Kaino, PRO Rugby, ENC and World Rugby News

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NEW YORK, NY – In the first bye week of the Six Nations, the action was replaced with the three top European competitions having a big round of fixtures . We still have plenty of Rugby News and Transactions, plus the continuing Americas Rugby Championship (ARC). With that said, lets dive into the Global Rugby Recap.

News & Transactions:

Super Rugby: Blues captain Jerome Kaino has been suspended for one week for striking Chiefs prop Pauliasi Manu in a Super Rugby warm-up match on Friday.

USA Rugby: It appears that PRO Rugby organization has named their 5 franchises and the head coaches and coaching staffs for the franchises. The organization has also offered a contract to a couple marque players. For the full information, click here.

World Rugby: An independent Disciplinary Committee has decided to impose a suspended fine of €10,000 on Scarlets, of the Pro 12, as a result of a misconduct complaint brought by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) org against the club following their Champions Cup, Round 5 match against Racing 92 on January 17.

The weekend’s fixtures:

Sao Paulo 7s: The second leg of the 2015/2016 HSBC World Rugby Womens 7s Series kicked off in Sao Paulo this weekend. We put together a great review of the tournament and where team USA stands. Read it all by clicking here.

Americas Rugby Championship: The inaugural Americas Rugby Championship has had a fantastic three rounds of play. The action to date has been exciting and competitive for the most part. Our Eagles expert and stats guru, Jake Frechette has a review of the USA game if you click here. For a full review of round three in the ARC and the result of our Expert Panel’s Picks, come back later this week.

European Nations Cup: The ENC, or the 6 Nations “B” , is the premier tournament for the second-tier nations of Europe. Unbeknownst to some, 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, where the best teams in Europe not called England, Ireland, France, Italy, Wales or Scotland reside, but sadly has no promotion option – only relegation back to 1B. Hopefully promotion from 1A to the proper 6N will eventually occur… but we aren’t banking on it.

In 1B action this weekend, Belgium rolled The Netherlands.

Here are the results:
Sat – 20th Feb 2016
1B: Belgium 32-8 Netherlands

Aviva Premiership: The 2015/2016 Aviva Premiership continues to gain momentum. As clubs are making their playoff push. This weekend began with Harlequins knocking off Leicester. Saturday saw a 14 man Saracens outfit take down Gloucester, Worcester recorded a big win against Sale Sharks and an out of form Bath fell to an in form Wasps. Sunday saw London Irish fall to Exeter and Newcastle hang on for a big win against Northampton.

Here are the results:
Fri – 19 Feb 2016
Harlequins 25-19 Leicester Tigers
Sat – 20 Feb 2016
Saracens 25-12 Gloucester
Worcester Warriors 31-23 Sale Sharks
Bath 18-24 Wasps
Sun – 21 Feb 2016
London Irish 15-22 Exeter Chiefs
Newcastle Falcons 26-25 Northampton Saints

Top 14: The Top 14 game has a full slate of matches this weekend. The first match of the weekend saw Brive fell on the road against Stade Francais. Saturday began with Castres losing to Clermont-Auvergne, Bordeaux-Begles were defeated by Agen and Grenoble lost at home against Racing 92. Sunday saw Oyonnax get rolled by Toulon to close out the round.

Here are the results:
Fri – 19 Feb 2016
Stade Francais 32-17Brive
Sat – 20 Feb 2016
Castres 17-28 Clermont-Auvergne
Bordeaux-Begles 16-19 Agen
Grenoble 35-39 Racing 92
Montpellier 24-19 Pau
La Rochelle 28-8 Toulouse
Sun – 21 Feb 2016
Oyonnax 44-13 Toulon

Guinness Pro 12: The Pro 12 had another full round of action this weekend. It starts with Treviso squeaking by Newport-Gwent, Ospreys were too much for Edinburgh, and Glasgow performed a smash and grab job to beat Munster. Saturday had Cardiff lost narrowly to Leinster and Connacht traveled to Italy and romped over Zebre. Sunday ended the round with Ulster coming up short against Scarlets.

Here are the results:
Fri – 19 Feb 2016
Benetton Treviso 19-17 Newport-Gwent Dragons
Ospreys 27-13 Edinburgh
Glasgow Warriors 27-24 Munster
Sat – 20 Feb 2016
Cardiff Blues 13-14 Leinster
Zebre 34-51 Connacht
Sun – 21 Feb 2016
Ulster 20-21 Scarlets