Rugby Recap: Guangzhou 7s, All Blacks in Chicago, USA Rugby, Signings

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NEW YORK, NY- There was a lot of rugby to cover this weekend. Our whole staff was engrossed by the action. In Europe, there were quarterfinals in both the Amlin and Heineken Cup, and matches from the Pro12 and Top14… There was also Super Rugby and Tier 3 action, plus a stellar Women’s 7s… We also have huge news regarding AIG New Zealand All Blacks and USA Rugby. Now, let’s stop milling about the water cooler and get to your Weekend Rugby Recap:

Ladies first,
Guangzhou 7s – The Guangzhou 7s saw a final between the two top teams in women’s 7s. The standings leader AIG New Zealand Black Ferns 7s side faced their old rivals Australia. The Wallaby Women currently sit 2nd in the standings. In the clash of titans, New Zealand came out on top. The tournament was disappointing for the USA as they came in 11th out 12th teams. USA Rugby will need to go back to the drawing board so they finish the final leg of the series on a much more positive note.

Here are the results:
Cup: New Zealand
Second: Australia
Third: Canada
Plate: England
Bowl: Ireland

Heineken Cup – The RWU staff will have the latest but CLICK HERE for the some immediate chat.

Amlin Cup – The East Midlands Machiavellian Rugger Nick Hall has reviewed all of the weekend’s action. Please check out his stellar coverage.

Top 14 – In a postponed match from earlier in the year. RWU favorites and possible relegation bound miracle kids, Oyonnax, kept their home record in good standing and improved their promotion chances by downing Bordeaux-Begles.

Here are the results:
SAT – 5th APR 14
Oyonnax 26 – 12 Bordeaux-Begles

Rabodirect Pro12 – Like the Top14 had a postponed match occur. Glasgow won a must-win game against Treviso, as they try to confirm a playoff place for themselves in the if they hope to keep their playoff aspirations alive.

Here are the results:
SAT – 5TH APR 14
Glasgow 29 – 10 Benetton Treviso

Super Rugby – The RWU Super Rugby Superman, Jamie Wall, is back and he will get you caught up on all the games and has another great preview. Please CLICK HERE.

Tier 3 – Try and follow us on the this breakdown of the events in European rugby. FIRA-AER regulate European Rugby outside of the 6 Nations. In the 6 Nations B aka the European Nations Cup, there are technically several divisions, with 1A being the top league and what is known as the 6N B. In 1A, this year Belgium was relegated to 1B after going winless. Replacing Belgium in 1A will likely be Germany as their demolishing of Czech Republic shows. Moldova‘s win over Poland gives them an outside shot. The loss to Germany means the Czech Republic will be dropped to 2B, as the Netherlands victory over Malta assured the Oranje promotion to 1B.

Here are the results:
SAT– 5th APR 14
Poland 12 – 21 Moldova
Malta 10 – 33 Netherlands
Germany 76 – 12 Czech Republic

Junior World Trophy: The Junior (Under-20) World Rugby Trophy is a second tier competition of the Junior World Cup. The winner gets promoted to the Junior World Cup competition which features mainly the top tier nations in international rugby. It is being held in Hong Kong this year. This week will be the start of pool play. The USA won the JWRT in 2012 and got promoted to the JWC in 2013. They were quickly relegated back to the JWRT this year and face the hosts Hong Kong in their first game.

Here is this week’s schedule:
MON – 7TH APR 14
Japan – Uruguay
Canada – Namibia
Tonga – Georgia
USA – Hong Kong
FRI – 11TH APR 14
Japan – Namibia
USA – Georgia
Tonga – Hong Kong
Canada – Uruguay

Conversion Kick:
Signings/Player Moves: In a slow weekend for transactions, there were only two move of note. Edinburgh have confirmed that centre Nick De Luca will leave at the end of the season to join Top 14 (well Pro D2 next year) club Biarritz. According to the French press, former All Black prop Neemia Tialata is supposedly heading to Toulouse from fellow Top14 side Bayonne.

USA Rugby News and Updates: USA Rugby and the AIG New Zealand All Blacks are closer to announcing an agreement for a match. According to the New Zealand Herlad, a venue has already been agreed to. The venue will be Soldier Field in Chicago, with November 2nd set as the date. The next hurdle to overcome to ensure the match will occur is player availability. Apparently USA Rugby is trying to negotiate earlier releases from the clubs of the Eagles playing professionally abroad. They will likely offer an early return in exchange. Stay tuned for more information.