Team news: Bristol vs. Nottingham

Posted on Jan 7, 2011 in Rugby News

Bristol Rugby travel to Nottingham on Sunday determined to end a three match run which has seen them lose to each of the top three sides in the RFU Championship.

Head Coach Paul Hull is able to select from a near full squad and makes just two changes in personnel to the starting 15 from last Sunday’s home game to the Worcester Warriors.

The first change is the return of Jack Adams to the centre to partner Junior Fatialofa with Ed Barnes dropping to the bench.

The second change is George Watkins starting on the wing which allows Jack Tovey to move to full back in place of Sean Marsden who sits on the bench.

Richard Bolt and Adrian Jarvis retain the half back shirts and the pack of forwards is unchanged. Hooker Ross Johnston has recovered from illness and takes his place amongst the Replacements

Bristol Rugby team to play at Nottingham Rugby on Sunday 9th January at 3 pm.

Jack Tovey, Anthony Elliott, Jack Adams, Junior Fatialofa, George Watkins, Adrian Jarvis, Richard Bolt; Mako Vunipola, Ollie Hayes, Wayne Thompson, Mariano Sambucetti, Roy Winters, Iain Grieve (C), James Merriman, Dan Montagu.

Replacements

Ross Johnston, Mark Irish, Darren Barry, Jonathan Brandling-Harris, Robbie Shaw, Ed Barnes and Sean Marsden.

Extended Ireland Women’s Squad Named

Posted on Dec 16, 2010 in Rugby News

Ireland Women’s Coach Philip Doyle has named an extended squad of 34 for the first training camp this season. The squad features many of the players who helped Ireland to their highest ever finish at the Women’s World Championship earlier this year while also featuring a few new faces.

Last season’s captain Fiona Coghlan and Ireland’s most capped woman Lynne Cantwell are among a host of experienced players named in the squad.

Four players are unavailable through injury: Tania Rosser continues her rehab from the injury she picked up at the World Championship while newcomer Eliza Downey while Shannon Houston and Alison Miller are also ruled out at this stage.

Lauren Day, who missed out on the World Championship when she picked up an injury in training, returns to the squad and there are some new faces in the likes of Stacey Lee Kennedy, Jean Moore and Larissa Muldoon.

The back-room team sees the addition of Keith Murphy as Assistant Coach while Greg McWilliams will join the Management during the preparations for the 6 Nations.

Ireland Women’s Squad

Gillian Bourke (Munster/Bristol)
Niamh Briggs (Munster/ UL Bohemians)
Lynne Cantwell (Exile/Richmond)
Emma Cleary (Connacht/ UL Bohemians)
Fiona  Coghlan (Leinster/ UL Bohemians)
Amy Davis (Leinster/Blackrock)
Lauren Day (Ulster/Waterloo)
Ailis Egan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)
Orla Fitzsimons (Leinster/St Marys)
Siobhan Fleming (Munster/ Tralee RFC)
Laura Guest (Munster/Highfield RFC)
Ashling Hutchings (Munster/ UL Bohemians)
Helen Jones (Munster/Highfield RFC)
Niamh Kavanagh (Munster/ UL Bohemians)
Mairead Kelly (Munster/ UL Bohemians)
Stacey Lee Kennedy (Ulster/City of Derry)
Emer McManamly (Leinster/Blackrock)
Claire Molloy (Connacht /Bristol)
Jean Moore (Connacht/Portlaoise)
Larissa Muldoon (Exile)
Joy Neville (Munster/ UL Bohemians)
Gill Nolan (Leinster/St Marys)
Deirdre O’Brien (Leinster/Blackrock)
Heather O’Brien (Munster/ Highfield RFC)
Imogen Porter (Ulster/Cooke)
Clare Raftery (Connacht/Galwegians)
Geraldine Rea (Munster/ Highfield RFC)
Marie Louise Reilly (Leinster/Old Belvedere)
Michelle Ross (Leinster/St Marys)
Kate Sheehan (Munster/ UL Bohemians)
Jackie Shiels (Exile/Richmond)
Nora Stapleton (Leinster/Old Belvedere)
Carol Staunton (Connacht/Galwegians)
Ailish Toner (Munster)

Ireland Women’s Team Management

Philip Doyle – Coach
Keith Murphy – Assistant Coach
Rachel Reid – Team Manager
Ross Callaghan – Strength & Conditioning Coach
Brian Roantree – Team Assistant
Jessica O’Riordan -Team Doctor
Ulrik McCarthy Persson – Team Physio
Dominic Hoban – Team Physio 2
Len Browne – Team Analyst
Jessica O’Brien – Team Co-ordinator

Team News: Bees vs Knights

Posted on Dec 10, 2010 in Rugby News

The Bees line up against Doncaster Knights at home this Sunday (12th December, Damson Park, kick off 3pm) in the first round of the British & Irish Cup.

This season’s B&I Cup again sees all twelve teams from the English RFU Championship competing against six from the Welsh Principality Premiership, three Scottish sides and Irish provinces Munster, Leinster and Ulster. Two sides from each of the four Pools go forward into the knock out stages of the competition, which was won in its inaugural year last season by Cornish Pirates.

With the recent freezing temperatures forecast to ease over the weekend and a precautionary pitch inspection scheduled for Saturday morning, the Club is optimistic for the prospects of the game going ahead as planned.

The Bees will be keen to put behind them last week’s 27-0 away defeat against Plymouth Albion in the Championship. “The guys were obviously disappointed with their performance on both an individual and collective level” said Bees Assistant Coach Eugene Martin. “Plymouth didn’t play outstanding rugby so it was a game that we lost rather than they won. We’ve taken a long hard look at the DVD of last week’s game and we know what we have to do to cut out errors and get back to our game plan.”

With Simon Hunt and John Brake, together with Director of Rugby Russell Earnshaw, still on England Sevens duty in South Africa, Eugene Martin has made a number of changes to the starting line up for the Doncaster game on Sunday. Dual registered Northampton youngster Will Webster makes his first start for the club at flanker, with new second row signing Danny Wright also set to make his Damson Park debut. The highly versatile Rob Connolly will partner Will Lawson at centre, with Sam Robinson coming in at fly half.

Sunday’s game is the first of five B&I Pool games for the Bees over the next three months. As well as Doncaster and Rotherham, Birmingham & Solihull are also joined by Welsh sides Llandovery and Pontypridd and Scottish Premiership side Ayr in their Pool fixtures.

As a special "Yorkshire Double" ticket offer, anyone buying a ticket at the gate for Sunday’s game against Doncaster (£20 Adults/£14 Concessions/£6 Kids) can gain free entry to the Championship game against Rotherham on 26th December (kick off 3pm Damson Park).

The Bees side to face Doncaster on Sunday is as follows:- 1. Mauro Sperandio 2. Ben Gerry, 3. Leo Halavatau, 4. Dan Wright, 5. Dan Sanderson, 6. Jack Bentall, 7. Will Webster , 8. Semisi Taulava, 9. Jimmy Williams, 10. Sam Robinson, 11. Ollie Grove, 12. Rob Connolly, 13. Will Lawson, 14.Tomasi Tanumi and 15.Ollie Winter.

On the bench:- 16. Joe Reid, 17. Rob Dugard, 18. Adrian Griffiths, 19. Mike Denbee, 20. Mark Woodrow, 21. Rod Petty and 22. Mitch Culpin.

Scotland 7s touch down in Delhi

Posted on Sep 29, 2010 in Commonwealth Games Sevens, Scottish Rugby

Team Scotland’s presence in the Athletes’ Village was boosted by the arrival of the Scotland 7s team, wrestling and boxing in Delhi today.
The three sports were originally scheduled to leave Scotland last Thursday and would have been the first of the Scottish athletes to arrive in Delhi, but due to last week’s concern over the readiness of the Village, Commonwealth Games Scotland took the difficult decision to reschedule their travel plans.
However, at 1100 hours local time athletes were welcomed to the Athletes’ Village by Team Scotland Chef de Mission Jon Doig and members of the General Management Team.
They were given a quick tour of the Village before dining at the catering facilities and checking out their accommodation for the first time.
Andrew Turnbull, top try scorer for the Scotland 7s squad, said on his arrival: "We didn’t come expecting five star accommodation. Our apartments are really nice and the food is good so we have no complaints."
The Scots go into the Games seeded eighth by the IRB and, on the first day of the 16-team tournament, will take on defending Games’ champions and top seeds, New Zealand, World Series regulars Canada, and Caribbean champions Guyana, who this year competed in their first World Series event in Las Vegas.
The next Scottish athletes and officials to arrive in Delhi are the 27 members of Team Scotland’s Swimming squad, who will fly in from a holding camp in Doha tomorrow (Thursday).
Scotland 7s 12-man squad
Mike Adamson, Alex Blair, Scott Forrest, Chris Fusaro, John Houston, Lee Jones, Stuart McInally, Scott Newlands, Hefin O’Hare, Colin Shaw, Andrew Turnbull, Scott Riddell
COMMONWEALTH GAMES, RUGBY SEVENS POOLS (ALL TIMES ARE LOCAL)
Pool A: Canada, Guyana, New Zealand, Scotland
Pool B: India, South Africa, Tonga, Wales
Pool C: Kenya, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa
Pool D: Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Uganda
DAY ONE: Monday 11 October
10.06am – Scotland v Guyana
1.12pm – Scotland v Canada
5.32pm – New Zealand v Scotland
DAY TWO: Tuesday 12 October
9am (match 25) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B
9:22am (match 26) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool D v 4th Pool C
9.44am (match 27) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool C v 4th Pool D
10.06am (match 28) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A
10.38am (match 29) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B
11am (match 30) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool D v 2nd Pool C
11.22am (match 31) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool C v 2nd Pool D
11.44am (match 32) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A
1pm (match 33) – Bowl Semi-final – Winner Match 25 v Winner Match 26
1.22pm (match 34) – Bowl Semi-final – Winner Match 27 v Winner Match 28
1.44pm (match 35) – Plate Semi-final – Loser Match 29 v Loser Match 30
2.06pm (match 36) – Plate Semi-final – Loser Match 31 v Loser Match 32
2.28pm (match 37) – Cup Semi-final – Winner Match 29 v Winner Match 30
2.50pm (match 38) – Cup Semi-final – Winner Match 31 v Winner Match 32
3.22pm (match 39) – Bowl Final – Winner Match 33 v Winner Match 34
3.50pm (match 40) – Plate Final – Winner Match 35 v Winner Match 36
4.20pm (match 41) – Bronze Medal Match – Loser Match 37 v Loser Match 38
4.45pm (match 42) – Gold Medal Match (Cup final) – Winner Match 37 v Winner Match 38
5.25pm – Medal Ceremony
Rugby Sevens is one of ten core sports at the Commonwealth Games and made its debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, but Manchester in 2002 was the first occasion Scotland competed. Now an approved Olympic Sport, included in the 2016 Games, sevens takes on an even greater significance as part of the Commonwealth Games.

Sale Sharks Team To Play Harlequins

Posted on Sep 16, 2010 in English Rugby, Premiership

Looking ahead to Friday’s Aviva Premiership game at home to Harlequins (7.45 p.m.), Sale Sharks Head Coach Mike Brewer said, “Quins have competed pretty well in their first two matches, particularly against a Northampton team that’s highly rated.

“There are areas in the way that they play that we’ll have to watch, and there are areas that we’ll look to try and exploit. One of the key things for us is our defence, our discipline. They’ve got key players in the 8-9-10 channel with Easter, Care and Evans and they’re strong at the back with Mike Brown.

“We’ve got to stop them playing, and that will be the responsibility of the tight five in the pack. Danny’s a wonderful little player, and I remember Nick as a young guy in New Zealand.

“The best way to stop a nine and ten playing is to dominate their pack. As a team they work hard for each other. We went down to try and beat Sarries and came unstuck. For this week, it’s about getting things right, addressing the issues, learning from the mistakes we made. In the Premiership, you don’t have much time to dwell on things. You’ve got address them, correct them, and then put them to bed and move on.”

Sale Sharks: Paul Williams, Ben Cohen, Chris Bell, Nick Macleod, Mark Cueto, Matty James, Dwayne Peel, Eifion Lewis Roberts, Marc Jones, Jack Forster, Wame Lewaravu, James Gaskell (Captain), Carl Fearns, David Seymour, Sisa Koyamaibole

Replacements: Neil Briggs, Andrew Sheridan, Aston Croall, Nic Rouse, Kristian Ormsby, Chris Leck, Kyle Tonetti, Tom Brady