England name unchanged side to face France

Posted on Mar 9, 2012 in England, English Rugby

ENGLAND today named an unchanged team for Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations match against France in Paris.

The same XV who started against Wales will run out at Stade de France, with two changes on the bench – Tom Palmer (Stade Francais) replacing Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) and Saracens’ Charlie Hodgson taking over from Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers).

England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We’ve had a good week following on from the Loughborough training camp and the players have been very positive and focused. We were really disappointed to lose to Wales but we took a lot out of the performance and felt it was right to pick the same starting team to go to Paris. It will be a massive challenge going to the Stade de France and playing against an experienced an unbeaten French side but we are excited about the opportunity and want to do the country proud."

England

15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
12 Brad Barritt (Saracens)
11 David Strettle (Saracens)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens)
9 Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
1 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
5 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
6 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt)
8 Ben Morgan (Scarlets)
Replacements
16 Rob Webber (London Wasps)
17 Matt Stevens (Saracens)
18 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
19 Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
20 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
21 Charlie Hodgson (Saracens)
22 Mike Brown (Harlequins)

Joe Marler and Karl Dickson will travel as 23rd and 24thmen respectively

Ireland team to play France

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 in Ireland, Irish Rugby

The Ireland team to play France in the re-fixed RBS 6 Nations Championship on Sunday, March 4th has been named.

The Ireland management have again named an unchanged team for the return trip to Paris.

Cian Healy, Gordon D’Arcy, Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien have all been named in the starting XV having recovered from the various minor injuries picked up in the game against Italy.

Ronan O’Gara, who last week became Ireland’s most capped player as well as the highest points scorer, is named in the replacements.

Ireland captain Paul O’Connell will win his 85th cap as he leads the team out in Paris on Saturday.

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v France, 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Stade De France, Sunday, March 4, kick-off 4pm local time/3pm Irish time):

15 – Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9 – Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 – Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt)
6 – Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 – Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 – Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
17 – Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 – Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 – Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 – Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

All Blacks invade Paris

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 in NZ

Adding insult to injury? After winning the Rugby World Cup against France in a game many commentators thought the All Blacks were second best, the NZRU have decided to open their first offshore office in Paris.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) will open its first offshore office in Paris by the end of 2011, focused on securing sponsorship for the All Blacks – one of the top 10 sporting brands in the world.

The office, a joint venture between the NZRU and Avenport Investment Group, aims to attract new sponsors and other potential commercial partners in the lucrative French market.

NZRU CEO Steve Tew says that while overseas sponsorship agencies had been working for the NZRU for several years, this was the first office presence offshore.

“We see this as the next step for the All Blacks brand if we want to be seen to take this market seriously.

“France is the biggest market for the All Blacks outside of New Zealand.  Their rugby fans are big supporters of the team.”

Avenport Investment Group chairman Eric Series says his company will bring local expertise in the French market as well as a network of business connections.

“We want to build on the existing partnership we have with the All Blacks and assist the NZRU with commercial opportunities in this part of the world.”

Avenport Investment Group recently helped the NZRU raise NZ$90,000 for the Canterbury earthquake appeal fund through an auction in Paris of rugby memorabilia

The men in the middle for the HEC QFs

Posted on Mar 22, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

QUARTER-FINAL REFEREES – HEINEKEN CUP

Nigel Owens (Wales) will referee the clash of former champions when Leinster and Leicester Tigers meet in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 9 April. The leading Welsh official, who controlled the 2008 and 2009 Heineken Cup finals, will be in charge of his fifth tournament quarter-final and his 54^th Heineken Cup match overall.

ERC, the tournament organisers, today (Tuesday, 22 March), announced the referee appointments with Alain Rolland (Ireland) getting the quarter-finals underway when he takes charge of the all-French contest between Perpignan and Toulon at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium earlier on the Saturday.

Romain Poite (France) will referee his first Heineken Cup knock-out match when Northampton Saints and Ulster Rugby clash at stadium:mk in Milton Keynes in the first of the Sunday contests.

Wayne Barnes (England) will referee the other all-French affair between Biarritz Olympique and defending champions Toulouse at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian which will bring the curtain down on the quarter-finals.

HEINEKEN CUP 2010/11 QUARTER-FINALS
(All Kick-Offs LOCAL Time)
SATURDAY, 9 APRIL 2011
16.30 Perpignan v Toulon – Olympic Stadium, Barcelona – Alain Rolland (I)
FR2 / Canal+ / Sky Sports / Sky Italia
18.00 Leinster v Leicester Tigers – Aviva Stadium, Dublin – Nigel Owens (W)
Sky Sports / Canal+ Sport / Sky Italia / RTE* / ITV4*
SUNDAY, 10 APRIL 2011
14.00 Northampton Saints v Ulster Rugby – stadium:mk, Milton Keynes – Romain Poite (F)
Sky Sports / Sky Italia / RTE*

17.30 Biarritz Olympique v Toulouse – Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastian – Wayne Barnes (E)
FR2 / Sky Sports / Sky Italia

* Highlights

HEINEKEN CUP 2010/11 SEMI-FINALS
(To be played 30 April / 1 May)

The winner of the first named quarter-final in each pairing will have home country advantage:
Leinster or Leicester Tigers v Biarritz Olympique or Toulouse
Northampton Saints or Ulster Rugby v Perpignan or Toulon

THE 16^th HEINEKEN CUP FINAL – SATURDAY, 21 MAY, 2011 – MILLENNIUM STADIUM, CARDIFF (17.00)

QUARTER-FINAL REFEREES – AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP

George Clancy (Ireland) will get the 2011 knock-out stages underway when he referees the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final between La Rochelle and ASM Clermont Auvergne on Thursday, 7 April.

ERC, the tournament organisers, today (Tuesday, 22 March), announced the Amlin Challenge Cup referee appointments with Dave Pearson (England) taking charge of the clash of former Heineken Cup winners Brive and Munster in the last of the quarter-finals on Saturday, 9 April.

On Friday, 8 April, the all-English tie between Harlequins and London Wasps will be controlled by Christophe Berdos (France) while Alan Lewis (Ireland) will be in charge of the second all-French tie between Stade Français Paris and Montpellier.

AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP 2010/11 QUARTER-FINALS
(All kick-offs local time)

THURSDAY, 7 APRIL 2011
20.45 La Rochelle v ASM Clermont Auvergne – Stade Marcel Deflandre- George Clancy (I)
Eurosport / Sky Sports

FRIDAY, 8 APRIL 2011
19.45 Harlequins v London Wasps – Twickenham Stoop – Christophe Berdos (F)
Sky Sports
20.45 Stade Français Paris v Montpellier – Stade Charléty – Alan Lewis (I)
FR4 / Sky Sports

SATURDAY, 9 APRIL 2011
14.00 Brive v Munster – Stadium Municipal Amédée Domenech – David Pearson (E)
Eurosport / Sky Sports
AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP 2010/11 SEMI-FINALS
(To be played 28, 29, 30 April / 1 May)

The winner of the first named quarter-final in each pairing will have home venue advantage:
Stade Français Paris or Montpellier v La Rochelle or ASM Clermont Auvergne
Brive or Munster v Harlequins or London Wasps
AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP FINAL – FRIDAY, 20 MAY, 2011 – CARDIFF CITY STADIUM (19.45)

Scotland team for France game

Posted on Feb 1, 2011 in Rugby News

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson has today challenged his team to demonstrate they can build on their progress in 2010 when they open their RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign against France in Paris on Saturday.

Robinson has made three changes in personnel and two further positional switches from the team that started Scotland’s last match – the success against Samoa in Aberdeen in November – which marked Scotland’s fifth victory in six Test matches.

Nick De Luca returns to win his 20th cap in place of the injured Graeme Morrison at inside centre, Max Evans is preferred to Sean Lamont on the wing and the rejuvenated Glasgow Warriors lock Alastair Kellock resumes as Scotland captain alongside his clubmate, Richie Gray.

The positional switches see Nathan Hines operate at blindside flanker, the berth in which he started Scotland’s victory against world champions South Africa back in November, with Kelly Brown moving to No 8, a role he has enjoyed at club level.

Two of the Scotland XV, Gray and Joe Ansbro, will be making their first Championship start, while Nikki Walker makes his first appearance in the competition for three years.

Robinson said: “International rugby is about maintaining forward momentum and, as test matches go, France in the cauldron of Stade de France will be a stern examination.

“I’ve remarked before that Scotland have produced some stirring one-off victories in the championship in the recent past and that what we need to do is produce winning performances consistently.

“We showed last year that that could be achieved following up our win against Ireland with our tour results in Argentina, though we know that we must be 100% on our top game for that aim to be realised.”

Scotland team (sponsor Murray) to play France in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Stade de France, Paris on Saturday 5 February, kick-off 5pm GMT

15 Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais) 57 caps, 8 tries, 40 points

14 Nikki Walker (Ospreys) 18 caps, 5 tries, 25 points
13 Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints) 2 caps
12 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh) 19 caps
11 Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors) 15 caps, 2 tries, 10 points

10 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) 56 caps, 4 tries, 11 conversions, 42 penalties, 13 drop-goals, 207 points
9 Rory Lawson (Gloucester) 22 caps

1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh) 50 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh) 43 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints) 35 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 6 caps
5 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN 27 caps
6 Nathan Hines (Leinster) 67 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
8 Kelly Brown (Saracens) 40 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 23 caps, 2 tries, 10 points

Substitutes

16 Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps, 1 try, 5 points
17 Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors) 10 caps
18 Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors) 6 caps
19 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) 4 caps
20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh) 66 caps, 5 tries, 25 points
21 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) 2 caps, 1 penalty, 3 points
22 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 50 caps, 7 tries, 35 points

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).  Assistant referees: Andrew Small (England) and Stuart Terheege (England).  TMO: Giulio de Santis (Italy).