The New Zealand Rugby Union confirmed on Tuesday the All Blacks will travel to take on the USA in Chicago on 1 November.
The world’s best will take on their American counterparts at the 61,000-seater Solider Field stadium, home to the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
Though rumours and speculation regarding this fixture have bubbled away for nearly six months, it was only on Tuesday that the match was publicly announced as the Kiwis’ newest overseas initiative, with the purposes of drawing on the developing market – boasting huge potential – in the USA, generating a ballpark figure of at least $1 million NZ dollars for the NZRU, and offering the Test side important preparation for the subsequent fixtures in Europe.
Wales have named 52 players to prepare for the Probables v Possibles trial match on May 30th, including Bath centre Gavin Henson.
The two 26-man squads will be captained by Alun Wyn Jones (Probables) and Matthew Rees (Possibles) respectively as the sides go head-to-head for their chance to tour South Africa in June.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett believes the players selected for his World XV squad are in top form for their match against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday 7 June.
The squad of 23 players, comprising of Test stars from New Zealand, France, Australia, Ireland, Samoa, Tonga, Georgia and South Africa, boasts a total of 707 caps between them.
“The group of players who have been selected for this match are not only very experienced, but are all in very good form at the moment,” said Mallett.
Following the first of two matches in the build-up to their IRB Junior World Championship next month in New Zealand, Scotland’s under-20 squad take on Wales in Bridgend this (Wednesday) evening.
Edinburgh Rugby have confirmed that nine players will leave the club at the end of the season, at the conclusion of their current contracts.
Among the nine are capped internationalists Lee Jones (Scotland), centre Ben Atiga (All Blacks) and back-row Dimitri Basilaia (Georgia).
Glasgow’s Jonny Gray was named ‘Young Player of the Year’ at the RaboDirect PRO12 Awards evening in the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh.
Jonny Gray picked up the award after not only breaking into and starting in the Glasgow side, but also into the Scottish national team.
He beat Leinster centre Noel Reid to the title and follows in the footsteps of Tim Visser (Edinburgh Rugby), Toby Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) and Luke Marshall (Ulster Rugby) as the RaboDirect PRO12 ‘Young Player of the Year’.
The Stormers have been boosted by the news that Demetri Catrakilis and Kobus van Wyk have been cleared for selection ahead of their Super Rugby match against the Western Force at Newlands on Saturday.
Catrakilis has not played since breaking his nose against the Lions on 19 April, whilst Van Wyk’s wrist injury – suffered against the Highlanders on 3 May – has healed a lot quicker than initially anticipated.
They may not be the same vintage as the 2009 and 2010 Vodacom Super Rugby champion team, but the Vodacom Bulls are steadily starting to believe in themselves – and that makes them very dangerous as the competition starts winding down to its business end.
But the Bulls know their real test was not against the struggling DHL Stormers last Saturday, but rather in a fortnight’s time when they face the Australian conference leaders, and the side that put them out of the semifinals last year – the Brumbies.
It is quite amazing how the Cell C Sharks’ 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby campaign is starting to resemble that of the DHL Stormers two years ago.
In 2012, the Stormers topped the overall Super Rugby log, as the Sharks are now, but they gave the impression at times that they were clueless on attack and had to rely almost completely on their strong defensive system. The Stormers back then scored fewer tries than the Sharks have this season, and the Sharks did pick up a four try bonus point in their opening fixture. The table topping Stormers went the entire 2012 league phase without picking up a single four try bonus point.
Five uncapped players were included in the All Blacks 35-man training squad named Monday, ahead of the three-Test series against England in June.
The squad, which will be whittled down to 31 on 1 June, also marks the return of Jerome Kaino to All Blacks consideration – while flyhalf Dan Carter is a notable omission as he continues a sabbatical before returning to the game in August.
Blindside flank Kaino, now back in New Zealand with the Blues, last played for the All Blacks in the 2011 World Cup Final victory against France before moving to Japan.
Expect Morné Steyn to return to do duty in the Springbok No 10 jersey later this year.
It is felt that no South African flyhalf has done enough in Super Rugby this year to convince Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer to replace his favourite No 10 for the upcoming Incoming Tests and Rugby Championship shortly thereafter.
Scott Williams has become the latest player to rule himself out of Wales’s tour to South Africa in June.
The Scarlets’ centre had hoped he would have recovered from the shoulder injury he sustained playing for Wales against Ireland in the Six Nations.
New Zealander Chris Pollock will be the referee when the Stormers host the Western Force in a Super Rugby clash at Newlands this Saturday (17:05 SA Time).
Pollock will be assisted by South Africans Marius Jonker and Quinton Immelman, with Shaun Veldsman on television match official (TMO) duty.
Lopeti Timani has been declared fit to return to play following a knee injury which has seen him sidelined for nearly two months.
The powerful backrow-forward, who can also play at lock, will most likely return via the Dewar Shield before looking to add to his maiden Rebels cap against the Western Force in Round 2.
Having steered the Springbok Sevens to a credible second place on the HSBC Sevens World Series, Blitzboks coach Neil Powell admitted that he needs to improve the depth of his squad to make them more competitive next season.
Powell took over the reigns as head coach of the Springbok Sevens when the 2013/14 season started in October last year. His immediate aim was to install a good level of consistency, and to reach the semi-final of each of the nine World Series tournaments.
Rory Kockott was once again the star for Castres as the defending champions ended Clermont’s 77-game unbeaten run on home soil in a shock result in Saturday’s Top 14 play-off.
Away winners in France have been rarities all season, but there were upsets in both the weekend’s play-offs.
A push to move June internationals back and create an integrated global rugby season by 2016 remains a ‘long shot’, New Zealand Rugby Union chief Steve Tew has warned.
The International Rugby Players’ Association (IRPA) has campaigned for the June Test window to be pushed back to the end of July to allow southern hemisphere-based players to finish the Super Rugby tournament and have Europe-based players start their domestic campaigns later.
Jim Carmichael has led speculation that James O’Connor is poised for a controversial return to Australia via the Queensland Reds.
Reds boss Carmichael would not confirm whether O’Connor is set to join the Reds’ in the 2015 Super Rugby roster but admitted he was in the process of addressing their current deficiencies.
Corey Flynn has signed a two year contract with Toulouse in France starting after the current Crusaders season.
This announcement comes on the same day as the All Blacks training squad was released.
Samisoni Viriviri’s name was called out at a function following the London Sevens at Twickenham, the final Round of the 2013 / 2014 HSBC Sevens World Series won by New Zealand.
He becomes the first Fijian to win the award since it was first presented in 2004, having finished the season with 52 tries.
The Vodacom Bulls flew the South African flag in Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend as the other four teams all lost their matches on Saturday.
The team from Pretoria won their traditional North-South derby against the DHL Stormers by 28-12 on Saturday evening and had to dig deep early on when the Capetonians scored two very good tries in the first 20 minutes.
It was the Vodacom Bulls’ biggest victory over the DHL Stormers since round 11 in 2007, when they won by 49-12 in Pretoria.
Earlier on Saturday, the Lions almost caused a massive upset in Dunedin when they came back from 23-0 down at half-time to lose 23-22 after scoring four great second-half tries against the Highlanders.
Had their kicking been better – the visitors’ kickers missed three conversions – the Lions could easily have become the first South African team to win in New Zealand this year.
The Cell C Sharks went down by 16-9 to the Brumbies in a top-of-the-table clash in a very wet Canberra, but managed to hold on to their first position on the log thanks to a losing bonus-point.
And on Saturday afternoon, the Force won in South Africa for the first time since March 2011 and beat the Toyota Cheetahs for the first time in three years when they won by 23-16 in Bloemfontein, putting a dampener on Naka Drotské’s 100th match in charge of the team from Central South Africa.
The two most successful teams in Vodacom Cup history, GWK Griquas and the Golden Lions, will contest the 2014 final after both won their semi-finals away from home this weekend.
In both matches, the team that scored more tries were knocked out and the points’ difference in the semi-finals in Nelspruit and Pretoria was a single point.
On Friday evening in Nelspruit, the Steval Pumas lost their first match of the season when they went down by 14-15 to four-time champions, GWK Griquas, after a last-minute penalty goal by fullback Gouws Prinsloo.
The visitors to the Mbombela Stadium had the best possible start when flyhalf Francois Brummer put them ahead by 3-0 after only 20 seconds with a well-struck drop-goal.
Scarra Ntubeni fractured a metatarsal in his left foot as the DHL Stormers suffered a 12-28 away defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.
The Springbok tourist – who was out of action for a few weeks with a calf-muscle injury earlier in the tournament – is now set for a minimum lay-off of at least eight weeks.
Former South African Schools flyhalf Sias Ebersohn left his country of birth under a cloud, seemingly unable to convert his potential into form at Super Rugby level.
However, the 25-year-old made a triumphant return to Bloemfontein at the weekend – producing a mature performance and played a key role in the Western Force’s 23-16 Super Rugby Round 13 win over his former team, the Cheetahs.
Force coach Michael Foley commended the No 10, who left Bloemfontein for Perth two years ago after being overlooked – with Springbok Johan Goosen the preferred choice.
Western Force coach Michael Foley has lauded his team’s efforts in the scrums and at the break down area following their 23-16 Super Rugby victory over the Cheetahs at the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Force dominated the scrums and break downs while also using turnover possession optimally to gain valuable momentum for their next game on their South African tour.
The Brumbies have paid a dear after toppling former coach Jake White’s Sharks at the weekend.
Star wing Joe Tomane’s Super Rugby season may have come to an end, the result of a fractured cheekbone suffered in the 16-9 top-of-the-table win in Canberra.
Highlanders prop Chris King is a very lucky man to get away with a one-week ban for hitting Lions captain Warren Whiteley in the face.
King was cited for the incident, which happened in the 54th minute of Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby game between the two sides in Dunedin and received a yellow card from match officials shortly after the incident.
South Africa Under-20 completed a 3-0 series win over Argentina after clinching a 41-36 victory in their final encounter on Saturday afternoon at City Park.
The Junior Springboks led 24-5 at halftime. The three matches were part of the two sides’ preparations for the 2014 Junior World Championship, to be staged during June in Auckland, New Zealand.
Wallaby playmaker Christian Leali’ifano becomes the third Brumbies representative to re-sign with the Australian Rugby Union in the past week, signing a new two-year deal.
His signature follows the recent re-signings of provincial teammates Matt Toomua and Nic White and ensures Leali’ifano will remain in Australia beyond next year’s World Cup – with the talented backline star committing his future to at least the end of 2016.
Crusaders and Canterbury flyhalf Tyler Bleyendaal has become the latest high-profile New Zealand player to head abroad to continue his career.
He announced he will move to Ireland to play for the Munster at the end of this year.
All Blacks utility back Charles Piutau has been ruled out of next month’s Test series against England due to a knee injury.
The Rebels’ two Japanese internationals, Shota Horie and Male Sau, have jetted off to join their national side for the final two matches of their 2014 Asian Five Nations.
The tournament is the first chance for Asian nations to secure qualification for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
Premiership Rugby have confirmed that four Semi-finalists for the 2013 /2014 Aviva Premiership Semi-finals later this month.
Now that the final Round of Premiership league matches have been completed the Semi-finalists have been determined.
Saracens will contest the red card shown to flanker Justin Melck during their 31-27 Premiership defeat by Leicester Tigers on Saturday.
The 31-year-old South African was dismissed on 44 minutes by referee Greg Garner for appearing to eye-gouge Tigers hooker Neil Briggs, who said the official had made a mistake.
“We are hugely disappointed,” said Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall. “We will look to have it overturned. It was a dreadful decision.”
England’s leading clubs will not allow players to take part in the Wales trial on Friday, 30 May. The availability of some Wales stars was in any case in doubt because the Aviva Premiership final takes place a day later.
A spokesman said Premiership Rugby’s Wales players would not be free for the trial as it falls outside the International Rugby Board (IRB) window.
But Wales remain hopeful of reaching a deal over England-based players.