ASIA FIVE NATIONS

26.04.2014
Hong Kong 108, Philippines 0 in Hong Kong (WCQ Asia; Asia 5 Nations)
Korea 59, Sri Lanka 3 in Seoul (WCQ Asia; Asia 5 Nations)

Briefly
The above results confirm for me the outdated arrangement for Elite rugby in Asia. Teams like Hong Kong, Korea and Japan are way above the level of the other teams. It is time for a fresh arrangement.

I would envisage Korea and Hong Kong joining the Pacific Nations Cup with Japan. I would place Hong Kong ‘A’, Japan Development XV and Korea ‘A’ into a new Asia Nations Division 1

 

Whilst Japan had a bye they used the gap in the calendar to put on a less than convincing display, going down to a Asia Pacific Dragons XV 29-35 in Osaka in a Non-test international game.

SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

26.04.2014
Uruguay 34, Paraguay 10 in Asuncion (South American Championship)
Brazil 24, Chile 16 in Barueri (South American Championship)

Briefly
Brazil caused yet another upset in the world of test rugby. Playing at home they outplayed a somewhat inexperienced Chilean side 24-16. They were dominant in the loose and despite having a smaller pack outscrummaged their opponents.

Uruguay had to work hard to out score Paraguay in Asuncion.

Next Round
03.05.2014
Brazil v Uruguay in Bento Goncalves
Chile v Paraguay in Chile

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING EUROPE R4: ENC 1B

26.04.2014
Ukraine 29, Poland 28 in Lvov (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
Czech Republic 37, Moldova 19 in Prague (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
Germany 45, Sweden 20 in Stockholm (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)

Briefly
The Czech Republic caused one of the major boil overs in European test rugby this season. Moldova needed a win and bonus point to stay in touch with Division leaders Germany. They crashed spectacularly in Prague going down to the bottom placed, and relegated, team.

Germany continued to win its test matches although they had to come from well behind to eventually over power a determined Swedish side. Germany will now play in ENC 1A for 2014-16.

The Ukraine caused a minor ripple of excitement when they downed Poland by one point. With much political distraction around them the Ukrainians just managed to sneak past what has been a disappointing Polish side this season.

ENC 1B

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
GERMANY	10	8	0	2	398	181	206	7	0	39
MOLDOVA	10	7	0	3	267	228	39	6	0	34
UKRAINE	10	5	0	5	227	227	0	2	1	23
POLAND	10	5	0	5	209	183	26	0	2	22
SWEDEN	10	3	0	7	193	307	-114	1	1	14
CZECH REP.	10	2	0	8	142	300	-158	1	1	10

Germany automatically promoted to ENC 1A for 2014-16.
Czech Republic automatically relegated.

EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP: Divisions 2A and 2B

26.04.2014
Lithuania 24, Switzerland 18 in Lithuania (ENC 2A)
Latvia 29, Israel 22 in Riga (ENC 2B)

Briefly
The Lithuania result had no bearing on either teams situation. Latvia caused one of a number of upsets in European rugby this weekend handing Israel its first defeat in this division. It won’t stop Israel’s promotion to Division 2A whilst Latvia qualify for a playoff chance for promotion with their last game v Denmark having no effect on that outcome.

ENC 2A

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
NETHERL.	8	7	1	0	255	124	131	5	0	35
SWITZ.	8	4	1	3	170	159	11	2	1	21
MALTA	8	4	0	4	162	179	-17	1	1	18
CROATIA	8	2	0	6	145	221	-76	2	1	11
LITHUANIA	8	2	0	6	148	199	-51	1	1	10

Netherlands automatically promoted to ENC 1B for 2014-16
Lithuania automatically relegated to ENC 2B 2014-16.
Croatia v Latvia playoff for relegation

ENC 2B

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	TL
ISRAEL	8	7	0	1	218	109	109	3	1	32
LATVIA	7	4	0	3	158	137	16	3	2	21
ANDORRA	8	4	1	3	136	140	-4	1	2	17
DENMARK	7	2	1	4	119	135	-16	2	1	13
SERBIA	8	1	0	7	136	242	-96	1	1	6

Still To Play
03.05.2014 Denmark v Latvia in Odense

EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP: Divisions 2C and 2D

26.04.2014
Cyprus 46, Bulgaria 15 in Sofia (ENC 2C)
Luxembourg 52, Greece 8 in Thessalonika (ENC 2D)

Briefly
Cyprus continued its winning ways and extended their world record consecutive test wins to 22. Luxembourg’s big win places them at the top of ENC 2D table. Luxembourg are now the front contenders in what has been a very even competition up to now. They and Bosnia Herzegovina are the promotion candidates. Both play lowly Finland in their last two games and neither can afford to drop a bonus point in these games. All is set for an interesting end of play in this division

ENC 2C

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
CYPRUS	7	7	0	0	300	80	220	5	0	33
HUNGARY	7	5	0	2	186	77	109	2	2	24
SLOVENIA	7	3	0	4	101	182	-81	2	1	15
BULGARIA	8	2	0	6	116	342	-226	1	0	9
AUSTRIA	7	1	0	6	136	158	-22	1	3	8

Still To Play
03.05.2014 Austria v Slovenia in Vienna
17.05.2014 Cyprus v Hungary in Paphos

ENC 2D

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	TL
LUXEMBRG	7	5	0	2	147	101	46	1	0	21
BOSNIA H.	7	4	0	3	162	103	59	1	3	20
NORWAY	7	3	0	4	96	112	-16	0	3	15
GREECE	7	3	0	4	109	168	-59	0	1	13
FINLAND	6	2	0	4	92	122	-30	1	2	11

Still To Play
10.05.2014 Norway v Greece in Bergen
10.05.2014 Luxembourg v Finland in Luxembourg
31.05.2014 Finland v Bosnia Herzegovina in Finland

INTERNATIONAL AND TEST RUGBY FRIENDLIES

26.04.2014
Mexico 44, Bermuda 9 in Mexico City (unconfirmed)
Asia Pacific Dragons 35, Japan XV 29 in Osaka

SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

26.04.2014
Paraguay v Uruguay in Asuncion (South American Championship)
Brazil v Chile in Barueri (South American Championship)

Preview
In this new format for CONSUR rugby last years victors qualify to play for the new CONSUR Cup. They include Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. This year the name South American Championship has been revived and will determine which two nations will play Argentina for the CONSUR Cup 2015.

Also new is the home-away basis of the Championship. This ensures that each nation receives at least one home game, something the ‘Tournament at one venue’ of the past didn’t offer.

Paraguay v Uruguay in Asuncion (South American Championship)

Venue: Asuncion

Referee: Unusually http://www.rugby365.com has not listed any referees for this tournament.

Uruguay travels to Asuncion to play neighbours Paraguay first game up. Paraguay has traditionally struggled against the stronger Uruguayan team and I see no change to that for 2014.

Uruguay has had recent test matches against the USA for the second World Cup finals place for Americas. They lost and now face the difficult repechage rounds to try and qualify. The benefit is that they have played together so far in 2014 whereas Paraguay hasn’t.

The last time these two teams met Uruguay notched up 100 points in Iguazi in 2011. Could the same happen again?

Paraguay starting XV. Image thanks to https://www.facebook.com/UnionDeRugbyDelParaguay?fref=ts

Prediction: Paraguay playing at home in front of a home crowd could put up some resistance in the first half but experience and better conditioning will see Uruguay ran away with the game second half. Uruguay by 60 points

Teams

Uruguay Squad

Rodolfo De Mula
Juan Echeverría
Francisco Jiménez
Carlos Arboleya
Nicolás Klappenbach
Matías Beer
Cristofer Soares de Lima
Agustín Alonso
Mathías Braun
Juan De Freitas
Mateo Sanguinetti
Franco Lamanna
Gabriel Puig
Alejo Durán
Francisco Vecino
Matías Arocena
Rodrigo Silva
Joaquín Prada
Nicolás Freitas
Gastón Gibernau
Francisco López
Federico Favaro
Santiago Martínez

http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4262&start=270

Paraguay squad list not available

Brazil v Chile in Barueri (South American Championship)

Venue: Barueri is near Sao Paulo

Preview
Brazil has been forwarded as one of the fastest rugby growing nations in the world. They still need to defeat either Uruguay or Chile to really announce their arrival on the world stage. This I still think they will find hard to do today. Chile just has that little more experience. But if Brazil is to crack the Chilean nut then doing it today at home will be their chance.

Last year Brazil pushed Chile to a 22-38 loss in Temuco in Chile. In 2012 Brazil lost 6-19 in Santiago. So this could be Brazil’s day but Chile will remain favourite to win.

Prediction: Chile by 7 points.

ASIA FIVE NATIONS: WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

26.04.2014
Hong Kong v Philippines in Hong Kong (WCQ Asia; Asia 5 Nations)
Korea v Sri Lanka in Seoul (WCQ Asia; Asia 5 Nations)

Preview
Japan is at very short odds to take out this championship for the fifth year in a row and remain undefeated in that time. In doing so they should occupy the Asia 1 position at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Up for grabs is second place. Traditionally that should be fought out between Korea and Hong Kong. It has only been in the last two seasons that we have seen Korea climb back to being the No.2 side in Asia.

Korea faces newly promoted Sri Lanka at home in what should be a comfortable win for them. It will be interesting to see what standard the Sri Lankans bring to the field.

The Philippines survived their first year at the Elite level of Asian rugby. They have continued to improve and have brought in players from USA and Australia. I would expect Hong Hong to be too strong at home for the visitors.

Predictions
Hong Kong by 60 v Philippines
Korea by 30 v Sri Lanka