NEW YORK, NY: This weekend will be referred to as Hardware Weekend, hence forth. The titles and cups handed out were the Championship trophies for the 6 Nations (6N), which included all 4versions, the Women’s 6N & Mens 6N, U-20s and the 6N B… The first domestic trophy of the season was given out in the form of the LV=Cup. No hardware was doled out yet in the Southern Hemisphere but there was plenty of Super Rugby action on tap. As usual, alongside all these events we will also have our recap of USA rugby news, weekend news and transfer activities. Finally, Let’s get into the Weekend Rugby Recap.
As always… Ladies First…
Women’s 6N: France are your Womens 6 Nations Champions. They held on against Ireland in an absolute dogfight of a match. It might even be considered an instant classic. With the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC) scheduled to be in France this year, it is an ominous shot that has been fired by Les Feminines… With nothing but pride left to play for England, took out its frustrations out on Italy… Wales avoided the Wooden Spoon by defeating Scotland – to assure the Scots got the dubious utensil.
Here are the results:
FRI – 14th MAR 2014
France 19 – 15 Ireland
SUN – 16th MAR 14
Wales 25 – 0 Scotland
Italy 0 – 24 England
Under 20 6N: The young men of France matched their women by also holding on against Ireland – to go undefeated as 6N Champions… Defending Junior World Cup Champions, England did their best to put the pressure on by demolishing Italy… And JWC runner’s-up Wales did similar to Scotland… So by the time the France-Ireland game kicked off, the French knew the task ahead of them and held their nerve to be deserved champions.
Here are the results:
FRI – 14th MAR 2014
Italy 5 – 52 England
Wales 43 – 15 Scotland
France 23 – 13 Ireland
6 Nations: The most tight and competitive 6 Nations in ages are over. For the full, spectacular story, check out James Harrington‘s report . We will announce our winner of the RWU Six Pack’s Picks 6N picks contest later this week.
6N B: The European Nations Cup (ENC), formerly known as the 6N B, has a repeat champion.. sort of. Last year Georgia and Romania tied in Bucharest to split the title. This year, Georgia left no doubt as they stuffed Romania in front of their fans to rise the Cup… Spain won the Iberian derby against Portugal and Russia dispatched Belgium to hold third place and a chance to make the 2015 RWC.
Here are the results:
SAT – 15th MAR 14
Portugal 24 – 28 Spain
Belgium 20 – 34 Russia
Georgia 22 – 9 Romania
LV=Cup: The Exeter Chiefs Rugby Football Club are 143 years old and they have won promotion several times before, but on Sunday they celebrated capturing their first major trophy by defeating a brave Northampton side and winners of the Anglo/Welsh Cup.
Here are the results:
SUN – 16th MAR 14
Exeter 15 – 8 Northampton
Rabodirect Pro12: Ulster had an inspired performance to take down Scarlets in a match that was rescheduled from earlier in the year due to a waterlogged pitch. The win helps Ulster’s attempt to secure the 4th and final playoff spot in the Pro12 playoffs.
Here are the results:
FRI – 14th MAR 2014
Ulster 26 – 13 Scarlets
Super Rugby: The man we call the Super Rugby Superman Jamie Wall, has his review of the 5th round of action ready to go. CLICK HERE.
Drop Goal:
USA Rugby News: Over the weekend, USA Rugby, announced the travel squad for the first leg of the Rugby World Cup Qualifier against Uruguay in Montevideo. There are 3 new players in the squad but overall the whole group appears settled.
Men’s Eagles | Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifier v Uruguay
Todd Clever – NTT Shining Arcs
Tom Coolican – Richmond RFC
Miles Craigwell – Seattle-OPSB
Cameron Dolan – Northampton FC
Eric Fry – London Scottish RFC
Luke Hume – Narbonne
Seamus Kelly – University of California
Olive Kilifi – Seattle-OPSB
Titi Lamositele – Saracens RFC
Scott LaValla – Stade Francais
Toby L’Estrange – London Welsh RFC
Samu Manoa – Northampton FC
Tim Maupin – Olympic Club
Folau Niua – Glasgow Warriors
Mike Petri – New York Athletic Club
Blaine Scully – Leicester Tigers RFC
Robbie Shaw – London Scottish RFC
Hayden Smith – Saracens RFC
Louis Stanfill – Seattle-OPSB
Kyle Sumsion – Brigham Young University Rugby
Andrew Suniula – London Wasps RFC
Shalom Suniula – Seattle-OPSB
Phil Thiel – Life Rugby
Tai Tuisamoa – Old Mission Beach Athletic Club
Nick Wallace – James Bay RFC
Chris Wyles – Saracens RFC
Men’s Eagles | Coaching Staff
Mike Tolkin – Head Coach
Billy Millard – Assistant Coach
Justin Fitzpatrick – Assistant Coach
Phil Bailey – Assistant Coach
Dave Williams – Strength & Conditioning Coach
Chris O’Brien – Kicking Coach
James Walton – Video Analyst
Jeff Mjaanes – Doctor
Richard Quincy, Jr. – Physio
Zach Vyhananek – Physio
Sarah Sall – Massage Therapist
Tristan Lewis – Manager
Also announced this weekend, was the AIG Men’s Junior All-American’s that will represent the USA at IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Hong Kong, April 7 – 9. All the matches will be on the JWRT website.
AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans | IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2014
Titi Lamositele
Valdemar Lee-Lo
James Gannon
Marshall Godfrey
Codi Jones
Peter Malcolm
Oliver Drew
Christian Wiessing
Ben Pinkelman
Tyler Enfield
Hanco Germishuys
Vili Toluta’u
Max Roberson
Zach Bonte
Michael Reid
Erik Thompson
Benjamin Cima
Niall Barry
Gabriel Farley
Scott Dean
Joseph Kelly
David Todd
Nemia Qoro
Connor Wallace-Sims
James Viafale
Seth Halliman
AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans | Coaching Staff
Billy Millard – Head Coach
Michael Engelbrecht – Assistant Coach
Luke Gross – Assistant Coach
Dave Williams – Strength & Conditioning and Specialist Coach
Nick Tricarico – Manager
AIG Men’s Junior All-Americans | IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2014
v Hong Kong – Monday, April 7 – 7:00 A.M. ET
v Georgia – Friday, April 11 – 3:00 A.M. ET
v Tonga – Tuesday, April 15 – 3:00 A.M. ET
Signings/Player Moves: In a quiet weekend in transfer market there were actual no definitive signings. The major news were the reports that were becoming louder regarding London Irish‘s interest in experienced Edinburgh and Scotland tighthead prop, Geoff Cross.
Wendy Young: We often recommend that for women’s rugby coverage you go to our friends, Your Scrumhalf Connection. YSC was created by Wendy Young, an Oklahoma Rugby Alum. YSC has helped in compiling our Women’s Premier League previews and the rugby Class of 2013 and 2014. We wanted to take a moment to congratulate Wendy on her induction into the Oklahoma Rugby Hall Of Fame.
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,Junoir Blaber, DJ Eberle, Nick Hall, James Harrington, Cody Kuxmann, Jaime Loyd, Karen Ritter , Jamie Wall and Declan Yeats, respectively.
Here is one of the members of the USA squad, Chris Wyles, on camera with RWU after the narrow loss to Ireland in Houston, last year.
