European Rugby
The Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12 leagues head into temporary hibernation and we look forward to the start of this season’s Heineken Cup competition this weekend. The Heineken Cup features the elite of the European clubs, with twenty four clubs taking part.
Former Springbok and Bulls loose forward Danie Rossouw has agreed to join French Top 14 Rugby Club Toulon from February next year.
In what will be the final round of Pro12 games before the start of the European competitions, Ulster sit one point clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over their rivals. They welcome Connacht to Ravenhill on Friday night, a place where the visitors have never won in this tournament.
Wing Mark Cueto admits it is easy for Sale Sharks to get bogged down with the negatives of their start to the Premiership season, but he insists only a positive frame of mind will bring a change of fortune.
Scottish Rugby is encouraging supporters to see Scotland “in the flesh” in a bold new marketing campaign that is being launched in Edinburgh today. Giant 30 foot artwork covering the entire façade of a building at one of the Capital’s busiest junctions gives fans the opportunity to see Scotland players as they’ve never seen them before.
The fifth round of the RaboDirect Pro12 started with four matches on Friday night and the remaining two fixtures in the round being played on Saturday. This round yielded numerous surprise results, so much so that we only managed to correctly predict one out of the six results.
It is the fifth round of Premiership action this weekend and it sees Saracens make the trip across London to Harlequins to face the reigning champions at The Stoop.
In the wake of Nevin Spence’s death alongside his brother and father, Ulster’s players now just want to return to action. They will do so on Friday night when they face Cardiff Blues in the RaboDirect PRO12 at the Arms Park.
This weekend sees the fifth round of the 2012/13 Pro12 competition, with four games taking place on Friday night and the remaining two fixtures in the round scheduled for Saturday.
Glasgow Warriors are gunning for their second home RaboDirect PRO12 victory in seven days when they face Zebre at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday (kick-off 7.35pm British Summer Time). The Warriors have made several changes to their match day squad of 23 for this game. In arguably the most notable change, former Golden Lions eighthman and captain Josh Strauss will be starting at eightman.
One of the foremost coaches in world rugby is to visit Scotland next month to spend time with the country’s two pro-clubs and to outline his philosophies to senior club and school coaches.
As Round Four of the PRO12 opens, a Welsh Region still tops the table, however it is not last season’s winners, Ospreys, but their opponents on Friday night, Scarlets, setting the pace.
As the Premiership starts gaining momentum, the spotlight will shine much brighter on newcomers London Welsh, who opened their account with a fine win last week.
French clubs have revealed that they have no intention of leaving European Rugby tournaments the Heineken Cup and the Challenge Cup and playing with just English clubs in a new tournament.
Champions Harlequins will be out to extend their unbeaten start to the English Premiership when they take on Sale Sharks this weekend. Quins currently head the standings after two rounds, but with five teams still unbeaten there is plenty of pressure to continue their winning ways.
After just two rounds there are only three teams left with 100 percent winning records in the Pro12, namely, Munster, Scarlets and Ulster. One of those will go this weekend, as Ulster host Munster at Ravenhill on Friday. Whilst Munster have the better record in this fixture, Ulster have had the better of their opponents at home, so it really is anyone’s game.
It was reported earlier in the week that telecommunications company BT had secured the exclusive broadcast rights for the English Premiership rugby starting from the 2013/14 season in a complex deal involving rights to broadcast various other rugby matches. The contract is set to run to the 2015/16 season and was reported to have been worth up to a whopping £152m.
Former Blue Bulls, and now Northampton Saints, number eight Gerrit-Jan van Velze has been handed a four weeks ban for a ‘tip tackle’ having been cited after Northampton’s game against Exeter Chiefs last weekend.
The second round of the 2012/2013 season’s Aviva Premiership was completed this weekend. In the first match of the weekend London Welsh were comprehensively beaten by Harlequins, who scored six tries to none. In the last game, which was played on Sunday, Northampton Saints managed to scrape through against a brave Exeter Chiefs outfit.
The second round of Aviva Premiership games take places this weekend and while it may only be Round Two, Saracens have laid down an early marker in the 2012/13 Premiership season.
The second round of the RaboDirect Pro12 competition is scheduled for this weekend. Four of the games will be played on Friday night with the remaining two games taking place on Saturday.
New British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland is on his way to France on Wednesday (today) to chat to a number of potential tourists for his squad for next Northern Hemisphere summer’s tour of Australia.
New Zealander Warren Gatland was appointed coach of the British and Irish Lions on Tuesday for their tour of Australia next year. The role is the most prestigious in northern hemisphere rugby but comes with numerous challenges.
The RaboDirect Pro12 2012/13 season kicked off on Friday night with Welsh outfit Newport Gwent Dragons hosting tournament newcomers the Italian team Zebre. The Dragons slayed Zebre, outscoring the visitors by four tries to none.
The tournament organizers couldn’t have wished for a better start to the season with an action packed game between London Wasps and Harlequins at Twickenham. Harlequins secured a narrow victory after being more than twenty points behind with twenty minutes left to play. Ten tries were scored in total in this match.
This weekend sees the start of the RaboDirect Pro12 for the 2012/2013 season. In what could arguably be the pick of the fixtures Edinburgh, last year’s Heineken Cup semi-finalists, face Munster. Defending champions The Ospreys will be away to Treviso, while Leinster, consistently Ireland’s best team for the last few years, travel to face Llanelli Scarlets.
The Aviva Premiership gets underway this weekend, with the first match kicking off at 1500 South African time on Saturday at Twickenham. There will be a further four matches on Saturday with the final game for the round due to kick off at 1500 South African time on Sunday.
New Zealand’s Maori All Blacks will tour the Northern Hemisphere in November this year to play Leicester Tigers, Canada and a RFU Championship select XV.
Scotland and London Irish centre Joe Ansbro has suffered a broken neck while playing in a pre-season match against Munster. This news follows that of fellow Scotland star backline player Stuart Hogg also being ruled out of rugby for a while, having undergone a foot operation.
Various pre-season friendly matches have taken place this weekend, ahead of the start of the Aviva Premiership and RaboDirect Pro12 competitions. Furthemore, there has been news of player injuries as well as some player transfer news.
Northampton Saints have announced that twenty five year old hooker Brett Sharman, has left the club.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has confirmed that he will be coach of the 2013 British and Irish Lions and that the official announcement will be made early next month.
The launch of the RaboDirect Pro 12 Rugby tournament took place at Glasgow’s impressive Riverside Museum on Tuesday morning with coaches and captains from all twelve teams in attendance.
England Under 18 were outdone by northern hemisphere rivals France in George, South Africa, losing 20-13 at Outeniqua Park Stadium in a bruising encounter, but Head John Fletcher was satisfied that his side “gave their all”.
Former UK Sport Performance Director Peter Keen and British and Irish Lions legend Ian McGeechan have joined up to work with the RFU to ensure England’s success at the highest level.