NEW YORK, NY – This maybe the busiest weekend in rugby in a while. We will have the second round of the Six Nations (6N), kicking off, along with the Women’s 6N and the U20 6N. Then there will be 6N B, aka the European Nations Cup, and Top14 matches plus the Wellington New Zealand 7s also going on. And as always, we have the latest news and transfers. Let’s dive right into the Weekend Rugby Preview.
And of course, Ladies First…
Womens: the Women’s 6N has now officially become a 3 horse race. With France upsetting England last week, it appears that Ireland are now the bookies favorites to win it all. However France is now second and England have dropped to third. “There’s all to play for!” as the old sports adage goes.
Here’s this weekend’s schedule:
FRI – 07 FEB 14
Ireland – Wales
SAT – 08 FEB 14
France – Italy
SUN – 09 FEB 14
Scotland – England
U20: The Under 20 6N witnessed World Champions England go down to France last weekend. This means that the runners-up in last years Junior World Cup, Wales, should now have the inside track. However, Ireland looked very dangerous and may have something to say about who wins the whole thing.
Here’s this weekend’s schedule:
FRI – 07 FEB 14
Ireland – Wales
Scotland – England
SAT – 08 FEB 14
France – Italy
6 Nations: The victory by France over England meant a frog clean sweep of le Roast beefs. This only makes this weekend’s games especially the Calcutta Cup (oldest international match-up in rugby history) match between England and Scotland more important. We also have the BOD v Gatland duel to feast our eyes on. All of the weekend’s match-ups were covered by Nick Hall as well as the Six-Pack’s picks for each match, so check them out.
Here’s this weekend’s schedule:
SAT – 08 FEB 14
Ireland – Wales
Scotland – England
SUN – 09 FEB 14
France – Italy
6N B: The European Nations Cup (ENC), formerly known as the 6N B stuck to the script for the most part last weekend. The two expected front runners Georgia and Romania stomped their competition while Russia made their claim for 3rd albeit a very slim one. This weekend’s matches will likely see the top 2 hold on to their places and 3rd through 6th do a reshuffle.
Here’s this weekend’s schedule:
SAT – 08 FEB 14
Portugal – Georgia
Russia – Romania
Spain – Belgium
Top 14: Believe it or not, their will be games this weekend and none other than the RWU writing machine James Harrington has his full preview as well as this weekend’s match-ups.
NZ 7s: The Wellington 7 or the NZ 7s stop on the IRB circuit kicked off last night, New York City time and if it is as exciting and unpredictable as last year’s it will have been a success. Check out our tournament preview.
Conversion Kick:
Signings/Player Moves: London Wasps have confirmed the signing of Sale duo Rob Miller and James Gaskell, for next season. One guy not waiting until next season will be Ryan Lamb. Lamb will join Worchester next week until the remainder of the season and likely next season too. Wales center Scott Williams has pledged his future to Scarlets for another few years. Ulster Lock and Captian Johann Muller has announced his retirement at the end of this season. In the shocking news department, Rob Penney and Irish province Munster will part ways at the end of the season. Penney’s assistant coach and friend Simon Mannix will also be leaving. No word yet on the reasons for their departures.
IRB confirm Olympic Qualification Process: Yesterday the IRB confirmed the process by which teams will qualify for the Olympics. Essentially they stated the following:
The qualification structure for the men’s competition, four nations will qualify
from the 2014/15 Sevens World Series, one nation from each of the six IRB
regional competitions, one from the world play-off and automatic qualification
for Brazil.The women will follow a similar format with four teams
confirmed via the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, six from the regional
competitions, the world play-off winner and automatic qualification for Brazil
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.
