NEW YORK, NY: The world – including the rugby world – mourned the passing of Nelson Madiba Mandela this weekend. His support of the 1995 South Africa Springboks, as captured in the movie Invictus, saved SA Rugby and permanently altered the rugby landscape for the better… And with a Hollywood ending at the Mandela Bay 7s as a fitting tribute, we begin our Weekend Rugby Wrap Up.
South Africa 7s: A storybook ending. Really. On the weekend of Madiba’s death, the Nelson Mandela Bay 7s were held at the venue named for the great man. If that weren’t enough, the Final once again saw the 1995 nations, New Zealand and host South Africa, pitted against each other. The AIG All Blacks were favored over banged-up the Blitzbokke and NZ held to that, up 14-0 at the start of the second half. But the Mandela-inspired hosts, through shear will, guts and determination, scored 17 unanswered to win 17-14… Simply astonishing. And fitting… Meanwhile, the USA went 1-4, including a 0-3 start, and lost in the Bowl semi-finals to our friend Mathew Turner & England.
Here are this weekend’s results:
Cup Final: New Zealand 14-17 South Africa
Third Place: Samoa 21-7 Argentina
Plate Final: Fiji 45-19 France
Bowl Final: Australia 19-28 England
Shield Final: Canada 12-19 Scotland
Heineken Cup: As he has done for the previous two rounds James Harrington has the review of all the action.
Amlin Challenge Cup: Our East Midlands Machiavellian rugger, Nick Hall will review all the action tomorrow. To recap though, Biarritz continued their new found winning ways against Worcester while Oyonnax kept their nearly unblemished home record in good order as they stumped Sale… Neath Swansea won a shootout against Bordeaux… Brive were lucky to get by Bucharest, while Wasps smashed Grenoble… Cavalieri beat out Lusitanos in an exciting match, while Newcastle easily dispatched Calvisano… Lastly, London Irish looked good at home against Stade Francias.
Here are this weekend’s results:
Thu – 5th Dec 2013
Worcester 15 – 19 Biarritz
Oyonnax 16 – 10 Sale Sharks
Fri – 6TH DEC 13
Newport Gwent Dragons 40 – 24 Bordeaux-Begles
Bayonne 63 – 7 Viadana
Sat – 7TH DEC 13
Mogliano Rugby 8 – 55 Bath
Bucuresti 13 – 18 Brive
Grenoble 7 – 47 Wasps
Cavalieri Prato 40 – 22 Lusitanos
Sun – 8TH DEC 13
Newcastle 37 – 15 Calvisano
London Irish 24 – 13 Stade Francais
Tier 3 Action: This weekend in San Jose, Costa Rica, the CONSUR (Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby) Division C tournament was held. The winner is promoted to Division B… The Costa Rica and Guatemala match was expected to be the championship decider. This expectation was based on El Salvador upsetting Ecuador. That upset never happened, so Ecuador are your champions… Saturday also saw an exhibition match, with Panama defeating Nicaragua in an exhibition as the two countries work towards established international sides.
Here are this weekend’s results:
Sat – 7th Dec 2013
Ecuador 32 – 12 El Salvador
Costa Rica 59 – 10 Guatemala
Panama 12 – 7 Nicaragua
Unconverted Try:
LV7s Draw was announced: This may be the most winnable pool ever for the USA at the Las Vegas 7s. But the games are played on the field, not on paper.
Here are the pools:
Pool A: South Africa, Kenya, Wales, Canada
Pool B: New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Scotland
Pool C: Samoa, Portugal, England, Uruguay
Pool D: Argentina, France, USA, Spain
NYC 7s wins in Trinidad: The New York City Olympic Development Academy traveled to Trinidad and Tobago for the Tobago 7s over the weekend. NYCODA defeated Esher 21-12 in the final to win the tournament.
USA Rugby College D2 Championship: Congratulations to University of Minnesota-Duluth. They defeated Salisbury University 31-7 to win the College D2 title.
Merger in French Rugby: It appears that Bayonne and Biarritz of the French Top 14 are officially in talks of merger. Both clubs released statements signed by their respective presidents. The statements were made to inform fans that they are legitimately exploring merger and its logistics. James Harrington will have more on it later this week.
Wallabies vs GBRL: In a secret meeting last month, the Australian Rugby Union and the Great Britain Rugby League agreed to play a hybrid match next December after the finale match of the End of the Year tours. Working Class Rugger will share his thoughts on this money grab before the week is out.
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 and Declan Yeats, respectively.
And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs.
