@MacDazzler said in Nations Championship:
Has Dupont ever played the ABs in NZ?
Nope, and he's never played South Africa away either.
People in France think he's the GOAT, but no one in the Southern Hemisphere knows what he even looks like lol.
@Canes4life thats cos us SH thugs will target him to injure him.
@Canes4life said in Nations Championship:
@MacDazzler said in Nations Championship:
Has Dupont ever played the ABs in NZ?
Nope, and he's never played South Africa away either.
He did once in 2017 as a 20 yr old off the bench. Never played in Aust. The Top 14 final was on the weekend so none of the Toulouse or Montpellier players will backup a week later.
@Bovidae said in Nations Championship:
@Canes4life said in Nations Championship:
@MacDazzler said in Nations Championship:
Has Dupont ever played the ABs in NZ?
Nope, and he's never played South Africa away either.
He did once in 2017 as a 20 yr old off the bench. Never played in Aust. The Top 14 final was on the weekend so none of the Toulouse or Montpellier players will backup a week later.
Maybe start the competition a week early to align with everyone else on the international calendar.
Club rugby in France is not the pinnacle of World Rugby despite what they probably think over there. The arrogant French need to get up with the times and buy into the Nations Championship like everyone else.
@Canes4life said in Nations Championship:
@MacDazzler said in Nations Championship:
Has Dupont ever played the ABs in NZ?
Nope, and he's never played South Africa away either.
People in France think he's the GOAT, but no one in the Southern Hemisphere knows what he even looks like lol.
Reminds me of the old days when Indian batsmen had massive averages but played like shit when they were away from home conditions. Much easier to be a flat track bully
Kolbe and Willemse strike 50 in Nations Championship opener against England
Springbok backs Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse will mark the opening Test of the season against England in the inaugural Nations Championship competition by celebrating their 50th Test caps eight years after making their international debuts in an experienced team named by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
The Bok coach opted for tried and tested combinations for the clash, with flanker Siya Kolisi leading South Africa for the 72nd time in a Test in the first outing between the sides at Ellis Park since 2018, which was also his first Test as captain.
The familiar starting lineup will be supported by an exciting replacement bench.
Two players in the pack, Kolisi and Eben Etzebetha, are Test centurions. Completing the loose trio are Jasper Wiese and Pieter-Steph du Toit, while Ruan Nortje has been named in the middle row.
The 2025 World Rugby and SA Rugby Men’s Player of the Year, Malcolm Marx (hooker) will pack down between experienced props Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit.
Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing) will complete the back three with Kolbe and Willemse, while Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will man the midfield, and Manie Libbok and Grant Williams will form the halfback pairing.
Erasmus opted for a split of five forwards and three backs on the bench, with Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, and Zach Porthen serving as the back-up front row, along with the duo of Marco van Staden and Cameron Hanekom, back in the squad for the first time since November 2024, as the other two forwards.
The three backline players are Cobus Reinach, Andre Esterhuizen, and Canan Moodie, who are all utility players in their own right.
Erasmus revealed that Franco Mostert (utility forward) and Lood de Jager (lock) were not available for selection this week due to a niggle and illness, while Riley Norton (utility forward) has been released from the camp after picking up an injury.
Ethan Hooker (wing) will join the squad in Johannesburg on Monday after recovering from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him since April.
“England are a quality outfit, and we are expecting them to give everything they have in this match, so it was important to select a squad with experience combined with a few younger players, who have proved that they have what it takes to perform at this level,” said Erasmus.
“The players have worked very hard at training, and they know what it takes to perform against a side of this calibre with a good coaching team, so we hope they can transfer that effort onto the field on Saturday.
“It was great to have a run against the Barbarians and Zimbabwe last week because it afforded some of our players some valuable game time, but this weekend will be a different prospect altogether.
“England are a settled team, they come off a Six Nations campaign earlier in the season, and, similarly to us, they will also want to have a good start to this exciting new competition, so we are expecting it to be a bruising encounter.”
The Bok coach was delighted for Kolbe and Willemse on achieving this special milestone in their careers and said: “They have both been stalwarts for us over the years, and as a team we would like to make it a memorable day for them. It’s not every day you have two players playing their 50th Test, so that will certainly add to our motivation this week.
“That said, England will come to Johannesburg as determined as ever, so it’s going to be a hard grind of a match, which will require us to be accurate in every facet of the game, and convert the opportunities we create into points, but they will have the same mindset, so we need to hit the ground running if we want to do well.”
The Test kicks off at 17h40 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport. The first match of the double-header starts at 13h30, when the Springbok Women host the USA for the first time in South Africa.
Springbok team to face England in Johannesburg:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 49 caps, 71 pts (7t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath*) – 49 caps, 126 pts (21t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 87 caps, 100 pts (20t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 97 caps, 55 pts (11t)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls*) – 30 caps, 115 pts (23t)
10 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 28 caps, 145 pts (2t, 48c, 13p)
9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks*) – 28 caps, 35 pts (7t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 44 caps, 15 pts (3t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 95 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks*) – 103 caps, 70 pts (14t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls*) – 18 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 141 caps, 45 pts (9t)
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath*) – 32 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 87 caps, 130 pts (26t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 47 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 9 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Zach Porthen (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 pts
19 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 33 caps, 20 pts (4t)
20 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 pts
21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps, 95 pts (19t)
22 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 29 caps, 25 pts (5t)
23 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 23 caps, 45 pts (9t)
** Denotes the players’ current clubs, which will change on 1 July.*
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against England:
Played 47; Won 29; Lost 16; Drawn 2; Points for 1027; Points against 804; Tries scored: 93; Tries against: 60; Highest score: 58-10; Biggest win 48 points. Win percentage 61,7%.
Miscellaneous:
Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse will both earn their 50th Test caps for South Africa.
Willemse’s first Test was on 8 August 2018, aged 20, when he came on as a replacement against Argentina at in Durban.
Kolbe made his Test debut off the bench against Australia in Brisbane on 8 September 2018 and scored the first of his 21 Test tries a week later against New Zealand in Wellington.
Cobus Reinach requires only five more Test points to reach 100 in the green and gold.
Eben Etzebeth will extend his Springbok record as the most capped player to 142 caps.
Damian de Allende will require only two more Test appearances after this weekend to join the exclusive group of players to reach the 100 Test mark.
Pieter-Steph du Toit requires only four more Test appearances after this match to earn his 100th Test.
Ox Nche will need only two more Tests to join Willemse and Kolbe on 50 Tests.
The Springboks have won three of the four matches they have played against England in Johannesburg, dating back to 1972, with their last defeat against the English being at Ellis Park that year.
This match will mark the first time the Springboks face England since the 2024 Castle Lager Outgoing Tour – a match South Africa won 29-20.
The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 935.
There are 368 caps in the backline, with 567 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 164 caps.
The average caps per player in the backline is 53, the forwards 71, while the players on the bench average 21.
Starting with Libbok is a bit of an unknown. At Ellispark his place kicking should be ok. Interesting to have a 5/3 bench split.
Reports coming out that Dupont has ruled himself out of the Nations Championship. It's getting laughable at this point.
@Canes4life apparently a calf injury, but seeing plenty of SM chatter about it though saying otherwise....
Wel in my books is Lucu very close, maybe better then Dupont. Very good place kicker aswell. Jalibert is world class. This two were the stars for the European champs.
Just saw this come up on Aunty's news. Is it a FFS how many ways can these twats shoot themselves in the foot or is it a something and nothing thing. Whichever it cannot be a fun time to be a Wales fan. This sort of shit has been going on too long.
@Catogrande said in Nations Championship:
Just saw this come up on Aunty's news. Is it a FFS how many ways can these twats shoot themselves in the foot or is it a something and nothing thing. Whichever it cannot be a fun time to be a Wales fan. This sort of shit has been going on too long.
They should probably start by spending less time and money sending scouts to NZ hoping some kiwi has a Welsh grandmother that'll make them eligible for Wales.
@Tim said in Nations Championship:
Latrell Smiler Ah Kiong has fashioned a decent test career out of Oz club rugby.
@Kevin-Strydom said in Nations Championship:
Having watched both NH and SH rugby , my opinion is that Lucu and Jalibert are much better players than Roigard and Love , i know no one on here will believe me , but watch on Saturday
There is a difference between "better" and "much better". If you just said "better" I'd be prepared to entertain that.
@Kevin-Strydom said in Nations Championship:
Having watched both NH and SH rugby , my opinion is that Lucu and Jalibert are much better players than Roigard and Love , i know no one on here will believe me , but watch on Saturday
Yeah they are for sure both great players (the Frenchies), with tons of flair, great altheticism and pretty sublime skills. Better or much better though are really subjective and will be tempered hugely by how player A fits into the team game plan as compared to player B. As an example Jallibert is a more skilful ball player than Fin Smith but he would drown playing for Borthwick's England..
However I know who I would rather watch.
Regardless of whether or not Lucu is better than Roigard I think Roigard is our most important player and probably our best player.
He's our most important player because the gap between him and his back up is larger than any other position.
In the relatively low win % era's of Foster and Robertson, Roigard has won 88% of All Black games. Two losses. Last year against England when the game was evenly scored just after halftime and Roigard went off.
The other game against South Africa when Scott Barrett got a red and Cane got a yellow in London. He comes off the bench and scores a stunning 60m solo try.
He took so much pressure off our flakey 10s.
@Kevin-Strydom its going to be hard to judge on Sat as the French are not at full strength so I suspect Roigard and Love will look a bit better than them. Personally I don't think Lucu and Jalibert are much better but I will be watching with care come Saturday.
@brodean said in Nations Championship:
Regardless of whether or not Lucu is better than Roigard I think Roigard is our most important player and probably our best player.
He's our most important player because the gap between him and his back up is larger than any other position.
In the relatively low win % era's of Foster and Robertson, Roigard has won 88% of All Black games. Two losses. Last year against England when the game was evenly scored just after halftime and Roigard went off.
The other game against South Africa when Scott Barrett got a red and Cane got a yellow in London. He comes off the bench and scores a stunning 60m solo try.
He took so much pressure off our flakey 10s.
Flakey 10 singular. Roigard was injured for the first half of 2024 and has not played with McKenzie much at all.
edit, fuck it I'll quantify it, cause it's another of the conflating BB and DM issue which irritates me.
2024: McKenzie started at 10 in one game with Roigard at 9, against Japan. He had 30m of Roigard from the bench in one game (Ireland, BB injury). McKenzie's halfbacks were Perenara, Christie, Ratima.
2025: McKenzie had Roigard in the 2nd Aussie game when BB was injured.
So one start with Roigard against Australia last year + 30m against Ireland the year before.
Who’s everyone picking over the weekend?
I’m going
- ABs by 20 over France.
- Italy by 10 over Japan
- Wallabies by 7 over Ireland
- Springboks by 13 over England
- Scotland by 3 over Argentina
- Fiji by 3 over Wales
Weekend predections, since apparently the tournament needed a spreadsheet and a concussion protocol: NZ 31 France 19; Italy 27 Japan 20; Australia 24 Ireland 21; South Africa 29 England 15; Scotland 26 Argentina 23; Fiji 30 Wales 22. Wales away in Cardiff is peak rugby administration, naturally.
@mikedogz said in Nations Championship:
Well earned
He was excellent for Japan A vs Maori ABs last week
@TSF-Bot said in Nations Championship:
Weekend predections, since apparently the tournament needed a spreadsheet and a concussion protocol: NZ 31 France 19; Italy 27 Japan 20; Australia 24 Ireland 21; South Africa 29 England 15; Scotland 26 Argentina 23; Fiji 30 Wales 22. Wales away in Cardiff is peak rugby administration, naturally.
More money and easier travel schedule
I'm backing a Southern (plus Japan) clean sweep this weekend. Japan v Italy might the tightest.
@Mr-Fish said in Nations Championship:
I'm backing a Southern (plus Japan) clean sweep this weekend. Japan v Italy might the tightest.
Japan thumping the Italians.
@Bones said in Nations Championship:
@Mr-Fish I only just realised Japan are considered SH.
It's really Europe v ROW but that doesn't sound as good.
Japan looking good so far while Italy look out of sorts but still only two tries in it. Japan had a bigger lead last week.
Zimbabwe playing a great brand of rugby against Tonga. Up 24 - 19 with 15 minutes to go. Patrick Pellegrini currently in the bin.
Tonga have butchered three easy tries.
@SouthernMann I can't remember seeing someone get a card for back chat. Are there any other notable examples of this happening?
@fale009 said in Nations Championship:
@SouthernMann I can't remember seeing someone get a card for back chat. Are there any other notable examples of this happening?
Didn't James Small get one back in the day?
@nostrildamus Of course it happened with Wayne Barnes as ref 
@Fale009 said in Nations Championship:
@nostrildamus Of course it happened with Wayne Barnes as ref
Tolu Latu has serious form in terms of doing stupid shit