Rugby is back!
by Lewis Husbands
For one month only…
Ok, it’s not the World Cup or the 6 Nations or even the Tri Nations, but it’s the next best thing!
Football is not the only sport on the menu this summer/June as rugby bounces back with all four Home Nations embarking on exciting tours of the Southern Hemisphere.
Of course there are also some International friendlies leading up to the European Championship for those football fans who have not yet found a team to support in the competition hosted in Switzerland and Austria. But if it’s rugby you’re after then hold onto your jock-strap and prepare for the clash of Northern and Southern Hemisphere teams.
And if you’re still not satisfied there is a chance to see some up and coming stars as well as others who narrowly missed out on selection for the tours as England, Ireland & Scotland’s 2nd teams will be participating in the Barclays Churchill Cup* alongside Agentina’s 2nd team and the national teams of USA & Canada, in a initiative to develop and grow the sport of rugby union across Canada and the USA.
Ireland get the ball rolling tonight as they play their first match since the departure of Eddie O’Sulivan against the Barbarians. The last time we saw Ireland in the international arena they had just suffered an almighty defeat from Brian Ashton’s England so it is sure to be more than just a prelude to the tour for Ireland.
The Barbarians, having made several changes since their last match against South Africa will want to make a similar impact.
Five days later the Barbarians will be up against England at Twickenham, which is perhaps as close as the Barbarians ever feel to being at home. After several “changes” in the management of the England team the England boys will be looking to do their talking on the pitch as will those England players who missed out on selection, namely Ian Balshaw, Lesley Vainikolo, Mark Regan, Danny Grewcock and to some extent Darren Crompton.
From there on out it’s all about the tours- which officially start on 7th June with Ireland taking on New Zealand for the first time since 2006, when we saw two very close fought matches that both ended with a Kiwi victory. Some hours an eagerly awaited match pitting the RWC 2007 Champions South Africa against 2008 6 Nations Grand Slam winners Wales conflict and at the end of the day Scotland go into a grudge match against Argentina hoping to turn some heads and resolve what went wrong in the World Cup, where these two last met in the Quarter Finals.
A week later and we have four International matches taking place on the same day. If you’re an early bird you might be able to catch England as they take on New Zealand and then secure your place on the sofa or end of the bar (if you can find one open that early) for the rest of the day’s rugby. Australia face Ireland, whilst South Africa and Wales enjoy their second test as do Argentina and Scotland somewhat later.
The last International test match of the summer is the second confrontation of rugby giants New Zealand and England, both sides will want to make good and scoop at least one victory.
Catch the first kick-off at 20.45 tonight where Ireland clash with the Baa-Baas tonight at Gloucester’s Kingsholm stadium
IRELAND TEAM to play Barbarians,
Player/Club/Province
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
13 - Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 - Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
11 - Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
10 - Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
9 - Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
1 - Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster)
2 - Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
3 - Mike Ross (Harlequins)
4 - Bob Casey (London Irish)
5 - Malcolm O’Kelly (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Ballymena/Ulster)
18 - Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
19 - Neil Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
20 - Frank Murphy (Leicester)
21 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
22 - Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster)
Barbarians squad:
Backs - I Balshaw (Gloucester), P Hewat (London Irish), T Delport (Worcester), L Vainikolo (Gloucester), G Thomas (Cardiff Blues), M Turinui (Queensland Reds), J Pretorius (Stormers), S Mapusua (London Irish), T Smith (ACT Brumbies), S Larkham (unattached), G Jackson (Saracens), A Gomarsall (Harlequins), M Claassens (Bath), R Powell (Worcester).
Forwards - F Pucciarello (Munster), C Visagie (Saracens), O le Roux (Leinster), P Collazo (Gloucester), D Crompton (Bristol), M Regan (Bristol), S Bruno (Sale Sharks), J Harrison (Ulster), K Chesney (Saracens), D Grewcock (Bath), R Skeate (Stormers), P Wannenburg (Blue Bulls), M Molitika (Cardiff Blues), D Croft (Queensland Reds), M Chapman (ACT Brumbies), C Newby (Otago Highlanders).
SUMMER INTERNATIONAL FIXTURES
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Ireland v Barbarians, 20:45
Sunday, 01 June 2008
England v Barbarians, 16:00
Saturday, 07 June 2008
Argentina v Scotland, 21:10
New Zealand v Ireland, 9:35
South Africa v Wales, 16:00
Canada v Scotland A, 22:00
England Saxons v USA, 19:00
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Argentina A v Scotland A, 22:30
USA v Ireland A
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Argentina v Scotland, 21:10
Australia v Ireland, 12:05
New Zealand v England, 9:35
South Africa v Wales, 16:00
Canada v Argentina A, 22:00
England Saxons v Ireland A, 20:00
Saturday, 21 June 2008
New Zealand v England, 9:35
*The tournament is named after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who shared close ties with the United States – his mother was American – and with Canada during the Second World War.