NEW YORK, NY – This was a busy rugby weekend, with the Americas Rugby Champions and 3 versions of the 6 Nations all kicking off. With all the the on field action and important pieces of news and transactions off the field, here is your Global Rugby Recap.
News & Transactions:
USA Rugby: As far as USA Rugby News this weekend, all you need to know is this:
World Rugby has approved matches USA v Maori All Blacks Nov 4,Toyota Park,Chicago and Ireland v @AllBlacks Nov 5, Soldier Field,Chicago.
— Brett Gosper (@brettgosper) February 5, 2016
Aviva Premiership: Sale Sharks announced that two young backs Will Addison and Mark Jennings have signed contract extensions with the club.
World Rugby: As we touched on in our 7s piece, World Rugby had a press release stating they are investigating an apparent breach of Law 3 (number of players on the field of play) by the New Zealand sevens team during a Sydney 7s match.
The weekend’s fixtures:
Sydney 7s: The fourth leg of the 2015/2016 HSBC World Rugby Mens 7s Series was played in Sydney this weekend. We have a thorough review of the tournament, with a focus on the results for the USA Eagles 7s side. Just click here.
Americas Rugby Championship: The inaugural Americas Rugby Championship also kicked off this weekend. The long awaited tournament didn’t disappoint in the slightest. We sent our Eagles expert and stats guru, to Houston to report. For his review of the USA game, click here . For a full review of round one in the ARC and there result of our Expert Panel’s Picks, Jake will be back later in the week with a fascinating report.
RBS 6 Nations: Each match on the first weekend of the 6N was a tight affair. There was no room to get up and get a beer late in the game. The RWU Wolfman has a great preview of all the matches and our Expert Panel’s picks. Click here.
RBS U-20 6 Nations: The stars of the future of European rugby also had their 6N matches this weekend to give fans a preview of what’s to come. In the battles for the future, Ireland were upended by Wales, while England lost badly on the road to Scotland and Italy were crushed by France.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 5th Feb 2016
Ireland U20s 24-35 Wales U20s
Scotland U20s 24-6 England U20
France U20s 40-3 Italy U20s
RBS Women’s 6 Nations: Though they don’t get as much coverage as they often deserve, the Women’s 6N also kicked off this weekend. The sparse coverage aside, the tournament begun Friday night with Scotland getting dominated by England, followed by Ireland winning easily against Wales on Saturday and finally finishing with the French women shutting down and shutting out the Italians.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Fri – 5th Feb 2016
Scotland 0-32 England
Sat – 6th Feb 2016
Ireland 21-3 Wales
France 39-0 Italy
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, 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 1A this weekend, Romania won comfortably against Portugal while Russia surprisingly struggled to get by Spain and Georgia crushed Germany, in front of their rabid fans.
Here is the weekend’s schedule:
Sat – 6th Feb 2016
1A: Romania 39-14 Portugal
1A: Russia 22-20 Spain
1A: Georgia 59-7 Germany
Aviva Premiership: Due to the 2015 RWC, the 2015/2016 Aviva Premiership will not take any breaks during 6N weekend this year. This means each teams depth will be severally tested This weekend began with Bath losing a tight one to Gloucester. Saturday saw Wasps win ugly against Newcastle in Coventry, Harlequins fell late to Newcastle and Leicester were shockingly bested by Sale. Sunday, Exeter finally fell at home to Saracens and London Irish won their relegation 6 pointer against Worcester.
Here is the schedule:
Fri – 5th Feb 2016
Bath 11 – 15 Gloucester
Sat – 6th Feb 2016
Wasps 9 – 8 Newcastle Falcons
Harlequins 23 – 27 Northampton Saints
Leicester Tigers 3 – 10 Sale Sharks
Sun – 7th Feb 2016
Exeter Chiefs 11 – 14 Saracens
London Irish 20 – 13 Worcester Warriors
Guinness Pro 12: The Pro 12 has one game this weekend. A make-up game due the match being postponed earlier in the season because of a bogged pitch. In the match, Ulster won over Newport-Gwent courtesy of a last minute game winning kick by Ulster fly-half Paddy Jackson.
Here is the schedule:
Fri – 5th Feb 2016
Ulster 17 – 15 Newport Gwent Dragons
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, Ronan Nelson, Kyle Phillips and Declan Yeats, respectively
And as always, stay low and keep pumping those legs.
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