A round-up of today's other rugby news
SA fullback Jantjes to miss Test series after breaking his leg
LIONS TOUR:South Africa fullback Conrad Jantjes will miss this summer's Test series against the British and Irish Lions after breaking his leg. Jantjes (29) suffered the injury in a collision with Liam Messam 10 minutes into the Stormers' Super 14 loss to the Chiefs at Newlands on Saturday.
Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed the injury had ended Jantjes’ Lions hopes. “It is really serious. He is going to be out for a long time,” said Erasmus. “His leg is broken. I don’t know how serious the break is, but it seemed to me the leg was turned the wrong way round, so it is really serious.”
The injury problems are building for South Africa coach Pieter de Villiers. Schalk Burger also departed the action in the first half against the Chiefs with a calf problem while centres Jean de Villiers and Adrian Jacobs both missed the weekend’s Super 14 action because of injury.
The Lions fly to South Africa on May 24th with the first fixture against a Highveld XV on May 30th. The first Test against South Africa is in Durban on June 20th.
TRI-NATIONS:All Blacks' tight forwards Ali Williams and Tony Woodcock have joined a growing core of experienced players to re-sign with the New Zealand Rugby Union until after the 2011 World Cup. The pair join captain Richie McCaw, lock Brad Thorn, outhalf Daniel Carter, loose forward Rodney So'oialo, centre Ma'a Nonu and hookers Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore to commit to the NZRU beyond the next World Cup, which is being held in New Zealand.
Woodcock and Williams have signed until 2012. “They are both key guys for the All Blacks and their Super 14 franchises and we are very happy that we now have a number of key players who will be playing their rugby in New Zealand in the immediate future,” NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said.
EUROPEAN CUP:Leicester skipper Geordan Murphy has lauded his team's fitness levels following the history-making semi-final victory over Cardiff Blues. Leicester's England international outhalf Toby Flood looks certain to miss the English Premiership clash against Bath next weekeend after suffering an ankle injury that meant he played no part in the penalty lottery.
But there were no other notable fitness concerns as Tigers battled their way through 100 minutes of Millennium Stadium action that ended 26-26, then survived the penalty torture.
“Going into extra time, I was a little bit nervous,” said Murphy. “But, after two minutes, I thought we looked sharp and fit and were playing all of the rugby. At the end of the second 10 minutes of extra-time, I wanted us to keep going and didn’t want to stop. None of us cramped up, and we have worked very hard on our fitness.”
CHALLENGE CUP:French club Bourgoin want their European Challenge Cup final against Northampton on May 22nd to be moved from Gloucester.
“Gloucester is less than 150 km away from Northampton. Our opponents’ fans could not have asked for more, quite apart from the fact it will be the ninth successive final to be played in England,” the club said in a statement yesterday.
Bourgoin have written to ERC organisers, asking them to “reassess this shocking decision.”
