Category: United Rugby Championship
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The surprising biggest benefit of the URC
Depth is something that had never been an issue in South African before as the powerhouse schools produced an endless stream of naturally gifted athletes who slotted into the provincial structures until their bodies could handle the rigours of the big leagues. It was a system that worked, just look at the Junior World Cups…
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Why are the Sharks struggling so much?
To say that the Sharks have been poor this season is an understatement as they seem to crater to new lows with every eye watering loss. This past week’s loss to the Cheetahs with a star studded 23 not only embarasses the big spending Sharks but also SARU who went out of there way to…
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Health of South African URC teams
Looking at the state of the four South African franchises going into the business end of the URC competition tells a tale of varying fortunes with the haves and the have nots opening a large void in SA rugby. Lions The Lions are limping along and are showing signs of going backwards at a rapid…
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How are the squads of the South African teams looking ahead of the United Rugby Championship?
With the British and Irish Lions tour going on the Carling Currie Cup and local South African teams have fallen very much to the background but this is a vital time to improve squad fitness and depth. I will take a look and see how each franchise is looking. Sigma Lions The Sigma Lions are…
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Why the Bulls failure against Benetton will benefit in the long run
Covid 19 has shown the South African rugby community one thing, we cannot succeed as a rugby nation in a bubble. After the various internal tournaments resulting in the Bulls inevitably winning it showed us that they are currently the best team in SA without a shadow of doubt. This has been achieved with very…
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Do South African rugby teams need a fetcher?
The famous line from Jake White will go down in history when talking about the role of a fetcher in his teams, “The only fetcher that I need is my two sons to get me a beer on a Sunday”. The game has evolved drastically from that time but South African teams still seem reluctant…
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Will the South African contracting model work?
We are currently in unknown territories with Covid 19 well and truly wreaking havoc on the bank balances of rugby teams around the world. SA Rugby took the opportunity to implement the new contracting model of 45 senior players and R60 million cap for each of the four PRO 16 bound franchises. The cap on…
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The South African rugby teams breakthrough players
Sharks: Scrumhalf stable The Sharks have been playing a delicate balancing act between blooding as many youngsters as possible into the senior team and keeping enough grizzly veterans to keep level heads on the field. Having young scrumhalves is great for the salary cap as South African teams are allowed 45 contracted players and a…