NEW YORK, NY – Welcome to a very crowded Weekend Rugby Preview. With the premier rugby tournament in the Southern Hemisphere going on, 3 domestic competitions kicking off in the 3 main Southern Hemisphere countries. On top this the Top 14 is also in session. Combine this with all the week’s transactions plus the latest in USA Rugby News. With so much to cover and so little time, let’s get to Weekend Rugby Preview.
The Rugby Championship: Time for round two in the third year of The Rugby Championship. The Wallabies of Australia were able to stop their arch-nemisis the AIG New Zealand All Blacks from achieving the all time win streak for a national side. However, as it was a draw, they weren’t able to secure the all important win. Now they must try and break their incredible losing streak at Eden Park. The two sides are fighting for one of the oldest trophies in sport, Lord Bledisloe’s Cup.On the other side of the globe, in Argentina, the Mighty Springboks of South Africa will try desperately to avoid being the first TRC scalp for Los Pumas of Argentina. Our resident Kiwi, & Super Rugby Superman, Jamie Wall, has a great preview of the tournament and the first round match-ups. Please CLICK HERE.
Top 14: After only opening weekend, it appears that the injury toll is already piling up for each club. Our Top 14 expert-du-jour, , has put together a complete list players scheduled for the physio’s table and a great preview of the weekend’s match-ups.
Currie Cup: South Africa’s Currie Cup is going into its 76th season‘s third matchday. We have a preview of the season ahead, just CLICK HERE. As for the weekend’s match-ups, Pumas welcome Griquas, while the Eastern Province Kings travel to the highveld to face the Blue Bulls. Western Province host the Golden Lions while the Cheetahs leave the Vrystraat (Free State) and travel to Durban to face the Sharks.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 22nd Aug 14
Pumas – Griquas
Sat – 23rd Aug 14
Blue Bulls – Eastern Province Kings
Western Province – Lions
Sharks – Cheetahs
ITM Cup: The 2014 ITM Cup‘s first round was full of unexpected results. The second round kicked off yesterday as Southland traveled to the near tip of the north island and got a win against North Harbour. We have also provided a preview of the season ahead, just CLICK HERE. The remaining fixtures for this weekend will see Waikato host Canterbury and Hawkes Bay will do similar for Taranaki. The northern tip of the north island, Northland welcomes the capital city boys aka Wellington, while Counties Manukau take on Otago, Manawatu faces an Auckland side looking to rebound and Bay of Plenty will square off with Tasman.
Here are the results:
Thu – 21st Aug 14
North Harbour 21 – 25 Southland
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 22nd Aug 14
Waikato – Canterbury
Hawkes Bay – Taranaki
Sat – 23rd Aug 14
Northland – Wellington
Counties Manukau – Otago
Sun – 24th Aug 14
Manawatu – Auckland
Bay Of Plenty – Tasman
Aus. NRC: Australia finally has a third tier competition as the inaugural National Rugby Championship kicked off yesterday. We even took the time to provide a preview and explain the competition, just CLICK HERE. It appears that per his comments HERE, Working Class Rugger will have weekly talking points after every round. Of the leagues 9 teams he will be supporting the Greater Sydney Rams, while myself and those with New York Rugby Club ties will be supporting Brisbane City since one their feeder clubs, is New York’s sister club West (Brisbane) Bulldogs. Brisbane City outplayed the Sydney Stars in Thursday’s match. This weekend will see the University of Canberra Vikings host the Perth Spirit, New South Wales County welcome provincial rivals Greater Sydney Rams and Melbourne will take on the other Sydney team, North Harbour.
Here are the results:
Thu – 21st Aug 14
Brisbane City 45 – 20 Sydney Stars
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Sat – 23rd Aug 14
UC Vikings – Perth Spirit
NSW Country Eagles – Greater Sydney Rams
Sun – 24 Aug 14
Melbourne Rising – North Harbour Rays
Conversion Kick:
Transactions: Wasps have announced that England international James Haskell has extended his contract and will be captain the club season.
As has been stated by and , Wales Prop, Adam Jones has left the Neath-Swansea Ospreys and joined the Cardiff Blues. Jones explained his situation and decision HERE…Former Ulster and Ireland hooker, Allen Clarke, has named as the province’s new forwards coach for the 2014/15 season.??..Glasgow have signed Canadian international back Connor Braid, on an initial three-month deal with a club option to make it a full year.
USA Rugby News and Updates: 31 Players have been invited to the second USA 7s high performance camp. The full list of players and coaching staff can be found HERE. The USA Olympic teams participated in the Youth Olympic Games (ages 14-18). The USA girls team finished fourth after losing the bronze medal match to China while the boys won the 5th place against Japan. Click here for more information from USA Rugby.
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 as always, stay low and keep pumping those legs.
