NEW YORK, NY- Rugby, rugby everywhere. From all over the globe there is a rugby match going on. We have the quarterfinals of both the Amlin and Heineken cup, Matches from two Europe’s top leagues in the Pro12 and Top14. Then there is Super Rugby and Tier 3 action plus lets not forget Women’s 7s. So much to go through so let’s dive into the Weekend Rugby Preview:
Ladies first,
Guangzhou 7s – The Guangzhou 7s are the second to last stop on the women’s circuit. To make it really interesting is that there is a dead heat between New Zealand and their old rivals Australia. The USA is in 7th while Canada is in 3rd with twice the amount of points as the USA. This could be a real interesting leg as the weather appears to not be cooperating. Lets take a look at the 12 teams involved.
Pool A: New Zealand, Spain, Brazil, China
Pool B: Australia, England, Ireland, Fiji
Pool C: Canada, Russia, USA, France
Now with a look at the field, lets run down our list of expected results.
Here are our predictions:
Cup: New Zealand
Second: Canada
Third: England
Plate: USA
Bowl: Fiji
Heineken Cup – The RWU staff have put together a combined piece for this weekend’s preview. Please CLICK HERE for the preview and the six pack’s picks.
Amlin Cup – The East Midlands Machiavellian Rugger Nick Hall has put together a wonderful preview of the weekend’s action including for the one that was just played last night. Please CLICK HERE.
Here is this week’s results:
THU – 3RD APR 14
Sale Sharks 14 – 28 Northampton
Top 14 – There is one match on the schedule for this Heineken Cup weekend, in the Top 14. It is a postponed match from earlier in the year. RWU Favorites and possible relegation bound miracle kids, Oyonnax will look to continue their great record at home by down Bordeaux-Begles.
Here is this weekend’s schedule:
SAT – 5th APR 14
Oyonnax – Bordeaux-Begles
Rabodirect Pro12 – Like the Top 14 there are two previously postponed match scheduled for this weekend. One match occurred yesterday and Edinburgh saw off Newport-Gwent despite a great fight put up by the hosts. This weekend will see a must win game for Glasgow, if they hope to keep their playoff aspirations alive as they are home and take on Treviso.
Here is this week’s results and the weekend schedule:
THU – 3RD APR 14
Newport-Gwent Dragons 19 – 23 Edinburgh
SAT – 5TH APR 14
Glasgow vs Benetton Treviso
Super Rugby – The RWU Super Rugby Superman, Jamie Wall, is fully recharged from a week in his fortress of solitude. He’s caught up on all the games and has another great preview. Please CLICK HERE.
Tier 3 – With the Six Nations B and the Americas 2 RWC qualifier between USA and Uruguay matches over, we turn our attention back over to European tier 3 rugby. Two matches this weekend, Poland-Moldova and Germany-Czech Republic will count as European Nations Cup matches and RWCQs, while the Malta at home to the Netherlands match will only count as a ENC match.
Here is this weekend’s schedule:
SAT– 5th APR 14
Poland – Moldova
Malta – Netherlands
Germany – Czech Republic
Conversion Kick:
Signings/Player Moves: England and Harlequins prop Joe Marler has signed a contract extension all the way out til 2016. London Irish have raided the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, once more, adding Sean Cox to their squad for next season. Newcastle Falcons winger Sinoti Sinoti has signed a two-year contract extension. Former All Black scrum-half Jimmy Cowan has confirmed he will leave Gloucester at the end of the season. Greene King IPA Championship London Scottish’s 21-year-old prop, Tomas Francis has accepted an two-year deal with the Aviva Premiership club the Exeter Chiefs for next season. New Edinburgh prop Simon Berghan checked in at Murrayfield from Christchurch on Monday as his need was accelerated. The 23-year-old Berghan can play on both sides of the scrum and is eligible to represent Scotland through a grandfather. The Newport-Gwent Dragons have announced that 37-year-old second-row Ian Gough will join the region from London Irish at the end of the Premiership season.The worst kept secret in Top14 was officially out as Japanese second division club Honda Heat have announced the arrival of former All Blacks wing Hosea Gear from Toulouse. Perpignan have resigned young South African winger Wandile Mjekevu for two more seasons. Super Rugby Melbourne Rebels lock Hugh Pyle announced he will leave Super Rugby at the end of the season to continue his career in Europe, following an announcement to his teammates.
USA Rugby News and Updates: USA Rugby announced their plans for the Men’s Collegiate All-Americans team for this year. Their will be a series of training camps across the country and the following schedule was announced.
USA Rugby Men’s Collegiate All-Americans | Summer 2014 Schedule
High Performance Collegiate All-American Selection Camp – Merrimack College – Boston, Mass. – June 12-16
V Cambridge University – Dartmouth College – Hanover, N.H. – June 21
V Cambridge University – Irish Cultural Center – Canton, Mass. – June 25
V Ontario Blues – Irish Cultural Center – Canton, Mass. – June 28
USA Rugby AIG Men’s Collegiate All-Americans | Coaching Staff
Matt Sherman – Head Coach
Gavin Hickey – Forward Coach
Phillip Eloff – Back Coach
Craig Brown – Manager
Chris Mizer – Trainer
IRB RWC 7s USA Rugby Chief Executive Officer Nigel Melville confirmed Wednesday USA Rugby has “expressed its intent to tender” to host the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, and that USA Rugby is now seeking cities interested in hosting the event. Currently there are more than 10 countries have also expressed interest in hosting the event, which will be the seventh edition of the RWC Sevens. The International Rugby Board will distribute the tender documentation to potential host unions August 29, 2014. Bids will be submitted December 5, 2014. The IRB will decide the host venue May 14, 2015. We all fully believe that the USA choice should be as easy as butter on toast and cannot, repeat cannot be anywhere as bad as the debacle in Moscow last year.
That’s it for now. Feel free to comment below, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter@: RugbyWrapUp,Junoir Blaber, DJ Eberle, Nick Hall, James Harrington, Cody Kuxmann, Jaime Loyd, Karen Ritter , Jamie Wall, Jake Frechetteand Declan Yeats, respectively.
And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs!
