CJ Stander, Champions Cup, Challenge Cup, Player Moves, USA Rugby, World Rugby News

Gloucester Rugby - European Rugby Challenge Cup Champions Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Andrew Couldridge

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NEW YORK, NY – What a weekend as champions were crowned in the EPRC European Champions and Challenge Cup. Another great round of Super Rugby is in the books. We will, as we always do, begin with a look at Transfer Rumors, Player Transactions, USA Rugby and World Rugby news for you. Including a review of the USA Eagle Selects match. Now with all the precursors out of the way, let’s get into the Global Rugby Recap:

Player Transactions:
Guinness Pro12: Munster eightman CJ Stander admitted after winning the Pro12 Player of the Year award, that is looking to play international rugby for Ireland now that he is eligible, though he won’t rule South Africa, if he recieved a call…Ospreys prop and former Wales international Duncan Jones has announced his retirement from playing rugby due to a foot injury he suffered this year.

USA Rugby News and Updates: Brigham Young University edged out the University of California for the third year in a row to capture another Varsity Cup. It was close all the way until the end but BYU pulled of a 30-27 victory.

The USA Eagles Select XV have dropped their final match of their South American tour 28-23, finishing the tour 1-2. The side performed much better with a more experienced line-up as they tried to to pull off an upset against Argentina. Eagles head coach Mike Tolkin will have some interesting decisions to make regarding who makes the plane trip to England for the Rugby World Cup.

Here is the Result:
Sat – 2nd May 15
Argentina 28 – 23 USA

World Rugby News: The schedule for the World Rugby Organization Nations Cup has been announced. The tournament will feature Romania, Namibia, Spain and the Argentina Jaguars. It will take place at the Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest in June…World Rugby announced the location and dates for the regional qualification tournaments that will deliver six men’s and six women’s teams to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. View the full schedule by clicking here.

The Oceania Rugby (U-20) Junior Championship 2015 kicked off this weekend. It features the U20 teams for Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Samoa. New Zealand absolutely demolished Japan, while Australia dispatched Samoa with ease as was expected by fans.

Here is the Result:
Sat – 2nd May 15
New Zealand 75 – 0 Japan
Australia 33 – 10 Samoa

WEEKEND FIXTURES:

Super Rugby: According to Our Super Rugby expert, Kiwi Jamie Wall someone flicked on the switch and things have gotten really interesting. A few upsets and a Blues victory, no less. Check out his fantastic review by clicking here.

European Champions Cup: A champion has been crowned in the inaugural European (Rugby) Champions Cup. We also crowned a champion in our expert panel’s picks contest as well as the best pick of the week picker. Click here to read about the match.

European Challenge Cup: The kid brother of the Champions’ Cup is the European Challenge Cup. It’s a second tier tournament but has become a great tournament for showcasing the mid-table European clubs with real ambition. Successful teams in the Challenge Cup will often be scene making a fuss in the Champions’ Cup the following season.

Gloucester managed to overcome a red card and a yellow card that had them playing with 13 men against an Edinburgh side looking to be the first Scottish side to win a European title. It was not to be as the Cherry and Whites held on to win as Edinburgh pressed on. Another 5 minutes and they might not have won but it doesn’t matter as Gloucester are Challenge Cup Champions. It was clearly well deserved and they more than earned the right to lift the Challenge Cup trophy. As a reward for their victory, they also have a shot at playing in next year’s Champions Cup through the play-offs.

Here is the Result:
Fri – 1 May 15
Gloucester 19 – 13 Edinburgh

European Nations Cup:The ENC, or the 6 Nations “B” , is the premier tournament for the second-tier nations of Europe. Believe it or not, the ENC consists of seven divisions, each featuring between four and six teams. The matches played will determine who will get promoted and relegated from groups 1B, 2A – 2D, and 3A over a two-year cycle. Division 1A aka the 6 Nations B is where the six best teams in the rest of Europe reside and there is no promotion to the Europe’s premier international rugby competition, only relegation back to 1B…This weekend Latvia came up short against Andorra and the always tough Cyprus were unable to take down a difficult Lithuania side.

Here is the Result:
Sat – 2nd May 15
2B: Latvia 5 – 14 Andorra
2B: Cyprus 20 – 26 Lithuania

South American Championships (SAMC) 2015: The SAMC is the same as the ENC – except it’s South America, a minor detail – and that has 4 divisions featuring 15 teams. It is the battle to find the 2nd best team in South America with Argentina the firm number 1. The top division is called the CONSUR division and features Argentina’s B team, Uruguay and Chile. The A division saw Chile come oh so close in an absolute thriller against hosts Paraguay.

Here is the Result:
Sun – 3rd May 15
A Division: Paraguay 22 – 21 Chile

The Asian Rugby Championship, which is similar to the ENC (European Nation’s Cup) but with 5 divisions with the 3 most dominant teams, the tri-nations of Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan in the top division. There are 4 teams in division 1 and 2 then division 3 is broken up into East, Central and West with 3 teams each before we finally get to division 4 with 7. Believe it or not this is allegedly streamlined from previous years where it was just 5 divisions and 5 teams in each. The juggernauts of Asian rugby, Japan, went through Hong Kong like a hot knife through butter.

Here is the Result:
Sat – 2nd May 15
Top: Japan 41 – 0 Hong Kong

NACRA Championships 2015: Another regional tournament in full swing is the North America and Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Championship. The NACRA Championship is for the countries in North America and the Caribbean. NACRA has 2 zones with top level (championship) and a bottom level (cup). Each Championship zone has 3 teams while the Cup Zones have 4 each. The Zones are regionally divided, so there is a North Zone and South Zone. USA Rugby competes in the North Zone Championship division. The USA is represented by the USA South Regional all-star team, in order to develop talent and make the competition a much fairer one…The match this weekend is in the South Zone Cup league as the British Virgin Islands blanked Curacao on the way to the win.