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Springboks captain Siya Kolisi makes highly-anticipated Racing 92 debut
There might not be a bigger name in rugby right now than Siya Kolisi. After leading the Springboks to another Rugby World Cup crown, the flanker fits the bill as a genuine rockstar of the sport.
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Thousands of fans watched on in awe on Sunday evening as Kolisi made his highly-anticipated debut for Racing 92 at Paris La Defence Arena against French juggernauts La Rochelle.
Kolisi, 32, started in the backrow alongside Frenchmen Wenceslas Lauret and Jordan Joseph as the Parisian club ran away with a statement 32-10 win over the reigning European champions.
👀👊 @SiyaKolisi #RacingFamily | #R92vSR pic.twitter.com/iFGZYaBOdP
— Racing 92 (@racing92) November 26, 2023
It was a historic night for so many reasons.
With the World Cup coming to a thrilling end last month as the Boks defeated the All Blacks, the focus of the rugby world quickly shifted to the ongoing European seasons.
Days turned into weeks as anticipation continued to build for Kolisi’s first appearance in the iconic sky blue and white jersey of Racing 92. Well, rugby fans, wait no more.
Running out in a starting side alongside French internationals Cameron Woki and Gael Fickou, as well as England international Henry Arundell, all fans wanted to see Kolisi.
The match got off to a roaring start with Argentinian Juan Imhoff opening the scoring after just five minutes. While La Rochelle hit back with a penalty shortly after, it was all one-way traffic from there.
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Racing scored 10 unanswered points to round out the half, and to make things worse for Ronan O’Gara’s side, wing Teddy Thomas was sent off with just under 15 minutes to play. Hooker Pierre Bourgarit was also shown a yellow card shortly after.
La Rochelle cut down the lead just after the break with a try to Yoan Tanga Mangene, but it was far from a sign of things to come.
The red card was the major talking point as Racing shot up to first place on the Top 14 standings with an emphatic bonus-point win.
As for Kolisi, the Springboks captain played more than 50 minutes before making way for Max Baudonne. The flanker ran the ball for 21 metres and made five tackles as well.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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