NEW YORK, NY – The Lions vs the Wallabies was easily the most engrossing match of the weekend. It was filled with all sorts of drama. There were other matches to including Japan vs USA, which was unfortunately less dramatic. Here comes the wrap-up, faster than a skip pass.
Lions v Australia: In a great test match, the Lions came away victorious thanks to a shoddy patch of grass. The match was physical from the start, literally as a Wallaby back (Chrisitian Lealifiano) was injured in the first minute. Wallabies Berrick Barnes, Pat McCabe and Adam Ashley-Cooper would leave the field due to injury. Lions lock Paul O’Connell suffered an injury during the game that will rule him out for the series. Replacing him will not be easy as he was in fine form. Australia lock and captain James Horwill was charged with stamping but was cleared by the citing commission.
As for the match itself there were some great tries scored by the wingers of both sides. Israel Folau scored two tries for the Wallabies, with one try through his sheer individual brilliance. Alex Cuthbert and George North scored for the Lions, with North’s being the more impressive try. The Wallabies missed 14 points on the board due to poor kicking including 3 at the death when Kurtley Beale’s plant foot slipped on the grass as he attempted a long range penalty kick.
Final Score:
Australia 21 – B & I Lions 23
Pacific Nations Cup:
The Raeburn Shield will remain with Japan. The US put up a great fight in the first 40 minutes but faded as the match went on and Japan’s high tempo took its toll. The US went winless in the PNC and in all 5 summer matches. Time to regroup and get ready for the Rugby World Cup Qualifiers in July against Canada. The 2013 PNC Champions are Fiji. They managed to overcome losing key players to the 7s team for the 7’s RWC. They also had a narrow loss to Canada. This meant they had to beat Tonga by a converted try to win the title and they did just that. Tonga didn’t make it easy for them, as expected, but Fiji did just enough to win. Here are the final results:
Japan 38 – 20 USA
Fiji 34 – 21 Tonga
Summer Tours: The Summer Tours have come to an end. New Zealand “blackwashed” France as they took the third and final match in the 3 match series to win 3-0. The 4-team mini-tournament in South Africa, saw the hosts take on a red hot Samoa side for the tourney title. SA appeared far more alive for this match as they ran in 8 tries to win comfortably. Scotland defeated Italy to win the wooden spoon decider by the slimmest of margins. Argentina eventually managed to put away a very spirited Georgia side. Here are the results:
New Zealand 24 – 9 France
South Africa 56 – 23 Samoa
Scotland 30 – 29 Italy
Argentina 29 – 18 Georgia
Junior World Cup: The JWC is the yearly World Cup held for U-20 teams of the top-tier rugby playing nations. The USA team are in it this year after winning the Junior World Trophy, the second tier competition.
England are the new JWC champions as they defeated Wales in a close match. South Africa defeated New Zealand to win 3rd while hosts France just got by Argentina for 5th. Australia schooled Ireland for 7th and Samoa beat Scotland for 9th. The USA will be relegated back to the JWT as they lost the relegation match to Fiji. Here are the playoff results for sunday:
1st Place Final: Wales 15 – 23 England
3rd Place Final: South Africa 41 – 34 New Zealand
5th Place Final: Argentina 34 – 37 France
7th Place Final: Australia 28 – 17 Ireland
9th Place Final: Samoa 33 – 24 Scotland
11th Place Final: Fiji 46 – 12 USA
CAR: In the yearly Elgon Cup match between neighbors Kenya and Uganda, Kenya won to sweep 2-0. The womens match which doubled as a Womens Rugby World Cup qualifier match went to Uganda. In the African Federation Rugby Cup, CAR’s D3 contest, Morocco smashed Niger and Ivory Coast destroyed Zambia, with Nigeria doing the same to Mauritius.
AFRC Morocco 77 – 3 Niger
AFRC Ivory Coast 77 – 3 Zambia
AFRC Nigeria 63 – 3 Mauritius
ELC Uganda 13 – 19 Kenya
WELC/WRWCQ Uganda 13 – 8 Kenya
Carlin Isles: News came out late last week that negotiations broke down between the USA 7s star and Toulon. Rumor has it the sticking points were over Isles being released to play all the stops in the 7s world series. Stay Tuned for more info.
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.
