TEST RUGBY: Churchill Cup, Finals Day

The preliminary rounds were held in Glendale, Colorado. The finals day is being held in Harrison, New Jersey.

19.06.2010
England Saxons v Canada (Final)

Preview
Canada has reached the final for the first time since the Cup was launched in 2003. Canada has not fared well when playing England 'A' or the Saxons as they are now known.
2006-England A won 41-11 2005 England A won 29-5 2004 England A won 48-23 and in 2003 England A won 47-3.

Canada has emerged as the most improved team in this tournament. This could well be the year that belongs to Canada.

Prediction-Canada A by 7 points

Teams

Canada
M Evans (Newport Gwent Dragons, Wales); C Hearn (The Rock), DTH van der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland), P Mackenzie (Esher, England), J Mensah-Coker (un-attached); A Monro (Ontario Blues), S White (BC Bears), D Wooldridge (Ontario Blues), P Riordan (BC Bears, capt), A Tiedemann (Prairie Wolf Pack), L Tait (Un-attached), B Erichsen (BC Bears), C O'Toole (The Rock), A Kleeberger (Rotherham, England), A Carpenter (Un-attached)
Replacements: R Hamilton (BC Bears), J Marshall (BC Bears), T Hotson (Plymouth Albion, England), N Dala (Prairie Wolf Pack), E Wilson (BC Bears), R Smith (Praire Wolf Pack), J Pritchard (Bedford RFC, England) .
Head Coach: Luke Lancaster

England Saxons:
A Goode (Saracens); J Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), J Clarke (Northampton Saints), A Allen (Leicester Tigers) , N Abendanon (Bath); S Myler (Northampton Saints), L Dickson (Northampton Saints); N Wood (Gloucester), A Titterrell (Leeds Carnegie) , A Corbiserio (London Irish), J Hudson (Newcastle Falcons), G Skivington (London Wasps, capt), T Wood (Worcester Warriors), A Saull (Saracens), L Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
Replacements: R Vickers (Newcastle Falcons), D Bell (Bath), G Kitchener (Worcester Warriors), K Myall (Leeds Carnegie), M Young (Newcastle Falcons), O Smith (Harlequins), T Varndell (London Wasps)
Head Coach:Kieran Crowley

United States v France A( Playoff 3rd-4th)

Prediction: France A by 15 points

Teams

U.S. Lineup:
15. Chris Wyles (Saracens, England)
14. Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz Olympique, France)
13. Alipate Tuilevuka (Provo Steelers)
12. Junior Sifa (Middleton RFC)
11. Paul Emerick (Parma RFC, Italy)
10. Nese Malifa (Belmont Shore)
9. Mike Petri (New York Athletic Club)
1. Mate Moeakiola (Sporting Club Albi, France)
2. Phil Thiel (Life University)
3. Shawn Pittman (Bayside RFC)
4. John Van Der Giessen, Capt. (Sporting Club Albi, France)
5. Scott Lavalla (Dublin University, Ireland)
6. Louis Stanfill (Canberra Royals, Australia)
7. J.J. Gagiano (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
8. Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians)
Reserves
16. Chris Biller (San Francisco Golden Gate)
17. Tony Purpura (Boston Rugby Club)
18. Patrick Danahy (Life University)
19. Dan LaPrevotte (San Francisco Golden Gate)
20. Tim Usasz (Nottingham RFC, England)
21. Volney Rouse (Te Kawau, New Zealand)
22. Andrew Suniula (Chicago Griffins)
Head Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan

France A

Russia v Uruguay (Playoff 5th-6th)

This will be an interesting rugby test. Previous encounters have been close and there is not much between them on the rankings.

Previous Encounters
21.06.2009 Russia 29-26 in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)
20.06.2008 Uruguay 23-19 in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Russia 20th, Uruguay 22nd
IRB Rankings-Russia 19th (64.64), Uruguay 20th (62.37)

Prediction: Russia by 6 points

Teams

Russia
1. Sergey Popov 2. Vladislav Korshunov (c) 3. Alexey Travkin 4. Alexander Voytov 5. Artem Fatakhov 6. Victor Gresev 7. Kirill Kushnarev 8. Nikita Medkov 9. Alexander Yanyushkin 10. Yury Kushnarev 11. Vasily Artemyev 12. Alexey Makovetskiy 13. Mikhail Babaev 14. Andrey Kuzin 15 Igor Klyuchnikov
Replacements 16. Evgeny Mateev 17. Vladimir Botvinnikov 18. Alexander Khrokin 19. Sergey Sergeev 20. Alexander Shakirov 21. Alexey Korobeynikov 22. Sergey Trishin
Head Coach:

Uruguay
1. Alejo Corral 2. Carlos Arboleya (c) 3. Pablo Lemoine 4. Juan Pablo Horta 5. Diego Magno 6 Santiago Deicas 7. Ignacio Grignola 8. Matias Fonseca 9. Manuel Martinez 10. Emiliano Caffera 11. Gaston Mieres 12. Juan DeFreitas 13. Juan Martin Llovet 14. Leandro Leivas 15. Ivo Dugonjc
Replacements 16. Juan Pablo Ruffalini 17. Juan Pedro Rombys 18. Edgardo Benitez 19. Nicolas Badano 20. Matias Braun 21. Nicolas Morales
Head Coach:

RUGBY TESTS: Churchill Cup Day 2

13.06.2010
England Saxons 32, United States 9 in Glendale
Canada 33, France A 27 in Glendale

Briefly
England Saxons continued their winning ways whilst Canada provided a major upset, turning over a very formidable France A side.

RUGBY TOURNAMENT: Churchill Cup Day 2

09.06.2010
England Saxons v Russia in Glendale
France A v Uruguay in Glendale

Previews
I would expect England Saxons and newcomers to the tournament France A to have little difficulty with their opponents. Uruguay and Russia showed themselves to be a level below that of Canada and USA with their first day performances.

Uruguay, despite the return of a few overseas-based players were no match for Canada. Russia's squad is missing a few name players being rested and they were defeated by the USA, who lost to Canada on point aggregate in the World Cup qualifiers last year. Russia has already qualified for the World Cup Finals. Uruguay still has to playoff against Kazakhstan in the repecharge first round.

England Saxons and France A are dripping with up-and-coming stars of the future.

England Saxons v Russia

Prediction: England too much grunt up front and speed out wide, by 30 points

Teams

Russia
15. Igor Klyuchnikov
14. Vasily Artemiev
13. Mikhail Babaev
12. Alexey Makovetsky
11. Dmitry Gerasimov
10. Yury Kushnarev
9. Alexander Yanyushkin
8. Nikita Medkov
7. Kirill Kushnarev
6. Viktor Gresev
5. Artem Fatakhov
4. Alexander Voitov
3. Evgeny Pronenko
2. Vladislav Korshunov (c)
1. Carlo Maglakelidze
Replacements
16. Evgeny Matveev
17. Vladimir Botvinnikov
18. Alexander Khrokin
19. Sergey Sergeev
20. Alexander Shakirov
21. Alexey Korobeynikov
22. Andrey Kuzin
Head Coach: Nikolay Nerush

Adapted from http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3484

England Saxons
15 Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
14 James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)
13 Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints)
12 Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
11 Tom Varndell (London Wasps)
10 Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
9 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)
8 Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Phil Dowson, Capt. (Northampton Saints)
6 Tom Wood (Worcester Warriors)
5 George Skivington (London Wasps)
4 Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors)
3 Duncan Bell (Bath Rugby)
2 Rob Vickers (Newcastle Falcons
1 Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Replacements
16 Andy Titterrell (Leeds Carnegie)
17 Alex Corbiserio (London Irish)
18 Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby)
19 Kearnan Myall (Leeds Carnegie)
20 Andy Saull (Saracens)
21 Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
22 Alex Goode (Saracens)
Head Coach: Stuart Lancaster

Adapted from http://www.rfu.com/News/2010/June/News%20Articles/070610_Saxons_team.aspx

France A v Uruguay

Much the same as the above game. France A has lost a few top class backs called into the French team in South Africa. All these players play at the top level in France which puts them light years ahead of the Uruguyans, who boast only one playing at that level, their 35 year old prop lemoine.

Prediction: Pain for Uruguay against Canada last weekend. Pain again v France A. France A by 25 points.

France A
15 Benjamin Thiery (Montpellier HRC).
14 Adrien Plante (USA Perpignan)
13 Henri Chavancy(Racing Métro 92)
12 Lionel Mazars (Aviron Bayonnais)
11 Yohan Audrin (Castres Olympique)
10 Jonathan Wisniewski (Racing-Métro 92)
9 Julien Dupuy (Stade Français)
8 Jérôme Schuster(USA Perpignan)
7 Benjamin Kayser, Capt. (Stade Français),
6 Clément Baiocco (Racing Métro 92)
5 Joselino Suta (RC Toulon)
4 Guillaume Vilaceca (USA Perpignan)
3 Antoine Battut (US Montauban)
2 Sylvain Nicolas (CS Bourgoin-Jallieu)
1 Florian Faure (Biarritz OPB)
Replacements
16 Jean-Philippe Genevois (CS Bourgoin-Jallieu)
17 Rabah Slimani (Stade Français)
18 Yoann Maestri (Stade Toulousain)
19 Damien Chouly (Perpignan)
20 Florian Cazenave (Perpignan)
21 Lionel Beauxis (Stade Français)
22 Julien Arias (Stade Francaise)
Head Coach: Fabien Pelous

Adapted from http://www.ffr.fr/index.php/ffr/historique/2010/france_a__1

Uruguay Squad
Carlos Arboleya (Trébol)
Santiago Arocena (Old Christian's)
Nicolas Badano (Old Boys)
Edgardo Benitez (Trébol)
Mathias Braun, (PSG)
Emiliano Caffera (Champagnat)
Alejo Corral (San Isidro Club, Argentina)
Juan De Freitas (Champagnat)
Santiago Deicas (Old Christian's)
Ivo Dugonjic (PSG)
Martin Espiga (Old Christian's)
Matias Fonseca (Los Cuervos)
Ignacio Grignola (Trébol)
Juan Pablo Horta (Old Christian's)
Leandro Leivas (Old Christian's)
Pablo Lemoine (Valence d'Agen, France)
Adrian Lewis (Los Cuervos)
Juan Martin Llovet (Old Christian's)
Diego Lussich (Trébol)
Diego Magno (Montevideo Cricket Club)
Nicolas Martinez (PSG)
Manuel Martinez (Old Christian's)
Gaston Mieres (Lobos)
Nicolas Morales (Trébol)
Juan Pedro Rombys (Trébol)
Juan Pablo Ruffalini (Los Cuervos)
Head Coach: Gonzalo Camardon

Adapted from http://www.uru.org.uy/noticias/438/plantel_confirmado

RUGBY TOURNAMENT: Churchill Cup

Each year a number of tier 2 nations along with some 'A' teams from tier 1, meet up somewhere in North America (usually), to do battle for this prestigious cup.

Churchill Cup. Previous winners.

	Winner	Second	Third
2003	England 'A'	United States	Canada
2004	NZ Maori	England 'A'	Canada
2005	England 'A'	Argentina Jaguars	USA
2006	NZ Maori	Scotland 'A'	Ireland 'A'
2007	England Saxons	NZ Maori	Ireland 'A'
2008	England Saxons	Scotland 'A'	Ireland 'A'
2009	Ireland 'A'	England Saxons	Argentina Jaguars

Teams come and go each year. This year France 'A', Uruguay and Russia are the new teams in, whilst regulars Canada, USA and England Saxons return.

The teams are organised into two pools, A and B.
Pool A-Canada, Uruguay, France A
Pool B-England Saxons, Russia, USA

Teams in each pool play each other in the first 3 rounds, to be played in Denver, USA. The finals round, sees 1st place in each pool play the final, 2nd places play for the Bowl, 3rd places play for the plate. The finals round is being played in Harrison, New York City.

The tournament begins today, Wednesday 9 June. All games in the first 3 rounds are played in Infinity Park.

Round 1
England Saxons v Russia
France A v Uruguay

International Rugby Matches: Other IRB Nation's Games

12.06.2009
Scotland 'A' v Russia in Bucharest

Preview
As far as I'm aware, and going on last year's tournament, Russia will not be awarding test caps for this game. This is a formidible looking Scotland 'A' side. The Russians are going to have their hands full catching the Scottish backs although I would expect them to have some parity in the forwards. Having said that the Russians are without their usual front row; prop Alexander Khrokin, hooker and captain Vladislav Korshunov and prop Ivan Prishchepenko.

Prediction: Scotland 'A' to win by 32 points.

Teams

Scotland 'A'
15 Jim Thompson (Edinburgh)
14 Rob Dewey (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Ben Cairns (Edinburgh)
12 Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors)
11 Simon Webster (Edinburgh)
10 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Chris Cusiter (Perpignan) CAPTAIN
8 Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors)
7 Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh Rugby)
6 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
5 Al Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
4 Craig Hamilton (Edinburgh)
3 Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors)
2 Scott Lawson (Gloucester)
1 Kyle Traynor (Edinburgh)
Replacements
16 Andrew Kelly (Edinburgh)
17 Stuart Corsar (Doncaster Knights)
18 James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors)
19 Roddy Grant (Edinburgh)
20 Rory Lawson (Gloucester)
21 David Blair (Edinburgh)
22 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh)
Head Coach: Andy Robinson

http://www.scotlandrugbyteam.org/content/view/791/2/

Russia Squad
Mikhail Babaev (VVA-Podmoskovje) Aged 22, 15 tests
Sergey Bazhenov (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 23, 8
Vladimir Botvinikov(Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 24, 6
Artem Fatakhov (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 29, 11
Igor Galinovskiy (Krasny Yar-Krasnoyarsk) 22, 3?
Dmitry Gerasimov (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 20, 3
Victor Gresev (VVA-Podmoskovje) 22, 14
Alexander Gvozdovskiy (Krasny Yar-Krasnoyarsk) 27, 10
Igor Kluchnikov (VVA-Podmoskovje) 27, 25
Kirill Kushnarev (VVA-Podmoskovje) 26, 10
Yuriy Kushnarev (VVA-Podmoskovje) 23, 21
Andrey Kuzin (VVA-Podmoskovje) 29, 21
Andrey Lugin (VVA-Podmoskovje) 28, 6
Carlo Maglakelidze(Penza) ?
Evgeny Matveev (VVA-Podmoskovje) 24, 12
Georgiy Minadze (Penza) ?
Victor Motorin (VVA-Podmoskovje) 32, 19
Vladimir Ostroushko(Yug-Krasnodar) 22, 1?
Alexey Panasenko (VVA-Podmoskovje) 25, 5
Evgeny Pronenko (Enisey-STM-Krasnoyarsk) 24, 1
Alexander Shakirov (VVA-Podmoskovje) 27, 16
Alexey Travkin (VVA-Podmoskovje) 31, 23
Sergey Trishin (VVA-Podmoskovje) 23, 13
Alexey Volkov (VVA-Podmoskovje) 22, 4
Alexander Voytov (VVA-Podmoskovje) 26, 16
Alexander Yanushkin (VVA-Podmoskovje) 25, 19

Coach: Nikolay Nerush

12.06.2009
France 'A' v Italy 'A' in Bucharest

Preview
If their strength is reflected in the senior partners then the Italians could be in for a tough match

Prediction: France 'A' by 32 points

Teams

France 'A'
Florian Denos (Bourgoin) – Yohan Huget (Agen), Lionel Mazars (Castres), Fabrice Estebanez (Brive), Romain Martial (Narbonne) – (10) Regis Lespinas (Montauban), (9) Julien Tomas (Montpellier - cap) – Raphael Lakafia (Grenoble), Stève Malonga (Castres), Irahim Diarra (Montauban) – Aliki Fakate (Lyon), Guillaume Villaceca (Perpignan) – Luc Ducalcon (Castres), Jean-Philippe Genevois (Bourgoin), Aretz Iguiniz (Bayonne)

Rezerve: Brice Mach (Montauban), Yohan Montès (Toulouse), Marc Baget (Bayonne), Romain Cabannes (Biarritz), Julien Audy (Montauban), Romain Sola (Agen), Jérôme Porical (Perpignan)

http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3150

Italy 'A'
15 Paolo BUSO (Cammi Calvisano,1 cap)
14 Andrea BACCHETTI (Femi CZ Rovigo, 2 caps)
13 Andrea PRATICHETTI (Cammi Calvisano)
12 Samuele PACE (MPS Viadana, 3 caps)
11 Michele SEPE (AlmavivA UR Capitolina, 2 caps)
10 Riccardo BOCCHINO (AlmavivA UR Capitolina)
9 Michael WILSON (Saracens)
8 Robert BARBIERI (Benetton Treviso, 7 caps)
7 Francesco MINTO (Overmach Cariparma)
6 Agustin CAVALIERI (Carrera Petrarca Padova)
5 Valerio BERNABO’ (Cammi Calvisano, 13 caps)
4 Antonio PAVANELLO (Benetton Treviso, 3 caps)
3 Alberto DE MARCHI (Overmach Cariparma)
2 Luigi FERRARO (MPS Viadana)
1 Michele RIZZO (Carrera Petrarca Padova, 2 caps)

a disposizione
16 Andrea DE MARCHI (Femi CZ Rovigo)
17 Davide GIAZZON (Overmach Cariparma)
18 Andrea CECCATO (Benetton Treviso)
19 Manoa VOSAWAI (Overmach Cariparma, 5 caps)
20 Lance PERSICO (MPS Viadana)
21 Fabio SEMENZATO (Benetton Treviso)
22 Riccardo PAVAN (Overmach Cariparma, 1 cap)
23 Mantvydas TVERAGA (Overmach Cariparma)
24 Alessio GALANTE (Plusvalore Gran Parma, 2 caps)
25 Alberto CHIESA (AlmavivA UR Capitolina)
26 Massimiliano RAVALLE (Overmach Cariparma)
Head Coach: Gianluca Guidi
http://www.federugby.it/news.asp?i=73040&s=2