NEW YORK, NY – December is here and the final month of 2014 is upon us. This is a key month for 3 premier leagues in Europe, as it mark he halfway point in the season and is where we see the contenders separate from the pretenders. With such a big month ahead, we’ll look at how the teams finished the November Tours. Before that, though, we will first review Player Transactions over the weekend, as well as USA Rugby News and World Rugby News. We will finish up with a look at the happenings in Tier 3. Lets get into Global Rugby Update:
Uncoverted Try:
Transactions: Gloucester confirmed that young 8man Gareth Evans has agreed to a contract extension. Bath confirmed that academy and 2014 Junior World Cup winning hooker Tom Woolstencroft will be going on a short-term loan to London Irish as emergency injury cover for the Exiles.
Italy coach Jacques Brunel will step away from the international scene when his contract expires in 2016 and return to French club rugby.
Former Western Force hooker Tai McIsaac will return to the Perth-based franchise as part of their coaching staff effectively immediately until the 2017. McIsaac will take up a key coaching role, along with Dwayne Nestor, in the Force’s pioneering full-time academy, the Future Force, while also working with the Force senior side as a line-out consultant.
USA Rugby News and Updates: There was no news from USA Rugby over the weekend but be on the lookout for the RWU review of the fall tour later this week.
World Rugby News: South Africa‘s sevens academy side won back Africa’s sevens crown by defeating Kenya‘s reserves for the CAR Africa 7s title. It was Kenya that defeated SA last year for the title.
Francois Hougaard’s spectacular score in South Africa’s win over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship has been named as the International Rugby Players’ Association (IRPA) Try of the Year 2014.
WEEKEND FIXTURE LIST:
Autumn Internationals: There were only 2 matches and they ended up being victories for the Northern Hemisphere as England defeated Australia and Wales won ugly against South Africa. Nick Hall will have review of the England/Australia match and will have a review of the Wales/SA match later in the week.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
SAT – 29TH NOV 14
TOUR Wales 12 – 6 South Africa
TOUR England 26 – 17 Australia
Top 14: Our Ligue Nationale de Rugby expert has a Top14 review that is as accurate as all the penalty kicks that were made this weekend in the league. The review can be found if you click here.
Aviva Premiership: It was a weekend of fierce action as Bath dominated Harlequins to further stake their claim to a top 4 finish this season. On Saturday, Leicester barely edged out Wasps and Exeter beat Saracens at their own game of playing conservative rugby. The exile clubs of London, the London Irish and the London Welsh both lost in disappointing fashion to the midland sides Gloucester and Northampton. Though the Irish put up a much better fight than the Welsh. In the northern derby match, Newcastle came up short against Sale.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 28th Nov 14
Bath 25 – 6 Harlequins
Sat – 29th Nov 14
Leicester Tigers 18 – 16 Wasps
Exeter 27 – 19 Saracens
Sun – 30th Nov 14
London Irish 9 – 21 Gloucester
London Welsh 14 – 43 Northampton
Newcastle Falcons 13 – 18 Sale Sharks
Guinness Pro 12: The Pro12 had some key clashes before everyone could turn their attention to Europe. The weekend began with an Irish derby as Munster won by the slimmest margin possible against Ulster then Cardiff Blues dug deep to beat Treviso. On Saturday, Zebre remained composed enough to win against Edinburgh, Leinster were unimpressive in their victory over the Ospreys, and Connacht defeated Scarlets to claim some very needed points. The final match of the weekend saw Dragons travel up to Scotland to face Glasgow and leave with just a losing bonus point.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 28th Nov 14
Munster 21 – 20 Ulster
Cardiff Blues 36 – 25 Treviso
Sat – 29th Nov 14
Zebre 18 – 10 Edinburgh
Leinster 18 – 12 Ospreys
Connacht 14 – 8 Scarlets
Sun – 30th Nov 14
Glasgow Warriors 19 – 15 Dragons
Tier 3 – In Tier 3, there was only one game on tap this weekend and it was in South America. 2016 Olympic hosts Brazil won a hard fought match against Paraguay.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
SAT – 29TH NOV 14
Brazil 21 – 13 Paraguay
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.
P.s.. Finally, a bit of shameless self promotion as today is the start of December, I ask you to make one final donation to my MOVEMBER Campaign via The Movember Foundation; The leading global organization committed to changing the face of men’s health. Click here for the info. Thank
