NEW YORK, NY – We can all take a mini-breather as there is a smidge less rugby on the calendar because The Rugby Championship is in travel-week mode. Nor will there be a regional championship like the South American Championship division B title like it has been the past two weekends. However, we have all of Europe’s top leagues, the three SANZAR domestic leagues in action. Plus, there are is news from IRB headquaters, transactions and USA Rugby News to cover. Let’s get into, the Weekend Rugby Preview:
The Rugby Championship: The TRC will be on travel-bye this weekend. As the teams all prepare for the long trips, Our resident Kiwi, Jamie Wall, will not be off this week, however, and will have a top 10 piece. Please check it out when it posts.
Top 14: Most sports leagues around the world always have one eccentic owner that thinks people should care about him as much as the sport. Our friends over at Meet The Matts could give you a long list. In the #Top14 that man is Mourad Boudjellal, the owner of the Top 14 and Heineken Cup Champions, Toulon. He was busy this week bending any and everyone’s ear with his thoughts on the domestic game in France. Somehow our #Top14 expert managed to cover all of Boudjellal’s rants and compile a complete preview click here.
Aviva Premiership: The Aviva Premiership is fully back and with 2 rounds in the books, the cobwebs have been blown off. Our East Midlands Man has a recap of the 2nd round already posted, please click here. Mr. Hall will be back to recap this weekend’s round next week. Jake Frechette has an interesting piece up regarding kicking statistics and the AP, up also. As for the matches going on this weekend:
Exeter travel to Gloucester, London Welsh hope to not give up 50+ points for the third straight week when they face Sale, London Irish hope to stop Saracens hot start to the season. Harlequins hope to bounce back from a horrid performance last week, when they take on Wasps. Bath and Leicester face off in a possible playoff preview match and finally Northampton travel to Newcastle for an interesting haves v have-nots encounter.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 19th Sep 14
Gloucester – Exeter
Sat – 20th Sep 14
Sale – London Welsh
London Irish – Saracens
Harlequins – Wasps
Bath – Leicester
Sun – 21st Sep 14
Newcastle – Northampton
Guinness Pro 12: It will be interesting weekend for the Pro 12. Will the non-independence vote in Scotland effect the two Scottish sides? We’ll see! Oddly enough, they are away for this weekend with Glasgow traveling to Newport to face the Dragons and Edinburgh traveling to Swansea to face the Ospreys.
As for the rest of the weekend’s action:
Zebre travel to Munster, while Connacht and Leinster face off in an All-Ireland derby. Cardiff and Scarlets welcome Ulster and Treviso respectively.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 19th Sep 14
Munster – Zebre
Connacht – Leinster
Cardiff Blues – Ulster
Sat – 20th Sep 14
Newport Gwent Dragons – Glasgow
Scarlets – Benetton Treviso
Sun – 21st Sep 14
Ospreys – Edinburgh
Currie Cup: South Africa’s Currie Cup is beginning its playoff push. Teams like Western Province appear to be safe and will just be playing to secure 1st place when they play Griquas, who will be trying to make the playoffs. The Lions and Pumas are both still in the hunt, so their fixture Friday night will be mouth-watering. The Blue Bulls are all but dead but will try and breathe life into their chances by taking on a Sharks side that is stumbling toward the finish line. The Cheetahs still have a very good chance of qualifying but the Kings are booked for a vacation, however they will be desperate to get at least one win this season.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 19th Sep 14
Lions – Pumas
Sat – 20th Sep 14
Western Province – Griquas
Blue Bulls – Sharks
Eastern Province Kings – Cheetahs
ITM Cup: Also heating up and nearing the playoff race point is the 2014 ITM Cup. This weeks action started with a mid-week match. Tasman made light work of Southland and Taranaki was too much for Northland on Thursday night. As for the weekend matches, on-fire Canterbury face Counties Manukau, The bays clash when Hawkes’ Bay meets Bay of Plenty in a Ranfurly Shield fixture, Auckland face North Harbour in the border war known as “the battle of the (North Harbour) bridge.” Manawatu will take on a short rest, Southland side. Also on short rest, Tasman will face a Wellington side desperate for their first win and finally Waikato travel to face Otago.
Here are the results:
Wed – 17th Sep 14
Southland 14 – 38 Tasman
Thu – 18th Sep 14
Northland 20 – 31 Taranaki
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 19th Sep 14
Counties Manukau vs Canterbury
Sat – 20th Sep 14
Hawkes Bay – Bay Of Plenty
Auckland – North Harbour
Manawatu – Southland
Sun – 21st Sep 14
Otago vs Waikato
Wellington vs Tasman
Australia NRC: The inaugural National Rugby Championship is heading to its midway point. Our resident, Australian rugby expert, , seems to have lost internet access as soon as he found it. He should be back with a review of this weekend’s actions. In the Thursday night game, Queensland Country put away a spirited Greater Sydney Rams side. As for the other matches going on this weekend:
New South Wales County travels to Melbourne to face the Rising, Perth travel to Sydney to face the North Harbour Rays and the Sydney Stars welcome the UC Vikings.
Here are the results:
Thu – 18th Sep 14
Queensland Country 24 – 13 Greater Sydney Rams
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Sat – 20th Sep 14
NSW Country Eagles – Melbourne Rising
North Harbour Rays – Perth Spirit
Sydney Stars – UC Vikings
Penalty Kick:
IRB clarification on Olympic eligibility: IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset announced that the International Rugby Board has released a document detailing the necessary requirements for players to switch nationalities…Players looking to represent another country will have to play in a minimum of four Sevens World Series legs for their conversion to be approved, along with adhering to other terms. Please click here for the full document.
Speaking of the sevens World Series, defending champions New Zealand will play Samoa, France and Japan on the first day of the new season, after the pools were drawn for the first round of the HSBC Sevens World Series on Australia’s Gold Coast on 11-12 October. Please click here for the full pool and schedule.
Transactions: Saracens announced that Romanian international Catalin Fercu will join the club at the end of the month from Saracens affiliate, Timisoara Saracens…Northampton Saints have announced that first team coaches Dorian West, Alex King and Alan Dickens have all signed new contracts, that will keep them with the club through the 2016/17 season…Wasps have announced they are in search of fly-half cover with news that Ruaridh Jackson will be ruled out for six to nine months.
Racing Métro have confirmed the signing of Tonga prop Sona Taumalolo as a medical joker to cover for Davit Khinchagishvili.
USA Rugby News and Updates: D1A Rugby, in conjunction with USA Rugby, is proud to announce the launch of its new video-sharing platform – D1ARugbyTV.com…As per a USA rugby press release, Maccabi USA is seeking Jewish athletes, ages 15 and older, and volunteer staff to represent the United States at the 13th Pan American Maccabi Games in Santiago, Chile, December 28th 2015- January 4th 2016.
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.
