Former New Zealand coach John Mitchell has been tasked with reviving the fortunes of Super Rugby strugglers Northern Bulls, whose players were branded “big, fat and lazy” by a critic. The 53-year-old, who played for the All Blacks at non-Test level, will quit as United States coach after June Tests against Ireland and Georgia and … Read more
A professional big-game hunter was crushed to death by an elephant that had been shot, according to reports in South Africa. The Netwerk24 website said an elephant cow stormed a group headed by Theunis Botha in Zimbabwe on Friday. The elephant was reportedly shot as she picked him up with her trunk, before she fell … Read more
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Pretoria on Saturday, angered by a rise in violence against women and children in South Africa, including killings and sex attacks. Answering the call by a group calling itself “#Not In My Name” the protesters, most of them men, marched through the streets of the South African … Read more
South Africa captain AB de Villiers believes England all-rounder Ben Stokes has taken his game to the “next level” in the Indian Premier League but stressed the tournament had improved many of his players too. The Proteas are set to come up against Stokes in a three-match one-day international series starting next week that will … Read more
Springboks coach Allister Coetzee has rewarded Southern Kings’ Super Rugby winning streak by naming four of their stars for a training camp before facing France in June. Kings skipper and fly-half Lionel Cronje, winger Makazole Mapimpi and loose forwards Chris Cloete and Andisa Ntsila got the nod for the May 21-23 Johannesburg gathering. Traditional whipping … Read more
South Africa were crowned winners of this season’s World Rugby Sevens Series on Sunday, beating Scotland 15-5 in the final of the penultimate leg in Paris. The Blitzboks arrived in the French capital 25 points ahead of closest rivals Fiji in the standings on the back of four tournament wins and seven consecutive finals. With … Read more
Southern Kings defeated a fellow South African side for the first time in Super Rugby when they edged Coastal Sharks 35-32 Saturday after a thriller in Port Elizabeth. It was also the first time the Port Elizabeth outfit have won three consecutive matches following victories over Australian sides New South Wales Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels. … Read more
Elon Musk paused while chatting about his series of potentially world-changing endeavors to say he isn’t in it to provide salvation. It was during a talk on Friday at a prestigious TED Conference in Vancouver, where the tech entrepreneur was discussing his ventures building electric cars and trucks, rockets, a newly launched tunnel-boring company and … Read more
“The condemnation of a whole category of people because of their (white) race is the new face of racism in South Africa, says Western Cape Premier Helen Zille. Writing in the Sunday Times, Zille responded to the uproar that was created by tweets in which she said colonialism was not all negative. “Colonialism can never … Read more
A controversially disallowed try helped Canterbury Crusaders beat Central Cheetahs 48-21 Saturday and extend a winning run to nine matches since the Super Rugby season began. The South Africans believed they scored three minutes before half-time through winger Sergeal Petersen only for the try to be disallowed because of a forward pass. Television match official … Read more
Staging home Test matches abroad is among the options South African rugby bosses are considering in a bid to make the national body profitable again. Dwindling sponsorship in a harsh economic climate, rising costs and helping fund 14 professional provincial teams were among the reasons for the deficit. A 130 million rand reduction in sponsorship … Read more
Fly-half Handre Pollard booted 16 points as Northern Bulls snapped a three-loss Super Rugby run by defeating Jaguares of Argentina 26-13 in Pretoria Saturday. The Springbok fly-half converted tries by winger Trevor Ismaiel and lock Lood de Jager and slotted four penalties in a flawless goal-kicking performance. Fly-half Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias converted a try by … Read more
Coastal Sharks of South Africa ground out an 18-13 victory over the Jaguares of Argentina Saturday in an error-strewn Super Rugby match. Endless handling errors by both teams and many penalties led to a stop-start match that offered minimum entertainment at Kings Park stadium in Durban. “It was a disjointed match in which both teams … Read more
Springbok great Joel Stransky on Tuesday urged SANZAAR to stop delaying and unveil its revamped Super Rugby format, saying the governing body needed to make tough decisions and stand by them. Stransky said uncertainty had engulfed the southern hemisphere club competition since the governing body announced early last month that a shake-up was imminent without … Read more
South Africa coach Allister Coetzee vowed Monday that the defensive “chaos” of last season will not reoccur when they host France during June in a three-Test series. “It was chaos last year,” admitted the coach of his debut season in which the Springboks conceded 35 tries in losing a record eight of 12 Tests. Fifteen … Read more
South Africa’s opposition party has launched disciplinary action against its former leader after she tweeted colonialism was not all bad. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been under pressure to sanction Helen Zille since she caused a storm of controversy with the tweets in March. It is feared it may have scuppered the party’s electoral chances. … Read more
South Africa’s opposition party has launched disciplinary action against its former leader after she tweeted colonialism was not all bad. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been under pressure to sanction Helen Zille since she caused a storm of controversy with the tweets in March. It is feared it may have scuppered the party’s electoral chances. … Read more
South Africa’s main opposition party said on Sunday that it has charged a provincial leader with misconduct over her tweet that colonialism had brought benefits including clean water. Helen Zille, former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the current premier of the Western Cape, could be expelled for the tweet which unleashed fierce criticism … Read more
In a bid to rebuild from a disastrous 2016 South Africa appointed former centre Brendan Venter as defence coach on Sunday giving him two months to prepare for a three-Test home series against France in June. A South African Rugby statement said the 47-year-old will be involved in a three-day preparation camp, which began Sunday … Read more
New Zealand were left frustrated on Wednesday after rain washed out the last day’s play of the final Test against South Africa, denying them a series-levelling win. At the start of the day, South Africa were on the ropes at 80 for five in their second innings, still 95 runs short of making New Zealand … Read more