NEW YORK, NY – We have mentioned a crowded fixture list before and it has finally come true this weekend. All the northern hemisphere premier leagues will be in action. Three southern hemisphere domestic leagues will also be action, along with the little thing known as The Rugby Championship. Finally, there are transactions and USA Rugby News to cover, so no slacking. Here’s Weekend Rugby Preview:
The Rugby Championship: The TRC is back after a travel bye last week. The All Blacks will take on Los Pumas in Napier, off all places, and the Wallabies will face-off against the Springboks for the Nelson Mandela Plate. Our resident Kiwi, Jamie Wall, has got another great preview of the matches. Please click here.
Top 14: After an upset-heavy round 3, round 4 seems to be anyone’s game. Our #Top14 expert , says round 4 will worth the price of admission. Please Click Here for a preview of this weekend’s action.
Aviva Premiership: The Aviva Premiership kicks-off this weekend and there is plenty of action. East Midlands Man has a season preview & prediction of the eventual winner, to go along with talking points. As for the matches on kickoff weekend, we have defending champions Northampton opening the season against Gloucester, Sale hosts Bath, Saracens take on Wasps, Leicester faces midlands rivals Newcastle and London Irish battle crosstown rivals Harlequins. Finally, premiership newbies London Welsh will welcome Exeter.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 5th Sep 14
Northampton – Gloucester
Sat – 6th Sep 14
Sale Sharks – Bath
Saracens – Wasps
Leicester – Newcastle
London Irish – Harlequins
Sun – 7th Sep 14
London Welsh – Exeter
Guinness Pro 12: The Pro 12 is back with a new sponsor and despite some turmoil in Wales and Italy, all the teams are back. We will have a preview of this league next week… As for kickoff weekend, Treviso travel to Neath-Swansea to play the Ospreys, while Edinburgh pay a visit to Limerick and Munster. Ulster is on the road against Scarlets, while Newport Gwent head out to Galway to face Connacht. In rematch of the final Leinster faces Glasgow and in the final match of the round Zebre clash with Cardiff.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 5th Sep 14
Ospreys – Benetton Treviso
Munster – Edinburgh
Sat – 6th Sep 14
Scarlets – Ulster
Connacht – Newport Gwent Dragons
Glasgow – Leinster
Sun – 7th Sep 14
Zebre – Cardiff Blues
Currie Cup: South Africa’s Currie Cup is past its midway point and it is really becoming two separate races. Two teams look headed for the top while two teams are fighting to avoid the wooden spoon. In this matches this weekend, East meets West as the two Provinces meet Friday night under the lights. Cheetahs will take on Pumas, Sharks will welcome Griquas and the Blue Bulls look to bounce back against an in form Golden Lions side.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 5th Sep 14
Western Province – Eastern Province Kings
Sat – 6th Sep 14
Cheetahs – Pumas
Sharks – Griquas
Blue Bulls – Lions
ITM Cup: The 2014 ITM Cup fourth round started extra early with a midweek match. Manawatu edged out Bay of Plenty and in the Thursday night game the unstoppable men from Canterbury outlasted a feisty Otago team. The win keeps Canterbury top of the table and undefeated in the Premiership. In the Championship, Southland is tops and they will travel take on Taranaki while see two big provinces Wellington, containing the capital and Auckland, the largest city in the country square each other up. Prior to those match-ups, Tasman welcomes Waikato and Ranfurly Shield holder’s Hawkes’ Bay travel to Northalnd. On Sunday, off of a quick turnaround Bay of Plenty is set to likely be crushed by a fresher North Harbour, while Counties Manukau will like their wound after losing the shield and face Manawatu, who is also on short rest.
Here are the results:
Wed – 3rd Sep 14
Manawatu 29 – 27 Bay Of Plenty
Thu – 4th Sep 14
Otago 16 – 23 Canterbury
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 5th Sep 14
Tasman – Waikato
Northland – Hawkes Bay
Sat – 6th Sep 14
Auckland – Wellington
Taranaki – Southland
Sun – 7th Sep 14
Manawatu – Counties Manukau
Bay Of Plenty – North Harbour
Australia NRC: The inaugural National Rugby Championship is now in week 3. A brief explanation of the comp can be found here. The Greater Sydney Rams will try and break their duck against a formidable Perth Spirit side. That match will be played in Adelaide as the comp seeks to grow support in an underdeveloped rugby region (Adelaide is a likely target for expansion should the comp continue to grow)… Meanwhile, Brisbane City will welcome a very strong Melbourne Rising team… The other Saturday match sees Univ. of Canberra Vikings take on Queensland Country. In the match played yesterday, NSW Country continued their impressive start to the season with a solid victory over North Harbour.
Here are the results:
Thu – 4th Sep 14
North Harbour Rays 21 – 33 NSW Country Eagles
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Sat – 6th Sep 14
Brisbane City – Melbourne Rising
UC Vikings – Queensland Country
Perth Spirit – Greater Sydney Rams
Conversion Kick:
Transactions: Northampton Saints has announced that Jonathan Fisher has signed a full-time contract with the club after impressing during a trial period. The backrow had an impressive pre-season to earn his contract. We’ll see how this impacts USA Eagle 8man Cam Dolan… Speaking of Americans and trials, USA Eagle Hooker Phil Thiel has signed a short term contract with Saracens and has already arrived in London. Thiel is considered short-term cover for Schalk Brits, a member of the Springbok squad competing in the Rugby Championship… Due to an injury crisis, Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter announced Pat Phibbs, let go during pre-season, is set to return to the club on trial with immediate effect.
has confirmed that Johnny Sexton‘s will leave his current club, Racing Metro, to return to his former club Leinster on a four year deal beginning in 2015. They are dancing in Dublin!
Munster confirmed signing Argentinian hooker Eusebio Guiñazú on a four-month contract. Eusebio will join the province later in the month likely after the TRC.
World Cup winner and All Black Richard Kahui is targeting a return to New Zealand after a two-year stint in Japan. Stay tuned for more information… The Super Rugby Melbourne Rebels have confirmed their coaching structure through until the end of 2016. Tony McGahan will be joined by former Super Rugby-winning assistant coach Todd Louden and current head coach of the Canon Eagles, Zane Hilton, while Baden Stephenson has been promoted to the role of General Manager of Rugby Operations – effective immediately.
Waikato prop Ben Tameifuna has been cited for acting against the spirit of good sportsmanship, after referee Glen Jackson was allegedly shoved. The incident occurred during the 72nd minute of Waikato’s Week 3 NPC Cup match against North Habour at QBE Stadium on Saturday. Tameifuna has been suspended for 5 weeks as a result of a hearing.
Saving the best for the last, England Center and wing James Simpson-Daniel called time on his career this week. JSD or Sinbad as he was known, was always unfortunate with injury when he got an England call-up. Even worse, he did not get a call for seasons on end because the coaching staff (Andy Robinson, then subsequent coaches following him) were more enamored with the bruising bulk of other players than the skillful play-making abilities of JSD. In this one clip below he shows it all in a match against the Barbarians beating Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen, not an easy feat.
USA Rugby News and Updates: The schedules for the USA Rugby College Championships for Men and Women were announced this week. Click Here for the full schedules.
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.
