Just thought some of you may find this interesting. It's from the Rugby Canada website submitted by the IRB. It's just a look at what is going on in the World of Rugby. Hopefully a positive outlook at the game growing worldwide.
A global snapshot of what’s going on in the world of Rugby
South America
The CONSUR regional senior tournament will take place from May 20-26 in Santiago, Chile, with the home team in the line-up alongside Argentina Jaguars, Uruguay and Brazil. The opening day will see the Jaguars take on Uruguay followed by Chile v Brazil. The second round of matches take place on May 23 with the Jaguars facing Brazil and the home side playing Uruguay. The final day, on May 26, features Uruguay and Brazil, followed by the Jaguars v Chile.
Find out more at www.arfu.com
North America/Caribbean
The winner of last year’s Canadian Rugby Championship, the Ontario Blues, is heading on an exciting and challenging pre-season tour to South America this month. The team will play the winner of the Argentina club championship as well as strong representative teams from Chile and Uruguay.
“The International Rugby Board is delighted that sub-national cross-regional competition is developing in the Americas. The Ontario Blues won the right to challenge top opposition in South America and the IRB will be watching the results of the tour closely,” said Tom Jones, IRB Regional General Manager for North America/Caribbean.
“The matches in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay will provide a High Performance opportunity to develop skills and match hardness out of the normal ‘comfort zone’. This will be critical, especially to those who are eventually selected for RWC 2015 qualifying matches,” said Jones.
For more information go to www.nacrugby.com
Asia
The HSBC Asian Five Nations tournament is now underway with the majority of the matches taking place in May. Can anyone displace Japan at the top of the log? How will newly promoted Korea fare against Asia’s other best teams? And as all teams begin their preparations towards qualification for Rugby World Cup 2015, what improvements have been made by Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong since last year’s event? For more information go to: .
Afghanistan played its first ever international Rugby matches last Friday against UAE Shaheen in Dubai, winning one match and narrowly losing two.
Find out more about rugby in Asia at www.arfu.com
Europe
It’s a big month in Europe for women’s Rugby. First up is the European Cup B tournament in Enkoping from May 3-6 with Netherlands, Russia, Finland and host Sweden taking part. The winner and runner-up there will qualify for next year’s Europe/Oceania Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 qualification tournament. Then, from May 12-19, the European Cup A tournament takes place in Roveretto, Italy. Apart from the host, England, France and Spain will be battling it out to become the champion of Europe. Results from both of these tournaments will go towards the FIRA-AER Women’s Rankings.
For more information go to www.fira-aer-rugby.com
Oceania
The Rugby World Cup 2011 Final may have been six months ago, but the positive effects of Rugby's showcase tournament continue with Rugby within the Oceania Region set to benefit from the delivery of key training equipment to the Pacific Islands thanks to the Tournament's dedicated Legacy programme.
The unprecedented initiative, a key element of the official Rugby World Cup 2011 Legacy Programme, underscores the joint strategic objectives of the New Zealand Rugby Union, International Rugby Board and New Zealand Government to deliver a world class tournament that would benefit the Pacific Islands.
Market-leading equipment used by the 20 participating Unions at New Zealand 2011, including scrum machines, tackle bags, hit shields, tackle suits, contact suits and post pads will be distributed across the 13 Unions affiliated to the IRB through the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) Regional Association. The shipment will benefit Rugby at all levels.
This initiative coincides with the FORU annual general meeting and various workshops designed to enhance Rugby in the Region and there will be a particularly timely seminar given by Dennis Miller, Executive Director of Oceania National Olympic Committee, who will assist Member Unions in that Region in integrating into the Olympic family. In particular, he will advise them in the best ways of developing applications for Olympic Solidarity funding.
Rugby World Cup winner Jerome Kaino of New Zealand accompanied the Webb Ellis Cup to the AGM with the cup going on display in the Cook Islands for the very first time.
Africa
A ground-breaking IRB educator course will take place in Ivory Coast from May 8-10 with 11 Union regional development officers and five senior referees in attendance. The course, which will take place at the Abidjan Sport Institute, is the first of its kind to take place in Ivory Coast and is the first rugby event since that country’s well-documented political crisis. The course will be led by Charles Yapo from Ivory Coast, Adama Bakhoum from Senegal and IRB Regional Development Manager Jean-Luc Barthès. For more information on African Rugby go to www.confederation-africaine-rugby.com
