After an action-packed week that’s left us feeling as breathless as a Barbarians scoreboard operator, we've tried to narrow down some of the highlights of the last seven days.
St George’s Day has been and gone, although England will be hoping to slay a few more dragons when they meet Wales at the Rugby World Cup in September.
BEST BITS: Action from @Jason15Robinson @JeremyGuscott @JonnyWilkinson to celebrate St George's Day @englandrugby https://t.co/lP7KEPtCEp
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup)
April 23, 2015
Unbelievably, there’s less than 150 days to go until Rugby World Cup 2015, which our on-the-ball social media team marked on Tuesday by publishing a re-run of Caleb Ralph’s try in the 150th Rugby World Cup match in 2003.
Video of the Week
The All Blacks winger showed great awareness and pace to start and finish a move that began in New Zealand’s own 22, after Carlos Spencer had twice kicked on, as Canada were beaten 68-6 at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne. A quarter of a million people have already viewed the footage.
News of the Week
Rather than make a spectacle of himself, Barbarians fly-half Ian McKinley has impressed everyone with the way he has overcome being blind in one eye to get what was once a promising rugby career with Leinster and Ireland under-20s back on track. The Viadana vice-captain turned out in the famous black and white hooped jersey on Tuesday as the Baa-baas and Heriot’s came together to jointly celebrate their 125th anniversaries. The result? A 20-try extravaganza that the Baa-baas won 97-31.
Tackle of the Week
It was a case of ‘unlucky 13’ for Japan centre George Konia who was hit by a monster tackle from former American footballer Dave Hodges in the 35th minute of the Brave Blossoms’ game against USA at RWC 2003. USA won 39-26 to end a 16-year losing streak at World Cups.
Quote of the Week
Wallaby star Adam Ashley-Cooper tells World Rugby TV about his big ambition. “I’ve got a really important end-goal in sight, and that’s to win my first Rugby World Cup. I’ve been to two previous World Cups and not had any success so I’m thinking that maybe it will be third time lucky … the Australian rugby team is in great shape and I’m really looking forward to getting over there (England) and giving it a great crack.”
Try of the Week
Fiji’s women turned into the Harlem Globetrotters as they demonstrated their full repertoire of ball-handling skills and tricks to leave New Zealand clutching at shadows at the Canada Sevens in Langford. There was no stopping New Zealand, however, as the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series leaders won 26-5 on their way to a fourth straight tournament victory of the season.
Result of the Week
Lebanon, or ‘The Phoenix’ as they are sometimes known, rose to great heights to upset the odds and win the Asia Rugby ChampionshipDivision 3 West title, having beaten Iran 27-8 at the Jounieh's Fouad Chehab Stadium. Check out what surely must be the shortest rugby posts in the world of rugby.
Highlights of Lebanon v Iran - West Asian Championship: http://t.co/ZbORS3rRQi via @YouTube
— Lebanese Rugby Union (@LRUF)
April 23, 2015
Elsewhere, Uruguay (main picture) and Japan proved too strong for Brazil and Korea in their respective regional championships, Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands claimed victories in the North American and Caribbean Championship, while Belgium took the European Nations Cup Division 1B title after a 53-23 win over Poland. Switzerland, Malta, Luxembourg and Serbia were all winners in the ENC’s lower divisions.
Final whistle
Wales and Northampton winger George North may be sidelined at the moment but his club side are still going full steam ahead in a bid to retain the English Premiership title they won last May. The current Premiership leaders even had a train named after them this week, and North and Saints forwards coach Dorian West, the RWC 2003 winner, were on hand to see that everything remained on track.
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