NEW YORK, NY – Happy Monday everyone! As we roll into the first post holiday version of the weekend recap, we will review the fixtures and transactions to cover. With that, today’s report will have news re: Wellington Lions, Chris Gibbes, Dan Payne, Champions Cup.
News & Transactions:
Pro 12: Neath-Swansea Ospreys forwards coach Chris Gibbes has confirmed that he will leave the region at the end of 2016/17 to become head coach at Wellington in New Zealand’s Mitre 10 Cup.
USA Rugby: USA Rugby CEO Dan Payne held a live video Facebook chat Friday, answering questions from rugby people around the country and overseas. Payne touched on a number of topics, and you can see the entire video here.
World Rugby: According to Stuff.co.nz, ticket sales for the Wellington 7s are very sluggish for a myriad of reasons.
The weekend’s fixtures:
Champions Cup: Due to the incredibly sad death of Munster coach Axel Foley, their original match from between Munster and Racing 92 in October was rescheduled. Thankfully both teams and their respective leagues, the Pro 12 and Top 14 have accommodated the schedules to allow for the match. With Racing already eliminated from the playoff race, they barely put up a fight as Munster romped.
Here is the schedule:
Sat- 7 Jan 2017
Racing 92 7-32 Munster
Aviva Premiership: The 2016/2017 Aviva Premiership is into the second half of the season. This weekend began with Newcastle winning a tight one against Bath and Gloucester thrashed Worcester. Harlequins edged out Sale, in-form Bristol lost on the road against Northampton, Saracens and Exeter clashed in a repeat of last year’s final and played to a draw. Finally Leicester visited Wasps as the Andrew Mauger era begun and it started with a lose despite a ferocious second half comeback.
Here are the results:
Fri – 6 Jan 2017
Newcastle Falcons 24-22 Bath
Sat- 7 Jan 2017
Gloucester 55-19 Worcester Warriors
Harlequins 29-26 Sale Sharks
Northampton Saints 32-26 Bristol
Saracens 13-13 Exeter Chiefs
Sun – 8 Jan 2017
Wasps 22-16 Leicester Tigers
Top 14: The Top 14 season continues. The twelve teams this season are champions Racing 92, runners-up Toulon, Clermont, Montpellier, Toulouse, Castres, Bordeaux, Brive, La Rochelle, Grenoble, Pau and Stade Français… Two new teams from the 2015–16 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Bayonne and Lyon in place of the two relegated teams, Agen and Oyonnax. The line-up for the weekend began with Montpellier defeating Bordeaux in a tight battle. The weekend continued with Brive defeating Grenoble by the slimmest margin possible, Pau and Lyon had their game postponed due to a frozen pitch and La Rochelle won comfortably against Castres. Stade Francais lost a tight one against Toulouse and finally the match of the round saw Clermont Auvergne maintain their impressive home form as they dominated Toulon.
Here are the results:
Fri – 6 Jan 2017
Montpellier 31-26 Bordeaux-Bègles
Sat- 7 Jan 2017
Brive 23-22 Grenoble
Pau – Lyon – Postponed
La Rochelle 22-8 Castres
Sun – 1 Dec 2017
Stade Français 15-18 Toulouse
Clermont Auvergne 30-6 Toulon
Pro 12: The 2016–17 Pro12 has hit the second half of the season. This weekend saw Newport-Gwent traveled to Treviso then the other Italian side Zebre were destroyed by Leinster, and Scarlets edged out Ulster. We then had Connacht lose soundly to Ospreys, finally, Glasgow defeated Cardiff to complete the round.
Here are the results:
Fri – 6 Jan 2017
Newport Gwent Dragons 26-8 Benetton Treviso
Leinster 70-6 Zebre
Scarlets 16-13 Ulster
Sat – 7 Jan 2017
Ospreys 29-7 Connacht
Glasgow Warriors 29-15 Cardiff Blues
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And as always, stay low and keep pumping those legs.
