Crunch time “This is the weekend where we shall discover whether there is any real substance to Stuart Lancaster’s new England.” John Taylor previews a potentially decisive match That winning feeling Can the New Zealand Super Rugby sides capitalise on the All Blacks recent success? Huw Turner provides his take on how the Kiwi sides [...]

Bryan Habana, interviewed in the Cape Press in the build-up week to the first Vodacom Super Rugby match of the new season, summed up what everyone involved with the DHL Stormers is thinking at the start of 2012. “When I was at the Bulls we reached three semifinals before we won the competition,” said Habana. [...]

South Africa’s Super Rugby teams will have additional motivation when the cross-continental franchise series kicks off this weekend, with the uncertainty of next year’s national conference hanging over their heads. The Southern Kings are the only confirmed team for the 2013 competition, while the other four SA places have yet to be determined, after Sanzar [...]

MTN Lions coach John Mitchell has named his strongest line-up, focusing on experience, for Saturday’s opening Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Toyota Cheetahs at Coca Cola Park. Banking on the self-confidence picked up in winning the Absa Currie Cup last year, Mitchell has kept largely with the same squad, picking 12 of the starting [...]

It is now five years since Bryan Habana broke the Sharks’ hearts with a last-gasp try that stole the Super 14 title, and the bragging rights for becoming the first South African team to win the title, from under their noses. As the next edition of what is now known as Vodacom Super Rugby approaches, [...]

The Cheetahs may be without two key forwards, but they are banking on breakdown king Heinrich Brüssow to provide the spark in their season opener against the Lions on Saturday. Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské said he will have a virtually full deck to select from when he names the side that will travel to Johannesburg [...]

A season of uncertainties ahead Don’t let anybody kid Super Rugby-supporters in South Africa. The performances of the local teams in the Super Rugby season starting on Friday, will be vitally important for the Springboks and their new coach, Heyneke Meyer. Some argue that the local fans will look at it with a measure of [...]

Gallo Images With Saru’s promise to the Kings hanging above their heads, South Africa’s Super Rugby sides will be out to impress. ON Friday, South Africa’s familiar Super Rugby line-up takes its place at the starting line for a marathon that is wrapped in poignancy and uncertainty because of unfinished business in the Saru boardroom, [...]

To the outside world it is a period of transition in the Bulls’ Kraal. However, at Loftus Versfeld they truly believe they can win a fourth Super Rugby crown. Having lost a host of senior players, including six World Cup winners, most pundits believe the Bulls will struggle to repeat their successful run from 2007 [...]

The Golden Lions Rugby Union wants to repay the R11-million it owes to IT billionaires Robert Gumede and Ivan Ichikowitz as proof that it is not bankrupt. But Gumede and Ichikowitz, of the Guma Group and Transafrica Capital, have refused to withdraw their application for the liquidation of the union. The businessmen went to court [...]

If the Pumas spring some surprises over the next few years of the Rugby Championship, significant credit should go to Las Pampas. No, not the thousands of kilometres of grasslands in inland Argentina, where cattle ranches abound in the agricultural centre of the nation. Instead Las Pampas is the semi-professional, home-grown outfit that has played [...]

Waratahs halfback Sarel Pretorius is a long way from home but is confident he can capture the attention of South African selectors with a bumper Super Rugby season. Some might say Sydney is out of sight, out of mind for a player with hopes of representing the Springboks, but Pretorius believes succeeding in NSW could [...]

Interesting to see a few people have picked the Blues above the Crusaders. The Blues have acquired well but the Saders have been building so I still see them topping the log. Scary monster that black and red thing. It’s only just growing up again. The Reds should top the Aussie conference because the Tahs [...]