A red card against Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis in a weekend rugby test between South Africa and New Zealand has been removed from his record.
“The judicial officer found that the decision made by referee Romain Poite to issue a yellow card as a result of the tackle by Du Plessis on Dan Carter was wrong, as it was within the laws of the game,” Southern hemisphere rugby body Sanzar said on Monday.
“No further sanction was imposed on the player. However, the second yellow card remains on his record for the remainder of the Rugby Championship.”
Du Plessis received a yellow card in the 17th minute of the Rugby Championship match in Auckland on Saturday, for what proved to be a perfectly legitimate tackle on New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter.
Poite ignored the advice of the Television Match Official (TMO) and deemed his tackle to have been high and without arms.
The International Rugby Board admitted in a statement on Sunday that Poite had made the wrong decision in carding Du Plessis for the tackle.
“Just as players and coaches make mistakes, the decision was an unfortunate case of human error by the match officials who, having reviewed the match, fully recognise and accept that they made a mistake in the application of the law,” the IRB said.
“All match official performances are thoroughly reviewed and assessed by the IRB and are considered when appointments are made for future test matches.”
Du Plessis copped a second yellow card in the 42nd minute for elbowing flanker Liam Messam in the throat, which resulted in a red card.
Judicial officer Terry Willis removed the red card from Du Plessis’ disciplinary record following a judicial hearing on Monday.
Gerrie Swart appeared at the hearing — which was originally scheduled for Tuesday — on behalf of Du Plessis, via teleconference.
“Submissions were made on behalf of the player and the video footage was reviewed,” Sanzar said. – Sapa
South Africa hope to maintain the momentum from four victories and 25 tries this season when they face Argentina for the second consecutive weekend in Mendoza Saturday.
The Springboks made a dream start to the Rugby Championship last Saturday in Soweto, scoring nine tries in a 73-13 romp against Los Pumas.
It was a record winning margin for the southern hemisphere championship and cast South Africa in a new light of adventurous and exciting rugby rather than a predictable kick-and-chase outfit.
Full-back Willie le Roux
South Africa scored 23 tries in 12 Tests last year — this season they have already notched 25 against Italy, Scotland, Samoa and Argentina with JJ Engelbrecht and Bryan Habana claiming four each.
The try fest stems from a settled backline with full-back Willie le Roux, wings Bjorn Basson and Habana, centres Engelbrecht and Jean de Villiers, and star goal-kicking fly-half Morne Steyn beginning all four games.
Forwards have also got in on the scoring act with hooker Adriaan Strauss and flank Francois Louw bagging two apiece and four others also dotting down.
Satisfied that the team have improved since he took charge last year, coach Heyneke Meyer wants to see the recent home form transferred to western Argentina.
His ambition with an unchanged starting line-up is another bonus-point victory against opponents who have made five alterations, three of them injury induced.
“We are developing a killer instinct as a team and the challenge now is to have the same attitude away from home,” Meyer told reporters.
“Last weekend has to be forgotten and we must show ruthlessness against a wounded opponent. We were clinical in Soweto and we must be equally clinical in Mendoza.
“Those tries did not come from throwing the ball around, the team played with structure and purpose and wore down the Pumas. That is what we must build on.”
Meyer hardly needs to remind his men in green and gold how close they came to suffering a first defeat in Argentina at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas last season.
A try by currently injured centre Francois Steyn after he charged down a clearance kick gave the Springboks a 16-16 draw they did not deserve.
Among the Argentine stars last August in the city at the foothills of the Andes were prop Rodrigo Roncero and No.8 and captain Juan Martin Hernandez Lobbe.
They instilled a passion to the Pumas pack that was sadly lacking last weekend with the South Americans a beaten team long before the final whistle.
It did not help a team competing in the Championship for only the second season that they lost lock Patricio Albacete and full-back Juan Martin Hernandez to early injuries.
Nor were chances of a maiden win boosted by the yellow carding of hooker Eusebio Guinazu for a deliberate knock-on and No.8 Leonardo Senatore for a high, dangerous tackle.
England-based Guinazu and Senatore are in the starting line-up again, but veteran workhorse Albacete and enterprising Hernandez have not recovered.
Lobbe, who helped French side Toulon win the Heineken Cup last season, remains sidelined and his continued absence is a massive blow.
“We had a lot of things to do this week, starting with the mentality of the players,” admitted Argentina coach and former star forward Santiago Phelan.
“The team realises that the second season is going to be much tougher than the first and we are up against the three best rugby teams in the world.
“We need to grow up, we need to learn about intensity, we need to keep playing the top teams in order to learn and improve,” he stressed.
Dominant in the set pieces and loose exchanges a week ago, South Africa seem set to triumph in a country where their biggest winning margin was 32 points nine years ago.
But if Argentina can rekindle the passion of last season and tackle better — they missed one in three in Soweto — another humiliating defeat should be avoided. – AFP
Prop Trevor Nyakane has been dumped from the South Africa squad for missing flights and a video session, the national rugby union announced Sunday.
A statement said the 24-year-old forward would miss the trip to Argentina for a Rugby Championship match on August 24 because of “repeated breaches of team protocol”.
And a tweet from the official Springbok rugby account shed greater light: “No great scandal folks. Breach of protocol in Trevor’s case means missing flights and video session.”
Nyakane was among 30 players chosen for home and away Tests against the Pumas at the start of the annual southern hemisphere rugby championship that includes title-holders New Zealand and Australia.
But the prop from Bloemfontein-based Super 15 outfit the Cheetahs did not make the matchday 23 in the 73-13 rout of Argentina at Soccer City stadium in Soweto this weekend.
The 118-kilogram forward rose to prominence as an second-half impact player for his province and won his first Springboks cap against Italy last June as a replacement.
Nyakane also came off the bench against Scotland and Samoa in other four-nation tournament games and is considered a long-term challenger to tighthead incumbent Jannie du Plessis.
Coach Heyenke Meyer has replaced Nyakane with uncapped Lourens Adriaanse in his 26-man touring squad while Piet van Zyl takes the place of unavailable scrum-half Fourie du Preez.
Japan-based Du Preez, who came off the bench this weekend after a two-season absence, has been freed by Suntory Sungoliath only for the three South African home fixtures in the Championship..
Nyakane, injured hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, full-back Zane Kirchner, centre Juan de Jongh, Du Preez and lock Franco van der Merwe drop out of the original 30-strong squad.
“We are allowed to travel with only 26 players and it was difficult to leave out a few of our squad members,” Meyer admitted before the Springboks flew to South America Sunday.
“The players that stay behind will benefit from game time in the Currie Cup and will certainly be in the selection frame when we select the squad for Australia and New Zealand.”
Despite the 60-point triumph against the Pumas, South Africa will be wary of facing them in western city Mendoza, where they snatched an undeserved 16-16 draw last season.
Squad
Backs: Bjorn Basson, JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Patrick Lambie, Ruan Pienaar, Willie le Roux, Jan Serfontein, Morne Steyn, Jano Vermaak, Jean de Villiers (capt), Piet van Zyl
Forwards: Lourens Adriaanse, Willem Alberts, Marcell Coetzee, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Juandre Kruger, Francois Louw, Flip van der Merwe, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Duane Vermeulen – Sapa
The Springboks gathered on Monday for a training camp ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Coach Heyneke Meyer’s squad of 30 players are preparing for their opening game against Argentina at FNB Stadium next Saturday.
The squad includes a number of overseas-based players with Fourie du Preez the surprise selection.
Meyer explained that he has no hard and fast policy on selecting overseas-based players.
SARU has given the Bok coach the go-ahead to pick them, and so this group of 30 includes players from France, Japan as well as Great Britain and Ireland.
Besides for the surprise inclusion of Du Preez and perhaps Gurthro Steenkamp, the bulk of the squad has remained unchanged from the June internationals.
Meyer is looking to build on the small gains made during the June Tests.
The Boks were far from convincing against Italy, Scotland and Samoa so there is plenty to work on during this training camp.
New Zealand, Australia and their first opponents in the Rugby Championship, Argentina, will be far tougher opponents. – eNCA
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A red card against Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis in a weekend rugby test between South Africa and New Zealand has been removed from his record.
