NEW YORK, NY- The semifinals for both the Amlin and Heineken Cup would normally be enough to garner all headlines in a weekend. However, there was so much more rugby to cover – beginning with ANZAC weekend in Super Rugby. There was also a major derby make-up match in Pro12 but what really filled up our dance card this weekend was the incredible amount of Tier 3 action, ranging from North America, the Caribbean, South America, Asia and Europe. We top that off with transactions news and USA Rugby! Without further ado, here’s the Weekend Rugby Recap:
Heineken Cup – RWU writing machine has an in-depth breakdown of the two matches of the weekend. CLICK HERE for his brilliant review.
Amlin Cup – Our East Midlands Machiavellian rugger, Nick Hall, will be discuss these clashes in further detail later. The number two and four clubs in the Aviva Premiership standings are set to face each other in the Amlin Cup final. Northampton managed to stop an in-form Harlequins side. While Bath found enough class at the bottom of their bag to win against Wasps.
Here are the results:
FRI – 25TH APR 14
Northampton 18 – 10 Harlequins
SUN – 27TH APR 14
Wasps 18 – 24 Bath
Rabodirect Pro12 – The second leg of the big Scotland Derby match had been postponed for 5 months. It is called the 1872 Cup and is played between Glasgow and Edinburgh, as the two cities have been rugby rivals that long. Glasgow dominated the match and if not for a late flurry from Edinburgh, it might have looked worst. The win moves Glasgow into 2nd place in standings.
Here are the results:
SAT – 26TH APR 14
Glasgow 37 – 34 Edinburgh
Super Rugby – The RWU Super Rugby Superman, Jamie Wall, has been busy celebrating Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day. It is a bit like memorial day celebrated with the vigor of Independence day. all wrapped in one. CLICK HERE for his awesome preview.
Tier 3 – What a weekend of international rugby as there was action on 4 different continents. The European Nations Cup consists of 7 divisions, each with 4-6 teams. The upcoming matches determine who will get promoted and relegated form groups 1A, 1B, 2A – 2D, and 3A… In the weekend’s clashes Luxembourg handily defeated Greece, Lithuania outlasted Switzerland, Latvia showed resolved in defeating an in-form Israel and Cyprus‘ win streak extended to 22 as they manhandled Bulgaria… In 3 matches that were doubling as RWC Qualifiers (RWCQs), Germany kept their RWC dream run going as they beat Sweden. They also secured the division 1B title and promotion to 1A… Czech Republic swatted away Moldova‘s challenge and Ukraine scrapped by Poland which – considering the trying time Ukraine is having currently – deserves a huge amount of respect.
The Asian 5 Nations, which is similar to the ENC (European Nation’s Cup) but with 5 divisions and 5 teams in each. There is still huge disparity in talent and ability in the Asian 5N; this was on display as Hong Kong mercilessly abused The Philippines, while South Korea thrashed Sri Lanka.
The SAMC (South American Rugby Championship) is the same as the two previously mentioned tournaments but for South America and that has 4 divisions featuring 15 teams. Brazil outfought Chile to continue their great form, showing the rapid success and growth of their rugby program. Uruguay’s second side went to Paraguay and had no problem putting away the hosts.
On top of all these matches, there was a simple old-fashioned test match as Mexico hosted and trounce Bermuda.
Here are the results:
SAT– 5th APR 14
ENC Greece 8 – 52 Luxembourg
ENC Lithuania 24 – 18 Switzerland
ENC Bulgaria 15 – 46 Cyprus
ENC Latvia 29 – 22 Israel
ENC/RWCQ Sweden 20 – 45 Germany
ENC/RWCQ Ukraine 29 – 28 Poland
ENC/RWCQ Czech Republic 37 – 19 Moldova
M INT Mexico 56 – 9 Bermuda
SAMC Brazil 24 – 16 Chile
SAMC Paraguay 10 – 34 Uruguay
ASIA5N/RWCQ Korea 59 – 3 Sri Lanka
ASIA5N/RWCQ Hong Kong 108 – 0 Philippines
Conversion Kick:
Signings/Player Moves: Exeter Chiefs have announce that lock James Hanks has called it a career due to injury. Toulon coach Bernard Laporte has resigned with the club through 2016. In the strangest news of the week, it appears that there are rumors that Warren Gatland is eyeing Super Rugby Chiefs fullback and reserve flyhalf Gareth Anscombe for a Wales Jersey as Anscombe has a Welsh grandmother. Stranger things have happened in rugby though so stay tuned.
USA Rugby News and Updates: USA Rugby announced the Eagles 7s side for the final two stops of the IRB 7s World Series. We will continue as we have all season to provide previews of each stop, later in the week.
Men’s Eagles Sevens | Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens/ Marriott London Sevens
Danny Barrett
Garrett Bender
Andrew Durutalo
Nick Edwards
Pono Haitsuka
Will Holder
Ryan Matyas
Mike Palefau
Nu’u Punimata
Mike Te’o
Zack Test
Brett Thompson
Men’s Eagles Sevens | Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens
v Spain – Saturday, May 3 – 8:04 A.M. ET
v Scotland – Saturday, May 3 – 11:10 A.M. ET
v Australia – Saturday, May 3 – 1:55 P.M. ET
On the College front, The Varsity Cup will be a re-match between powerhouses Cal and BYU. The D1A final four is set and will be Life University, St. Mary’s (Cal), Arkansas St. and Lindenwood.
Finally, we give a large shout out to our friend DJ Coil and Pat Moroney as the Monmouth Men won the Empire D2 Title by defeating Buffalo over the weekend.
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, Karen Ritter , Jamie Wall, Jake Frechette and Declan Yeats, respectively.
And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs!
