Paterson, 20 Wigglesworth, 21 Myler, 22 May,23 Pennell

CRUSADERS TEAM:

BACKS:
15 Taylor, 14 McNicholl, 13 Lee-Lo, 12 Fonotia, 11 Tuitavake, 10 Bleyendaal, 9 Heinz
FORWARDS:
1 Perry, 2 Flynn, 3 Laulala, 4 Tupou, 5 Everson, 6 Taufua, 7 G Whitelock (capt), 8 L Whitelock

Replacements:
16 Funnell, 17 Moody, 18 Tokolahi, 19 Barrett, 20 Todd, 21 Ellis, 22 A Whitelock, 23 Thompson

POINTS

ENGLAND:
Tries-
Joe Gray; Ben Foden; Brad Barritt; Alex Goode; Anthony Watson; Chris Pennell..30pts
Conversions-
Danny Cipriani (3); Stephen Myler ...... 8pts .... TOTAL POINTS-38

CRUSADERS:
Try- Todd... 5pts; Conversion- Taylor... 2 pts....TOTAL POINTS-7

Congratulations England and all GR England Rugby Fans :-)
Commiserations to any New Zealand / Crusaders Fans looking in.

NEXT SENIOR INTERNATIONAL / TEST LIVE MATCHES

TUESDAY 17th JUNE

CRUSADERS v ENGLAND ..... 8:00 am (UK time)
International Match... Sky Sports 1


FRIDAY 20th JUNE

ARGENTINA v SCOTLAND .... 8.10 pm (UK)
International Match ... Sky Sports 3


SATURDAY 21st JUNE

AUSTRALIA v FRANCE .......... 6.00 am (UK)
International Match, Sky Sports 1

NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND ...8:35 am (UK)
International Match, Sky Sports 1

SOUTH AFRICA v WALES ...... 2.00 pm (UK)
International Match- Sky Sports 1; BBC Radio Wales/Cymru; Radio Jem ;-)

ARGENTINA v IRELAND: 2nd TEST

ARGENTINA 17 -- IRELAND 23

Joe Schmidt’s Ireland Side made history last Saturday by winning an official Test in Argentina for the very first time - with a 29-17 victory over the Pumas.

Now with two successive Test Match wins against Argentina ...
IRELAND HAS WON THE SERIES!

THE TEAMS:

Argentina:
15 Tuculet, 14 Amorosino, 13 De la Fuente, 12 Ascárate, 11 Montero, 10 Sánchez, 9 Landajo (capt), 1 Noguera Paz, 2 Cortese, 3 Herrera, 4 Carizza, 5 Lavanini, 6 Báez, 7 De la Vega, 8 de Chazal.

Replacements:
16 Iglesias Valdez, 17 Postiglioni, 18 Díaz, 19 Alemanno, 20 Ortega Desio, 21 Cubelli, 22 González Iglesias, 23 Orlando.

Ireland:
15 R Kearney, 14 Trimble, 13 McFadden, 12 Cave, 11 Zebo, 10 Sexton, 9 Reddan, 1 Kilcoyne, 2 Best, 3 Ross, 4 Toner, 5 O'Connell (capt), 6 Ruddock, 7 Henry, 8 Heaslip.

Replacements:
16 Herring, 17 Cronin, 18 McGrath, 19 Henderson, 20 Murphy, 21 Marmion, 22 Madigan, 23 Reid.

There was one late change to the Irish bench with Kieran Marmion replacing Conor Murray (dead leg) as reserve scrum half.

THE MATCH:
Ireland took an early lead in this match with two penalty goals by Johnny Sexton.

Undisciplined behaviour by the Argentinians led to a Yellow Card for Matias Cortese, and the Referee to speak to their Captain Landajo as there had been "too many infringements".

There was a confusion over an incident where the Referee had called Ireland's number 15 Rob Kearney to give him a Yellow Card. Kearney protested his innocence.

The Referee conferred with the linesmen, but then had to request the help of the TMO judge, as there was still uncertainty over what had actually happened.

On watching the play from many angles on the screen, it was discovered that the incident that the Ref had seen, was in fact Ireland's number 14, Andrew Trimble. He had been guilty of an early tackle on Manuel Montero and so it was he who ended up spending 10 minutes in the Sin Bin.

Now, with only 14 players a piece, the on-field team numbers were again even.

There was a cracking Try by the Argentinians.
It all started when Captain Nicolas Landajo dummied his way out of his own 22 and delivered a brilliant pass to Amorosino.
Amorosino was brought down by Simon Zebo just 5 metres from the Try Line.
The Pumas quickly recycled the ball. Landajo skip-passed the ball to Joaquin Tuculet, who scored a Try right between the posts.

Johnny Sexton sustained an injury when he collided with Inglesias Valdez. He was replaced by Ian Madigan who scored the final Ireland TRY, which he went on to convert.

There was a last "Consolation" Try by the Pumas at 80 minutes by Amorosino, which was then converted.

The whistle was blown and the match ended with a win for Ireland!

POINTS:

ARGENTINA:
Tries-
Joaquin Tuculet; Amorosino..10points
Conversions-
Sanchez; Valdez ..............4points
Penalty-
Sanchez ...........3points.... TOTAL POINTS 17

IRELAND:
Tries-
Simon Zebo; Ian Madigan ....10points
Conversions-
Jonny Sexton; Ian Madigan ....4points
Penalties-
Sexton (3) .........9points ....TOTAL POINTS 23

FINAL SCORE: ARGENTINA 17 --- IRELAND 23

Congratulations Ireland, OH, ButtercupFields and all GR Ireland supporters
Commiserations to Argentina

NEXT TEST MATCH TODAY...

WALES V SOUTH AFRICA Kick off 4pm UK TIME

Live on Sky Sports 1; BBC Radio Wales; Radio Jem ;-)

Details on the WELSH RUGBY NEWS: THE SOUTH AFRICA TOUR 2014 Thread.

AUSTRALIA v FRANCE: 2nd TEST:

AUSTRALIA 6 -- FRANCE 0

France wanted to "save face" today following their hammering by the Australian Wallabies in Brisbane last week., when they lost 50-23.

They made 10 changes to their team, in their attempt to defeat Australia.

THE TEAMS:

AUSTRALIA
Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Toomua, Nick Cummins; Bernard Foley, Nic White; Ben McCalman, Michael Hooper (capt), Scott Fardy; James Horwill, Rob Simmons; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper.

Replacements:
Nathan Charles, Pek Cowan, Laurie Weeks, Luke Jones, Scott Higginbotham, Nick Phipps, Kurtley Beale, Patrick McCabe

FRANCE
Brice Dulin; Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard; Remi Tales, Morgan Parra; Damien Chouly, Thierry Dusautoir (capt), Yannick Nyanga; Yoann Maestri, Alexandre Flanquart; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Alexandre Menini.

Replacements:
Brice Mach, Thomas Domingo, Nicolas Mas, Bernard Le Roux, Louis Picamoles, Antoine Burban, Frederic Michalak, Remi Lamerat.


The French saw the return of Captain Thierry Dusautoir , with his wealth of experience, stability and heart.

Centre Mathieu Bastareaud also returned to the French team.
Australian Captain Stirling Mortlake rates this mountain of a man, as "one of the most physically dominant gain-line yardage makers in the world".

Nevertheless, France was still beaten by the Wallabies today.

POINTS:

AUSTRALIA:
2 Penalties
White (1/3); Foley (1/1)........................... 6points

FRANCE:
Both Parra and Dulin missed Penalties
Parra (0/1) Dulin (0/1) .............................0points

Congratulations Australia :-)
Commiserations France

NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND...2nd TEST

England lose by just 1 point to The All Blacks in their 2nd Test match at Dunedin.
New Zealand achieves a 2-0 Series win.

NEW ZEALAND 28 -- ENGLAND 27

The Teams-

New Zealand XV:
Ben Smith; Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Julian Savea; Aaron Cruden, Aaron Smith; Tony Woodcock, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Liam Messam, Richie McCaw (c), Jerome Kaino.

Replacements:
Keven Mealamu, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu, Victor Vito, TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett, Malakai Fekitoa.

England XV:
Mike Brown; Manu Tuilagi, Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees, Marland Yarde; Owen Farrell, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Rob Webber, David Wilson, Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw (c), Ben Morgan.

Replacements:
Dylan Hartley, Matt Mullan, Kieran Brookes, Courtney Lawes, Billy Vunipola, Ben Youngs, Freddie Burns, Chris Ashton.

MATCH:
Following the Anthems and the very entertaining HAKA designed to drive fear into the hearts of even the toughest of opponents ;-) ;-) Cruden Kicked off for New Zealand.

England started impressively, and took an early lead against the All Blacks with a Penalty just 2 minutes into the game. This was followed by a TRY by Marland Yarde, who broke through a tackle, and had the strength to push on over the Try Line. Converted by Owen Farrell.

The teams left the field at half time with England leading deservedly 10-6. Two penalties for the New Zealand team gave them 6 points on the Score board.

In the second half, the All Blacks returned a different side, no doubt having had a dressing down and building up session from the Coaches.
They came back and played like the All Blacks we are used to seeing, scoring 3 tries within a 22 minute period.

England rallied scoring 2 more tries, the last one by Chris Ashton, set up by Yarde and Tuilagi, after the 80 minutes. A conversion by Farrell took the England score to 27, just 1 point short of equalising.

Owen Farrell stopped one attack with a shove on their own 22 metre line, but he was YELLOW CARDED and sent to the sin-bin for 10 minutes, resulting in Barrett scoring the penalty.

POINTS:

NEW ZEALAND:
Tries-
Ben Smith; Julian Savea; Ma'a Nonu; ...........15points
Conversions-
Aaron Cruden; Beauden Barrett ....................4points
Penalties-
Cruden (2); Barrett .......................................9points Total 28 points

ENGLAND:
Tries-
Marland Yarde; Mike Brown; Chris Ashton .. 15points
Conversions-
Owen Farrell (3) ............................................6points
Penalties-
Farrell (2) .....................................................6points Total 27 points

Congratulations to all The All Blacks, Persephone and all other GR New Zealanders :-)
Commiserations to England, Wend, Mike, and all GR England Rugby Fans.

FORTHCOMING RUGBY UNION TEST MATCHES:

SATURDAY 14th JUNE 2014 (UK times)

New Zealand v England 08:35am
International Match, Sky Sports 1

Australia v France 11:00am
International Match, Sky Sports 1

South Africa v Wales 4.00pm
International Match, Sky Sports 1

Argentina v Ireland 7:40pm
International Match, Sky Sports 2 19:30

TUESDAY 17th JUNE 2014 (UK times)

Crusaders v England 8:00am
International Match, Sky Sports 1

FRI 20TH JUNE

Argentina v Scotland 8:10am
International Match, Sky Sports 3

Ever thought about auditioning for a Sports Commentator's position on Radio ?? :-D :-D