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No ill feelings between Eben Etzebeth and Allan Alaalatoa after fracas
Any bad blood between South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth and Australia tighthead Allan Alaalatoa remained on the Allianz Stadium pitch on Saturday as the pair seemed to be back on good terms in the changing room after the match.
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The duo were embroiled in a fracas on 72 minutes in Sydney after Makazole Mapimpi scored in the corner, as the testy atmosphere of their two Tests against each other seemed to come to a head. What was initially a melee between plenty of players descended into a one-on-one scuffle between Etzebeth and Alaalatoa with referee Ben O’Keeffe attempting to break it up.
Both players have clearly buried the hatchet though, as Australia provided some behind the scenes footage of the two teams in the changing room after the match, with Alaalatoa taking a peace offering of a beer out of the fridge for Etzebeth before they both hugged and chatted to each other.
🤝 More than rugby @Springboks#Wallabies @eToroAU #AUSvRSA pic.twitter.com/hDHjXFTcto
— Wallabies (@wallabies) September 4, 2022
Mapimpi’s try in the corner was not too dissimilar from his failed attempt from the week before, with Marika Koroibete rushing across the field on both occasions to try and stop him. While that let to the Wallaby’s controversial tackle in round three of the Rugby Championship, the Springbok was able to score in Sydney, and maybe vented any pent up emotion he had immediately after, resulting in a yellow card.
The try and touchline conversion from Frans Steyn did give South Africa and unassailable 24-3 lead in the closing minutes of the match, although Australia scored a consolation try late on to make the final score 24-8.
The result leaves the Rugby Championship evenly poised going into the final two rounds, with the All Blacks sitting atop with ten points, and Australia, South Africa and Argentina sitting behind all level on nine points.
Comments on RugbyPass
England could really regret not keeping Dan Kelly in the squad. This six nations saw two caps at 12 for Dingwall, and one off the bench for Tuilagi. In general Borthwick has proven to be an extremely astute selector, but at 12 he seems to have shat the bed a little bit.
1 Go to comments£160,000 for a guy who doesn’t have a springbok cap? R3.2 million rand a season. Where do you pull these figures from surely that is inaccurate or the Sharks really don’t know how to spend their money
3 Go to commentsWell its unfortunate but sides also have to be realistic and set targets and thats what the Bulls are doing. They know the deck is stacked against them. They have to prioritise one comp and they are choosing the URC where they have 4 in a row at home now. They need to win all 4 to secure a home quarter and semi and maybe a home final if Leinster send a weakened team and lose 2 in SA. The Bulls unfortunately have the logistical difficulties of travelling to Europe and back and that makes good prep very difficult. If the Champions cup was not sandwiched between so many big URC games perhaps they would have made a different decision. Unfortunately the Bulls are hosting Munster and other quality teams after these rounds so they made the most logical choice
12 Go to commentsI wonder if the problem of some teams not taking it that seriously would be helped by making performance in the champions cup count towards qualification and/or seeding in the following year’s competition. Eg. top four seeds would be winners of the URC, premiership, and top 14, plus best performing team in the previous year’s CC who have not otherwise qualified. Doing that the seedings for this years comp. would have been: Tier one: Saracens - Munster - Toulouse - la Rochelle Tier two: Sale - Stormers - Racing 92 - Leinster Tier three: Leicester - Connacht - Bordeaux - Exeter Tier four: Northampton - Ulster - Lyon - Sharks Tier five: Harlequins - Glasgow - Stade Francais - Edinburgh Tier six: Bath - Bulls - Toulon - Ospreys The competition would probably work better with fewer teams, so I’d probably favour only the first 4 tiers being invited, and then going straight to a quarter final without a round of 16. On the one hand this would possibly incentivise teams to take the champions cup seriously, and on the other it would mean that the latter stages would be more likely to involve teams that have demonstrated a willingness to take the competition seriously. The main differences between my proposed system and the actual draw is that mine would give la Rochelle a fairly easy ride to the quarters, and would either exclude the Bulls entirely or would give then an insurmountably difficult draw. As it happened Exeter got quite an easy pool draw but that was a bit of a fluke. My system would reward Exeter for being one of the teams that demonstrably devote a lot of attention to the CC by guaranteeing them a good draw.
12 Go to commentsFor once, Andy Goode is entirely on the money. Unfortunately stuff like this is only going to become more and more common as fixture lists become increasingly bloated. If you think our competitions are being devalued currently, then just you wait for a few years time when we also have a club world cup; & increased travel time in the summer window as a result of the world league thing. I am surprised more South African fans aren’t demanding scheduling changes to mitigate this happening again. It is extremely unfair, given the travel demands, that the Bulls have only had one week to prepare for a quarter final, but trying to get South African players to show up for things like this is only going to get harder when they their international season gets more congested in 2026.
12 Go to commentsthe SA sides have budgets probably 50% of the european clubs. Plus semi stipulated it has to be in europe. SA sides will push for big home playoffs in the URC. Not saying its right but probably the best they can do in terms of their squads and for their fans. Right or wrong no matter how much its is said that Champions Cup is the best tournament, in SA they will believe it when they see it. The pool games were a joke, Lyon sent a c-team to last 16 and the Stormers came within an inch of knocking la Rochelle out. Maybe the competition needs to look at itself
12 Go to commentsThis game will be a cracker. Showdown between two talented teams, each with lots to prove.
1 Go to commentsSo .. it’s the “best team we can field”, and also “rotation”. Nope. It can’t be both. If it’s your best available team then just say that. But we all know it is not your best available team. It is missing 10 or 11 of your first choice players. Jake has gone with A and B teams, rather than two compromised B+ teams, which is smart. But the protestations that he is not doing so are feeble.
1 Go to commentsYay! Click bait... the seething hate for the Springboks sells
66 Go to commentsBulls B Team - away from home - by 5. Smith and Goosen. Twins. Good thing Goosen was left at home.
1 Go to commentsThis is interesting. This is a great move for the Wallabies. Interestingly pushed by a Kiwi - who just served in the NZRU where they have appeared somewhat stuck up about issue. Is his a break with what NZ holds onto as policy a signal of what will come In NZ? Will razor get what he wants? Or will NZ hold out? Foolish if they do. The best outcome for NZ in the near future would be to join forces with Japan (a new SR championship). Allow All Blacks to play abroad (I.e. Japan). Japans club competition already has the money and international flavor to it to make the pacific competition a rival for the Europe’s “premier” club competition status. Bring in the other Pasific teams, Australia. Allow the movement of players. Boom. I’d even wake up at 7am, crack my first beer, and watch a game or two.
9 Go to commentsWith respect to Tahs it was more of The Crusaders finding a way to lose rather than The Tahs winning.Niether team based on form so far are SR Champions & Tahs have a tough run home.The Crusaders are playing some great rugby in games but are inconsistent.I still believe The Crusaders will be in Top 8.But The Crusaders will improve.
4 Go to commentsOne only needs to look at the Wallaby talent playing in the Champions Cap quarter finals to realize this is a no brainer. With these players the Wallabies can legitimately challenge for the Bledisloe: Pete Samu, Adam Coleman Kane Douglas, Tawera Kerr-Barlow *Will Skelton* Tolu Latu Angus Scott-Young Richie Arnold Scott Sio
9 Go to comments“Blackadder was good without being great” just like his Dad. Ethan's star has risen even higher since being injured. Crusaders best loose forward was on the bench. The Tahs loose forwards were dominant. Langi Gleeson is not the biggest 8 but he packs a punch as a ball carrier. Fun game for a neutral.
4 Go to commentsGreat stuff
9 Go to commentsThis is great news. I have always been an advocate for Australia, and indeed all countries, selecting from a world wide pool of qualified players. Very few countries in the world now have all the best players for each position playing in the country. In fact probably only France would be in this situation.
9 Go to commentsI clicked on page 100 by accident yesterday. I would find a article on topics gone off page 100 (write them up the day before etc), with many are RPs old asian theme, much more interesting that OTD articles (why on earth would anyone care what happened on this day, you don’t even look back on it and say he’s been clean “so RA made the wrong call, influenced by x Qantas chairman etc). Look, you’ve even confused all your readers lol
11 Go to commentsI’d love to see Carreras with the Pumas soon. plays like Santos.The ‘other’, gonzales is taking Materas mantle too.
1 Go to commentsCrusaders won it in 80min as he kicked the conversion after time had expired… Seems the ref wanted more drama 😜
2 Go to commentsSevu Reece has always been of All Black quality. His injury before the World Cup last year robbed us of seeing him perform to his best. With him and Emoni Narawa contesting the right wing this year, Mark Telea with a mortgage on the left, wing spots are gonna be at a premium. Looks like Razor will have to play Jordan at fullback on his return ( which surely was his plan anyway), cause we are blessed with a number of class wing men.
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