FRIENDLY RUGBY TEST MATCH

06.04.2012
United Arab Emirates v Tunisia in Tunis (Friendly)

Venue: National Rugby Stadium, Elmenzah

Referee:

Preview
The United Arab Emirates will play their first test of the season against Tunisia in Tunis. In addition the side will play the UAE Barbarians on Friday 13 April.

The UAE will participate in the Asia Five Nations tournament for 2012. This is the premier division of Asian rugby. Their fixtures in this tournament will be..
27 April v Hong Kong in Dubai
5 May v Japan in Japan
11 May v Kazakhstan in Dubai
26 May v Korea in Korea

This is the first time these two teams have met. Arabian Gulf, the former union of the area, played Tunisia in 2010 in Tunis, losing 22-25.

GWC Rugby Rankings
Tunisia does not rank on the world table whereas UAE does.

Tunisia appears on the IRB rankings but UAE does not due to the fact they have yet to play 10 test matches.

Prediction: Tunisia by 20 points

Teams

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

 

15		Joel Pikari	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
14		Sean Hurley	Dubai Dragons
13		Imad Reyal	Dubai Exiles
12		Andrew Russell	Dubai Dragons
11		Mohammed Alsulaiman	Dubai Wasps
10		Murray Strang	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
9		Patrick Hegarty	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
8		Brett Williams	Dubai Exiles
7		Samuel Cook	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
6		Alistair Thompson (Capt.)	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
5		Simon Osborne	Dubai Hurricanes
4		Gregory Thompson	Dubai Hurricanes
3		Daniel Boatwright	Dubai Hurricanes
2		Jonathan Greenwood	Sharjah Wanderers
1		Graham Murphy	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
16		Charles Lilley	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
17		Christopher Jones-Griffiths	Abu Dhabi Harlequins
18		Tristan Barnett	Dubai Hurricanes
19		Mohammad Hassan	Dubai Wasps
20		Abdulla Alnuaimi	Dubai Wasps
21		John Fawls	Dubai Exiles
22		Steve Smith	Dubai Hurricanes
		HEAD COACH: Duncan Hall

Ten new caps
Murray Strang, Patrick Hegarty, Joel Pakari, Charles Lilley, Jonathan Greenwood, Brett Williams, Mohammed Alsuaiman, Andrew Russell, and from the bench Tristan Barrett, Abdulla Alnuaimi.

http://www.uaera.ae/english/representative_teams.php?news_id=617

 

Tunisian squad not yet available.

EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP: Division 2B

07.04.2012
Armenia v Andorra in Andorra La Vela (ENC 2B)
Forfeit to Andorra. Armenia has pulled out of this test match.

There is a good bit of discussion on forums re the forfeit of this match. Andorra are awarded the match 25-0, thus gaining 4 points. A point has been made that teams that forfeit are automatically relegated, or at least they actually lose points.

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
SWITZ.	7	6	0	1	233	104	129	2	1	28
ANDORRA	6	3	0	3	121	96	25	1	2	15
SERBIA	6	3	0	3	137	135	2	1	0	13
ARMENIA	4	2	0	2	80	62	18	0	2	10
SLOVENIA	7	1	0	6	56	205	-154	0	0	4

Slovenia forfeited there game against Armenia earlier in the competition. Perhaps both Armenia and Slovenia be both relegated?

INTERNATIONAL TEST RUGBY THIS WEEKEND 7 April

07.04.2012
Poland v Belgium in Brussels (ENC 1B)
Moldova v Netherlands in Amsterdam (ENC 1B)
Cayman Islands v Jamaica in Kingston (WCQ NACRA R1-North)
St Vincent-Grenadines v Barbados in Kingstown (WCQ NACRA R1-South)
Armenia v Andorra in Andorra La Vela (ENC 2B)

Briefly

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
BELGIUM	9	8	0	1	283	136	147	3	1	36
MOLDOVA	8	5	1	2	161	131	30	2	1	25
POLAND	8	5	1	2	193	150	43	2	1	25
CZECH R.	10	4	0	6	160	217	-57	1	3	20
GERMANY	9	3	0	6	189	205	-16	1	4	17
NETH.	8	0	0	8	94	241	-147	0	1	1

Poland and Belgium meet in Brussels but the outcome will not prevent Belgium from being promoted to ENC 1A for 2012-14. Even if both Poland and Moldova gain a maximum 10 points from their next two games they will not overhaul Belgium.

The Netherlands can’t avoid relegation to ENC 2A for 2012-14 no matter the result of their fixture against Moldova. I can’t help but be thinking of semi-finals and finals for these competitions. A definite result this far out from the end of the competition means a number of meaningless fixtures.

 

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
SWITZ.	7	6	0	1	233	104	129	2	1	28
ANDORRA	6	3	0	3	121	96	25	1	2	15
SERBIA	6	3	0	3	137	135	2	1	0	13
ARMENIA	4	2	0	2	80	62	18	0	2	10
SLOVENIA	7	1	0	6	56	205	-154	0	0	4

Armenia and Andorra meet in a Division 2B clash in Andorra. Again, Switzerland are likely to be promoted to ENC 2A for 2012-14, with Armenia an outsiders chance. They have four games in hand.

Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St Vincent & Grenadines and Barbados play in their regions in the first 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying rounds.

Rugby is certainly a global game.

For more fixtures ahead go to www.rugbyinternational.net, then scroll down to 2012 International Rugby Fixtures and Results.

TEST RUGBY RESULT: Romania Dominant

31.03.2012
Romania 71, Ukraine 0 in Bucharest (ENC 1A)

2010-2010 CHAMPIONSHIP
	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
GEORGIA	9	8	0	1	283	80	203	4	1	37
ROMANIA	10	6	0	4	302	108	194	4	4	32
SPAIN	9	4	0	4	188	234	-46	2	2	24
PORTUGAL	10	4	0	6	215	230	-15	2	3	21
RUSSIA	9	4	0	5	171	220	-49	2	2	20
UKRAINE	9	1	0	8	121	408	-287	1	0	5

There isn’t a 2010-12 champion. This competition is to establish the team to be relegated. In this case it will be Ukraine.

2012 CHAMPIONSHIP
	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
ROMANIA	5	3	0	2	136	39	97	2	2	16
GEORGIA	4	3	0	1	115	45	70	2	1	15
SPAIN	4	3	0	1	96	59	37	1	1	14
RUSSIA	4	2	0	2	71	122	-51	1	0	9
PORTUGAL	5	1	0	4	102	132	-31	0	3	7
UKRAINE	4	1	0	3	60	190	-123	1	0	5

This is the 2012 championship table. Romania has crept to the lead after their huge win against Ukraine but Georgia is favoured to take the title. They only need to draw with the Ukraine on 9 June to take the title.

The only other game of this competition, Russia v Spain, May 19, is on no consequence to the points table.

Briefly
Romania totally dominated in the forwards. This set up a huge platform for the Romanian backs to score frequently. Although containing five new caps, Romania defeated the Ukraine easily.