NEW YORK, NY – There was quite a bit of activity this weekend with player moves, but there were also some key administration changes. With that, lets dive into the Global Rugby Recap.
News & Transactions:
Aviva Premiership: Gloucester announced that Argentina second-row Mariano Galarza has signed a new deal, committing his future to the Cherry and Whites… Bath confirmed that Wales and British and Irish Lions back row Taulupe Faletau will join the club next season… Harlequins announced that one of England’s brightest up and coming back row talents, Jack Clifford, has committed his future to the club.
Top 14: Former All Blacks lock Ali Williams has been appointed to act as a media adviser for Dan Carter following his arrival in France… Ireland international Simon Zebo has been linked with a move to join Pau in the Top 14 when his contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Pro 12: Scarlets announced that flanker James Davies, 25, has signed a new deal with the region and will remain at Parc y Scarlets until at least the end of 2017-18… Ben Te’o, Leinster’s cross-code signing, is reportedly set to leave the Irish province at the end of the season. According to a report in the Irish Times, Te’o has received substantial offers from clubs in the Top 14 but also the Premiership, where he qualifies to play for England through his mother’s family… Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend has signed a contract extension with Scottish Rugby, which will keep him at Scotstoun until June 2017. The Scarlets announced that Wales center Scott Williams has signed a new deal that sees him extend his stay at the region until at least 2018.
Super Rugby: The Melbourne Rebels have secured utility back Paul Asquith for the 2016 Super Rugby season… Wallabies back-row David Pocock has been recognized by his peers and fans, claiming both the Medal for Excellence and the People’s Choice Award after a stellar 2015… All Blacks centurion Ma’a Nonu is this year’s winner of the Kelvin R Tremain Player of the Year award after an outstanding final year in the black jersey.
USA Rugby: Qantas Wallabies Head Coach and 2015 World Rugby Coach of the Year, Michael Cheika will be the featured guest at the USA Rugby Annual National Development Summit being held January 22-24 in San Francisco, California… USA Rugby is now accepting applications for Liaison Officer roles for the upcoming HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series tournament in Kennesaw, Ga., April 8-9, 2016.
World Rugby: Racing 92 are set to return to Hong Kong next year where they will play a friendly against defending Super Rugby champions the Highlanders… World Rugby has announced that 15s High Performance Match Officials Manager Joël Jutge is to step down from his role in April 2016 after four successful years of service… World Rugby has announced the match official appointments for the Women’s Six Nations 2016, which gets underway in February. Appointments were made by the World Rugby Match Official Selection Committee at its recent meeting and follow a detailed review of all recent performances. VIEW THE MATCH OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT LIST HERE… World Rugby has announced that Monaco and Dublin will host the final rugby sevens qualification tournaments for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. With 11 of the 12 teams confirmed for both events, the climax to the global qualification process will deliver the final men’s and women’s teams. The magnificent Stade Louis in Monaco will host the men’s tournament on 18-19 June, 2016 while Dublin’s UCD Bowl will host the women’s repechage a week later on 25-26 June. A heartwarming tale between the Argentina 7s team and a loyal South African fan can be found here on the World Rugby website.
The weekend’s fixtures:
Cape Town 7s: The 2015/2016 HSBC World Rugby Mens 7s Series is continues this weekend in Cape Town. For a look at the tournament from a USA perspective and projections, check out our preview.
European Champions Cup: Round three of the European (Rugby) Champions Cup kicks off this weekend. It looks like after the security troubles of the last few rounds, all the matches will go on with out a problem. Our Ronan Nelson has fantastic preview out, just click here.
European Challenge Cup: The second tier European Challenge Cup is a quality tournament in its own right, it is filled with mid-table European clubs playing good rugby and looking to graduate to the Champions Cup. The weekend begun with Grenoble doubling up on Agen and Gloucester beating their Aviva Premiership rivals Worcester. The remaining matches will see La Rochelle play Zebre, Cardiff plays Montpellier, Connacht hosts Newcastle. Enisey-STM will welcome Brive to Siberia, Harlequins have to travel to Italy to play Calvisano, Newport-Gwent go up against Pau, London Irish clash with Edinburgh and Castres and Sale do battle.
Here are the results:
Thu – 10 Dec 2015
Agen 20-40 Grenoble
Worcester Warriors 22-34 Gloucester
Here is the schedule
Fri – 11 Dec 2015
La Rochelle – Zebre
Cardiff Blues – Montpellier
Connacht – Newcastle Falcons
Sat – 12 Dec 2015
Enisey-STM – Brive
Calvisano – Harlequins
Newport-Gwent Dragons – Pau
London Irish – Edinburgh
Castres – Sale Sharks
Sudamerica Rugby: Formerly the SAMC now just Sudamerica Ruby is the same as the ENC – except it’s South America, a minor detail – and that it 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. Speaking of the CONSUR, there is a B and C division and the C division is playing this week in El Salvador. Guatemala just did enough to beat Costa Rica and El Salvador were no match for Panama in round 1. The midweek saw Guatemala hammer Panama and Costa Rica be too much for El Salvador
Here are the results:
Wed – 9 Dec 2015
CONSUR C: Guatemala 73-12 Panama
CONSUR C: El Salvador 14-26 Costa Rica
The weekend sees the final match in the division as Costa Rica take on Panama and El Salvador play Guatemala. As we mentioned, there is also promotion and relegation. Consur B champs Colombia will take on A bottom dwellers Brazil. It is a big game for both sides. Colombia has population wise just gone past Argentina to be the second largest country in South America, and they are in good form. Brazil has been accepted in the Americas 6 Nations kicking off in February but just lost a two match series to Germany in front of a record crowd and really need to stay in Consur A to justify their place in the A6N.
Here is the schedule
Sat – 12 Dec 2015
CONSUR C: Costa Rica – Panama
CONSUR C: El Salvador – Guatemala
Division A/B Promotion/Relegation Play-Off: Brazil – Colombia
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, James Harrington, Jamie Wall, Nick Hall, DJ Eberle, Jake Frechette, Scheenagh Harrington, Jamie Loyd, Cody Kuxmann, Karen Ritter, Ronan Nelson, Kaitlin McCabe, Rocky Brown and Declan Yeats, respectively.
And remember to stay low and keep pumping those legs!
