NEW YORK, NY – It was a weekend of close games and lots of action and we’re here to re-cap the action and provide the weekend’s news and transactions. So without further adieu, here is the Global Rugby Recap.
News & Transactions:
Aviva Premiership: Bath announced that flanker Francois Louw extended his contract with the club. The new extension means the South African will be with the side until at least 2019.Worcester Warriors had a busy few days. They confirmed that backs coach Sam Vesty had agreed to a new contract with the Premiership club. With the club currently ranked 4th in tries scored, his signing was greeted with applause. One of the peopel Vesty will be in charge off will be the newly-signed New Zealand’s Jackson Willison from Top 14 side Grenoble ahead of the 2016/17 season. In addition to improving the backs, the forwards were also bolstered their options in the front row by capturing the signing of tighthead prop James Johnston who will join up with the club immediately from Wasps… London Irish confirmed the signing of Hurricanes fly-half James Marshall for the 2016/17 season…. Harlequins were also busy as they confirmed that hooker Dave Ward has re-signed at the club along with young second row duo and Academy grads Sam Twomey and Charlie Matthews both signed new contracts with the club… Wasps announced that impressive eightman Nathan Hughes has extended his contract with the club.
Super Rugby: Jacques Engelbrecht has signed with the Southern Kings for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
USA Rugby: The Jan. 11th-16th Men’s Eagles Sevens High Performance Camp will only see two non-residents head to the United States Olympic Committee’s Olympic Training Center, joining Head Coach Mike Friday and Co. and 20 other athletes. For more information on the roster and the those missing due to Falcons duty, click here.
World Rugby: Japan’s Brave Blossoms can now look forward to being n action during the Singapore leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in April, with Japan officially named as the wild card team in the 16-nation tournament.
The weekend’s fixtures:
European Professional Club Rugby: Due to the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on 13th November 2015, matches in the European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup were postponed to a later date – later announced to take place on the weekend of 8–10 January 2016. This meant the fixtures that featured those teams in their respective domestic leagues, were postponed to a later date. This meant that the entire Top 14 Round 13 schedule was postponed: one match was moved to mid-February, and the remaining six matches were moved to mid-March. Scheduled for this weekend was one European Rugby Challenge Cup match that saw Castres push past Pau. The Champions Cup matches that were played saw Bordeaux Begles fall big to Clermont, Racing 92 steamrolled Glasgow Warriors, Stade Francais despite having to play the majority of the game with 14 men easily dispatched Munster, Oyonnax were sunk at the death by a late kick by Ulster and Toulon can count themselves lucky the referee was so kind to them in their win against Bath.
Here is the Schedule:
European Rugby Challenge Cup
Sat – 9 Jan 2016
Pau 21 – 30 Castres
European Rugby Champions Cup
Fri – 8 Jan 2016
Bordeaux Begles 10-28 Clermont Auvergne
Sat – 9 Jan 2016
Racing 92 34-10 Glasgow Warriors
Stade Francais 27-7 Munster
Sun – 10 Jan 2016
Oyonnax 23-24 Ulster
Toulon 12-9 Bath
Aviva Premiership: The start of the new year means its time for the big mid-season push to start trying to reach playoffs or avoid relegation. 10 of the Premierships 12 teams are unaffected by the make up matches so it is still a meaningful weekend of action. It began with Exeter out lasting Gloucester, Harlequins became the first team to take down Saracens, Leicester needed a late kick to beat Northampton. On Sunday, London Irish won a big relegation 6-pointer against Newcastle and Wasps found some form as they took down Worcester.
Here is the Schedule:
Sat – 9 Jan 2016
Exeter Chiefs 19-10 Gloucester
Harlequins 29-23 Saracens
Leicester Tigers 30-27 Northampton Saints
Sun – 10 Jan 2016
London Irish 20-15 Newcastle Falcons
Wasps 32-22 Worcester Warriors
Guinness Pro 12: In the Pro 12, about half the league will be in action due to the Champions Cup matches. Edinburgh cruised past Treviso, Leinster won easily against Ospreys and Scarlets left it late before winning by a kick against Connacht.
Here is the Schedule:
Fri – 8 Jan 2016
Edinburgh 28-13 Benetton Treviso
Ospreys 9-22 Leinster
Sun – 10 Jan 2016
Scarlets 21-19 Connacht
That is 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, Kyle Phillips, Rocky Brown and Declan Yeats, respectively
And as always, stay low and keep pumping those legs.
