Connacht sign Henry Fa’afili

Posted on Jun 17, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Connacht Rugby have completed the signing of rugby league legend Henry Fa’afili.

Samoan born Fa’afili scored more than 400 points in 7 years of rugby league playing with the New Zealand Warriors and Warrington Wolves. In 2007, while playing for the Wolves, he was the Super League’s top try scorer with 22 trys in 29 games. His blistering pace and ferocious ball carrying ability, coupled with some slick offloading have made Fa’afili a fans favourite and supporters at The Sportsground are sure to be treated to some outstanding displays from the powerful centre next season.

Fa’afili changed codes to play rugby union for Biarritz in 2007 alongside French legends Damien Traille, Dmitri Yachvili and Italian centre Andrea Masi and following a successful season in the South of France joined Aviva Premiership Rugby side Leeds Carnegie

The 5’11, 104kg centre has played for Samoa and New Zealand in rugby league, scoring a hat-trick against Great Britain in 2002 and has represented Manu Samoa in rugby union in the Pacific 6 Nations competition. He will join Eric Elwood’s squad when they return to preseason training next week.

Speaking about the move Henry said:

“I’m really looking forward to joining Connacht in what is a very exciting time for both myself and the club. I’ve always wanted to experience the Magners League (RaboDirect PRO12) and with Connacht in the Heineken Cup next year it’s a great opportunity for me. I spoke to Mike Forshaw (Connacht’s Defence Coach) who I know from my rugby league days and he explained what Connacht were about and the great work that is going on there so I’m very excited about the move. Galway is a great city and myself and my fiancée are really looking forward to living there.”

Head Coach Eric Elwood was equally as happy with signing Henry:

“Henry is a quality player with a proven track record with both Biarritz and Leeds and we will use Henry’s experience and power to compliment the youth and raw talent of our backs. He is a dynamic ball carrier with exceptional skill, strength and pace and we look forward to working with him, along with our other new signings, in the coming weeks.”

Second string Wales crushed by Baby All Blacks

Posted on Jun 15, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Wales Under 20 suffered a crushing 92-0 defeat to New Zealand in Round 2 of the IRB Junior World Championship in Rovigo.

The triple world champions were in destructive form, punishing every mistake and finishing every opportunity with clinical tries.

Wales were undone in the first minute when New Zealand opened up the Welsh defence, first right, then left for flanker Sam Cane to score in the corner.

Wales had some ball early on but were unable to get through the notorious New Zealand defence.

Despite Wales stealing an opposition line-out ball, New Zealand recovered possession and spun the ball wide for their second try via wing Charles Piutau, this time converted by Gareth Anscombe, taking the score to 12-0 within ten minutes of kick-off.

The third try was far too easy, with Piutau strolling through the Welsh defence for Cane to score his second score with Anscombe adding the extras.

The fourth, bonus point try came just before the 20 minute mark with full back Beauden Barrett going over in the right hand corner after quick handling left the Welsh defence for dead.

New Zealand were too powerful for Wales at the breakdown, and terrifically quick in the loose, punishing every mistake. Captain and No 8 Luke Whitelock, brother of All Blacks Sam and George scored their fifth try under the posts just before the half hour mark, Anscombe again converting, taking the score to 31-0.

Llanelli full back Liam Williams made Wales’ first break, kicking through for Owen Williams to chase, gaining the first real attacking position with a line-out within the New Zealand 22 but the youngsters were unable to capitalise and lost their line-out.

Wales lost another crucial line-out in their own 22 before half-time, and again, New Zealand were quick to pounce on the loose ball for lock Steven Luatua to score and Anscombe to convert, a score that was quickly followed by New Zealand’s seventh try, scored by Welsh born Rhys Llewellyn in the right hand corner, Anscombe converting from the touchline, taking the half-time score to 45-0.

They were at it again straight from the restart, centre Lima Sopoaga sprinting over to score under the posts.

Wales made brief inroads into the New Zealand 22, but breakdowns were a constant source of turnover ball and this time scrum half TJ Perenara raced over, Anscombe converting, with Sam Cane getting his hat trick a minute later, Anscombe again adding to his points tally. Charles Piutau got his brace at the next restart, taking the score to a humiliating 71-0.

A yellow card for Wales flanker Ed Siggery made matters worse, New Zealand quickly taking advantage of the numerical advantage with Brad Shields next on the score sheet. Replacements Glen Robertson and Brad Weber also ran over for tries in the dying moments.

After the game head coach Richard Webster said: “The boys were understandably deflated immediately after the final whistle, we never really got started in the game, but New Zealand are a formidable side that will take a lot of teams apart.

“The positives are that we are still in the tournament, and with a bonus point win over Italy, we could still qualify for the top four.

“We have already started to put the game behind us and look forward to the next game on Saturday.”

New Zealand scorers :

Tries : Cane(3), Piutau (2), Barrett, Whitelock, Luatua, Llewellyn, Sopoaga, Perenara, Shields, Robertson, Weber

Cons : G Anscombe (11)

Pens:

Wales:
Liam Williams; Iolo Evans, Owen Williams (Matthew Morgan 40), Lewis Robling, Dale Ford (Ross Jones 70); Steve Shingler, Lewis Jones (Jonathan Evans 71); Rhodri Jones), Kirby Myhill (Jamie Sollis 65), WillGriff John (Will Taylor 65), Lloyd Peers (capt, Macauley Cook 42) Ospreys/ Bridgend), Cory Hill, Edward Siggery, Thomas Young, Owen Sheppeard (Luke Hamilton 50).
New Zealand:
B Barrett; W Naholo, R Llewellyn, L Sopoaga, C Piutau; G Anscombe, TJ Perenara; S Sakalia, C Taylor, B Tameifuna, S Luatua, B Retallick, B Shields, S Cane, L Whitelock (capt) Replacements: S Setefano, M Kainga, D Bird, H Bedwell-Curtis, B Weber, F Saili, G Robertson

Referee: Greg Garner (RFU)

England knocked out by NZ

Posted on May 28, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

England will face Fiji in the Plate competition at the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens after being beaten by New Zealand at the tournament’s quarter final stage today.

Frank Halai’s hat-trick of tries closed out a 26-12 win for new the HSBC Sevens World Series champions.

Bristol wing Dan Norton and Saracens flanker Don Barrell scored England’s tries and the side now need to pick up as many points as possible in the final two games of the season to have a chance of hanging on to second or third place in the series rankings.

England simply couldn’t get their hands on the ball in the first five minutes against New Zealand and were 19-0 down before they made an impact.

David Raikuna scored in the first 15 seconds when New Zealand claimed the kick-off and England then lost the ball on their own throw at a lineout with Halai bumping past Norton to score. They conceded the next restart too, Halai stepping back inside for a simple second.

With the ball in hand England were patient and effective, though, and challenged New Zealand around the ruck with Barrell bursting inside and running in from half way.

New Zealand scored first in the second half  when Halai completed his hat trick to put them out of reach, England responding with a long spell of pressure which saw newcomer Richard de Carpentier involved down the right before Norton struck for his 32^nd try of the campaign.

New Zealand’s win earns them a semi final date with Australia – 24-14 winners against Fiji – while South Africa will take on Wales or France in the other side of the draw.

Bearman signs for the Ospreys

Posted on Mar 28, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

The Ospreys have signed back-rower Joe Bearman from Newport Gwent Dragons on a two-year deal.

Newquay born but Welsh qualified through residence, Bearman has put pen to paper on a contract that will keep him at the region until the end of the 2012/13 season.

Capable of playing at blindside or number eight, Bearman joins the Ospreys after five years at the Dragons, where he has scored seven tries in 72 appearances prior to their game against Leinster yesterday. A huge favourite at Rodney Parade, he has a reputation as a powerful ball carrier and strong runner.

Prior to signing for the Dragons, he spent a number of seasons at Cornish Pirates, captaining them for two, as they climbed the English league structure to become the first club from the county to reach National League One (now the Championship).

Speaking about the move to the Ospreys, Bearman commented:

“I’m really looking forward to linking up with the Ospreys, this is an excellent opportunity for me to play top level rugby that I couldn’t turn down. I’ve enjoyed five good years at the Dragons, but I felt that the time was right for a new challenge and a change of environment. There were four or five really good offers on the table but it was the Ospreys who really impressed me.

“The management at the Ospreys have a clear plan for what they want to achieve, and I really like what I’ve seen of the young talent that has been playing over the last couple of months. I’ve got a lot of experience that I can bring to this young squad, I’ve played a lot of rugby and I hope I’ll be able to give that something extra to the group, including my ball carrying ability, something all teams need.

“I’ve had a look around at the excellent training facilities, spoken to the coaches, and with me being settled in Wales with my girlfriend this move is the obvious one for me. I can’t wait to get my teeth into a new challenge.”

Ospreys Elite Performance Director, Andrew Hore, welcomed Joe to the region, saying:

“Joe comes to us with an excellent reputation for being an honest, hard working individual, who thrives on the physical side of the game and is particularly renowned for his ability to make the hard yards with ball in hand.

“With his experience I’ve no doubt that he will prove to be a huge asset to the Ospreys environment, on and off the field. His signing is not just about what he brings to the team as a player, it is part of a bigger all round plan, to assist in the development of our younger players coming through. Joe leads by example, and displays all the characteristics that we want from our up and coming age-grade players.”

Elusive win in Ireland evades England Counties XV yet again

Posted on Mar 21, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Ulster Bank Club International Team 16 England Counties 8.

ENGLAND Counties hopes of winning on Irish soil for the first time were undone at Old Belvedere RFC in Dublin tonight when they paid dearly for letting scarce scoring chances slip through their fingers in a game where defences generally held sway.

In contrast the Irishmen engineered even fewer chances than their opponents, but on the two occasions they opened up the Counties rearguard, they nailed the score.

The visitors had the better of the first half in terms of possession, but while they sought to move the ball wide as often as possible, they found the Irish defence watertight.

On the couple of occasions when cracks appeared, handling errors denied them points and it was left to scrum-half Ben Spencer to notch their only score with a sixth-minute penalty

Though fly-half Barry Keshan missed a couple of penalty shots, he hit the target at the third attempt after 36 minutes to leave the sides level at the break.

The crucial breakthrough came seven minutes after the restart when the Counties lost possession at the back of a scrum near the Irish 22 metre line as they were exerting serious pressure once again. This time the ball was transferred smartly through the backs to overcover wingman David Mongan, who showed plenty of pace and a strong hand off to gallop in from half-way.

Prior to that score the Counties had done well to contain the tight forward driving which is the hallmark of the home side, but when they won a position near the visitors line after 58 minutes, they moved the ball through a number of phases before lock Simon Crawford powered over.

The Counties got back into contention on the hour with a well worked try through the backs. Centre Peter Hodgkinson did the spadework with a break and a perfectly timed scoring pass to full-back Gareth Collins, who just had enough pace to outrun the cover and score.

At that stage the Counties started to find themselves at odds with the referee’s interpretation of events and their opponents started to turn the screw via some well-organised ball retention which culminated in a last minute penalty by Keeshan to settle the outcome.
“I think we tried to play an awful lot of rugby, but a couple of mistakes let us down,” said Counties Manager Mike Old: “We’re very disappointed, but it’s what Ireland do to us year in and year out – they capitalise on their chances and make us pay or not taking ours.

“But I think our boys showed huge commitment and huge passion.”
"I’m very disappointed because I thought we playded as well as in any Counties game I’ve been involved in" said captain Gareth Collins: "But at this level you have to take the chances when they come your way. Tonight the Irish lads managed that, but we didn’t."

England Counties XV: Gareth Collins (Leicester Lions) capt; David Vincent (Barking), Peter Hodgkinson (Ealing Trailfinders), Tom Wheatcroft (Barking), Tom Jarvis (Stourbridge); Dan Mugford (Cambridge), Ben Spencer (Cambridge); Alex Clarke (London Scottish), Matt Hall (Blaydon), Aaron Liffchak (Barking), Steve Pape (Rosslyn Park), Josh Brown (London Scottish), James Kellard (Barking), Dave Allen (Blackheath), Sam Beaumont (Fylde).
Replacements all used: Dan Lloyd-Jones (Barking), Alex MacKenzie (Barking), James Ngan (Barking), Tom Standfield (London Scottish), Stefan Liebenberg (Old Albanians), Mike Waywell (Fylde), James Stephenson (Blackheath).

Ulster Bank Club International Team: John O’Brien (Buccaneers); John Cleary (Galwegians), Eric Moloney (Dolphin), Evan Ryan (Clontarf), David Mongan (Old Belvedere); Barry Keeshan (Dolphin), Gerry Hurley (Cork Constitution); John Ryan (UCC), Richie Sweeney (St. Mary’s College), Christy Condon (Dolphin), Philip Donnellan (UCC), Simon Crawford (Clontarf), Hugh Hogan (St Mary’s College), Barry O’Mahony (Clontarf), Frank Cogan (Cork Constitution) capt.
Replacements all used: Ciaran Kavanagh (Clontarf) Ger Slattery (Young Munster), Liam Og Murphy (Young Munster), Damian Hall (St. Mary’s College), Matt D’Arcy (St. Mary’s College), Alan Kingsley (Young Munster), Stuart Morrow (Ballynahinch).

Referee: L Hodges (Wales)