Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i SA RUGBY

When Siya Kolisi ran on to Mbombela Stadium on 15 June 2013 as a fifth-minute substitute to become the 851st Springbok, the flanker could not have imagined what would follow. Twelve years later, Kolisi took the field for his 100th Test, having captained the Boks to back-to-back World Cup titles, back-to-back Rugby Championship crowns and a British & Irish Lions series win. The 34-year-old has already cemented his status as the greatest Bok captain of all time, but he deserves equal plaudits for his contribution as a player. Kolisi could retire tomorrow as a rugby legend and national icon - but with a historic four-Test series against the All Blacks next year and a shot at an unprecedented three-peat at the 2027 World Cup in Australia, his story is far…

PIETER CROWNED ‘PRINCE OF THE PARC’ The Springboks scored seven tries in their record 52-10 win against France at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 22 November 1997. ‘All the Boks were brilliant, but no player had a bigger role in this unforgettable drama than Springbok left wing Pieter Rossouw, whose ancestors, ironically, left France for Africa centuries before,’ wrote Chris Schoeman in SA Rugby magazine. The French have seen great stuff from their Blancos and their Sellas at the Parc, but what the SA flyer gave them that day was one of the greatest memories of all time. In a breathtaking display of deceptive acceleration and elusive running, he scored four spectacular tries to equal his country's record for touchdowns in a single Test. It was his finest…

Wayne Viljoen That's nuts. Gregg Macdonald You cannot ban someone based on allegations, you have to have proof! If he did grab him intentionally, then he deserves a ban. Something obviously happened for Murphy to react but without evidence, there can be no ban! Gary Engelbrecht He was just checking to see if the Irish could get a semi. Lejaun Poyo No guys, Saru has to intervene. We cannot continue like this. Honestly. Ernst Booyse The old boys club working overtime to buff the Boks before they head on the northern tour. Arthur Nieuwoudt If Wessels really grabbed Murphy with intent, Murphy would have been in too much pain to react the way he did. Lusizo Kwetshube They are making all effort to disrupt the Springboks. Someone tell them we've…

Do you have a nickname? Everyone knows me as ‘Duimpie’. I was always the smallest growing up, so my cousin gave me that nickname. What was your most important lesson from being part of the Junior Boks squad in 2023? You have to play as a unit. Unity will take you further. What was your biggest learning experience from your time with the Shizuoka Blue Revs in Japan? Always be ready to take your opportunity and work hard. What advice would you give a young player looking to play overseas? Don't stop grinding. Be ready, and if the opportunity arises, take it. My move to Japan was unexpected, but I knew it would help me get closer to what I'm working for. What was the most noticeable aspect for you…

World Rugby's lawmakers have for too long been willing the set piece to a slow death. When I say ‘set piece’, the accent is on the scrum. Lawmakers and marketers have combined in workshops of folly to give rugby union the’ rugby league goalUne drop-out when a player is held up in-goal. This is to eliminate a scrum feed to the attacking team 5m from the tryline. The Lawmakers have also decreed that a team winning a free kick from a scrum cannot opt for another scrum to reinforce the advantage but must tap or kick the ball. Scrums are deemed boring and resets the cause of slowing down the flow of the game. The madness, sold as the game's evolution to a new audience who apparently want to see…

I'll throw some words out to possibly describe the last six years for NZ Rugby: challenging, unique, turbulent, crazy. Are they apt? They seem to be popular in terms of the way the media might describe them. I would say ‘extremely proud’, given that we've been able to get through some of those challenges. We've done some extraordinary things given some of the context around what we've had to deal with in recent years. There's a lot of things that people don't see that myself and the organisation cannot comment publicly about, some of the more controversial things. We just have to take the high road as we are a governing body and are seen to be the establishment. Broadly, I've come to accept that when you make a mistake,…

Handré Pollard wasn't part of the Springboks’ original 2023 World Cup squad. It was only after hooker Malcolm Marx suffered a tournament-ending knee injury in training that the flyhalf was recalled. By the time the semi-final against England arrived, he was back in familiar territory - steering a Bok side on the brink. Just a week earlier in Paris, he had stepped up with a late clutch penalty in the quarter-final against France, sealing a famous 29-28 victory over the hosts. After that emotionally intense effort, South Africa's tank appeared empty against England. Labelled underdogs before kick-off at the Stade de France, England dominated the opening hour, playing a controlled kicking game in relentless rain. Owen Farrell's boot pushed them into a 15-6 lead, with the Springboks struggling to find…

France's best from the Top 14, the leading sides from the URC and England's elite from the Premiership make up the Investec Champions Cup. For 30 years, Europe's finest have fought for the most prized gold medal in club rugby. Nothing compares with the challenge of the Champions Cup, with players and coaches having to balance their premier domestic league ambitions with a tournament in which every pool match is the equal of a playoffs eliminator. Now into its 31st season, the Champions Cup is the toughest club tournament in the game. Last season's beaten URC finalists the Bulls, in-form URC log-leaders the Stormers and the star-studded, Springbok-infused Sharks lead the South African charge, which last season faded before the playoffs. There is expectation that this season, South Africa's first…

In the worst-kept secret, Rugby's Greatest Rivalry was confirmed in October, with the All Blacks set to tour South Africa in August and September 2026, and the Springboks travelling to New Zealand in 2030. The Rugby Championship won't be staged in those years, with Sanzaar confirming full editions will take place in 2027 (a World Cup year), 2028 and 2029. Understandably, the biggest talking point was the venue allocation for the Test series: Joburg will host the first and third Tests (at Ellis Park and FNB Stadium), with Cape Town hosting the second. A fourth Test will be played at a yet-to-be-determined overseas venue. FRINGE PLAYERS UNLIKELY TO FEATURE IN THE TEST SERIES, OR THOSE EARMARKED FOR LIMITED GAME TIME, SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THEIR FRANCHISES My initial reaction…

www.youtube.com/@RugbyCoachWeekly EVASION, DEFENCE AND SUPPORT Try scoring and support course This fun session will challenge your players to execute their evasion, defensive and support skills, finishing with a try. Good for all levels, as a session energiser or a skills workout. WHY USE IT Develop a range of skills in a short space of time, which will make players think on their feet and time their support runs, as they would have to in a game. SET-UP Cones, tackle tubes, balls, a tryline. HOW TO DO IT Set up a course of cones and tackle tubes similar to the top picture. Make sure there's a ball on the top of the final tackle tube. Have a player tackle the first tube then use good footwork through a set of cones.…

EBEN ETZEBETH ‘The reason I started watching soccer! #myGOAT.’ - The Bok lock enjoyed dinner with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry before the Rugby Championship decider at Twickenham. SIYA KOLISI ‘What an amazing person! Can't wait to have you in SA.’ - The Springbok captain attended a Champions League football match in London with Arsenal legend Ian Wright. CANAN MOODIE ‘NFL London.’ - The Springbok utility back met Hollywood actor Jason Sudeikis at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. ANDRÉ ESTERHUIZEN ‘So good!’ - The Springbok centre enjoyed a Harlequins reunion with former teammates Marcus Smith, Tyrone Green, Stephan Lewies, Danny Care, Joe Marler and Wilco Louw at a London restaurant before the Rugby Championship decider. OX NCHÉ ‘What a privilege.’ - The Bok prop celebrated with hooker Bongi Mbonambi after their Rugby…

Evan Roos has been the Stormers’ metronome and their sledgehammer. Eight Tests for the Springboks since 2022 and seven wins is a tidy headline, but the body of work that matters most has come in blue and white, and in the last 240 minutes, in the stunning new lime and pink Bo-Kaap inspired away playing strip. Roos, in the Stormers’ 31-16 win against Benetton in Treviso, went past 5 000 playing minutes in a Stormers jersey, at an average of 75 minutes a game. He has played 69 times for the franchise and 59 of those matches have come in the URC. He has scored 27 tries, which is as good a strike rate as you get from the finest wingers in the sport, but the minutes and tries don't…

Taniela Tupou was a viral internet sensation in the days before it was cool. From a tiny village in Tonga, the tighthead tyro was spotted by Sacred Heart College in Auckland when he played against them on a Tonga U12 and U14 tour. However, the rampaging No 8 - as he was then - didn't speak any English, so he wasn't keen on the move. With the promise of a better life, his mother and brother convinced him to accept the scholarship and off he went. Before long, Tupou - who was originally nicknamed ‘The Rhino’ by kids at school before the moniker ‘The Tongan Thor’ stuck - was scoring sensational tries on live-streamed games with a bumper highlights reel that caught the attention of the rugby world. He played…

HISTORY Founded in 1986, Stellenberg will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. In 2023, the school joined Western Province's Premier A League (nine teams) and proudly fields 20 teams every Saturday. Since 2016, the U19A team has participated in the prestigious Wildeklawer and Noord-Suid tournaments, while the annual Interschool fixture against Durbanville High has been contested since 2007. Seventeen matches have been played, with Stellenberg winning 14, drawing two and losing just once. The 2017 U19A team ended the year ranked seventh in the School of Rugby/ Rapport Top 20. Head coach Divan Batt has been involved with the U19A side since 2006, coaching more than 330 matches, while head of rugby Duppie du Preez has served the school for 31 years. The 1st XV is known as The Jade…