NEW YORK, NY – It is not an easy time to be an American right now. A lot has happened/is happening this week that is far from rugby related. All we can do at RWU and as individuals is control what we can control. And that means working on and providing you with a quality Weekend Rugby Preview with info re: Women’s Super Series, Olympic 7s, World University Games, Nowell, Slade, Dickie, Morahan, Horrell and more… so let’s do that.
News & Transactions:
Aviva Premiership: Exeter‘s three England stalwarts have all agreed new deals. Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Henry Slade have put pen to paper on new three-year contracts… Doncaster Knights center Will Hurrell has agreed terms to join Bristol ahead of the upcoming Premiership campaign, becoming their ninth signing of the off-season for the recently promoted club… Wasps have strengthened their coaching team with the addition of previously banned defense coach Phil Blake. Former Wallaby defense and skills coach, Blake, takes over from Brad Davis who joins Ospreys. Blake was banned from all rugby activity for six months in June last year for two breaches of anti-corruption and betting rules.
Pro 12: Glasgow Warriors have signed 23-year-old fly-half Hagen Schulte on a one-year partnership contract… The Scottish qualified-New Zealand born back, who spent three weeks on trial at Scotstoun last season, will also play for Glasgow Hawks in the Scottish Premiership when he’s not selected for the Warriors.
Top14: Lyon announced a further signing ahead of their return to the Top 14 with the recruitment of Super Rugby Reds franchise back-row Curtis Browning.
Super Rugby: Chiefs utility back Andrew Horrell has decided to take up a contract in Japan with the Coca-Cola Red Sparks in Fukoka at the end of the season… Luke Morahan and the Western Force have opted to exercise the optional year in his contract, extending his career with the Western Australian franchise until the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season. Joining Morahan at the Force for the 2017 season will be experienced loosehead prop Ben Daley from the Reds… The Brumbies confirmed that wing Joe Tomane will depart the club at the end of the Super Rugby season to take up a contract in France… Crusaders openside flanker Matt Todd has hinted he could extend his stay in Canterbury past his current deal, which is set to expire in 2017.
USA Rugby: The USA Rugby AIG Women’s Collegiate All-Americans fell short against Canada’s development side, the Maple 10-15 at the Regional Athletic Complex in Utah. The teams will complete their two-match series Saturday, July 9, prior to the final day of the 2016 Women’s Rugby Super Series. The match will kick off at 11 a.m. MT, with broadcast details to be finalized… The USA Rugby Men’s Collegiate All-Americans have been selected for the 2015-16 season. The lists of over 130 standout student-athletes represent 44 universities. Click here for the list… The Boys High School All-Americans, coached by Salty Thompson, featuring our own Luke Bienstock, defeated Ontario Rugby‘s under-19 Blues squad twice in the span of two days over the holiday weekend. The team was hosted by Appleby College through the week and able to use its high-end facilities to prepare for match days Thursday, June 30, and Saturday, July 2. The BHSAAs kept their opponent to a combined 19 points in 27-14 and 38-5 wins north of the border…The USA Rugby Referee Resident Camp will be debuted this August. This six-day camp is designed to be a complete immersion into rugby refereeing concepts, practices and learning. For more information, click here.
World Rugby: Excitement builds as the 2016 Rio Olympics 7s match schedule is confirmed. Click here for the Women’s scheduele and Click here for the men’s schedule… Eir Sport have been named Rugby World Cup 2019 rights-holder in Ireland. Thirteen RWC 2019 matches, including all Ireland games and all knock-outs, will also feature on free-to-air TV in a deal that includes broadcasting Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017, U20 Championship 2017-19 and Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018… Potential stars of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games descend on Swansea, Wales for the 2016 FISU World University Rugby Sevens Championship. The 2016 FISU World University Rugby Sevens Championship will welcome 19 rugby sevens teams – nine male and 10 female – from 14 nations, to the second largest city in Wales for three full days of competition and a comprehensive cultural program from 6-9 July for more info click here… Australia sevens lynchpin Ed Jenkins has committed his future to the abbreviated form of the game after signing a new two-year contract with the Australian Rugby Union…The weekend’s fixtures:
Again, Ladies first:
Super Series: The USA Rugby Womens’ Super Series is a four team tournament featuring the USA, France, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 Finalists Canada and WRWC 2014 Champions England. Hosted in conjunction with First15 Sport Performance and with the help of Rugby Utah and the Utah Sports Commission, the Super Series will be played at the Regional Athletic Complex, with the teams training at the University of Utah campus, both locations are in Salt Lake City. Canada top the Super Series standings after a second bonus-point victory, this time over hosts and neighbors the USA. Meanwhile England, who bounced back from the heavy loss to Canada snatched a victory from the jaws of the defeat against France thanks to a last minute after the hooter try.
Here are the results:
Tue – 5 Jul 2016
France 13-17 England
USA 5-33 Canada
Here is the schedule:
Sat – 9 Jul 2016
France – Canada
USA – England
PRO Rugby: Round 13 of the inaugural season of PRO rugby rolls on. In this round, Ohio heads to Sacramento trying to stay on top of the league. Meanwhile, it was San Diego travels to Denver to try and get back to their winning ways. For some predictions of the match-ups this weekend check out Luke Bienstock’s piece.
Here is the schedule:
Sat – 9 Jul 2016
Ohio – Sacramento
Sun – 10 Jul 2016
San Diego – Denver
Super Rugby: Super Rugby has gone from 6 teams in 1996 to 18 teams in 2016. It only covered 3 countries and 3 times zones then, now it has games in 6 countries, crosses more than 7 time zones and has four conferences. There are only 2 rounds left in the this the 20th season of the competition. The latest round of fixtures, started with the Blues shlacking the Brumbies in Auckland. Across the Tasman, the Chiefs were doing the same to the Reds. Of the upcoming fixtures, the Lions will likley emulate the Blues and Chiefs victories when they face the Kings. In the remaining matches, the Crusaders host the Rebels, the Waratahs welcome the Hurricanes, then the Stormers travel to the the Force. Then we have the Bulls playing the Sunwolves, the Sharks face the Cheetahs and the Jaguares are home against the Highlanders.
Here are the results:
Fri – 8 Jul 2016
Blues 45-15 Brumbies
Reds 5-50 Chiefs
Here is the schedule:
Fri – 8 Jul 2016
Lions – Kings
Sat – 9 Jul 2016
Crusaders – Rebels
Waratahs – Hurricanes
Force – Stormers
Bulls – Sunwolves
Sharks – Cheetahs
Jaguares – Highlanders
Africa Cup: The Africa Cup 2016 will be the sixteenth edition of the continental tournament that involves the best African national teams, organized by the Rugby Afrique, formerly known as the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR). Given their superiority, the South African national team has rarely participated in most tournaments. The four times the SARU has participated, they sent either a U-23 team or amateur side, and went on to win it. Beyond South Africa, there are up to 27 rugby countries in the Cup with the national participants in the two divisions with each division divided into three groups (1A, 1B, 1C, 2 West, 2 East, and 2 South), with promotion and relegation. In the 1A this weekend division, Zimbabwe will host Kenya while in 1C Mauritius travels to play Morocco.
Here is the schedule:
Sat – 9 Jul 2016
1A: Zimbabwe – Kenya
Sun – 10 Jul 2016
1C: Morocco – Mauritius
2016 Currie Cup qualification: The tournament is a competition between which will be played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It will feature all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the Welwitschias from Namibia and will also serve as a qualifying competition for the 2016 Currie Cup, the 78th edition of South Africa’s premier domestic rugby union competition. Nine teams from this competition will play in the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division, while the remaining six teams will play in the 2016 Currie Cup First Division. Round thirteen’s fixtures began on Thursday night as Griquas defeated Pumas. The remaining matches will begin on Friday with Leopards hosting Eastern Province and SouthWest District welcoming Free State. The finally matches of the weekend have Falcons clashing with the Golden Lions, Giffons against Sharks, Boland face off with Western Province and finally Border will face a stern challenge from the Blue Bulls.
Here are the results:
Thu – 7 Jul 2016
Griquas 37–14 Pumas
Here is the schedule:
Fri – 8 Jul 2016
Leopards – Eastern Province
SWD Eagles – Free State XV
Sat – 9 Jul 2016
Falcons – Golden Lions XV
Griffons – Sharks XV
Boland Cavaliers – Western Province
Border Bulldogs – Blue Bulls
That’s all for now, please feel free to comment below, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter@: RugbyWrapUp, Junoir Blaber, @MeetTheMatts, Luke Bienstock, Ronan Nelson, James Harrington and Declan Yeats.
