Bath fly-half Butch James is a notable absentee from the South Africa bench for this weekend's Tri Nations encounter against Australia in Bloemfontein.

South Africa coach Peter De Villiers has made two changes to his side ahead of Saturday’s game against Australia in Pretoria.

GRAHAM HENRY expects his New Zealand side to face a much-changed South Africa one when the two countries meet in the Tri-Nations on Saturday.

SOUTH AFRICA coach Peter de Villiers has rung the changes ahead of Saturday’s Tri Nations clash with Australia at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

SOUTH AFRICA lock Victor Matfield was yesterday despairing at the way Irish referees Alan Lewis and Alain Rolland have policed the breakdown, following his side’s second successive Tri Nations defeat to New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.

SOUTH AFRICA out-half Morne Steyn insists there will be no knee-jerk reaction to last week’s Tri Nations destruction at the hands of the All Blacks when the sides meet again in Wellington tomorrow (8.35am).

SOUTH AFRICA lock Bakkies Botha has apologised to his team-mates after being banned for his head-butt on New Zealand scrum-half Jimmy Cowan.

WHILE the Super 14 is more commonly associated with dazzling backs and fingertip handling, it’s the forward-oriented pursuit of the lineout that is the primary focus at international level as the 2010 Tri Nations hovers into view.

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont blamed his team’s horrific opening 20 minutes for their 42-17 loss to South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday.

WORLD champions South Africa suffered a second successive loss on their northern hemisphere tour as France triumphed in Toulouse last night.

South Africa’s big names are back in the starting XV for the Test match against France on Friday.

ANY hopes Munster may have harboured of star signing Jean de Villiers arriving early in Ireland were dashed in Brisbane on Saturday as Australia recorded a remarkable 21-9 Tri-Nations win over South Africa.

THE Tri-Nations tournament is South Africa’s to lose after Peter de Villiers’ side racked up their fourth straight win with a 32-25 victory over Australia in Perth on Saturday.

Ruan Pienaar was today handed a surprise recall to the starting line-up for South Africa’s Tri-Nations encounter against Australia in Perth on Saturday.

PETER DE VILLIERS yesterday named two uncapped players in the South Africa squad to face the Lions in a three-match Test series to be played in late June and early July.

PETER DE VILLIERS has named three uncapped players in his South African XV to face a Namibian Invitational XV in Windhoek tomorrow.

GORDON D’ARCY’s slim Lions prospects were eliminated yesterday when head coach Ian McGeechan confirmed he would not be calling up a replacement for the injured Tom Shanklin.

ALL BLACK fly-half Dan Carter has been ruled out of Perpignan’s European Cup game against Leicester on Saturday despite starting a six-month contract for the French side yesterday.

South Africa captain John Smit will lead a star-studded Barbarians side against Australia in Wednesday’s Olympic centenary clash at Wembley.

ALL BLACKS captain Richie McCaw has delivered an emphatic message to the critics who question his style of play.

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has made two changes to the team which beat Scotland last weekend for the season-ending Test against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Wales star Shane Williams has been named in the Barbarians squad for next month’s London Olympic Centenary match against Australia at Wembley.

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN’S campaign to repair the damage done by Ireland’s embarrassing World Cup and land the prized Lions job starts tomorrow.

WORLD Cup superstar Bryan Habana has led the tributes to departing Springboks coach Jake White, declaring: “He has taken us on an unbelievable journey.”

South Africa will field nine of their victorious World Cup final starting line-up against Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

Uncapped prop Heinke van der Merwe has been included in the South Africa squad for the clashes with Wales and the Barbarians.

South Africa coach Jake White has recalled prop CJ van der Linde for Sunday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina in Paris.

SPRINGBOK coach Jake White saluted the leadership of his senior players after South Africa survived a major World Cup quarter-final fright against Fiji at Stade Velodrome.

South Africa coach Jake White has handed 20-year-old full-back Francois Steyn a starting berth at inside centre for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against Scotland.

There were few surprise inclusions as South Africa named their 30-man World Cup squad today.

Victor Matfield will captain South Africa in their Tri-Nations clash against New Zealand in Durban on Saturday.

South African captain John Smit will earn his 50th cap on Saturday when the Springboks face Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio will lead the northern hemisphere team in Saturday’s IRB Rugby Aid tsunami fund-raising game against their southern counterparts at Twickenham.

CLIVE WOODWARD yesterday announced his northern hemisphere squad for the Tsunami rugby aid match against the southern hemisphere at Twickenham on March 5.

Clive Woodward today announced his northern hemisphere squad for the Tsunami rugby aid match against the southern hemisphere at Twickenham on March 5.

BARBARIANS coach Bob Dwyer yesterday gave an interesting glimpse into the future of Australian rugby by selecting Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri at outside centre and Matt Giteau at fly-half for tomorrow’s Gartmore Challenge against New Zealand at Twickenham.

ENGLAND coach Andy Robinson last night formally ruled World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson out of his autumn Test plans.

Springboks coach Jake White has made one enforced change in his starting line-up for Saturday’s clash against England at Twickenham.

Springbok coach Jake White has made three changes to his 22-man squad for Saturday’s clash with Ireland at Lansdowne Road.

Ashwin Willemse was the shock inclusion when South Africa coach Jake White named his team on Friday to play Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday, November 6.

New South African coach Jake White has recalled Percy Montgomery in his 22-man squad which plays two test matches against Ireland next month.