European Rugby
A major sports sponsor says it would like to back the creation of a third Pro12 rugby team for Scotland – based in its home town of Aberdeen.
Aberdeen Asset Management already sponsors major events like sailing’s Cowes Week and the Scottish Open golf.
Stuart Hogg will face a disciplinary hearing in London on Wednesday after being sent off during Scotland’s 51-3 Six Nations defeat against Wales.
Full-back Hogg was shown a red card for a late challenge on fly-half Dan Biggar in the 22nd minute on Saturday.
It has been a fantastic Six Nations and one that had a fairytale ending as Ireland handed Brian O’Driscoll the perfect retirement present by beating France to win the title.
The nail-biting victory in Paris meant Ireland took the championship ahead of England on points difference.
The two teams have been the form sides in the competition and although a few French and Welsh players showed well, it is the top two who naturally provide the bulk of my Team of the Tournament for 2014.
The Eastern Province Kings will be going head to head with Wales ahead of their Test matches against the Springboks in June.
Scotland’s Stuart Hogg made a public apology after being sent off during his side’s record Six Nations defeat by Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
The full-back was given his marching orders at the Millennium Stadium by French referee Jerome Garces in the 22nd minute following a late shoulder charge into the face of Wales fly-half Dan Biggar.
Garces intially produced a yellow card but, after viewing replays on the stadium’s giant screen, changed it to a red.
Wales captain Sam Warburton is set to miss the rest of the European season and the tour of South Africa after suffering a suspected dislocated shoulder injury against Scotland.
Back-row forward Warburton completed Wales’ record 51-3 rout of Scotland in their Six Nations finale at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Exeter welcome new father Ben Moon back to the front row for the LV= Cup final, while Don Armand will be on the bench. Backs Jason Shoemark and Fetu’u Vainikolo also come into the starting Chiefs side, replacing the injured Ian Whitten (calf) and Tom James (knee).
Northampton, who have used more than 40 different players en route to the final, make eight changes to their XV. There are starts for James Wilson, Jamie Elliott and Stephen Myler as well as Alex Waller and Salesi Ma’afu.
France (13) 20 / 22 (12) Ireland (Final Score)
France and Ireland did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Stade de France, Paris at 19:00 SA Time (18:00 French Time, 17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 5 & SH5 on TV in SA.
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Brian O’Driscoll wants the emotion of his final Test to propel Ireland to the Six Nations title in Paris on Saturday.
Ireland’s points difference of 81 is likely to mean any win over France will seal their first title since 2009, but England and France could deny them.
Wales, France, Ireland, England, Scotland and Italy have named thie teams for the weekend’s Six Nations action.
Wales named 6 changes in their side for the clash against Scotland.
France made 4 changes to their side, including bringing back Gael Fickou, for their clash against Ireland on the weekend.
Ireland made just 1 change to their side to face France.
England made no changes to their starting side and has made only 1 change on the bench, bringing back Manusamoa Tuilagi in the place of Alex Goode, for their clash with Italy in Rome.
After initially only naming the forwards and sweating over the composition of his backline, Scotland coach, Scott Johnson, has named his backline, with Edinburgh winger Dougie Fife winning his first cap.
Italy coach, Jacques Brunel, has made 3 changes to the Italy side, to face England, with Sergio Parisse returning to the fold and leading the team.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has revealed that his star fullback Leigh Halfpenny will miss the rest of the season after dislocating his shoulder in the 29-18 loss to England at Twickenham.
Edinburgh rugby player, Izak van der Westhuizen, who also played for the Free State Cheetahs, will be joining the EP Kings in June.
EP Rugby CEO, Charl Crous said the 28-year-old lock out of Kimberly, had signed a three year deal with the Kings.
England (20) 29 / 18 (15) Wales (Final Score)
England and Wales did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Twickenham, London at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Scotland (14) 17 / 19 (9) France (Final Score)
Scotland and France did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT, 18:00 French Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 7 on TV in SA.
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Ireland (17) 41 / 7 (7) Italy (Final Score)
Ireland and Italy did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Aviva Stadium, Dublin at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 15:30 Italy Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 7 on TV in SA.
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Gloucester No 8 Ben Morgan was the one injury-enforced change to England’s starting line-up announced by coach Stuart Lancaster on Friday for their Six Nations international against Wales at Twickenham this weekend.
Morgan replaces Billy Vunipola, the man he came on for during England’s 13-10 win over Ireland at Twickenham last time out, after his fellow back-row forward was ruled out of the final two rounds of the Six Nations with an ankle injury.
France manager Philippe Saint-Andre has made seven changes to the team that put in a dismal display against Wales as Les Bleus seek to put their Six Nations challenge back on track when they face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Saint-Andre has remained loyal to Jules Plisson at flyhalf for the fourth match in a row, pairing the Stade Français player with Maxime Machenaud and relegating Jean-Marc Doussain to the bench.
Ireland team announced on Thursday to play Italy in a Six Nations international at Dublin’s Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
Italy will be without injured captain Sergio Parisse but will start with a new half-back pairing of Luciano Orquera and Tito Tebaldi for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin.
Parisse, who along with Martin Castrogiovanni picked up a record 104th cap for Italy against Scotland in Rome, is suffering from a calf injury and is just one of several third row players missing from Jacques Brunel’s squad.
Scotland have made three changes including recalls for Kelly Brown and Geoff Cross in their Six Nations championship match against France at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Cross has been rewarded for his contribution off the bench in the 21-20 win against Italy, with the starting berth at tight-head and David Denton enlisted for the back-row in place of Ryan Wilson who has been laid low by a tonsillitis bug over the last few days. Brown starts instead of Chris Fusaro.
Wales have named their team to play England on Sunday in the Six Nations at Twickenham with Lions duo Jonathan Davies and Alun Wyn Jones returning to the starting team.
British and Irish Lion Davies returns from injury to reunite Wales’ most capped centre pairing as he lines up alongside Jamie Roberts.
The fourth round of the 2014 RBS 6 Nation Championship takes place this weekend with the first match kicking off in Dublin on Saturday where Ireland host Italy. Scotland are hosts to France shortly after this, while the final game of the weekend takes place on Sunday with England hosting Wales at Twickenham.
There has been a bit of a gap in Six Nations action with no games played last weekend and so the thinking has been that this may be a good time to share an article to remind us of the action from the previous round.
Scotland have made three changes to their pack, among which Kelly Brown is recalled as captain, for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship match against France at Murrayfield.
Edinburgh Rugby confirmed on Tuesday that scrum-half and captain Greig Laidlaw will leave the club to join English Premiership side Gloucester at the end of the season.
Scotland were boosted by the availability of stalwart tight head prop Euan Murray for this Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations encounter against France at Murrayfield.
Murray has yet to feature in the tournament this year due to an injured thumb.
Meanwhile, France hooker Dimitri Szarzewski has become the latest in a long list of French players who will be unable to play in the match. He misses out due to an ankle injury.
This means that France will fielding their third choice hooker on Saturday.
Edinburgh Rugby won the tightest of contests against the Ospreys 31-25 with the decisive contributions coming from Carl Bezuidenhout and Grayson Hart in their match in round sixteen of the RaboDirect PRO12 last night at Meggetland, Edinburgh’s temporary new home ground.
The RFU have fined Leicester amateurs Aylestone St James £1,575 for “forcibly removing the underwear” of three anonymous north east-based officials.
The incident took place at Aylestone’s Covert Lane clubhouse after a Midlands Three East (North) match with Grimsby.
Glasgow Warriors have pulled off a major coup by landing USA international sevens star Carlin Isles until at least May 2015, subject to a visa and medical.
24-year-old Isles has been dubbed the fastest rugby player in the world after swapping athletics for rugby in 2012.
France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has dropped number eight Louis Picamoles from his squad to face Scotland next weekend because he showed a lack of respect towards referee Alain Rolland during Friday’s loss to Wales.
Billy Vunipola will take no further part in the Six Nations due to a sprain to his right ankle.
The Saracens No 8 had a scan on Monday which revealed some ligament damage that will keep him out of action for the rest of the tournament.
French centre Wesley Fofana is unlikely to play any further part in this season’s Six Nations Championship after suffering a broken rib in the 27-6 defeat in Wales according to Clermont.
Long-serving Edinburgh Rugby duo Ben Cairns and Steven Lawrie have been forced to retire from rugby due to long-term knee injuries.
The news ends the tenure of the long-serving local lads, both capped for Scotland, who will now pursue careers on the other side of the white paint.
South African scrumhalf and kicker, Rory Kockott, has committed his future to Castres, with the French champions announcing that he had signed a new three-year deal.
English rugby legend Jonny Wilkinson celebrated his 100th match in the Top 14 in suitable fashion on Sunday as he kicked all of European champion Toulon’s points as they secured a 15-9 win at relegation-threatened Bayonne.
The 34-year-old landed four penalties and one drop goal to give Toulon only their second away win in eight away matches this campaign and consolidated their place in the top six places for the post-season playoffs – they are five points ahead of seventh placed Toulouse.
Top-level sport is often decided by small margins. Take the events in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Scotland trailed Italy 20-18 with the clock showing that 79 minutes had elapsed. Scotland had one chance to snatch a desperately-needed win.