Southern heavies begin honing their World Cup squads
South Africa and Australia open this year's championship at Ellis Park on Saturday, while Argentina and New Zealand clash in their round-one opener in Cordoba later in the day.
The Springboks are the world champions and Rugby Championship holders, and look the team to beat again despite a tough two-Test visit to New Zealand, including Eden Park in Auckland where they have not won since 1937.
The All Blacks swept their three-match July series against an understrength France and will have eyes on regaining a title they have won for a record 20 times, boosted by facing their bitter old rivals at home.
Australia finished their British & Irish Lions series on a high with a victory in the rain in Sydney as coach Joe Schmidt continues their rebuild until he hands over the reins to Les Kiss in mid-2026.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
7 hours ago
- The Citizen
Hanekom and Louw take home the booty at Bulls player awards
Hanekom and Louw take home the booty at Bulls player awards Cameron Hanekom and Wilco Louw were the big winners at the Vodacom Bulls Player Awards held in Pretoria on Wednesday evening. On a dazzling night when players swapped rugby gear for glam, it was celebration all round as Hanekom, the Vodacom Bulls No 8, was named Fans Player of the Year, Investec Champions Cup Forward of the Year, Investec Champions Cup Player of the Year and Vodacom United Rugby Championship Forward of the Year, an extraordinary sweep by one of the team's most outstanding players. Louw, meanwhile, was rewarded for his heroic front row efforts by being named Vodacom Bulls United Rugby Championship Player of the Year and winning the Vodacom Bulls Senior MVP award. Sizophila Solontsi, who travels with the South African squad to the Rugby World Cup tomorrow, was named Isuzu Bulls Daisies Players Player of the Year and MVP. Jannes Kirsten cracked the nod as Vodacom Bulls Carling Currie Cup Player of the Year, while Canan Moodie took home the Investec Champions Cup Back of the Year award. In most cases, awards were determined by coaching staff and management, while players themselves voted for players' player awards. Additionally, the fan awards were adjudicated by Vodacom. FULL LIST OF AWARD WINNERS Vodacom Bulls U19 Back of the Year: JT Kapank Vodacom Bulls U19 Forward of the Year: Jean Erasmus Vodacom Bulls U19 Players Player of the Year: Abri van der Westhuysen Vodacom Bulls U21 Back of the Year: Logan Opperman Vodacom Bulls U21 Forward of the Year: Corne Beets Vodacom Bulls U21 Players Player of the Year: Corne Beets Isuzu Bulls Daisies Back of the Year (Puma): Patience Mokone Isuzu Bulls Daisies Forward of the Year (Isuzu): Faith Tshauke Isuzu Bulls Daisies Players Player of the Year (GP Consult): Sizophila Solontsi Vodacom Bulls Carling Currie Cup Back of the Year: Chris Smit Vodacom Bulls Carling Currie Cup Forward of the Year: Joe van Zyl Vodacom Bulls Carling Currie Cup Player of the Year: Jannes Kirsten Vodacom Bulls Investec Champions Cup Back of the Year (Puma): Canan Moodie Vodacom Bulls Investec Champions Cup Forward of the Year (Isuzu): Cameron Hanekom Vodacom Bulls Investec Champions Cup Player of the Year: Cameron Hanekom Vodacom Bulls United Rugby Championship Back of the Year: David Kriel Vodacom Bulls United Rugby Championship Forward of the Year: Cameron Hanekom Vodacom Bulls United Rugby Championship Player of the Year: Wilco Louw Employee of the Year (BrightRock): Collen Khoza Vodacom Bulls Newcomer of the Year (Ram): Keagan Johannes Vodacom Bulls Team Man of the Year (Richelieu): Johan Grobbelaar Vodacom Fans Player of the Year: Cameron Hanekom Isuzu Bulls Daisies MVP and Player of the Year: Sizophila Solontsi Vodacom Bulls Junior MVP (Afgri): Corne Beets Vodacom Bulls Senior MVP: Wilco Louw. Cameron Hanekom and Wilco Louw clean up at the Vodacom Bulls awards: — Clinton van der Berg (@ClintonV) August 13, 2025 Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
IOL News
9 hours ago
- IOL News
'We will have to take a step up from the Lions series to beat the Springboks', says Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt
'But for us, we are a little bit earlier in our time as a group to be focusing on anything but getting the fundamentals right, and not trying and push the boundaries too much.' 'I am an admirer of Tony; he is very innovative, so are Felix and Rassie. The three of them must have some interesting coaching meetings where they come up with good ideas. If anybody has a recording of those meetings, I'd love to get them,' Schmidt laughed. Schmidt, a New Zealander, knows former All Black Brown well, while as director of rugby at the Ireland Rugby Union, he regularly met with Munster men in Erasmus, Jones, and defence coach Jerry Flannery. Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt says he would love to be a fly on the wall when Rassie Erasmus has his coaching meetings with innovative assistants Tony Brown and Felix Jones. Erasmus, of course, pushes boundaries every week. Schmidt is mostly okay with it. 'Sometimes he stretches things a bit far, like having a guy offside at the kick-off, and that has been dealt with by World Rugby as an intentional breach of the rules. 'Rassie is a great man for testing the boundaries. And if you do that and get a tactical advantage, with the athletes he has at his disposal, why not?' The Wallabies are fresh from a colossal series against the British and Irish Lions, and Schmidt is pleased with his team's progression across the three Tests. 'We put things in place, and to polish up on detail is the plan. At least we would like to be able to do that,' he grinned. 'We would like to build after a good improvement across the Lions series. 'The thing is, the Boks have grown their game. Tony has added width to their attack. I expect them to be very strong in the set pieces, as they always are; their kick-chase game is strong; from turnovers, they have lethal finishers in (Kurt-Lee) Arendse, (Edwill) van der Merwe, and (Aphelele) Fassi. Then you have strong men in (Jesse) Kriel and (Andre) Esterhuizen. 'I remember two years ago, I was working with the All Blacks, and I watched this game between the Boks and Australia. Esterhuizen was a colossus and very difficult for the Aussies to contain.' Schmidt said he is a fan of Manie Libbok. 'I recall clearly that no-look, kick-pass of Libbok's against Scotland in the World Cup. That is the abundance of talent that they have. They can play in so many different ways. They can outmuscle you, they can outspeed you, and out-skill you. 'We have to be a lot better than we were in that last Lions Test, not just because of who we are playing but where we are.' Schmidt has made just one change to his side that beat the Lions in that last Test, recalling veteran James O'Connor at fly-half. Wallabies Team 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper. Bench: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Andrew Kellaway.
TimesLIVE
10 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Van der Merwe says a try would be a bonus against Wallabies but is not vital
Rugby Given another shot to add to his three Springbok appearances, winger Edwill van der Merwe is not motivated by increasing his try scoring record but in helping the team start the Rugby Championship on a winning note. Van der Merwe will start against Australia in what is expected to be a packed Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday to add to the Test matches he has featured in against Wales, Italy and Georgia. In those three Tests, the speedy trickster has made a strong statement by scoring five tries and he is excited to be back at a venue he used to call home as a Lions player. Coach Rassie Erasmus picked Van der Merwe in the place of Cheslin Kolbe, who has been given an extra week of training after recovering from injury, and he is not perturbed about trying to fill the boots of the World Cup winner. 'I am excited about the opportunity to play against Australia and to take the field in a Test for the first time at Ellis Park,' said Van der Merwe. 'This is an opportunity and a new challenge to improve my game. That's where my focus is presently. There's an expectation that if you play for the Springboks and it is hard to become one and equally hard to stay here. 'So each day we go onto the field, training is a challenge and an opportunity to improve, and the key for me is to be able to say that with each session I got better. Scoring a try will be a bonus [but] I am more focused on my position in the system.' On what he expected against the Wallabies, Van der Merwe said they have improved in recent times. 'I have always watched and heard about the rivalry between the teams, so it's going to be special to play against them. They are a big and physical team who started building momentum against the British and Irish Lions in Australia and they have improved a lot. 'I expect the breakdown to be a focus point in the Test and I am looking forward to it.' Having scored five tries already in his short international career, Van der Merwe is not under pressure increase his tally. 'There is no pressure on me to score tries, but rather to ensure that I am accurate in implementing what the coaches want me to do. Scoring tries would be a bonus. 'The main challenge is to make the right decisions, both on attack and defence, especially against the stronger teams that have more experience.'
