GRANT 'The Slug' McEVOY GETS FIRED!

SENsational.

SUPER 15: MELBOURNE SPEAR THE KINGS!

SANZAR has announced Melbourne as the 15th Super Rugby team, to join the competition when expansion occurs in 2011.

An arbitration panel - consisting of former World Cup-winning All Black captain David Kirk and retired New Zealand high court judge Barry Paterson - was tasked by the SANZAR executive committee to decide on the location of the 15th Super Rugby team.

The key reasons for the arbitration panel selecting Melbourne over the other applicant, the Southern Kings from South Africa, were:
* The Experts commented that both applicants were able to point to excellent infrastructure support, and both provided sound business plans and financial forecasts, with the support of their National Unions, guaranteeing financial viability.
* The Southern Kings proposal was more advanced with regard to business and financial planning and organization structure and governance. The Southern Kings were also able to point to a strong rugby tradition, a large playing base and presented a stronger case than Melbourne as to their rugby readiness.
* These strengths of the Southern King’s Application did not, however, offset the benefits in geographical location and commercial value to SANZAR (both of which criteria the Experts were asked to place considerable weight on) that the Melbourne Application was able to deliver.
* The 15th Super Rugby team will play in the Australian Conference under the new Super Rugby competition format from 2011. This means they will play both home and away against the other four Australian Conference teams. As a result the Southern Kings would be required to make two crossings of the Indian Ocean in a season. The local derby aspect of matches in Australia, an important issue for generating attendances and broadcasting value, would also have been diluted and it would not have been possible to schedule at least two matches in each country each weekend. In addition having the team resident in South Africa introduces additional costs to SANZAR of around NZ$720,000 per annum.
* The Melbourne Application provided considerably greater commercial benefit to SANZAR than the Southern Kings Application. Evidence was provided that revenue from the sale of broadcasting rights to Australasian broadcasters would be reduced by US$15-20m over the course of a five year agreement should the 15th team be resident in South Africa, with little or no commensurate rise in the value of South African broadcasting revenue.

Members of the arbitration panel will not be making any further comment and any questions should be directed to the SANZAR unions.

- SOURCE: RUGBY365.COM

SPRINGBOKS vs FRANCE!

Adi Jacobs gets a call-up in place of Munster's Jean de Villiers.

Jaque Fourie will have to lead a changed backline against the French.

South Africa will start off their overseas tour with a classic Test match against France this Friday, November 13th, at Stade Toulouse.

The English press is having a field day following the South African Dirt Trackers loss to Leicester a week ago. This side is traditionally an experimental team made up with some absolute bolters, and some previously capped Springboks.

Coach Peter de Villiers will feature four changes in his line-up this weekend with legends Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn playing professional rugby in Europe, and hence not considered for selection. Pierre Spies is out injured and I'm not sure where Juan Smith is.

The Springboks to face France are:

Springboks: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Adi Jacobs, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Andries Bekker, 20 Danie Rossouw, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier.

Date: Friday, November 13
Venue: Stade Toulouse
Kick-off: 20.45 (19.45 GMT; 21.45 SA time)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), James Jones (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

SOUTH AFRICA 17 LEICESTER 22!

The Leicester commentators went mental after the match thinking they had won the 2011 Rugby World Cup! Wake up. And they said Leicester were missing 6 England internationals. But what they didn't mention was that South Africa were missing 15!

Thanks to RugbyDump.com for the footage yet again.

NEW ZEALAND 19 WALES 12!

Thanks again for RugbyDump for scalping us the footage!

RUGBY WEDDING CRASHERS!

[L to R] Western Province lock Anton Van Zyl, SA 7s captain Kevin Foote and Chicago Lions haymaker M.C Laubscher were caught on camera at Conrad Burke's wedding this past weekend! The event was apparently "a humdinger" at the Mulderbosch estate with Worms, Pinchy and Froggie getting stuck in. These three legends in question all attended Stellenbosch University before opening their 3rd beer...

USA EAGLES, ROME & UCT: JJ GAGIANO!

Bodo Sieber, of the official UCT rugby website, tracked down two times Varsity Cup skipper JJ Gagiano to talk rugby in Rome, America and, of course, the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International. (for the UCT RFC website)

Gagiano has been on the move since the end of the 2009 Varsity Cup, where he again led his side to a home semifinal finish.

Since then, Gagiano has been playing international rugby for the USA Eagles, some WP Super League rugby for UCT, training with the Western Province Currie Cup team and, lately, enjoying a trial period with top Italian club, Roman Praetorians.

BS: Welcome back JJ, how was Rome?

JJ Gagiano (JJ): "Thanks Door, Rome is awesome... it's a fantastic place steeped in history and the lifestyle is amazing!"

BS: What's the rugby like in the Super 10? How would the likes of Hammies, Maties or UCT fare in that league?

JJ: "I think the tops sides in the (WP) Super League would compete for the majority of the games, but then the teams in Italy would take it away in the end. There is quite a big gap between the top three/four teams in Italy and the rest, so it would also depend on the opposition. It would be very similar to how Varsity did against Saracens in that friendly at the Green Mile earlier this year."

BS: Did you play in those European Challenge Cup games against Bayonne and Wasps? What was that like?

JJ: "I was very lucky to play and start in both games, it was an awesome experience, playing against internationals such as Ross Filipo, Joe Worsley and Paul Sackey - it's great to test yourself against the best and see where you stand. They were both, as you would expect, very good sides, with immense pace, power and skill throughout."

BS: What has the biggest game been for you, personally, in 2009?

JJ: "Representing your country is always an honour, and the Varsity Cup is an amazing competition with an awesome vibe and crowd. Italy was a great overall experience - from a rugby-playing point of view and the lifestyle. I'm not trying to dodge the answer, but it's very hard to pinpoint one specific game."

BS: What's next on your schedule? Your agent tells us the US Eagles need you again...

JJ: "I'm off to the USA for two (more) World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay - home and away, which I am looking forward to. Hopefully I can be part of the team that qualifies and then represents America in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand - that would be an incredible opportunity."

BS: Will you miss any Varsity Cup action in 2010?

JJ: "(Laughs) No, don't worry, I won't be missing any game time, but I will be missing a few training sessions initially. [Coach John Dobson] Dobbo has given me December off, so I am looking forward to having a good rest and an awesome Varsity Cup campaign next year."

BS: Thanks for your time JJ - great to have you back in town!

JJ: "Thank you Door, it's good to be back and can't wait to be out on the Green Mile again next year!"

IRB 7s: LAS VEGAS WARMING UP!

Check out the latest 2010 USA Sevens Las Vegas advertising clip!

THE ULTIMATE PARTY TRICK!

Found this little ripper on 2Oceansvibe!

AUSTRALIA 18 ENGLAND 9!

England saw Australia get their grand slam quest off to a winning start, with a 18-9 win by the Wallabies at Twickenham on Saturday. The Aussies outscored the English by two tries to none.

While the home team relied almost solely on the genius of Jonny Wilkinson, the Wallabies overcame a slow start to dominate the second half.

VARSITY CUP: TESTS MORE NEW LAWS!

The FNB Varsity Cup, presented by Steinhoff International will once again lend itself to experimentation with the 2010 tournament set to feature eight players on the bench in a bid to combat uncontested scrums.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) in August sanctioned a new law which will allow teams to name 23 players in a match-day squad at domestic level only.

Only seven replacements, however, may still be used.

An eight-man bench means that all matchday squads in the 2010 Varsity Cup will now have a minimum of two props and a specialist hooker on the bench - and thereby new, enlarged 23-man playing groups - as part of an experiment in conjunction with SA Rugby.
André Watson, South African Rugby's manager of referees, told varsitycup.co.za: "This ruling still needs to be ratified, officially, at a meeting on Monday, but hopefully we will get the green light for eight-man benches in the 2010 Varsity Cup.
"Not having uncontested scrums will only benefit the game of rugby union and we're thankful that the Varsity Cup have allowed us the possibility of experimenting with this concept."

The Varsity Cup is no stranger to testing new concepts under Watson's - and SA Rugby's - watchful eye.
The 2008 tournament saw the introduction of white cards - a ruling which allowed the captains to question one of the referee's on-field decisions in the final, via a time-out - and it allowed Watson and co. to see if that concept had any future in the game.
"The Varsity Cup is a great competition in so many ways," added Watson, "they're always open for suggestions and it's a great level of competition to test new concepts (like this).
"The best thing about an eight-man bench is that it basically rules out uncontested scrums, while - at the same time - it doesn't limit the coaches' options when it comes to the rest of his replacements."

The 2010 Varsity Cup tournament kicks-off on February 1.

- SOURCE: RUGBY365

TOP 14: BEST TRIES ROUND 10!

RUGBYZONE: BRUSSOW vs BURGER?

Heinrich Brussow - the Corner Player of the Year - versus the Incredible Hulk Schalk Burger. Read the latest RugbyZone article here. Have your say ladies and gentlemen... Did Peter de Villiers get it right?

IRB 7s: SHORE HOST MEXICO IN STYLE!

Peter Sio coasts to another try.

Ata Malifa sneaks through the Mexican border.

Read the full match report on UR7s.com featuring the Mexico vs Belmont Shore 7s clash! Click here!

SPRINGBOK DIRT TRACKERS vs LEICESTER TIGERS!

USA captain Todd Selleck shares a laugh with Springbok Dirt Tracker Earl Rose. The opening tour match for the Springboks should be a tight one, with Rose providing some nervous moments...

Leicester Tigers have a juggling act to perform as they go into Friday night's match against the Springboks at Welford Road. Their players will be involved in three matches in three days.
On Friday night some Leicester players play against the Springbok touring team - South Africa minus all its top players. On Saturday five Leicester players play against Australia at Twickenham. On Sunday some Leicester players play against Leeds Carnegie at Headingley in the LV Cup. In addition there are injuries.

The five playing for England are all in the starting team - Dan Hipkiss, Louis Deacon, Tom Croft, Lewis Moody and Jordan Crane.
It could have been billed as England's Premiership Champions against the World Champions but, given the nature of the two teams, that would have been an unwarranted leap of credibility.
It's a great weekend for the club, perhaps a greedy one. There is nothing they can do about the five playing for England, but they may well have many doubling up on Sunday, especially the 10 first-choice players in the side - Scott Hamilton, Johne Murphy, Lucas Amorosino, Aaron Mauger, who is unusually playing at flyhalf, Ben Kay, Martín Castrogiovanni, Mefin Davies and Marcos Ayerza and hooker George Chuter.

That is a good number of first-choice players in a great club. Seven of them have 317 Test caps among them - Mauger, Kay, Castrogiovanni, Davies, Ayerza, Lote Tuqiri and Chuter. The 22 Springboks who face the Tigers have a total of 174 caps amongst them. The most capped player is Danie Rossouw with 42 caps and many of them will have been from the bench.
The Tigers have their share of young inexperienced players, including 20-year-old scrumhalf Nick Youngs who is thought to have a great future whether as a scrumhalf or as a flyhalf. Bench player Dan Hemingway is also 20 and promising young prop Dan Cole 22.
On the flank there is Ben Pienaar, a recognisably South African name. He was indeed born in South Africa but came to England with his parents when he was young.

So there is lots of experience plus some inexperience against some experience plus lots of inexperience. The Wallabies' second string had little trouble in rattling up a big score against Gloucester but then the West Country side are suffering troubled times. The Tigers are suffering no such problems. The people are not walking out of Welford road. It could just be a great encounter.
If the front rows are to have a say in the outcome of the game, the Tigers seem to have the greater strength and experience. Chiliboy Ralepelle has hardly played this year and Gürthro Steenkamp is just not a scrummager. If the loose forwards are to speak loudest, then the young, uncapped Springbok trio may surprise with their speed, strength and skill.
Both sides are in good playing condition - the Tigers in mid-season, the Springboks just at the end of their season.

Players to watch: Wily Aaron Mauger is always worth watching, such a clever player even if he is out of position, but then Ruan Pienaar plays in so many positions he seems out of position wherever he plays but he too is a player of skill and greater speed. Johne Murphy (Tigers) is a most promising, committed young player. The other wing, Argentinian Lucas Amorosino, scored a spectacular try last weekend and could be a star in the making. For the Springboks the centre pair, young Juan de Jongh and more experienced Wynand Olivier, have the speed and skill to provide excitement. Most of South Africa will keep an eye on Earl Rose at fullback, mystified as many are at his selection. There will also be interest in Chiliboy Ralepelle's captaincy. At school, Pretoria Boys High, he was highly rated as a player and a leader, following in the footsteps of John Smit at the school. Ralepelle has captained the Springboks once before - and that in Leicester in 2006 when the Springboks played a pick-up side called a World XV and beat them 32-7 at Walkers Stadium.

There are no previous results. This is a new encounter though in the past Springbok touring teams would play against Midland Counties, The Springboks won in Leicester in 1906 and 1912 but lost there 30-21 in 1931. The Springboks won 3-0 in 1951 and the teams drew 3-3 at Welford Road in 1960.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Lucas Amorosino, 13 Andy Forsyth, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Aaron Mauger (captain), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Brett Deacon, 7 Ben Pienaar, 6 Geoff Parling, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Calum Green, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Tom Armes, 19 Dan Hemingway, 20 James Grindal, 21 Greig Tonks, 22 Lote Tuqiri.

South Africa: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Davon Raubenheimer, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle (captain), 1 Gürthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 François Hougaard, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Riaan Viljoen.

Date: Friday, November 6
Venue: Welford Road, Leicester
Kick-off: 19.45 (19.45 GMT, 21.45 SA time)
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: Andrew Turner, Graeme Hughes

SOURCE: RUGBY365