GRAND SLAM COMPLICATION
The Springbok management have not yet decided about the resting of players on the year-end tour and are likely to discuss the issue within the next fortnight.

Now that the Springboks can do absolutely nothing to stop the All Blacks from winning back the Tri-Nations title, it is time rather to turn our attentions to restoring pride in the national jersey and creating some momentum ahead of next year’s World Cup.

Wales host South Africa at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, June 5, in a Test made strange by issues around the team calling itself the Springboks.

I actually cannot put into words the frustration I am feeling right now … it was anger on Sunday morning, but once the hangover subsided and I had had a chance to take in the game again, it turned into just plain frustration. TANK LANNING on Sport24.

When Victor Matfield realised at the second lineout of the match that Irish lock, Paul O’Connell, was counting with him in Afrikaans, he could not believe it.

South African coach Peter de Villiers admitted that the long year finally took its toll on his team and said he may have to bring in some young blood, as the Springboks look towards defending their World Cup crown in 2011.
“TOUR WAS STILL A SUCCESS.”

World Cup and Tri-Nations champions South Africa deserved to lose against Six Nations champions Ireland on Saturday because they weren’t clinical enough, admitted their captain John Smit.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was effusive in his praise for his team after they spurned the kicking game to run France off the park with a 39-12 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday.
“It’s good to see two teams wanting to play attacking football because there’s been some pretty boring stuff over the [...]

It’s billed as the Battle of the Champions – the Champions of the North against the Champions of the South, when Ireland and South Africa meet at great Croke Park in Dublin on Saturday.

Writing on a website called “RugbyIQ,” the name probably chosen to suggest a greater level of rugby intelligence than exists elsewhere in the media, Gary Gold, while refreshingly candid, adopts a somewhat bleating tone in discussing the “experiment” of playing John Smit at tighthead prop.

Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland take on world and Tri-Nations champions South Africa on Saturday in what is essentially a mini World Cup final two years away from the real thing in New Zealand.

Peter de Villiers does not find the call to drop Ronan O’Gara strange at all, in fact, he would have done the same thing…

It will be like riding a bicycle for John Smit, a unique chance for Jean de Villiers, just reward for hard work for Wynand Olivier and very little sleep for Dewald Potgieter.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers was forced to make a couple of changes (6 in total) for the test against Ireland which sees John Smit return to hooker, and Jean de Villiers included in a strong bench.

Morné Steyn is ready to wrap up a dream year with a win against Ireland at Croke Park here on Saturday.