Rollenspiele » that, the great Australia team had that, so thats w

With plenty of Super Rugby action ahead this weekend, we look at some of the stars who could feature against the home nations in the June tours on Sky Sports. Wales head to New Zealand next month to take on world champions New Zealand, while England are in Australia to face the Wallabies in their three-Test tour.Ireland head for South Africa where the Springboks and new coach Allister Coetzee await, while the Boks bogey side from the World Cup, Japan, host Vern Cotters Scotland. With the tours around the corner, we take a look at this weekends Super Rugby action and pick out some stars who could play in June.Ryan Crotty (Crusaders v Waratahs - Friday from 8.30am on Sky Sports 1)After winning the World Cup the All Blacks said goodbye to one of the best midfield pairings of the modern era as Maa Nonu and Conrad Smith headed to France from Twickenham. Crusaders Ryan Crotty score a hat-trick against the Lions Missing out on that tournament was Crotty, edged out of the squad by Sonny Bill Williams and Malakai Fekitoa, who took the remaining centre spots. However, Crotty is now poised to build on his 15 international caps by stepping into the vacant No 12 jersey, after Williams declared himself unavailable for selection with an eye on the Rio Olympics later in the year. With New Zealand at the top of rugbys proverbial tree in both ranking and silverware, the competition for places is typically stiff, and the Chiefs Charlie Ngatai has voiced his international ambitions with some blistering form in this years Super Rugby competition.However, Crotty is seen as the ultimate team man, and his loyalty to club and country should see the 27-year-old start the first Test against Wales, with Fekitoa his likely midfield partner.Akihito Yamada (Reds v Sunwolves - Saturday from 6am on Sky Sports 3)Yamadas first-half hat-trick against the Cheetahs in round three was almost enough to earn the Sunwolves an historic first win in Super Rugby, but the Bloemfontein side fought back for a 32-31 victory in Singapore. Sunwolves Akihito Yamada scores a hat-trick against the Cheetahs The Sunwolves did eventually claim their first win, against the Jaguares in round nine, and it was just reward for a hard-fought maiden campaign for the Japanese side. One of the stars of their show has been Japan wing Yamada, who tops the overall Super Rugby try-scoring charts with eight scores. His closest rivals are the likes of Damian McKenzie, Lionel Mapoe and Israel Folau, who are all in franchises that are winning games.The fact that Yamada is the most prolific scorer in the tournament so far despite playing for a team that has lost all but one match is a testament to his finishing.Damian McKenzie (Chiefs v Rebels - Saturday from 8.30am on Sky Sports 4)McKenzies credentials have been the topic of many debates in the southern hemisphere as he competes with Ben Smith, Israel Dagg and Beauden Barrett for the All Blacks No 15 jersey. Damian McKenzie is nicknamed the smiling assassin for his unique build-up to kicks at goal. New Zealand are not known for rushing a player onto the international scene if hes not ready, but equally are not shy to pick players who are in form ahead of established stars, so McKenzie could well feature against Wales next month.Three years ago McKenzie was playing schoolboy rugby, and now the 21-year-old is among conversations around the future of the All Blacks. The Invercargill-born man is capable of playing fly-half, but with Chiefs team-mate Aaron Cruden likely to take that jersey in the New Zealand team and Barrett next in line for it, McKenzies likely best bet is to stay at full-back.Nicknamed the Smiling Assassin for his unusual pre-kick ritual, his sidestep has been the undoing of seasoned campaigners throughout the year.George Moala (Western Force v Blues - Saturday from 10.30 on Sky Sports 4) George Moala shows the Blues how to tackle hard Moala made a try-scoring debut for the All Blacks against Samoa in Apia last year, but since then has been unable to add to his Test caps. The 25-year-old is able to play on the wing or in the midfield, and though he would have to impress to get the nod ahead of some of the more established All Blacks, there is definite pedigree in his rugby. A loss of form earlier in this years campaign saw him put on the bench, but Blues coach Tana Umaga has brought him back into the mix, and he will be hoping to impress Steve Hansen after the All Black coach paid a visit to the Blues training ground late last month.Lionel Mapoe (Lions v Jaguares - Saturday from 2pm on Sky Sports 1 via the Red Button)Mapoe has played two minutes of international rugby, coming onto the field in the closing stages of the Springboks 27-20 loss to New Zealand in the 2015 Rugby Championship. But after the year hes had, that looks set to change.Mapoe scored a hat-trick in the Lions 43-5 thrashing of the Blues last weekend, and drew praise from Blues boss Tana Umaga. Lions Lionel Mapoe scores a hat-trick against the Blues. Lionel is another thats playing very well on the outside of a backline thats doing well this year, said Umaga after the game.A midfielder as big as he is gets them over the gain line and he runs good lines.Mapoe will be hoping hes caught the eye of new coach Allister Coetzee as well as that of Umaga.Jean-Luc du Preez (Sharks v Kings - Saturday from 4.05pm on Sky Sports 1 via the Red Button)Its tough to tell Daniel and Jean-Luc du Preez apart at the best of times, and in rugby terms its no different. The sons of former South Africa international Robert du Preez have made waves in the Sharks pack in their debut season, with strong ball-carrying a key component of their game.The pair were involved in the 2014 Junior World Cup and featured in Craven Week - South Africas premier Under 18 provincial tournament - for an impressive three years. Jean-Luc du Preez powers through the Western Province defence in the Currie Cup. To add to the confusion the pair have an older brother, Robert Jr, who is making a name for himself at the Stormers at fly-half.Still only 20 years old, it may be a season too early for Daniel or Jean-Luc to be included in Allister Coetzees first year in charge, but both stand an outside chance of making an international bow in June.Pieter-Stef du Toit (Bulls v Stormers - Saturday from 6.10pm on Sky Sports 1 via the Red Button)Anyone who celebrated the end of the era in which Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield played second row for club and country for over a decade, look away - there is a new lock pairing in South Africa that is gathering steam.Eben Etzebeth has found that his feet quite comfortably fill the shoes of Bok enforcer Botha, while the man next to him in the engine room, Du Toit, is fast becoming the new Matfield in the way he unlocks and infiltrates opposition lineouts. Pieter-Stef du Toit scores a brace of tries against the Waratahs. Add Cheetahs lock Lood de Jager into the mix and youve got a good stock of second rowers coming through the South African system. At 24, Etzebeth is the oldest of them.Du Toit made a name for himself at the Sharks, graduating from their academy to become an integral part of their grizzly forward unit, before moving to the Stormers where he has established an unwavering partnership with Etzebeth.Though De Jager won plaudits for his performance at last years World Cup, former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer handed Du Toit his international debut, describing him as a future great of the Springboks. Also See: Robshaw relishing summer clashes OBrien out of South Africa tour Follow @SkySportsRugby Rugby on Sky Jamal Murray Jersey . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Jarred Vanderbilt Nuggets Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. http://www.authenticnuggetsproshop.com/Michael-Porter-Jersey/ . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Thomas Welsh Nuggets Jersey . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Gary Harris Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Phil Simmons, the West Indies head coach, has expressed concern over the up-and-down nature of the teams performances over the course of the Test series against India, and believes the inconsistency may have something to do with the quality gap between Test cricket and the regions domestic cricket.I think the series was a little bit too up-and-down, Simmons said. We played well across maybe two hours, three hours sometimes, and the next two hours we would be down. And I think that was, for me, the major disappointment. Weve shown that we can do things but not consistently enough. We batted well in Jamaica, but we went and did the same things we did in the first Test [again] in the third Test. Its disappointing that we werent consistent enough.Simmons said some of the West Indies batsmen might need to tighten up their techniques to be more consistent at Test level, but said the process should be happening in domestic cricket.I think in some cases you have to adjust techniques, which is a sad thing because its something that we should be doing at a level below, Simmons said. I think the same thing with mentality because when we come up here its a lot harder to get runs and get wickets. I think at our domestic level its a lot easier, that patience and that time at the crease and things, if we bat two sessions in a domestic game a lot of the guys playing here would have a hundred or more. But if you bat two sessions here, it might be 60 or 70, so the patience at the domestic level is not tested as much as up here.Calling for a unified approach to lifting the standard of cricket, Simmons wanted the coaching staff of the Test team to meet the coaches of the domestic teams regularly.Theres a lot of things that I have asked for, and its not coming to fruition, he said. Ive asked for coaches to meet twice, maybe three times a year, and discuss cricket and so on. We need to make sure that whatever were doing upstairs is going down to everybody.You and me might be two coaches and might coach differently but the same objective we have to have. If we dont have the same objective, then we spin it up in muddles. I think thats lacking. Its quite a few things to be fixed, but at the end of the day the quality of cricket that is downstairs is not good enough for the maturity of the players to be quicker.Other measures, he said, would include improving the facilities all around the region.Things like our pitches and our practice facilities need to be better, a lot better, in order to produce players, not just fast bowlers as were lacking now, but batsmen, because the better the pitches the better batsmen show themselves. Little things like that we need to put in place. The gap between [Test cricket] and our cricket needs to be filled, whether it can be done with an academy, which we dont have right now, A-team cricket, which we have one [series] a year, we should have two to three a year. Something has to be done to fill that gap, you know? Were missing a few things.Only 22 overs of play were possible over the five days of the fourth Test at Queens Park Oval, and there was no play on the last four days despite the ground receiving plenty of sunshine in that time. Simmons said he could not put his finger on why the outfield failed to dry sufficiently to allow play.Extremely surprised, because, as far as I know, in my years here, this has never been a ground like that, he said. I dont know what is the position is over on the other side [the ground officials], but it was really bad and after two days of sun, and when I saw it yesterday morning, I couldnt believe how bad it was. I dont know what thhe position is there and what caused that, but Im surprised and I never expected that here.ddddddddddddest Indies next Test assignment is a tour of the UAE to play Pakistan, who were recently crowned the No. 1 Test team in the world. Simmons said it was important for the Test players to get some rest after the series against India, but hoped they would have adequate preparation ahead of the Tests in the UAE.I dont know about [whether we need an] extended camp because you just played four Test matches, well three-and-a-quarter Test matches, back-to-back, and we underestimate the power of rest after Test matches, but we also have two T20s [against India in Florida]. We also have a one-day squad and T20 squad for the first part of the Pakistan series.So from the point of view of being together, were trying to get the Test team to the UAE early enough, so that we can have enough practice time before the first two-day game. And this is something that I keep trying to get when we go on tour because I think its harder on tour. If we get two, sometimes three practice games before the first Test match, then that would be ideal.Some places we cant get it, but we have to keep trying to get that because we see that we improve [with warm-up games]. On the other side, its a case of us trying not to slack off now as players and coaches, and make sure that players continue to do what weve been doing over the last two weeks, with their technique and temperament and everything like that.One positive for West Indies from the Tests against India was the promise shown by some of the younger batsmen, notably Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich. When asked where that left the Test career of Marlon Samuels, who has averaged 25.80 since the start of 2013, Simmons hoped the performances of the younger players would push established players to perform.[Samuels] Test career still stands there, Simmons said. [Younger players] are pushing him which is nice because when you have people pushing you from outside, you either get pushed out or you lift your game. So, I think its a case where you have youngsters pushing him now, and thats good for the team.Same thing with Shannon [Gabriel] and a few young fast bowlers coming out, Jason [Holder], everybody. You need that second team thats up to the standard to push people so that they continue to produce. The great West Indies team had that, the great Australia team had that, so thats what we need here.Darren Bravo, West Indies best batsman, had a poor series, with only one half-century in seven innings, and ended the series with his Test average dipping below 40. Simmons backed Bravo to come out of his lean patch, and said his career record reflected the state of the team when he came into it, without too many world-class seniors to share their experience with him.We talk about Darren Bravo, and we talk about him a lot because we see his potential and where hes supposed to be right now. But you look back at things and you look at all the people around his age and what theyve come through, the help that theyve had in the team when they came in...We talk about Virat [Kohli]. When Virat came in, look at the players around him. Thats where you get that little bit of experience, little bit of help from. Bravos had to turn up and be the senior player and I think sometimes that affects people. But no doubt about it, hes working extremely hard on trying to get his game together and trying to score runs, just as he did when he came into the team. ' ' '