Aerial ping-pong killing the game – Paul Sackey
Paul Sackey has stuck the boot into English rugby by revealing that he is quitting Wasps out of sheer boredom and frustration.

The Maties and the Ikeys continued their unbeaten records this year, as the South ruled the North in some intriguing Round Five battles in the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.

Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu must be thinking that the more things change, the more they stay the same, as his side lost their third consecutive IRB Sevens Plate final, going down 26-22 to Australia in the Wellington Sevens.

The FNB Varsity Cup has never been scared of experimentation – and this year will see the introduction of 23-man playing squads for the first time in South African rugby history and pink shorts.

Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie is a man on a mission as he tries to fill the boots of the man he battled against during last year’s British and Irish Lions tour on his brief sojourn in European rugby.

Victor Matfield and Bryan Habana could barely suppress their grins. Their fourth rugby victory over the All Blacks this year, and both hungry for more in 2010.

Springbok speedster Bryan Habana grabbed a hat-trick of tries to guide the Barbarians to a famous 25-18 victory over the All Blacks in the year-end festival match at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Stormers will make their ‘debut’ at the new Green Point stadium, to be used for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when they play a pre-season game there in February.

The Barbarians have confirmed a star-studded lineup, including uncapped South African WP Nel and young Welsh sensation Leigh Halfpenny, to take on the All Blacks at Twickenham on 5 December.

Ireland’s first Test centurion, Brian O’Driscoll, revealed after the game that his deceptively easy looking last-minute try was a move straight off the training ground.

Of course, it still matters. The Bledisloe Cup may no longer be an issue, but every sporting  contest between Australia and New Zealand matters. Of course, both sides will be striving to win.

Jean de Villiers’s first taste of a Magners League derby for Munster against arch-rivals Leinster seems to have been a particularly unpalatable one.

Hamilton became the first open club since 2001 to win the National Club Champs when they beat defending champions NWU-Pukke 36-34 in a nailbiting and high-quality final played at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

Defending champions NWU-Pukke and Western Province’s Hamiltons laid down an early marker on the opening day of the 35th SAA National Club Champs at the LC de Villiers stadium on the University of Pretoria sport campus on Sunday.
SHIMLAS BEATEN BY EP SIDE

Springbok centre Gcobani Bobo arrived in Newcastle last weekend, finally completing his move from Western Province, and says he could not have been more impressed with what he has seen.