Friday, December 28, 2012

RaboDirect PRO12


RaboDirect PRO12

All times local, deduct 6 hrs for Houston.

Saturday
Treviso v Zebre, 14:00
Edinburgh v Glasgow, 16:05
Munster v Ulster, 17:30
Leinster v Connacht, 19:45

Monday, 31 December 2012
Newport-Gwent D'gons v Ospreys, 16:15

Aviva Premiership Rugby

Aviva Premiership Rugby

All times local, deduct 6 hrs for Houston.

Friday, 28 December 2012  

Sale v Worcester, 20:00

Saturday, 29 December 2012

Harlequins v London Irish, 14:15
Exeter v Bath, 15:00
London Welsh v London Wasps, 15:00
Leicester v Gloucester, 17:00

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Saracens v Northampton, 14:15

French Top 14 rd 14

French Top 14 rd 14

Sunday Dec 30

Clermont Auvergne v Bayonne   08:00    
Grenoble v Bordeaux Begles      08:00    
Mont-de-Marsan v Biarritz          08:00    
Racing Metro 92 v Agen             08:00    
Castres v Toulouse                    09:00    
Montpellier v Stade Francais      11:05    
Toulon v Perpignan                    13:45

All times Houston.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

French Top 14 league rd 12 best tries

#10. A bit dodgy.
#14 accepts ball behind back of dummy runner. I would have called obstruction
#21 black totally out of position.

#9 Nice maul by Racing. makes one wonder if opponents have been taught how to counter a maul.

#8 Great try Perps.

#7 Great individual effort. Toulouse have the largest wage bill in Europe and have picked so many of the great players. Yet, as a team they continue to struggle. Heck they couldn't even beat Grenoble last week. Grenoble have 1/3rd the wage bill and were promoted to top league only this year.
Crap coaching.

#6 Beauty. Dummy runners and players running at speed. A crap attempt at tackle by #8 allows player to offload.

#5 Superb individual skills from Toulouse again.

#4 Terrible rucking skills by white. #13 white just stood around instead of linking with other white and driving the solitary opponent off ball. White could have either secured a turnover or at least a penalty

#3 Great offloads and passing skills finished off by a winger who knew exactly where support was and kicked to middle.

#2 Good try. Expansive rugby where ball is taken first to one side of field and then to other for next phase allowed attackers to get from half way to 22 in just 2 phases. The rest was a little lucky. Big Basteraud managing to stay on feet and offload allowed this try.

#1 Another nice offload in tackle. Keeping the ball alive and at same time getting behind defence. So simple yet mostly lacking in Northern Hemisphere rugby. I was surprised at the number of offloads in this French rugby review.


Monday, December 24, 2012

Heineken Cup rd 4 best tries vs Southern Hemisphere S15 tries




1st try. You very rarely see NH teams running ball from inside 22. Leic were cocky as they knew they were only playing Italian side Treviso. Good support, but try was a foregone conclusion once Leic had got behind most of Treviso team.
2nd try. Unbelievable piss poor defence by Toulouse and France International winger. Jeez, there was so little room on outside that all he had to do was push Ospreys guy out to touch.
Next, a charge down rates as a top try. You know they're scraping the barrel when they include this kind of lucky try.
Leinster was a nice try but game was already over in its nearly 79th minute and Clermont were 12 ahead and in no danger of losing the game.
Had this been10 mins from end Leinster would surely have kicked for touch.
Northants try was OK but it relied on poor tackling by winger. Basic rule....little guy vs big guy, do not go high but take his legs.
Biarritz try was given by Connacht #13 who was so out of place he allowed this try. Basic rule..always take man with ball...no ifs or buts.
George North try relied on not just one miss tackle but two. The first tackler was just meandering across field and the second tackler was just terrible.

If this is the best of tries in what is supposed to be the top rugby competition in Northern hemisphere then we are in deep doo doos.

What do you think?

Heres rd 8 from Super 15 which is about the same time into season.
1st try; Lovely inside ball to winger at pace. Drew Mitchell is one of the best. Had too many injuries in last 2 years.  And at top speed it is easy to bt others with a bit of sidestepping.
2nd Sharks vs Lions. Sloppy at first. Kankowski brings it back to forwards, takes ruck. Turning point was when forward goes down and instead of causing a ruck as per Northern Hemisphere, offloads to another player running at speed into gap. Kankowski again. Quick hands in backs and great try.
3rd try; OK...a chargedown made the top tries list.
4th Williams at speed is always difficult to bring down, but add a nice dummy move whilst opponents were moving sideways and it was a classic. Full back nearly gets him with a great tackle.
 5th try. Cheetahs' Ebersohn looks up and sees a forward in front. Classic mismatch. A little shimmy at speed and hes away. Coaches need to give players the confidence to look up and see what is in front, instead of constantly calling moves. Still had alot to do as the cover was superb, but great support, awareness and passing skills caused another great try.
6th try: Another mismatch. Forward against lonely back and a bit of space. Simply runs over back and gets behind defence.
7th try. Basic rule when turnover at ruck....move ball away from contact area fast. In NH rugby that would have been a kick up field or to touch inside 22. Lovely interplay and passing skills with great support. Another great try. Piggies always have trouble getting low enough to tackle legs against someone at speed and just outside arms length.
8th try: Classic. A back taking on 2 piggies at speed and running between them....tight 5 easiest of them all. Lovely support and passing to score try.
9th try: Israel Dagg...big lad for a back. He backs himself against 2 other backs. Heads down, and legs pumping and gets to line.
10th Great awareness by Fly Half. Was this a called move off a set piece?
I doubt it. Heres why. The call was probably for either an switch inside to a runner or a dummy runner outside and pass. You quite clearly see runners hitting both those marks. Fly half obviously saw the wide space at wing. Wingers must stay on touchline at all times for these sort of occasions.

Altogether these were great tries.
Whats your opinion?

Thursday, December 20, 2012

England vs New Zealand full game

Finally I have a team that maybe worth supporting.
All Blacks have written the book on how to win, and more importantly.....consistently win.

But, as an Englishman, I have waited a long time to finally hope my own country can beat a Southern hemisphere side.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

French Top 14 Dec 21 and 22




This straight from lnr.fr website

Friday 21st
20h50 Bordeaux / Clermont -
Diffusion : Canal + Sport

Saturday 22 décembre
15h00 Grenoble / Toulouse -
Diffusion : Canal +
18h30 Castres / Racing Métro -
Diffusion : Rugby + 255
18h30 Perpignan / Montpellier -
Diffusion : Rugby + 256
18h30 Paris / Biarritz -
Diffusion : Rugby + 257
18h30 Bayonne / Mont-de-Marsan -
Diffusion : Rugby + 258
20h40 Agen / Toulon -
Diffusion : Canal + Sport


All times Froggie so deduct 7 hrs for Houston CST.

If I had to pick some good games I'd go with
Castres vs Racing.Could be interesting because Castres has such a phenomenal pack. Metro, I believe is a better all round team. Home teams usually win in Top 14. A staggering 72%.
Metro have some good backs if they play and might outflank Castres.
Perps vs Montpellier are about even. All depends on the starting line ups.
Biarritz shocking away from home, but have great players, including the US player..."Z"

Rabo Direct Pro 12 Dec 21-23 and Boxing day

Friday, 21 December 2012
Cardiff Blues v Scarlets, 19:05
Glasgow v Edinburgh, 19:35
Ulster v Leinster, 19:05

Saturday, 22 December 2012
Connacht v Munster, 17:15
Zebre v Treviso, 14:00

Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Cardiff Blues v Newport-Gwent D'gons, 14:05
Ospreys v Scarlets, 17:30
 
All games are great rivalries.
 

How to watch live rugby in Houston


For those of you who have not watched rugby over the internet here are the general instructions.

a) Obviously you will need good speed on your broadband and a decent computer with adobe flash.
Mac users generally just push one button and voila.
b) These sites have all the feeds;
wiziwig.eu or .tv
vipbox.tv or vipboxsports.eu
frombar.tv
cricfree.tv
c) Install a good ad blocker such as adblock plus for Firefox.
I guess these people make some money from their pay per click ads etc. There is alot of them and they are getting better at circumventing the blockers.
Some people say they get bad messages from their anti virus. I've never caught anything. Many people go here, not just for rugby, but for every sport etc.
d) Sometimes a broadcaster puts his feed behind a bit of software called Sopcast. Well worth downloading this just in case, as it gives a better picture etc. Plus you can watch a couple of games on one screen.
Full details can be found on the wiziwig site under software.
e) Sometimes rugby can be found on direct TV and/or on Fox soccer plus. Espn 3 on internet carries a few Top 14 if you are a comcast subscriber. The finals of International sevens are usually shown on NBC. Channel 49 on Comcast. The USA collegiate sevens were shown on major TV channel last year. Hopefully again this year.
f) Sometimes, very rarely, one cannot get a game because it is only available to those living in England.
It is usually a crap Celtic league game, and there is only the one rebroadcaster.
For that you will need a VPN to fool the censors.
A good free one can be found at;

Gizmo's Freeware | Find the best freeware fast

www.techsupportalert.com/

 If you intend to use a VPN often then pay a monthly fee and go with a company such as
http://www.securitykiss.com/pricing/


Live Rugby Dec 21 -23rd and Boxing day

Fri 21     RaboDirect PRO12     Cardiff Blues v Scarlets, Cardiff Arms Park
19:05 local, 19:05 GMT, 14:05 EST, 13:05 CST, 11:05 PST        
Fri 21     RaboDirect PRO12     Ulster v Leinster, Belfast
19:05 local, 19:05 GMT, 14:05 EST, 13:05 CST, 11:05 PST        
Fri 21     RaboDirect PRO12     Glasgow v Edinburgh, Glasgow
19:35 local, 19:35 GMT, 14:35 EST, 13:35 CST, 11:35 PST        
Fri 21     Top 14 Orange     Bordeaux Begles v Clermont Auvergne, Bègles
20:50 local, 19:50 GMT, 14:50 EST, 13:50 CST, 11:50 PST        
Fri 21     Aviva Premiership     Worcester Warriors v London Welsh, Worcester
20:00 local, 20:00 GMT, 15:00 EST, 14:00 CST, 12:00 PST
     
Sat 22     Aviva Premiership     Bath Rugby v Saracens, Bath
13:15 local, 13:15 GMT, 08:15 EST, 07:15 CST, 05:15 PST        
Sat 22     RaboDirect PRO12     Zebre v Benetton Treviso, Parma
15:00 local, 14:00 GMT, 09:00 EST, 08:00 CST, 06:00 PST
Sat 22     Aviva Premiership     London Irish v Leicester Tigers, Reading
15:00 local, 15:00 GMT, 10:00 EST, 09:00 CST, 07:00 PST   
Sat 22     Aviva Premiership     Gloucester Rugby v Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester
15:00 local, 15:00 GMT, 10:00 EST, 09:00 CST, 07:00 PST      
Sat 22     Aviva Premiership     Northampton Saints v Harlequins, Northampton
15:15 local, 15:15 GMT, 10:15 EST, 09:15 CST, 07:15 PST        
Sat 22     RaboDirect PRO12     Connacht v Munster, Galway
17:15 local, 17:15 GMT, 12:15 EST, 11:15 CST, 09:15 PST        

Sun 23     Aviva Premiership     London Wasps v Sale Sharks, Wycombe
14:00 local, 14:00 GMT, 09:00 EST, 08:00 CST, 06:00 PST


Boxing day
Wed 26     RaboDirect PRO12     Cardiff Blues v Dragons, Cardiff Arms Park
14:05 local, 14:05 GMT, 09:05 EST, 08:05 CST, 06:05 PST        
Wed 26     RaboDirect PRO12     Ospreys v Scarlets, Swansea
17:30 local, 17:30 GMT, 12:30 EST, 11:30 CST, 09:30 PST

I haven't posted the French Top 14 for Sat.
4 of the games I see on the schedule start at 11.30am Houston time.
I don't think France has 4 stations.
There is usually only a couple of broadcasters on the internet that re-transmit the games on to us.
So best to try all the links.

For those of you who have not watched rugby over the internet go to my post "How to watch live rugby in Houston"

Aviva Premiership Dec 21 -23rd

Friday, 21 December 2012
Worcester v London Welsh, 20:00

Saturday, 22 December 2012
Bath v Saracens, 13:15
Gloucester v Exeter, 15:00
London Irish v Leicester, 15:00
Northampton v Harlequins, 15:15

Sunday, 23 December 2012
London Wasps v Sale, 14:00
All times GMT. Deduct 6 hrs for Houston CST time

1st week back after Heineken and Amlin Cups .
 

Another wanker for Scotland

For years I've been critical of Andy Robinson as director of rugby for Scotland.
He has single handedly taken Scotland from 9th in IRB rankings to 12th in just 3 short years. Above them reside such notable teams as Italy, Tonga, Samoa and Argentina.

Lets take a quick peek at these powerhouses of rugby which are deemed superior to Scotland.
Now some of you will argue that Italy are good. And yes, they are not bad. They are all pros, albeit playing in Celtic Rabo 12 league. And the teams they play for, have consistently come bottom. So, yes Italy are progressing. They are progressing just as fast as Scotland is declining.
Italian Rugby only really came to prominence in 2000 when it was added to the Five Nations, creating the Six Nations.
Initially on the end of some heavy defeats, the side has grown in competitiveness, recording a fourth place finish in 2007, and even in defeat, lop-sided losses are less frequent. The Azzurri have shown respectable results when playing at home in recent years. During the 2011 Six Nations, the side played three home games which resulted in a 22–21 victory over France, and were only 12 points in combined deficit to securing victories over Ireland and Wales, lost 11–13 and 16–24 respectively. In 2012 Scotland replaced the Italians as wooden spoon winner.
The point is that Italy has benefited from having players mix with professionals on a regular basis in Rabo cup and have shown remarkable improvement over the last 5 years whereas Scotland has gone backwards. Its not as if the Scottish clubs are equally as rubbish...they are not. They consistently beat the Italian clubs.
It has been bad coaching. The style and tactics are dictated by director which has been Andy Robinson.
One only had to watch the Scots at 2011 World Cup where they struggled to beat amateur sides such as Georgia and Romania.
One could see the players wanting to play the modern game by trying to keep the ball alive, but it was also quite apparent that their instructions were to go down and take the ruck. It was embarrassing.

Andy Robinson failed at England coach prior to Scottish job. We English thought we'd play a joke on the Scots by pretending Andy left on good terms blah blah blah. You know how it goes..."We'd like to thank Andy for doing such a great job under trying circumstances etc bla blah"
So Scots got him and it never ceased to amaze me that every time they lost, Andy blamed the players for the performance and yet the players and management always spoke highly of him.
Go figure.
I can't ever remember the Scots giving an Englishman such an easy time.
He abused them and they loved him.

Going back to the other teams above Scotland in IRB Rankings for just a moment.
Tonga has very few players with pro contacts around the world so it was a massive shock that Scots should get beaten by them just recently. I think I had Scots to win by 30 in Superbru.
Samoa is a little different. They do not have that many pros to pick from. But the players they can pick, practically all played Southern hemisphere. Not all are Super 15 level. Some only play at provincial level in ITM Cup, which is a mixture of pros and semi pros.
Of course a good number were picked from those playing top class rugby in Northern hemisphere for the Autumn Internationals this year. Samoa doesn't have the resources to fly everyone from New Zealand. I've always said that the top teams in ITM Cup would give practically all teams in Celtic league, and the bottom 5 in Aviva and French Top 14, a run for their money.

It is great to see Argentina do so well. They had their first season in ex Tri Nations competition this year.
They had similar results to when Italy first started in 6 nations. They did manage to draw one game but had 166 pts scored against them in 6 games. But Argies are another example of not having many professionals to pick from.
In every game this year they have had to field between 3 and 6 amateurs in the starting line up.
There should never be any competition between amateurs and pros.
The amateur has to work at another job and rarely gets to play amongst pros and the higher pace etc, and the other gets to train 40 hrs a week and is constantly getting better by playing with, and against, pros.
So, it has been a revelation to see how far the Argies have come in just the last 14 months.
There is no doubting the courage and tenacity of Argie forwards. You're never going to overpower them by trying to run over their forwards. South Africa tried and only managed a lucky draw.
Anyway I digress. So, Andy Robinson finally won first place in the alternative rugby awards this year, as the worst coach of the year.
 http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/11/30/the-alternative-international-rugby-awards/

Sadly there may be worse to come for Scotland, and this was one of the main reasons for this diatribe.
They have just promoted Scott Johnson as director of rugby.
He has been attack coach for last 6 months.
And I won't criticize him for Scotland's complete lack of attacking ability which amounted to kick and chase, because the director sets the style and strategy.... and that was Andy Robinson.
Every time Scott has been in charge of the direction of a team he has failed miserably. Another man who seems to have the Gods on his side. Why do we constantly recycle these failed coaches? We should be giving ex pro players the job as head coaches. Which effectively means they are still young as professionalism didn't start until 1995 and they understand the modern game. A few exceptions to this rule would be ex Wallaby David Campese and ex All Black John Kirwan. Both are still involved in the game. Kirwan actually did a brilliant job with Italy and then Japan. Personally I thought he should have got the England job, and certainly the Scottish one. But neither saw his potential, so he will coach the Blues in Super15 next year. Should be interesting.

Once again I digress.
In the modern era Scott Johnson has been a miserable failure as a director of rugby/head coach.
His last 2 gigs were;
2008 -2009 with USA. A complete failure. Sure USA was tough in those days, but Scott lacked any vision and could not recognize talent. He soon realized he was out of his league and packed that in to join Ospreys. A team on the rise at the time.
At Ospreys from 2009-2012, half his team were not just ordinary Internationals but the so-called "best of the best" and were British and Irish Lions players. And practically all the rest were internationals including ex All Blacks captain and monster Jerry Collins.
Yet the best I think he ever did was win the Celtic league once., The league, quite frankly, is lame. Remember 2 of the clubs are Italian....barely pros.
So many times I have watched them and seen them play such a terrible style of rugby. It was so frustrating.
Scott Johnson, and Andy Robinson are the guys we have all met at one time or another.
Average at the best of times yet always managing to come up smelling of roses, and getting all the best jobs.
If that is what selling your soul to the devil looks like. Sign me up.
I suspect the Scottish Rugby Union head honchos are English saboteurs. They look and speak like Scots in public but are being paid either by the English or the Scottish Football Association. After all, it makes sense.....for Scottish football to get better, they need the rugby fans coming through the turnstiles.
One could just imagine these Scottish rugby union bosses going home at night and revert back to speaking Queens English to the missus.
"Righty-ho old dear, time for a little rogering eh?"That reminds of the great monologue in Trainspotting.
You have to watch this. It was brilliant.



I digress
Johnson's in the right place at the right time again, because it is absolutely impossible for Scotland to sink any lower in IRB rankings.
Heck, even IRB says so. They are a full 5 points ahead of the next challengers, namely Fiji, Canada and Japan. If you put all those 3 teams together you couldn't field 15 pros.
And partly because of Scott Johnson's tenure at USA, they are next on the list.... a full 2 pts below Japan for chrissakes.
And USA can now field a full 15 pros or ex pros.

Anyway, as soon as Johnson left, Ospreys started winning again. His dire and unattractive brand of rugby has contributed as much to Wales' current woes, as anything else.
Here you had the top Welsh side barely winning, and playing such unattractive rugby, that only the real die-hard supporters would dare venture out on a cold, wet and windy evening.
Gate money stayed roughly the same in this period yet expenses doubled. Particularly top professional wages. And here they have to compete with the French and their huge bank balances and treasury.
Is it any wonder that the best want to play abroad?

Anyway, good luck to Scots.
We need a strong Scottish National side that starts winning again.
I believe the players are there already...they just need a more adventurous style.
A winning national side will invigorate the game from grass roots level up.
Lets be fair....you've got to be out of your mind to want to go practice and play in Scotland.
And, as a former back, it is no fun when the team plays 10 man rugby and by the time you get your first pass, your fingers have frozen to the inside of the pockets on your shorts.
You've gotta love the Scots.
As the old Scottish saying goes, "there's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes!"





Thursday, December 13, 2012

USA fastest 7s player

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10853534

Heineken Cup Rd 4

Heineken Cup

Fri 14 Dec

Edinburgh v Racing Metro 92    20:00 (local) 14:00 (Houston)   
Biarritz v Connacht Rugby    21:00 (local)14:00 (cst)   

Sat 15 Dec

Ospreys v Toulouse    13:35 (local)07:35 (cst)
Benetton Treviso v Leicester Tigers 14:36 (local) 08:36 (cst)   
Harlequins v Zebre    15:00 (local) 09:00 (cst)   
Exeter Chiefs v Scarlets 15:40 (local) 09:40 (cst)   
Leinster v Clermont Auvergne     15:40 (local) 09:40 (cst)   
Ulster v Northampton Saints18:00 (local) 12:00cst
Montpellier v Cardiff Blues  19:00 (local) 12:00 (cst)   

Sun 16 Dec

Castres v Glasgow Warriors    13:45 (local) 06:45 (cst)   
Saracens v Munster    15:00 (local) 09:00 (cst)   
Toulon v Sale Sharks  16:00 (local) 10:00 (cst)


Petes pick of games to watch
Edinburgh and Biarritz games on Friday
Leinster vs Clermont
Sarries vs Munster

Amlin Cup rd 4

Amlin Cup All times GMT. Deduct 6hrs for Houston

Thursday, 13 December 2012

London Wasps v Bayonne, Pool 3, 19:45
Stade Francais v Cavalieri Prato, Pl5, 19:45

Friday, 14 December 2012

Agen v Bucuresti, Pl4, 18:00
Mont de Marsan v Bordeaux-Begles, Pl1, 18:00

Saturday, 15 December 2012

Calvisano v Bath, Pl4, 13:30
Gloucester v London Irish, Pl1, 15:00
London Welsh v Grenoble, Pl5, 13:30
Perpignan v Worcester, Pl2, 20:00
Rovigo v Bizkaia Gernika , Pl2, 14:00

Sunday, 16 December 2012

Newport-Gwent D'gons v Mogliano, Pl3, 17:35

Petes pick of games to watch.
Wasps vs Bayonne
Gloucester vs Irish
Perps vs worcester

Invited Women’s Teams Announced for Rest of Sevens Series

Invited Women’s Teams Announced for Rest of Sevens Series
The International Rugby Board has announced the invited teams for the remaining three rounds of the inaugural IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, which kicked off in Dubai at the end of November.
With series tournaments planned for USA, China and Netherlands the invited teams will have the opportunity to play against the six core teams with preparation for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 in Moscow very much part of their plans.
The 12-team tournaments already include Australia, Canada, England, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA but the six invited teams for the three remaining rounds are:
USA (Houston), February 1-2: Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago
China (Guangzhou), March 30-31: China, South American RWC Sevens 2013 qualifier*, Fiji, Japan, Ireland, Tunisia
Netherlands (Amsterdam), May 17-18: China, South American RWC Sevens 2013 qualifier*, France, Russia, South Africa, Spain

*These places will be taken by the team that wins the South American Sevens Championship in Rio de Janeiro on February 23-24.
The series underscores the IRB's commitment to the ongoing growth and development of women's Rugby around the world. While it includes four destinations this year, it is expected that the series will grow in future years with an eye on the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
IRB Head of Development and Performance Mark Egan said: “The teams invited to the remainder of this year’s series ensure that all six IRB regions are represented and all teams have an opportunity to participate in an increased number of international competitions prior to RWC Sevens 2013 with an opportunity to progress to Women’s Sevens World Series honours.”
“The quality of Rugby on display in Dubai for the first round was of a very high standard and we expect that bar to be raised even higher throughout the series as we move towards RWC Sevens in Russia.”
“In Dubai, while New Zealand were the eventual winners, we saw a number of the invited sides challenge the core teams so the gap is closing at the top. With an eye on Rio 2016, we are determined to continue to enhance the women’s Game so that the competition is the very best that it can be.”


The formation of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series was the most significant investment in women's Rugby that the IRB has ever undertaken resulting in an annual investment of US$1.5 million. Interest in the women's Game is at an all-time high and the IRB is committed to providing our female athletes with the best possible opportunities to improve their competiveness and identify the players who will ultimately appear on the Olympic stage in Rio 2016.
Further information:
James Fitzgerald, IRB Media Manager, +353-861-723-570, email james.fitzgerald@irb.com

Friday, December 7, 2012

Newsletter Friday 7th Dec

Rugby News
a) Lotsa Heineken and Amlin cup games this weekend. Not enough room to go into much detail. Go to my blog for info, games and times to be found on internet. Also 7s from South Africa.
b) Big Johns will show these games...sadly, none are live. Rugby is not a high priority on regular TV channels in US
Saturday:
11.00 Sale vs. Toulon.
3.00 Munster vs. Saracens.
5.00 Toulouse vs. Ospreys.

This info from the owner;
"Highlight of the weekend will be the Houston Texans vs the Patriots on Monday night.
We are holding a special blow out event to support our home team. We will have free barbecue; cooked by one of our own and his team in the parking lot. All of our 40+ TV's will show the game. Wear the Texans uniform and receive one free domestic beer. Come along and fill this place to support our team. Starts at 6pm."
c) Sponsorship packages are out for International 7s in Feb.
Hard to read the copy. I'll try to get better pics/advertising copy etc for next week.
Heck there isn't even contact info in the flyer. Makes you wonder what qualifies a person to be a marketing manager?
Contact is;
Tim Trimble
Harris County – Houston Sports Authority
Events Manager
713-308-5908 Direct | 281-799-9402 Cell
713-308-5900 Main | 713-308-5959 Fax
Go Talk to your marketing dept and show them the wonderful opportunities that exist and get them to put this into budget today.
Becci at BABC already has 2 sponsors from her membership.
Think outside the box and maybe invite one of the teams to a company meet and greet.
They would appreciate donations to their travelling costs and they would be great ambassadors for their countries and would inspire women.
Let me know if you're interested and I'll get contact info etc.
But you have to act now. Christmas and New Year are just around the corner, and we know little work is accomplished over this period. Time is of the essence.

HSBC 7s pools for South Africa this weekend

Pool A
TeamPlayedPts
SAM00
FRA00
RSA00
AUS00
Pool B
TeamPlayedPts
NZL00
FIJ00
SCO00
ENG00
Pool C
TeamPlayedPts
KEN00
WAL00
ARG00
ESP00
Pool D
TeamPlayedPts
POR00
CAN00
USA00
ZIM00                                                                                                                                                            

You know you're a rugger when....

 

Games live Friday Dec 7 through Sunday Dec 9


Heineken Cup  All Times CST

Friday, December 7th

14:00 - 16:00     Northampton Saints vs.  Ulster
Friday, December 7th
14:00 - 16:00     Connacht Rugby vs.     Biarritz


   

Saturday, December 8th

02:45 - 12:45 (tomorrow)
HSBC Sevens World Series - Nelson Mandela Bay SA Sevens Day 1

European Challenge Cup!    

Saturday, December 8th

07:00 - 09:00 (tomorrow)     Bucharest Wolves vs. Agen

Heineken Cup    


07:35 - 09:35  Toulouse vs Ospreys            

07:35 - 09:35 Llanelli Scarlets vs. Exeter
   

07:35 - 09:35 Zebre vs. Harlequins


09:40 - 11:40  Sale Sharks vs. Toulon   
   

12:00 - 14:00 Munster vs. Saracens
   

12:00 - 14:00 Racing Metro vs. Edinburgh

European Challenge Cup!    

Saturday, December 8th

14:00 - 16:00 Bayonne vs. London Wasps

Sunday rugby on internet

International Rugby Events    

Sunday, December 9th

03:00 - 13:00     
HSBC Sevens World Series -
Nelson Mandela Bay SA Sevens

Heineken Cup   

06:45 - 08:45 Cardiff Blues vs. Montpellier

09:00 - 11:00 Leicester Tigers vs. Benetton Treviso

09:00 - 11:00  ASM Clermont Auvergne vs. Leinster   

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Amlin Cup Rd 3

Amlin Cup starts up again today;

Thursday , December 6
Bordeaux-Begles vs Mont de Marsan 1:30pm Houston time
Worcester vs Perpignan

Friday , December 7
Grenoble vs London Welsh 12:30

Saturday , December 8
Bucuresti vs Agen 7am CST
Mogliano Rugby vs Newport Gwent D'gons 7am CST
Cavalieri Prato vs Stade Francais 7am
Bath vs Calvisano 8.15am
Bizkaia Gernika RT vs Rovigo 9:00am
London Irish vs Gloucester 9:00am
Bayonne vs Wasps 2:00pm

Best games to watch;
Today Worcester vs Perps...both putting out their strongest team as they are joint leaders of their pool with the rest being amateurs. Weather will be rough so maybe not much running.
Irish vs Gloucester.
Bayonne vs Wasps.
 
I've picked;
Begles to beat MDM by 12
Perps to beat Worcester by 5
 

Heineken Cup Rd 3

Heineken Cup 

Starts again tomorrow Friday. All Times GMT. Deduct 6 hrs for Houston.

The premier Northern Hemisphere tournament.

Friday , December 7

Connacht vs Biarritz 20:00
Glasgow vs Castres
Northampton vs Ulster 20:00

Saturday , December 8

Racing Metro 92 vs Edinburgh 18:00
Munster vs Saracens 18:00
Toulouse vs Ospreys 13:35
Zebre vs Harlequins 13:35
Scarlets vs Exeter 13:35
Sale vs Toulon 15:40

Sunday , December 9

Leicester vs Benetton Treviso 15:00
Clermont Auvergne vs Leinster 15:00
Cardiff Blues vs Montpellier 12:45

Good games to watch;

Saints vs Ulster Friday
Munster vs Sarries Saturday
Clermont vs Leinster Sunday

Thats interesting....all games picked include an Irish team

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Rugby World Cup 2015 draw


Go straight to 14th minute and avoid the speeches

Background info and final result

The Rugby World Cup 2015 Pools


1(1)    NEW ZEALAND    90.08
2(2)    SOUTH AFRICA    86.94
3(3)    AUSTRALIA    86.87
4(4)    FRANCE                  85.07
5(5)    ENGLAND       83.90
6(6)    IRELAND      80.22
7(8)     SAMOA        78.71
8(9)     ARGENTINA    78.71
9(7)     WALES                  78.39
10(10)    ITALY                  76.24
11(11)    TONGA         76.10
12(12)    SCOTLAND    75.83
13(13)    FIJI             71.52
14(14)    CANADA       71.41
15(15)    JAPAN          70.09
16(16)    USA             68.32
17(17)    GEORGIA       65.83
18(18)    SPAIN          63.09
19(19)    ROMANIA    62.12
20(20)    RUSSIA         61.49

The bands for the pools were as follows:
Band 1: New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, France
Band 2: England, Ireland, Samoa, Argentina
Band 3: Wales, Italy, Tonga, Scotland
Band 4: Oceania 1, Europe 1, Asia 1, Americas 1
Band 5: Africa 1, Europe 2, Americas 2, Repechage winner







Final Pools

  • Pool A: Australia, England, Wales, Oceania 1, play-off winner
  • Pool B: South Africa, Samoa, Scotland, Asia 1, Americas 2
  • Pool C: New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga, Europe 1, Africa 1
  • Pool D: France, Ireland, Italy, Americas 1, Europe

 


Pool A - Looks like the pool of death as Rugby World Cup 2003 finalists Australia and England face off, while current Six Nations Grand Slam champions Wales join them, and possibly Fiji.

Pool B - South Africa and Samoa will meet for the fourth consecutive World Cup, no doubt leading to another bruising encounter. Scotland, who are currently ranked 12th in the world, join them.

Pool C - Defending champions New Zealand up against Argentina, and facing Tonga in the pool stages for the fourth time running.

Pool D - Very much a Six Nations feel to it, but France and Ireland will be fairly confident of going through to the next round with Italy their main threat.

Eight teams are yet to qualify.

Quarter finals:
To work out the Quarter Finals, the Winner of Pool A plays the runner up in Pool B, and Winner of C plays runner up in Pool D.

Semi finals:
The last four will see the winner of Quarter final 1 vs the the winners of Quarter final 2, and the winners of Quarter final 3 vs the winners of Quarter final 4.

Possible final:
If New Zealand (ranked #1) and South Africa (ranked #2) win their pools and knockout stage games, they will line up to meet in the final.

IRB Awards:
New Zealand were handed the IRB Team of the Year award for 2012. The Coach of the Year went to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, and the IRB Player of the Year went to flyhalf Dan Carter.