Rugby Blog
The first weekend of March saw the US play against Argentina in the LA Sevens event. This match ended with a win for the US which was the first victory that the team obtained on home soil. This is the second title they have won the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The Australia and South Africa looks the pace, on the other hand, Argentina is yet to make a breakthrough
When New Zealand took the title last year, they reduced their opponents to road kill by winning all six matches that they played with try-scoring points (bonus) and with crushing win bookending their campaign in South Africa (57-15) and Australia (42-8).
The pressure that the Lions were able to impose the All Blacks in June and July under in their drawn series would offer hope for the Springboks and Wallabies and were not the proud nations of rugby at such a low ebb.
Scott Lawson is a professional rugby player from Scotland who has played for rugby clubs like Sale Sharks, Gloucester Rugby and London Irish in the past. On the 22nd of April, 2013 it was revealed that Lawson would be a part of Newcastle Falcons at the 2013-2014 Aviva Premiership season. Lawson has also represented Scotland internationally in various international rugby matches.
However, at the moment Scott Lawson is not focusing on Scotland duty. But he is more concerned with his club- Newcastle Falcons and his performance. Falcons have been a part of the Premiership for about eleven months without winning any of the rugby matches.
The last match that Newcastle Falcons lost was against Wasps on the 28th of September, 2014. Their upcoming match is against Exeter Chiefs and it is going to take place on the 5th of October, 2014.
Lawson has played for Scotland during the summer of 2014 and has helped the team defeat Canada and USA in Toronto and Houston respectively. During Scotland’s autumn tour, Scotland’s rugby team will be facing Tonga, Argentina and New Zealand. Lawson however has made it clear that he is going to focus only on Newcastle Falcons.
Instead of being concerned about his international career, Lawson is committed to Newcastle Falcons because according to him the club performance helps one to get the necessary international recognition.
Scott Lawson even gave his opinion about Vern Cotter (New Zealander who is the new coach of the Scotland rugby team and was earlier associated with Clermont rugby club). Lawson said that Cotter is respected by the team members and Scotland is lucky to have a coach like him.
According to Lawson, Cotter utilized the summer international tour to understand the Scotland squad well and in the future he will become more involved so that the team can do well internationally.
London Wasps had a mixed bag of performances over the last few days in the domestic and international front. They were heavily defeated by the Northampton Saints with a score line of 74-13 in the Aviva Premiership semi final clash between the two at Franklin’s Gardens. Although the hosts received a minor scare as the Wasps led 13-0 in the very beginning of the game, they managed to come back with a strong reply. After the first few jitters the Saints never looked back and made it a one sided affair with their fierce and strong play. Dai Young the director of rugby for the club admitted that it was an embarrassing result for them as they had experimented with the team by giving chance to a few inexperienced players. But they failed to come to the party at the right time. Moreover sloppy play and the controversial decision of the try awarded against them which involved the captain of the team proved to be a crucial moment in the game.
However the team’s performance in the first leg of the European play-off was impressive. Wasps succeeded in defeating Stade Francais 30-29 in a close encounter between the two which will allow them to tak ea one point lead into the second leg of the play off. The Andy Goode penalty in the last minute helped seal the deal for the Premiership team. Tom Varndell, Ashley Jonson and Joey Simpson were responsible for scoring the tries for their side. The Director of rugby Dai Young was visibly happy with his team’s performance and applauded the spirit shown by his players. The fans shall be hoping much like the Director that the team consolidates on the slender lead that they have got and put up even better performances to seal their berth in the following round.
The Sale Sharks rugby club has witnessed a lot of ups and downs in the previous three seasons of the rugby championship. In 2010 they were up against the likes of Leeds, Newcastle and Leicester whereby they impressed a lot finishing second in the group and securing a position in the knock out stages. This was followed up by another impressive show thanks to their star performer Danny Bibby who went on to play for England. Although they managed to qualify for the finals, they lost both their games and crashed out of the competition. London Welsh, Northampton and Leicester put up some strong fight against Sale Sharks who managed to qualify for the finals again but failed to improve their record. The concluding season proved to be a disappointing one for the Sharks as they failed to qualify for the finals owing to their losses against Newcastle and Tigers which placed them at the bottom of the pool.
The next season will be crucial for the Sharks as they hope to regroup and reunite so that they can put forward an improved show on the field. Although players like Dwayne Peel, Rob Miller and Henry Thomas have left the club due to various reasons, the English International player Danny Cipriani expressed his desire to stay in the club. He hoped that bigger names would join the club and help increase the popularity. This idea received a great impetus with the signing of Biarritz star Magnus Lund. Director of rugby for Sale Sharks, Steve Diamond was quoted saying that he and his club was delighted to welcome back their former star who had been playing in France for the past six years. The team will be up against London Irish, Harlequins and Newcastle as they kick start their campaign for yet another season at the Premiership.
The opening match of the Six Nations between Ireland and Scotland will see two surprises in the Irish team in the name of Luke Marshall and Andrew Trimble. Marshall will be replacing Gordon D’Arcy and Trimble will be replacing Tommy Bowe both of which are suffering from back injuries.
There will be some other changes in the Ireland team as Chris Henry the Ulster player will be replacing Sean O’Brien, the injured flanker. Apart from this there will be several records to be made as Brian O’Driscoll will be making his 129th appearance in this match. He will surpass Ronan O’Gara’s 128 caps. Another personal milestone will be for Rob Kearney who will make his 50th appearance for Ireland. D’Arcy who will be replaced by Luke Marshall was one of the best performers of Ireland and was also a great player in All Blacks. It is to be seen whether this will be a setback for Ireland or not.
One of the major talking points about the team selection is the omission of the Leinster centre who has 75 caps under his belt. Given the physical demands which this competition requires it was a wise decision taken by the coach. When asked about this he said that it is better for the team and he would definitely understand why he was not included in the squad. It is being speculated that he is being kept fresh for the clash against Wales.
Regarding Gordon the coach said that it was the stomach bugs that were disturbing him in the beginning of the week and he hopes that it would go away before the match against Wales. The back injury is something to worry about but he thinks that the medical staff will be able to come up with something positive before the end of this week.
Last season, Horacio Agulla (player for Argentine Rugby Union) was one of the top try scorers for Bath Rugby. He is thinking that the stop-start campaign can be ignited by the last weekend’s overdue touchdown.
Agulla dotted down during the Aviva Premiership for around six times last term. However, because of his international duty towards Argentina and his injury, he could not make a seasonal bow until the month of November.
During the Rugby Championship, Agulla performed exceptionally well in a match against the Worcester Warriors, but it was on the 8th of February, 2014 (Saturday) that he was able to boost his try tally.
The Aviva Premiership match between Bath Rugby and Newcastle Falcons took place at the Rec on 8th of February, 2014. Nick Abendanon got injured and therefore Horacio Agulla replaced him on the field. Agulla did not disappoint Bath Rugby at all. He performed really well.
Horacio Agulla was of the opinion that the Bath Rugby team is absolutely superb and competitive, so every time a player gets the opportunity, he ends up performing well only.
Agulla was not expecting to get into the field that early (he entered the field after around 10 minutes), but he thinks such things happen on the field and so players have to be ready to perform at all times.
Along with that, Agulla was not happy that Nick Abendanon got injured. But he was pleased that he got a chance to perform.
Competition in the team has increased because it consists of such good players that it has become difficult to secure a position in the team. But Agulla thinks that this has helped him as he can improve himself and perform in a better way.
Horacio Agulla really hopes that in the future he gets enough game time to boost his try scores.
Rugby Football Union or RFU Championship side the Bedford Blues have completed the signing of Argentina Rugby player Tomas Gilardon Paz.
The 24 year old has finally put pen to a paper to a long term deal with the club based at Goldington Road with the club going the extra mile to complete the complicated paperwork required to get the prop player a work visa to play for the Blues in England as they brought the curtains down on a long drawn transfer saga that could be compared to any soap opera easily.
The player has been signed from San Isidros from his native Buenos Aires and also has three caps for the Argentina Rugby team.
And Mike ayer, the Director of Football of the club is really excited that the club managed to go that extra mile to complete the signing of one of the most sought after players from the Southern Hemisphere.
According to the boss, with the injury to Dan Seal taking longer than expected in the rehabilitation process as well as the return of Nic Auterac to his parent club in the Aviva Premiership Saracens FC, the Blues had just four players in the position and the signing of the Argentine will add strength and depth to the team as well as increase the competition for places, which will no doubt be beneficial for the club in the long run.
Geoff Irvine, the chairman of the club also stated that it is difficult to get good players at this time of the season and their search for a proper player took them to Argentina.
Rayer stated that they knew what kind of player they wanted and things were made easier because he had represented the Argentina Rugby team, otherwise, getting a visa would have bee tough
There have been many changes that have been made to the Argentina Rugby team. Coach Santiago Phelan has made four major changes to the team’s lineup, as the team did very badly against South Africa, when they were playing for the Rugby Championship at Hamilton last weekend. They had lost 22-17, and coach Phelan decided it was high time that some changes were made to the team roster.
Forward Leonardo Senatore is facing a nine-week ban, as he bit another player during a rough encounter on the field. So in his place, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe will be playing, who is fast recovering from a calf injury. Manuel Carizza will be replacing Mariano Galarza. And on the other hand, hugely experienced player Felipe Contepomi will be making his impact felt from the bench.
Felipe Contepomi is doing really well for the Argentina Rugby team, and the coach feels that he is extremely capable as a skipper, but then, for the betterment of the team on the whole, some rotation was much needed, and changes had to be made to the way things were. According to coach Phelan, the team has really been working hard, and that everyone in the need has put in a lot of effort to get to a better level of performance. And right now, better things can be safely expected from the team.
When asked about losing two of the most important players for charges of biting and eye-gouging, the coach of Argentina rugby team was of the opinion that those were really unfortunate turns of events, and that they hope to play a clean and decent game in the future. The most important thing that the coach wishes for his team is that the players have a good time playing, and that they come out with shining colors.
The hot topic in news related to Argentina Rugby is that the coach of the Waratahs Michael Cheika announced that he will be sending forth a team comprised of thirty four NSW Barbarians to Argentina, where they will be going head to head with the Pumas. The series will be a two-match series, and the squad is slated to leave for Argentina on the 29th of July. The first match with the Pumas will be held on the 3rd of August, the venue being Buenos Aires, and the second match will be held in Salta, on the 9th of August, and two days after that, the team will be returning home.
The Argentina Rugby scene is getting this chance to enjoy a game between the Barbarians and the Pumas because; the Argentinean Rugby Union wanted the match to happen. They think that this series will be instrumental in preparing the Pumas for the Rugby Championship, which will be beginning on the twenty seventh of August. The squad that will be going to play will be made up of players from the Waratahs, and players from the Sydney premiership have also been invited to take part.
Apart from the Championship, there is another reason as to why this tour is so important. There are a number of NSW hopefuls who can prove their mettle and get a place in the Waratahs’ Extended Playing Squad contracts, which are available for the year 2014. The NSW Barbarians will be playing against the main Puma team, and this is indeed going to be a huge chance to get into shape for the Championship.
This opportunity is really a huge deal for Argentina Rugby, and will provide many good players to earn their place in the Championship, and improve the rugby scene in the country.