Oceania Qualification Process Set for Rugby World Cup 2015

Posted on May 2, 2012 in Rugby World Cup

The Oceania region qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2015 will kick off with the Oceania Cup in 2013, the International Rugby Board and Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) announced today at the FORU AGM in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

The announcement was made in the presence of the Webb Ellis Cup, won by FORU Member Union New Zealand at RWC 2011. It is the first time that the Game’s ultimate prize has visited the Cook Islands.

All Full Member Unions of the IRB in the Oceania region will have an opportunity to compete for a direct qualification place at Rugby’s showcase event, which will take place in England and provides the financial platform for the development of the Game across the IRB’s 117 Member Unions.

The popular Oceania Cup, FORU’s regional championship for Development and Targeted Unions, will again be the first step on the road to England 2015. American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu will battle it out at the 2013 Oceania Cup with the winner progressing to the next stage of qualification.

The Oceania Cup champion will then take on Fiji in a one-off match in 2014 with the winner gaining direct qualification to RWC 2015 as Oceania 1. Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga have already qualified automatically for RWC 2015 after finishing in the top three of their respective pools at RWC 2011 in New Zealand.

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IRFU Announce Ireland Women’s Sevens Team Structures

Posted on Apr 19, 2012 in Ireland, Irish Rugby, Sevens, Women's Rugby

The Irish Rugby Football Union today announced details of the Ireland Women’s Sevens structures as the Ireland Team begin the journey that will hopefully end in qualification for the IRB 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow.

The process began with an interprovincial blitz at the beginning of April that acted as an initial talent screening day to assess the players capabilities and adaptability to the sevens game.

Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster and the Exiles all took part in the blitz to allow newly appointed Women’s Sevens Coach Jon Skurr to view the top players and make a decision on a reduced 21 player training and competition squad. Gemma Crowley, who is the fifteen-a-side Women’s Team Manager, will also work with the Sevens panel over their extended preparations.

In addition to the programme and structures for the Women’s team, the IRFU Club Sevens competitions, which were announced recently, are also part of the long term women’s sevens programme to continue to build a sustainable sevens culture in the women’s game.

Jon Skurr, who coached the Ireland Men’s Team in the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, has selected an elite squad of 21 players which he will work with through weekend camps and rotate through three warm up tournaments in Kinsale, Amsterdam and Bournemouth during May and June.

The squad are already two weeks into the training programme and contains a number of experienced members of the Women’s Team that competed strongly in this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship. It includes Ireland’s most capped player Lynne Cantwell, versatile back Amy Davis and strong running number 8 Joy Neville as well as a number of players who made the breakthrough at international level recently such as Ashleigh Baxter.

The IRFU yesterday received confirmation from FIRA of the Ireland Team’s entry to the European competitions that will give countries qualification for the IRB 2013 Sevens Rugby World Cup in Moscow. The qualifying schedule begins with a tournament in Ghent, Belgium from June 8th – 10th and includes strong opposition with Scotland, Poland, Georgia and Belgium seen as the main contenders.

The Ireland Team will need to have a top two finish in that competition to progress to the final European qualifying tournament. This will take place in Moscow from June 28th – July 1st, with only the top five teams going through to the World Championships the following year in the same venue.

Fiona Coghlan, Captain of the fifteen-a-side Ireland Team, who is currently recovering from injury, said, “This is a great step forward that the IRFU have taken for the women’s game and hopefully we can bring some of our recent good form and success from the fifteen-a-side game to sevens. It is a totally different type of game in terms of physical preparation and tactics, but hopefully at the end of the training camps and tournaments, we will know how far this can take us.”

Scott Walker, IRFU Director of Rugby Development and the Club Game said: “Ireland has a small pool of women players and one concern has always been about maximising the competitiveness of the team, while balancing the physical and personal demands on an extremely talented generation of amateur players.

“The results of the women’s team have been particularly encouraging, especially this season where they played an exciting brand of rugby, so this opportunity of beginning a successful sevens culture was one that was presented to the women’s panels in the four provinces. We were delighted with the response and the numbers who were willing to commit to what is an intensive programme, especially for players who are not training full time.

“The programme is a reflection of the preparation of other competing nations, who have less strong rugby traditions but have committed to the sevens game under their own Olympic elite organisation programmes and support structures. The women’s squad have begun their preparations which will hopefully culminate with qualification for the World Sevens next year, with a view to looking at future Olympic participation."

Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad *:
Ashleigh Baxter (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Lynne Cantwell (Richmond/Exiles)
Nicole Caughey (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Amy Davis (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Jeannette Feighery (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Shannon Houston (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster)
Ashling Hutchings (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Niamh Kavanagh (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Claire Keohane (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Alison Miller (Portlaoise/Connacht)
Claire Molloy (Bristol RFC/Exiles/Connacht)
Jacqueline Mulligan (Sligo/Connacht)
Jennifer Murphy (Richmond/Exiles)
Joy Neville (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Áine Ní Chatháin (Garda RFC/Leinster)
Mollie O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Laura O’Mahony (Tralee/Munster)
Beth O’Brien (Oxford University/Exiles)
Rachael Potter (Saracens/Exiles)
Meadhbh Westwood (Waterloo/Exiles)

*Final player to be confirmed following April training camps.

Management:
Coach – Jon Skurr
Manager – Gemma Crowley
Physiotherapist – Dr. Ulrik McCarthy Persson
Physiotherapist – Dom Hoban
S&C Coach – Ross Callaghan
Analyst – Gillian Burke
Nutritionist – Ruth Kilcawley
Squad Coordinator – Jean Casey

Ireland Women’s Sevens Schedule:
Date/Event
April 6th: Interprovincial competition/screening (65 players)
April 13th – 28th: Weekend training camps (21 players)
May 4th – 6th: Kinsale Sevens (12 players)
May 12th – 13th: Camp (21 players)
May 18th – 20th: Amsterdam Sevens (12 players)
May 26th – 27th: Camp (21 players)
June 1st – 3rd: Bournemouth Sevens (12 players)
June 8th – 10th: FIRA Qualifying, Ghent, Belgium (12 players)
June 23rd: Camp (14 players)
June 28th – July 1st: FIRA Qualifying, Moscow (12 players)

Montpelier have Falcons in their sights

Posted on Jan 10, 2011 in Rugby News

Montpellier remain on course for Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification as Pool 3 winners – and victory at Newcastle Falcons on Friday night would take them a giant step closer to a place in the last eight in April.

“We aimed at qualification from the start of the season and at present we are still within reach of that goal,” said back row forward and captain Vassili Bost. “However, we have two complicated games left in the Pool phases against two big English squads so we know it will be tough.

“Exeter Chiefs, despite being newly promoted, have shown that they are up there with the rest of the English squads and are very physical up front. They beat Newcastle twice in three encounters this season – including a big win in Round 3 of the Amlin Challenge Cup – and they only lost to them by two points in Round 4 so we cannot take them lightly.

“The level in this competition has intensified in the last few years, especially the last two seasons with the introduction of the new quarter-final qualification format. That means the teams have to go up one gear to secure first place in their respective Pools to make it to the knock-out stages.

“There is hardly any room for error now but it’s great to see some Heineken Cup teams taking part in the quarter-finals. It makes the tournament more attractive for us because you get to compete against big squads.

“The Heineken Cup is also one of the long sought after goals we set ourselves at Montpellier and since the club has never played in that competition it remains a massive ambition.

“We may finally be able to get there, either by qualifying through the Amlin Challenge Cup or through our Top 14 ranking, which seems more likely seeing that we currently stand in third position. We take one game at a time and we’ll see where that takes us.

“Now we start our two remaining Amlin Challenge Cup rounds with a trip to Newcastle. We will approach that game very cautiously because even though we beat them earlier in the season that does not mean we will repeat that performance and this time we are away from home. We will try to impose our game and we will keep in mind that we need to secure our first position in the table.

“We will have to be strong, compete physically and dominate in the scrum in particular. In Round 2 we struggled to gain territory in the earlier stages of the game then we managed to find solutions and find the breaks.

“My best memory so far in the Amlin Challenge Cup was last year in Round 1 when we went to Worcester with a team consisting mostly of young players and came away with a win. We didn’t expect to succeed but we played with all our hearts and managed to impose our game.”

Uruguay and Romania Battle for Final Rugby World Cup 2011 Place

Posted on Nov 12, 2010 in Rugby World Cup

The qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand will near its conclusion on Saturday, November 13 as Uruguay and Romania go head to head in the first leg of the decisive play-off final at the Charrua Stadium in Montevideo (kick off 15:30 local time).

The winners on aggregate over the two legs will become the 20th and final qualifier for New Zealand 2011 and will book a place in Pool B alongside Argentina, England, Scotland and Georgia.

Neither team is a stranger to Rugby’s showcase tournament with Romania having competed in every edition since its inception in 1987, while Uruguay have previously qualified for the 1999 and 2003 tournaments. Both teams have secured their place at the last chance play-off final the hard way, via an extremely competitive qualification path.

Romania rallied to finish third in the European Nations Cup and then defeated Ukraine 94-10 over two legs in the European play-off before progressing to defeat Tunisia 56-13 in the Europe/Africa play-off to keep their Rugby World Cup 2011 dream alive.

Uruguay progressed to the Americas play-off via the South American Championship, losing to USA 54-28 over two legs. A 44-7 victory over Kazakhstan in the Americas/Asia play-off kept them in the hunt for the final qualification place.

Top referee Mark Lawrence will take charge of the match in Montevideo which is set to attract a capacity crowd and with home advantage very much a factor, Uruguay know that they have to lay down a decent marker if they are to qualify for their third Rugby World Cup.

“We need a win here for sure and we are hoping to get a lot of support from the crowd. It is crucial we get a good performance at home. Our primary objective is to win,” said Uruguay captain Carlos Arboleya.

Romania have won both previous encounters between the two teams, but with the largest winning margin just six points and both wins coming on home soil in Bucharest, they are expecting a tough encounter on Saturday.

“I don’t want to be in the team that does not qualify for a Rugby World Cup. I’ve been telling the younger players that participating at Rugby’s showcase event is the best memory they will ever have,” said Romania captain Sorin Socol.

“We have worked very hard. We made many sacrifices and we want to qualify.”

With the start of Rugby World Cup 2011 just 10 months away, the matches herald the end of a thrilling global qualification process which began in the Cayman Islands in April 2008, and has seen 182 matches played so far involving 80 teams, across the six IRB Regions.

The process has seen Russia qualify for their first ever Rugby World Cup, with Georgia, Canada, Samoa, Namibia, USA and Japan sealing the other qualification places.

The second leg will be played at the stadionul National Arcul de Triumf on Saturday, November 27 at 18:00 local time.

Namibia claim Africa 1 qualification for RWC 2011

Posted on Nov 30, 2009 in Rugby News

Namibia has won the battle for the Africa 1 qualification spot for Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) after defeating Tunisia over a two-match series with an aggregate score of 40-23.

The sides met two weeks ago in Tunis, where Namibia claimed a narrow victory, defeating the home side 18-13. The second leg of their challenge took place yesterday on Namibian homesoil in Windhoek where they defeated the visitors 22-10.

Namibia’s qualification now completes Pool D which includes Fiji, Samoa, South Africa and Wales.

“Our warmest congratulations go to Namibia on their qualification for RWC 2011. The completed line up for Pool D is very strong and will provide some exciting matches in 2011. In particular, I am looking forward to Namibia’s match against their African neighbours, South Africa,” said Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) CEO Martin Snedden.

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