Rugby

A new era will kick off for South African rugby when the Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls join 12 Guinness PRO14 clubs for the United Rugby Championship, which will kick off in September 2021 in a brand new, world-class 16-team league.

The Vodacom Bulls and Xerox Lions will meet in the first of the two Carling Currie Cup semi-finals on Saturday, 23 January, as SA Rugby announced the kick-off times on Tuesday.

Springbok Sevens coach Neil Powell has named four uncapped players in his 13-man squad to travel to Canada this weekend for tournaments in Vancouver and Edmonton later this month.

Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok legend Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira has announced his retirement from international rugby.

SA Rugby can confirm that the franchises have been given the green light to resume with full contact training from today, after all the players completed the necessary health checks and other protocol required. An announcement on the proposed competition structure for the rest of the season will be made as soon as all the details have been ironed out...

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber praised his players after completing a run of matches that he described as “six tests” with a 29-10 victory over Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

Handré Pollard will earn his 50th cap in the momentous opening Test between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday – the first of three internationals between the two sides in the Castle Lager Lions Series.

Phakisa Pumas do the double over Tafel Lager Griquas. Vodacom Bulls stretch their lead at the top of the log. Last-gasp win for Xerox Lions over DHL Western Province.

The DHL Stormers marched into an impressive second place and the Cell C Sharks into fourth on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log, while the Vodacom Bulls remained in eighth position in a rewarding round for three of South Africa’s four sides.

The Emirates Lions team to face the Rebels in Melbourne at AAMI Park on Saturday (07:00 SA time) shows three changes.