Major concern over All Blacks star Sititi

A sickening head injury to star loose forward Wallace Sititi has detracted from the Chiefs’ win over the Reds and qualifying for the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals. ipl-today.in

A groggy Sititi was escorted from the field and taken to hospital early in the Chiefs’ 46-24 victory in Hamilton on Saturday, following a lengthy period of treatment after copping two heavy blows to the head in one incident.

Sititi was hit in a high tackle from Lukhan Salakaia-Loto – resulting in a yellow card for the Reds lock – before clashing heads with teammate Sione Ahio.

The 23-year-old’s body shook involuntarily on the ground, something Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson said was among the “scariest” things he’d seen on a rugby field.

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Tim Horan breaks down Lukhan Salakaia-Loto’s hit on Wallace Sititi and says it was ‘friendly fire’, but the right call

A yellow card was given, and Lukhan sent off for 10 minutes.

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Coach Jono Gibbes said he had “mixed emotions” when asked about his team’s impressive qualifying playoff win.

“The pride, the grit we showed and obviously the enjoyment of getting a result, it’s tinged,” Gibbes told reporters after the game.

“It’s never nice to see one of our brothers in a situation like that but Wally’s where he needs to be now, with people that can help him. There’s a big part of us that are actually thinking about him right now.”

Gibbes said Sititi was showing positive signs in hospital, having needed calming by medical staff during his on-field treatment.

“They were dealing with a player in distress. It wasn’t a case of being able to strictly follow A, B and C,” Gibbes said.

The 19-Test All Black has been in dynamic form for the Chiefs but is likely to miss next week’s semi-final in Hamilton against the Crusaders – a repeat of last year’s grand final which the Crusaders won.

World Rugby’s 2024 Breakthrough Player of the Year, Sititi was probably in the sights of incoming All Blacks coach Dave Rennie, who names his Nations Championship squad in two weeks.

The All Blacks’ opening Test is against France on 4 July.

– AFP

Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images

The post Major concern over All Blacks star Sititi appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.

Meilleur buteur de la dernière saison de Ligue 1 guinéenne avec 20 réalisations sous les couleurs du Horoya AC, Yagouba Gnagna Barry s’est confié à Africasport TV dans une interview exclusive à découvrir prochainement en vidéo. Au cours de cet entretien, l’attaquant guinéen a notamment évoqué son avenir, laissant entrevoir son désir de relever un nouveau défi loin du championnat guinéen.

Champion de Guinée avec le Horoya AC, Gnagna Barry ne cache plus son ambition de découvrir d’autres horizons. S’il refuse de se projeter avec certitude sur la suite de sa carrière, l’international guinéen admet volontiers son envie d’évoluer dans un autre championnat.

« Toute chose, c’est la volonté de Dieu. Je ne peux pas dire que je vais rester avec le Horoya (…) Franchement, quand même, je veux bouger pour d’autres expériences aussi », a-t-il déclaré.

Des propos qui traduisent clairement les ambitions du meilleur artificier de l’élite guinéenne. Sans fermer la porte à son club actuel, le buteur laisse entendre qu’une offre sérieuse pourrait l’inciter à franchir un nouveau cap dans sa carrière.

Il faut rappeler que Yagouba Gnagna Barry avait été annoncé proche d’un transfert en Algérie au cours de la saison écoulée. Une opération qui n’avait finalement pas abouti pour des raisons que le joueur dit lui-même ne pas connaître. Fidèle à sa philosophie, l’attaquant continue toutefois de s’en remettre à la volonté divine concernant son avenir.

Une chose paraît désormais certaine : après une saison exceptionnelle ponctuée de 20 buts et d’un titre de champion de Guinée, Gnagna Barry semble plus que jamais prêt à relever un nouveau défi.

The post Gnagna Barry à Africasport : « Franchement, je veux bouger pour d’autres expériences » appeared first on AFRICASPORT.ORG.

Leinster edged past the Stormers 20-11 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, booking a URC Grand Final date against the Bulls at Croke Park. The match turned on a dramatic two-minute collapse from the Stormers late in the second half.

LEINSTER FIND A WAY WHEN IT MATTERED MOST

Leinster’s path to Saturday’s semi-final carried unusual context. Their 35-0 hammering at the hands of the Stormers in Cape Town back in September now reads as a very different story. That night, Leo Cullen sent a heavily rotated side to South Africa with the regular season barely underway. Nine of Saturday’s starters and three bench players had never previously faced the Stormers in a URC match. That statistic tells its own story about how Leinster managed that earlier fixture.

Fast forward to Saturday, and Cullen’s first-choice side looked sharp from the first whistle. Rieko Ioane crossed in the eighth minute and Sam Prendergast added two penalties and a conversion to put the hosts 13-0 ahead by the 23rd minute.

The Stormers fought their way back to within two points at 13-11, and the match hung in the balance deep into the second half. This was when leaders stepped forward. Caelan Doris, Ronan Kelleher and Jamison Gibson-Park all produced when their team needed them most. Gibson-Park’s converted try in the 69th minute sealed the result after the Stormers imploded.

This performance follows the humiliation of last month’s 41-19 Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux-Bègles in Bilbao. Getting to a URC Grand Final against the Bulls at Croke Park, despite that European heartbreak, reflects well on this squad’s collective mindset.

THE CARDS THAT SHATTERED THE STORMERS’ HOPES

The Stormers will replay the final 12 minutes of this match many times over the coming weeks. They had clawed their way back from 13 points down to within two at 13-11 midway through the second half. Their scrum caused Leinster genuine problems throughout, and they defended with real purpose despite the loss of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu before the game even kicked off. John Dobson told his players at half-time to protect the ball and keep 15 men on the field. His message did not hold for long enough.

Winger Leolin Zas received a yellow card seven minutes into the second half for a deliberate knock-on. Leinster did not score during that period, and the Stormers actually reduced the deficit to two points while playing with 14 men. The damage came later. Replacement loose forward Ruan Ackermann cleared out Kelleher with a tucked shoulder to the head in the 68th minute. Referee Hollie Davidson showed the yellow card, which was then upgraded to red.

Within a minute, Gibson-Park danced over from the breakdown. Dobson accepted that call without complaint. What baffled him was the subsequent yellow card shown to replacement lock Salmaan Moerat at the same breakdown that led to the try. That decision left the Stormers with 13 players on the field. The contest was effectively over. The final penalty count read 11-7 against the Stormers, and the cards finished 3-0. That combination proved fatal.

A LOSING URC CAMPAIGN THAT DESERVES ITS OWN RESPECT

Dobson chose his words carefully after the final whistle. He said his side had dared to dream up until the 68th minute, and the numbers support that claim. The Stormers beat Leinster 35-0 in September. They beat Munster at Thomond Park during the regular season. They drew with Ulster in Belfast and hammered Glasgow 48-12 in Cape Town. They then beat Cardiff 44-21 in the quarter-final, despite conceding first in each half. That is a body of work that demands acknowledgment.

They made this semi-final genuinely uncomfortable for the defending champions. Their scrum won two penalties that kept them in the contest. Their halftime counter-ruck, sparked by Imad Khan’s big tackle, produced a turnover that denied Leinster a score at a crucial moment.

Dobson was frank about the limits of his squad. He did not want the injury list to sound like an excuse, but the absence of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Seabelo Senatla, JD Schickerling and Ruben van Heerden created genuine problems across the park.

The director of rugby told his players that, after a few days’ reflection, they would realise they had gone toe-to-toe with the best-resourced side in the competition and pushed them to the limit. He was not wrong.

Il arrive rarement qu’un journaliste personnalise un article malgré toute la modestie que demande cette profession. C’est le cas aujourd’hui… Régulièrement, je prenais de ses nouvelles par téléphone et la première question qui me revenait à l’esprit, comme un réflexe ordinaire, était de savoir le lieu où il se trouvait. Et la réponse m’était toujours donnée avec une voix calme, pleine d’optimisme et d’humour : «Je suis, pour le moment, dans ma seconde maison.»

Il y a trois semaines environ, il était donc à l’hôpital, «mais pas pour longtemps», m’a- t-il dit pour me réconforter. Et cette fois-ci, à l’approche du Mondial, je le sollicitais pour intégrer notre rédaction et lui proposais en plus une rubrique dont l’objectif était de couvrir l’émission de Botola TV le lundi
et le jeudi, avec comme titre : «La Loupe». Mohamed a accepté avec joie et je l’invitais également (naïvement peut-être !!!) à venir dès que possible visiter notre nouveau studio.

Il avait rejoint la corporation en 1990 et notre première rencontre fut en Angola pour la CAN-2010, où il couvrait le tournoi pour le compte du Soir d’Algérie. Au centre de presse de Luanda, je consultais régulièrement les médias des envoyés spéciaux algériens et j’étais séduit tout de suite par la qualité de ses articles qui respiraient la compétence et le sérieux. Incontestablement les meilleurs de toutes les autres pages sportives des médias. Il n’aura pourtant eu aucune reconnaissance.

À l’annonce de sa mort, le site Footafrique. com et Botola.dz lui ont rendu un hommage appuyé, le qualifiant de «journaliste chevronné qui a marqué de son empreinte le paysage médiatique sportif algérien (…) Il s’est distingué par son professionnalisme exemplaire, sa plume singulière et la pertinence de ses analyses (…)». Cela lui a valu bien des invectives de la part d’une personne belliqueuse et dépourvue de véritable stature que la corporation a surnommée, pour l’Histoire, le « Fuyard de Franceville».

Fort du soutien des autorités sportives de l’époque, cette personne n’avait comme argument que les menaces pour le harceler, notamment par des textos, allant jusqu’à porter atteinte à la dignité de sa famille. Mohamed en a été marqué, mais grâce au soutien de la direction du Soir d’Algérie, il n’a jamais changé de cap, persuadé que le football professionnel allait à la catastrophe. C’était son combat et il l’a gagné, avec d’autres confrères, quand bien même l’Histoire bégaie et réserve parfois des surprises.

Le jour de notre dernier coup de fil, il y a trois semaines, Mohamed m’avait bien dit : «… pas pour longtemps», comme un adieu, mais je n’avais pas compris le message. Il n’avait que 60 ans.
– AHMED BESSOL LAHOUARI

L’article ALG : Immense tristesse, Mohamed Bouchama est parti est apparu en premier sur Foot Afrique.

The Bulls showed incredible mental fortitude to fight back from 21-3 down and secure a memorable 22-21 win over old rivals Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) semifinal, said Johan Ackermann.

The Bulls coach said Saturday’s result, which sets up a repeat of last year’s final against Leinster in Dublin, personally ranked among his best.

The Bulls looked down and out after the hosts scored three unanswered tries in the first half and controlled all the momentum while the Bulls were pegged back with two yellow cards at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.

But physical dominance, an improvement in defence, and elevation in intensity by the five-Springbok bomb squad helped the Bulls to three of their own unanswered tries, while they kept Glasgow scoreless in the second half.

It went to the wire with the Bulls leading 22-21 in the final minutes but failing to put the game to bed after Handré Pollard missed three consecutive penalties.

In the end, resilient defence and a turnover at the death sealed their win.

‘I’m lost for words’

“I’m lost for words, actually,” Ackermann said. “It felt like I couldn’t believe the whistle went and we won. Because, you know, we really showed so much commitment tonight.

“I’m so proud of the team… The comeback is special, I won’t lie. Because they were really playing good rugby, and Franco (Smith, Glasgow coach) has had a team together for four years, and they’re a quality team.

“This is probably one of the best victories I’ve had, just the character that the guys showed.”

He said that trailing 21-10 at half-time, senior players told the team they could not always determine the result. But they could choose whether to play hard or go into their shells.

Aside from tweaking the defensive strategy slightly, all Ackermann asked of his players was to score the first try in the second half.

They did so when URC SA Player of the Season, Embrose Papier, snatched up the ball at the breakdown and dashed through a gap to score after Glasgow were yellow carded for ill-discipline of their own.

“Then we saw the belief,” Ackermann said.

Bulls coach didn’t imagine reaching the URC final

Ackermann said when the Bulls were in the midst of a seven-match losing streak earlier in the season, he would never have imagined reaching the final. He admitted he doubted his ability and decisions at the time.

“And that’s why this final will be very special for me personally. But we haven’t achieved anything yet.”