NEW YORK, NY – Hello fellow ruggers! Happy Monday and all that nonsense. Without delay, lets go a round the world of rugby, quicker than an under pressure scrum locks out.
Glasgow 7s – This was a brutal weekend for the host of the Glasgow 7s, Scotland. Scotland is actually where 7s was created, so for the national team to be in a relegation battle is a shame. Scotland will face Hong Kong, Zimbabwe and Georgia at Twickenham at next weekend’s England 7s for a right to maintain their core nation status. In the Tournament, New Zealand came close to wrapping up the Series with another finish in the final. However for the second straight tournament, the Blitzbokke of South Africa, defeated them to become tournament champions. In an old rivalry game, England defeated Wales to win third place. The United States continued its good show of form and replicated the results in Tokyo by defeating Argentina to win the Plate. Australia beat Kenya to take home the Bowl while France salvaged a poor tournament by beating Russia to take the Shield. Here are the results:
Cup Final: South Africa 28 – 21 New Zealand
Third Place: England 24 – 21 Wales
Plate Final: United States 17 – 7 Argentina
Bowl Final: Australia 12 – 5 Kenya
Shield Final: Russia 17 – 21 France
Aviva Premiership: The regular season is over and we can now look forward to the playoffs. Saracen, Leicester, Harlequins and Northampton, are the top 4 teams in the country and will be playing each other next weekend. Gloucester and Exeter booked their places in the Heineken Cup for next season also. As many expected at the start of the season the London Welsh will be relegated. They put up a great fight despite the 5 point deduction, they just could not find any consistency. They did give a great account of themselves and never embarrassed themselves which they will take with them down to the RFU Championship division. As for the matches this past weekend, Saracens defeated Bath and Harlequins edged out Northampton. Leicester cruised past London Irish meanwhile London Welsh had a bonus point victory over Worcester. Exeter scrapped by Gloucester as did Sale against Wasps. Here are the results:
Saracens 23 – 14 Bath
Harlequins 22 – 19 Northampton
Leicester 32 – 20 London Irish
London Welsh 33 – 22 Worcester
Exeter 40 – 39 Gloucester
Sale 21 – 20 Wasps
Top 14: The incredibly long Top 14 season has also come to an end. Clermont Auvergne, Toulon, Toulouse, Castres, Montpellier, and Racing Metro Paris are the teams that qualify for the 6 team playoffs in the French League beginning next week. Mont de Marsan and Agen are the two teams being relegated from Top 14 to Pro D2. In action this weekend, Montpellier easily defeated Perpignan while Clermont destroyed Bordeaux-Begles. Toulon swatted away Agen, Biarritz hammered Stade Francais and Toulouse routed Grenoble. Racing scraped by Castres while Bayonne did just enough to get past Agen. Here are the results:
Montpellier 50 – 22 Perpignan
Clermont Auvergne 67 – 3 Bordeaux-Begles
Toulon 43 – 21 Agen
Biarritz 52 – 17 Stade Francais
Toulouse 57 – 7 Grenoble
Racing Metro Paris 29 – 28 Castres
Mont de Marsan 33 – 36 Bayonne
RaboDirect Pro 12: Ulster finished top of the table, they were followed by Leinster, Glasgow Warriors and Scarlets to complete the playoff teams. In the final round of the season, Edinburgh beat the Dragons, Ulster dominated Cardiff and Leinster were merciless against Ospreys. Treviso steamrolled Scarlets, Munster edged past Zebre and Glasgow made short work of Connacht. Here are the results:
Edinburgh 31 – 24 Newport Gwent Dragons
Ulster 37 – 13 Cardiff Blues
Leinster 37 – 19 Ospreys
Scarlets 17 – 41 Benetton Treviso
Zebre 25 – 27 Munster
Connacht 3 – 20 Glasgow
Super 15: In Super Rugby, Stormers came up just short against the Blues, The Rebels have still not beaten New Zealand opposition as the Chiefs, got by them. The Highlanders finally won one by beating the Sharks. The Reds and Force split the points, the Waratahs “snotklapped” the Kings. The Bulls walked over the Hurricanes and the Crusaders took down the Brumbies. Here are the results:
Blues 18 – 17 Stormers
Melbourne Rebels 33 – 39 Chiefs
Highlanders 25 – 22 Sharks
Western Force 11 – 11 Reds
Southern Kings 10 – 72 Waratahs
Bulls 48 – 14 Hurricanes
Brumbies 23 – 30 Crusaders
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, @Mathew Drew Turner and @Ebstide52, respectively. And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs.
