NEW YORK, NY: The J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s appears to be the main talking point of the weekend but there was plenty more rugby action taking place.There is Womens Nations Cup, The USA Club 7s, Currie Cup premier division kicking off along with the ITM cup kicking off. As quick as the ball can get to a wing, lets begin the Weekend Wrap:
J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s: The premier domestic club has come to a close. This is a 7s competition between all the teams of the Aviva Premiership, allowing the teams to display their academy and some fringe national team talent. This year’s winner is Gloucester Rugby.Here are the results:Location: The Recreation Ground, Bath
Teams: Gloucester Rugby, Worcester Warriors, Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, Harlequins and Saracens
Final: Gloucester 24 – 17 Leicester Tigers
Womens Nations Cup: Infinity Park, in Glendale, Colorado is hosting the championship and 3rd place match of the senior women’s Nations Cup. Canada, followed up their victory of the U-20 version of this cup, with a win over England on Sunday to be full national team champions. As a USA rugby supporter, I find this title a little hollow since the final should have included the US, if not for Canada throttling South Africa on Wednesday, to qualify for the final on Points difference. You can only defeat those in front of you but the US did beat Canada and that can not be denied. My personal bias aside, congrats to the Maple leafs on a well earned victory.
USA 61 – 5 South Africa (3rd Place)
Canada 27 – 13 England (Championship)
The Currie Cup: South Africa‘s National Provincial Championship will kickoff this weekend. To be exact, the premier division kicked off and it was a great start to the season. Griquas managed to steal a victory at the death against the Sharks. The Cheetahs scraped by the Lions and the Blue Bulls and Western Province fought to a stalemate. We will have an overall breakdown of the full season tomorrow. Here are the weekend’s results:
Sharks 30 – 32 Griquas
Lions 29 – 30 Cheetahs
Western Province 24 – 24 Blue Bulls
The ITM Cup: New Zealand‘s National Provincial Championship will kickoff this week. The ITM Cup often goes by its old name the National Provincial Championship. Canterbury are the defending champions of the premiership division with Counties Manukau having won the Championship and moving up and Waikato the reigning Ranfury Shield champions. If all of that is too much to handle, don’t worry we will recap it tomorrow in our fall preview. Here is the fixture list for this week:
Round 1
15 Aug 2013
Counties Manukau – Wellington
USA Rugby Club 7s Championship: The USA Club 7s Championship was contested this weekend. It appears my predictions came close. RWU Correspondent and new USA 7s Head Coach Matt “Polar Bear” Hawkins was in attendance and rumor has it, he put on the boots for for the San Diego Old Aztecs. What is not a rumor, is as expected, Seattle OPSB was too much in the Mens Division, Berkeley All Blues of the Womens Premier League showed their caliber also. There were some great games and if you missed it, I urge you to look for them on youtube at USArugbytv. Here are the results:
MENS DIVISION:
Cup: Seattle-OPSB
3rd place: Old Blue
Plate: Belmont Shore
Bowl: New Orleans
Shield: SD Old Aztecs
WOMENS DIVISION:
Cup: Berkley All-Blues
3rd place: San Diego Surfers
Plate: Youngbloodz
Bowl: Boston Belles
Shield: Detroit
That is it for now, feel free to comment below, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @RugbyWrapUp, @JunoirBlaber, @Declan Yeats, @ckuxmann and @Ebstide52, respectively. And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs.
