NEW YORK, NY – It was another weekend of great rugby. Our coverage this week begins with the top three European leagues. Then we have another wide open round of Super Rugby action to go over, along with an important Tier 2 match. Before we get to that though we have to cover all of the Rugby News & Transactions that went on over the weekend. So without further adieu, let’s get into the Weekend Rugby Preview.
News & Transactions:
Aviva Premiership: Wasps director of rugby Dai Young admits the club will be sad to see George Smith go when he departs at the end of the season. The former Australia star is set to return to Japan with Suntory Goliath, where he played between 2011 and 2014.
Pro 12: Cardiff Blues bolstered their forward stocks ahead of next season with confirmation that Scarlets lock George Earle and hooker Kirby Myhill will both move to the Welsh capital.
USA Rugby: Tickets for the Rugby Weekend in November, where the USA Men’s Eagles’ will go against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks Friday, Nov. 4, at Toyota Park and the international test between the New Zealand All Blacks and Ireland are on sale. For the press release, click here. The first Eagles Elite Training Squad (EETS) roster was released. For more on what the squad is and who is included, click here.
World Rugby: Match officials from Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Wales and South Africa will take charge of the World Rugby U20 Championship 2016 when it kicks off in June. Click here for the full official list.
The weekend’s fixtures:
Aviva Premiership:The 2015/2016 Aviva Premiership clubs have begun their European Cup place and playoff push. The weekend begun with a repeat of last year’s final as Bath fell to Saracens. Exeter put Worcester to the sword, and Harlequins won comfortably over Newcastle, Sale doubled up on London Irish and Leicester dug deep to defeat Gloucester. On Sunday, in the other clash of the weekend, Wasps won a big over Northampton.
Here are the results:
Fri – 1 Apr 2016
Bath 10-30 Saracens
Sat – 2 Apr 2016
Exeter Chiefs 50-12 Worcester Warriors
Harlequins 46-25 Newcastle Falcons
London Irish 15-30 Sale Sharks
Leicester Tigers 35-30 Gloucester
Sun – 3 Apr 2016
Wasps 28-6 Northampton Saints
Top 14: The Top 14 has a full slate of matches this weekend also. There are 7 rounds left and the heat is on to make the playoffs or avoid relegation. The first match of the weekend saw Montpellier comfortably defeat Brive, then Toulouse suffered a loss at Castres as Agen fell short at home to Pau. Stade Francais continued to struggle on the road as they fell to La Rochelle, Oyonnax seemed destined for relegation after losing to Grenoble and Bordeaux-Begles couldn’t withstand the challenge from visitors Racing 92. In the big match of the round, Toulon painfully lost a close one to arch rivals Clermont Auvergne.
Here are the results:
Fri – 1 Apr 2016
Montpellier 19-3 Brive
Sat – 2 Apr 2016
Castres 15-9 Toulouse
Agen 26-33 Pau
La Rochelle 21-18 Stade Francais
Oyonnax 20-27 Grenoble
Bordeaux Begles 20-28 Racing 92
Sun – 3 Apr 2016
Toulon 18-19 Clermont Auvergne
Guinness Pro 12: The Pro 12 has a very big round of its own as the playoffs loom. Ospreys won on the road at Newport-Gwent. Italians, Zebre, traveled to Scotland and were blanked by Edinburgh for their troubles. In an important clash with playoff ramifications, Ulster came out on top against Connacht. Also this weekend, Scarlets lost to arch rivals Cardiff Blues, Treviso were well beaten by Glasgow, and the final match of the weekend was The O’Classico as Leinster just edged out Munster at the death.
Here are the results:
Fri – 1 Apr 2016
Newport-Gwent Dragons 20-26 Ospreys
Sat – 2 Apr 2016
Edinburgh 29-0 Zebre
Ulster 18-10 Connacht
Scarlets 22-28 Cardiff Blues
Benetton Treviso 16-38 Glasgow Warriors
Sun – 3 Apr 2016
Leinster 16-13 Munster
Super Rugby: Super Rugby completed the sixth round of the newly re-formatted tournament that crosses 7 time zones. As for this round of fixtures, it started with the Crusaders winning a shootout against the Lions and the Highlanders successfully repelling the Force. In the other matches this weekend, the Blues were able to get a win in front of their fans after being on the road 3 straight games against the Jaguares and the Brumbies lost big at home to the Chiefs. The Sunwolves traveled to South Africa and lost a close one to the Kings, the Cheetahs lost to the Bulls in a SA local derby. The final match of the weekend saw the Rebels upset the Waratahs.
Here are the results:
Fri – 1 Apr 2016
Lions 37-43 Crusaders
Highlanders 32-20 Force
Sat – 2 Apr 2016
Blues 24-16 Jaguares
Brumbies 23-48 Chiefs
Kings 33-28 Sunwolves
Bulls 23-18 Cheetahs
Sun – 3 Apr 2016
Waratahs 17-21 Rebels
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 2B this weekend, Israel lost badly at home to the Czech Republic.
Here are the results:
Sat – 2 Apr 2016
2A: Israel 19 – 40 Czech Republic
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.
