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123 Jun 12 '19
Springboks captain Adriaan Strauss will retire from Test rugby at the end of the 2016 season. George Brett Jersey Large .Strauss, who has so far earned 59 caps for South Africa, announced the decision via SA Rugbys official website on Thursday.The 30-year-old became the 57th Springbok captain against Ireland in June, when appointed by coach Allister Coetzee.When Coach Allister approached me to lead the team, I was both humbled and honoured, Strauss told SA Rugby. The plan was for me to serve and lead a team in transition as well as I can and take things week by week, but back then I already told him that I was thinking of retiring at the end of the season.Ive always accepted the pressure and the challenge of playing for and captaining the Springboks, I feel its the right time to let my team-mates and our supporters know of the decision I made, with a greater plan in mind.I knew my role was going to extend beyond what happens on the field on a Saturday and that we were starting a building process of something special with a new group of players, many of whom will become Springbok greats.This is a young team and Ive been honoured to work with a very talented group of players and leaders in establishing a new team culture. I believe the time is right to start giving more opportunities to this new generation and Im happy to be used in any way the coach sees fit.It has never been about me. My point of view was always to do what is best for the team and I believe Ive succeeded in making a contribution to the Springboks and South African rugby, which were two major reasons for me to retire.Every older player has this voice in the back of his head that hed like to retire on his own terms, and I believe that is what I am doing.Im very grateful for my Springbok career and to all coaches and team-mates who have played a role in my development as a player and as a human being. The last few months have been especially enjoyable, as well as massively challenging. My decision make it official is so that the coach and his management staff will have sufficient time to do their succession planning.The Springboks are lucky to have a massively passionate base of supporters, who are very critical of many aspects of the game. I would like to urge them to keep the faith and remain positive, because were on an exciting journey and this team will keep on working as hard as possible to make our supporters proud.Head coach Coetzee led the praise for his captain. Ive known since day one that Adriaan was planning to retire at the end of 2016, but he is a vital component in our team and his role has been part of our succession planning in any case, he said.He is a magnificent servant of the game in South Africa and doesnt always get the credit he deserves. At a time when most players of his generation decided to move abroad, Adriaan chose to remain here, ploughing back into the game.Adriaan has captained the team with great courage in the past few months, often rallying the players on the field when real leadership was needed. He has also led by example during the week leading up to our Tests -- none of which the public sees.Ive come to know Adriaan as a player who only wants what is best for the team, so he will help the younger players and leaders come through the system, knowing they will need to get game time and exposure at Test level. Cheap Royals Jerseys .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Custom Royals Jersey China . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. http:///...ersey-large-77h.html . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. By the time Tennessee and Missouri begin play Saturday afternoon, the Volunteers will probably have a keen sense for how another SEC game of material importance, being played 565 miles away, might turn out.Florida and LSU are scheduled to kick off in Baton Rouge a good 2 1/2 hours before the Vols (7-3, 3-3 SEC) and Mizzou (3-7, 1-5 SEC) kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.The Vols have a vested interest in the outcome of the LSU-Florida redo -- shifted on the calendar and from Gainesville -- affair because they need the Gators to lose their conference finale to have a shot at gaining a share of the East Division title and a berth in the SEC Championship Game.But Vols coach Butch Jones said players wont be scoreboard watching when they take on Mizzou.In terms of scoreboard watching, we dont ever look up at the scoreboard, Jones said. Thats kind of our mindset. You just keep your head down and you keep playing.His players need to be concerned only with things they can control, he said.Thats out of our hands, he said of the Florida-LSU game. Were playing a very team thats coming in here with a lot of momentum, very, very explosive, and its going to take all of our focus and concentration on playing Missouri.With their win last week over Kentucky, the Vols got back to .500 in conference play and now need wins over Mizzou and Vanderbilt their next two games to finish 5-3 in the conference. If the Gators lose at LSU, they also would end up 5-3, and the Vols hold the tiebreaker to get to the title game, where they would face No. 1 Alabama. The unbeaten Crimson Tide already has clinched the West.The Vols go into their final home game unranked in the media and coaches polls after once reaching as high as No. 9 in the country. But consecutive losses to Texas A&M, Alabama, and South Carolina knocked them out of the Top 25. They are No. 19 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings but were among teams also receiving votes in this weeks media and coaches polls.Their unranked status doesnt bother Jones.Thatss one of those things that we cant control, he said. Royals Jerseys China. The only way we can control it is to keep winning.I am proud of this football team and everything that it has accomplished. Weve played the most difficult schedule, No. 1 in the country, and were 7-3. Were playing meaningful games in November, and thats what its all about.Injuries have had a major impact on the Vols. Jones noted that the Vols have lost five defensive starters since the season began and have started eight different combinations in the secondary.Its pretty hard to be consistent when you have that and when you look at the number of players who have missed games, Jone said. I dont know if there as ever been a season like this in football.The game against Missouri will feature a matchup of two of the leagues most productive quarterbacks, at least when it comes to producing touchdowns.Tennessees Josh Dobbs and Missouris Drew Lock are tied for the most touchdown passes among SEC quarterbacks with 21 each. Dobbs, however, also has rushed for seven scores to no rushing touchdowns for Lock.Dobbs, in fact, is a major factor in Tennessees running game, especially since veteran running back Jalen Hurd left the Vols after seven games. Dobbs is the Vols leading rusher with 470 yards and is coming off a 147-yard rushing effort against Kentucky.Missouri, which snapped a five-game losing streak with its win over Vanderbilt last week, gets its ground yardage the usual way. Running backs Damarea Crockett and Ish Witter have rushed for 837 and 575 yards, respectively. Crockett is coming off a 150-yard effort against the Commodores.We blocked well from the point of attack and Damarea, for a freshman, hes gotten better every week, first-year coach Barry Odom said. He works that way in practice.Im excited to see him throughout the week the way that he practices, handles himself, and then prepares the right way. Hes got a bright future. ' ' ' 
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