RWC 2011 - Pool D - Fiji, Namibia, Wales, South Africa, Samoa

[PaarlBok]

At last, Bismarck to start!

Well he'll sound very positive to grab the 2 jersey
Sport24

Bismarck fills Smit's boots

Taupo - Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis said filling captain John Smit's boots will be one of the goals he would like to achieve when South Africa take on Samoa in their final Pool D match on Friday.
“It wasn’t nice sitting out last week, but I’m just happy to get my chance this week, so I hope I can fill John’s boosts as he played really well and lead from the front,” he said.

The Springboks would announce their team on Tuesday, but Du Plessis said he had known his physical approach to the game would be at the team’s disposal.

The hooker had been a prominent figure on the Springboks’ bench prior to last week’s match against Namibia, which he had to watch from the stands.

He said his contribution to the 17-16 victory against Wales in their opening match proved that he thrived under pressure.

“Rugby is a contact sport and we won’t shy away from the contact and we are looking forward to the challenge Samoa will present.”

He said the importance of Friday's match could not be overstated.

“No team has ever won the World Cup by losing a pool game, but we are definitely still going on an upward curve, which is good.”

Samoa secured a 27-7 victory over Fiji on the weekend.

Du Plessis said his team were expecting to face a similar performance from them.

“I think in the first game they played this year we saw they are very dangerous.

“Their back three especially are very dangerous with ball in hand. They are very structured and do things on their terms and I won’t say that I’m surprised by it because they have so many players in the premiership."

He said he was impressed with Samoa's approach at set phase of the scrum.

“I thought their scrums were really superb on the weekend when they played against Fiji. They used the scrums as one of their main weapons and are looking forward to that specific challenge."

Over the weekend Springboks enjoyed their first break since leaving South Africa on September 1, and according to Du Plessis, the rest has done wonders for the team.

“For us the last two days have been great, the guys got out of the hotel a little bit. We have been doing quite a bit of outdoor stuff. Yesterday (Sunday) we did some clay pigeon shooting and... went deer hunting on Saturday.

"So we have been quite busy, but yeah, it was very relaxing," he said.

 

[PaarlBok]

Statistical Preview – South Africa v Samoa
Friday’s match is South Africa’s 29th in Rugby World Cup tournaments. Of the previous 28, only three were lost for a winning percentage of 89.3%, the best by any participant in this tournament.
TEAM STATISTICS
• The starting line-up has 723 caps
• The oldest player is Victor Matfield (34 Years)
• The youngest player is Pat Lambie (20 Years)
• The heaviest player is CJ van der Linde (123 kg)
• The lightest player is Fourie du Preez (88 kg)
• The tallest player is Victor Matfield (2.01 m)
• The shortest player is Pat Lambie (1.77 m)
• The average weight of the forwards is 116 kg
• The average weight of the backs is 95 kg

MATCH STATISTICS
• Friday’s match is South Africa’s 29th in Rugby World Cup tournaments. Of the previous 28, only three were lost for a winning percentage of 89.3%, the best by any participant in this tournament.
• So far South Africa scored 114 tries in Rugby World Cup tournaments and is currently on 987 points, 13 points short of 1 000 RWC points.
• South Africa and Samoa have met on six occasions – three of those meetings at the Rugby World Cup. The last match between the teams was at the 2007 tournament when South Africa won, 59-7. Twelve of Friday’s match 22 played in that match in Paris, in which Bryan Habana scored four tries.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
13/04/1995: South Africa won 60-8 in Johannesburg.
10/06/1995: South Africa won 42-14 in Johannesburg.
06/07/2002: South Africa won 60-18 in Pretoria.
01/11/2003: South Africa won 60-10 in Brisbane.
09/06/2007: South Africa won 35-8 in Johannesburg.
09/09/2007: South Africa won 59-7 in Paris.

PLAYERS’ MILESTONES & RECORDS
• Victor Matfield will captain the Springboks for the 17th time. Of the previous 16 tests, South Africa have won 11 for a win percentage of 68.75. Victor will play in his 109th test match to join John Smit as the most capped Springbok.
• Should John Smit be used it will be his 110th test and his 16th in RWC tournaments, equalling Os du Randt’s Springbok record. John has played all his Rugby World Cup tests consecutively. The record for most consecutive RWC tests is 18 and is held by Martin Johnson of England.
• Bryan Habana is the top try scorer in tests for South Africa with 39 tries in 72 tests. He shares the Springbok record for career tries in Rugby World Cups with Jaque Fourie, both on nine career tries.
• Jaque Fourie holds the Springbok record for most career tries as a centre with 28. He shares with Jean de Villiers the record as the most capped Springbok centre with 56 caps. And shares with Bryan Habana the Springbok record for most tries in Rugby World Cup tournaments with nine.
• Morne Steyn needs four points to reach 400 points in tests career. He is currently the leading points scorer in this tournament with 48 points. He will appear in his 21st consecutive test match.
• Danie Rossouw made his Rugby World Cup debut in 2003 and with six tries in tournaments he is now the Springbok record holder for tries by a forward.
• Schalk Burger is South Africa’s most capped flank forward with 64 tests and shares the Springbok try scoring record for a flank with Juan Smith with 11 tries each.
• Pierre Spies is South Africa’s top try scorer in tests as a No 8 with seven tries.
• Gurthrö Steenkamp is South Africa’s top try scorer as a prop in tests with six tries.
• Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis will play together for a 19th time.

THE COACHES

Peter de Villiers match record is as follows: 46 test matches of which 29 were won with 17 losses for a win percentage of 63.

Titimaea Tafua made his Samoa Coaching debut in 2009 against Japan. His match record is 22 test matches with 11 wins and 11 losses for a win percentage of 50. Under his guidance Samoa won their first IRB Pacific Nations Cup in 2010.

NORTH HARBOUR STADIUM

South Africa’s first match at this venue was last Thursday against Namibia, which was won 87-0.

THE REFEREE

Nigel Owens of Wales made his International Test debut in the match between Ireland and Japan in 2005 in Osaka. Since then he officiated as referee on six occasions with the Springboks involved. Of the six tests, South Africa won 4 and lost 2.

 

[Bullrush]

How ridiculous is this.

England swap rugby balls an the field and a self-imposed ban is fine. Tuilagi is fined $10,000.......fuckn rigged:

IRB fines Samoan player $10k over mouthguard

MARC HINTON Last updated 23:10 29/09/2011

The IRB has reportedly fined Samoan winger Alesana Tuilagi $10,000 because he wore a "branded" mouthguard for his team's World Cup pool match against Fiji last weekend.

This followed confirmation on Thursday that England had been let off with a slap on the wrist and a touchline ban for a couple of low-ranking team officials after illegally switching the ball for two conversion attempts in their game against Romania.

3News reported that the IRB had confirmed the $10,000 fine slapped on Tuilagi for his "branded" mouthguard which did not meet specified requirements.

When news of the fine hit social media network Twitter, reaction to the IRB's treatment of the cash-strapped Samoan team wavered between outrage and injustice.

"So England swap the ball for conversions and the IRB does nothing. Samoa wear the wrong brand of mouthguard and get fined 10k. Incredible," wrote John Campbell of popular TV3 show Campbell Live.

At a time when the IRB is under fire for its inequitable distribution of massive World Cup profits and its unwillingness to provide financial tournament support for some of the lower-ranked nations, this move will no doubt draw criticism.

Samoan player Eliota Sapolu, who has already been cautioned over his criticism of the IRB on Twitter, said of the fine: "You [would] think the fact players are wearing mouth guards protecting themselves would outweigh exclusive deals to make more money!"

 

[matty_k]

I would have thought the penalty for going against the spirit of the game would out weigh wearing an incorrect mouthguard.
Is there an official mouthguard sponsor?

 

[Bullrush]

Not just the spirit of the game but the actual laws of the game.

 

[Braveheart81]

I would have thought the penalty for going against the spirit of the game would out weigh wearing an incorrect mouthguard.
Is there an official mouthguard sponsor?

Whilst England broke both the laws and the spirit of the game, the fact that they introduced extra Gilbert RWC IRB branded balls onto the field meant that they were acting in the interests of the $IRB$.

 

[vidiot]

One was a clear cut case of a side cheating to get an advantage over another, the other threatened the IRB's revenue stream in the most insignificant possible way. Pretty much shows the IRB's relevance.

 

[Bullrush]

An opinion from stuff.co.nz

IRB's actions stink up World Cup

DUNCAN JOHNSTONE Last updated 12:33 30/09/2011

OPINION: What a sorry state of affairs from the Internaitonal Rugby Board - again. England, the richest union on the planet, cheat and get a slap on the wrist while cash-strapped Samoa cop a $10,000 fine for having a player wear a branded mouthguard.

Double standards? Rich versus the poor? A rule for one and not for others? Disregard for the islanders despite everything they bring to the game?

Gosh, you could argue any of those topics and always find favour for the Samoans on this one.

Swapping balls for a conversion is breaking the rules. England attempted that - not once, but twice during their big win over Romania.

It was blatant and the IRB even acknowledged that though their soft approach finished up by their statement saying "any similar breaches in future will be dealt with severely".

They left it to England's national body to step in and ban kicking coach Dave Alred and national fitness coach Paul Stridgeon from attending tomorrow's crucial clash with Scotland at Eden Park. Tut, tut, they'll have to watch it back in the luxury of their 5-star hotel in Auckland.

Apparently the pair "mistakenly thought that there was an issue with some of the match balls".

That's what the English statement read and you'll probably find it repeated in a Tui ad very soon.

So why not leave Samoa to deal with superstar winger Alesana Tuilagi who wore the offending non-approved mouth guard in their win over Fiji on Sunday?

Shock, horror. He was seen to smile and the wrong words popped right out of his mouth.

This isn't peanuts, $10,000 is a small fortune for Samoa, a team whose finances to play at the World Cup have been helped by kids donating pocket money. A team whose playing resources have been hit by wealthy European clubs apparently bribing their players to stay away from the World Cup.

Wouldn't the IRB be better served chasing down those villains rather than coming down hard on a player who has made a huge impact at this tournament?

The Samoans helped sell out Eden Park last weekend, just as they had done the week before in Hamilton when they came close to upsetting Wales.

They are doing plenty to line the pockets of the game's administrators. Yet it seems that isn't enough.

Surely this was a case where the Samoan player should have been warned and the English fined.

 

[Sully]

Pretty much spot on Bullrush. Duncan Johnstone seems pretty good, have you read much from him?


Sent using Tapatalk

 

[matty_k]

The IRB has responded.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10755487

The IRB has responded to criticism following their decision to fine a Samoan player $10,000 for wearing a branded mouth guard.

Samoan winger Alesana Tuilagi wore the offending non-approved mouth guard in the side's 27-7 win over Fiji on Sunday.

Teammate Eliota Sapolu, who got in hot water for tweets criticising the short turnaround between games for tier two teams, once again turned to Twitter condemning the decision.

"You think the fact players are wearing mouth guards protecting themselves would outweigh exclusive deals to make more money!" he wrote.

"Commercialisation has unfortunately overcome all reason and rationale. $$$ first, player welfare last.

"Rules are not rules. They must be just. If Kate Sheppard accepted the rule that women cannot vote it would still be the case now. Question!"

However the IRB said in a statement the team kit rules are "well understood by the participating teams and are in line with other major sporting events".

"Rugby World Cup Limited has proactively worked with Participating Unions to educate the key principles of the Rugby World Cup 2011 Terms of Participation in order that breaches are minimalised in Tournament.


This has proven to be successful."

The IRB said participating unions provided feedback during the drafting of the tournament terms of participation, and team specifications were "finalised and communicated to the teams almost two years ago".

"Teams were again reminded of the Terms of Participation at the start of the Tournament and warnings were issued during the early stages to ensure team management and players were aware of their obligations," the statement said.

While fines and warnings have been issued during the tournament, the statement said it was not Rugby World Cup Limited's position to publicise any breaches or sanctions.

"The number of breaches are, however, reduced compared to previous Tournaments and RWCL acknowledges the efforts of teams in this regard."

The decision comes as an England avoided sanctions from the IRB by suspending two coaches for Saturday's Scotland match, because they switched the ball during kicks against Romania.

According to the English Rugby Football Union, kicking coach Dave Alred and national fitness coach Paul Stridgeon "mistakenly thought that there was an issue with some of the match balls" in England's Pool C win over Romania.

England stopped switching the balls when warned during the game. After the 67-3 win, England coach Martin Johnson said he had not been aware of the problem. He later said his coaches did not ask the referee before making the switch

Rugby World Cup Limited said the RFU had taken appropriate action but "any similar breaches in future will be dealt with severely".

 

[08umema]

Seems ludicrous that a team which was caught cheating got a slap on the wrist and this one guy cops a 10K fine. Duncan Johnstone is spot on there.

 

[DPK]

I know the reasoning behind the fine and even sort of understand it, but I don't understand the severity of the fine. $10,000 is pretty steep.

 

[matty_k]

For me it more the severity of the fine versus the lack of severity of the English punishment.

 

[Braveheart81]

At least it's only $10,000 New Zealand dollars.

 

[Bullrush]

Tuilagi wishes it was 10,000 tala....lol

 

[PaarlBok]

Bring out the arm bands!

Do or die time for the Bokke. The WC starts now! This is the real thing.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

I'm hoping this game lives up to my expectations, expect the Bok to win but hoping Samoa can put on a show.

 

[matty_k]

Good on this guy

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...rd-fine?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

TV show pays Samoan mouthguard fine

Current affairs show Campbell Live has paid Samoa's $10,000 fine for use of an unauthorised mouthguard in their pool match against Fiji.

When frontman John Campbell heard about the IRB's heavy-handed treatment of Samoa he and his staff set up a Ponsonby Road sausage sizzle to raise funds.

Later they were able to confirm on their show they had the fine covered, and would be forwarding the amount to the International Rugby Board.

Campbell said he was aghast when he heard the Samoans - struggling to even cover their costs at the tournament - had been handed such a heavy fine for such a trivial offence.

Compounding the injustice was news that England had escaped a fine for cheating during their match against Romania and twice illegally replacing the ball for conversions.

"Ten thousand for wearing an incorrect mouthguard seems like a hell of a lot to me," said Campbell.

"Manu Samoa don't have a spare 10k - if they had a spare 10k they would also have all of their best players in New Zealand."

When asked about the supposed injustice of England escaping with a slap over the wrist for basically cheating and the Samoans getting hit with a big fine because they breached the fine print in the participation agreement, Campbell said it reminded him of a quote from the cult film Withnail and I.

"It's free to those who can afford it, but very expensive to those who can't... rugby is just starting to look like that isn't it? We don't want an Upstairs-Downstairs situation in our national sport."

Campbell said Aucklanders had been generous in their support of the cause and a large donation from a major company had helped them meet the $10,000 target.

"I guess people felt like the tide was turning against Samoa. The minnows do it quite hard. Namibia are home already - that just doesn't seem quite right."

- Fairfax Media

 

[AngrySeahorse]

Too right good on him thats a really nice thing to do.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

...and good on Wayne Barnes for picking up on that SA knock on.

This ref is only watching one side, unfortunatley for Samoa. SA are playing well.

The Samoan set piece has been a shocker.