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Chris Ashton: Sam Burgess Is Not Prepared Enough to Be In the England Squad

Thursday, September 17, 2015 / No Comments
Chris Ashton: Sam Burgess Is Not Prepared Enough to Be In the England Squad

Chris Ashton thinks that Sam Burgess is going to be a rugby union star in the future for England but he is not good enough right now to be taken as a center for world cup. He believes that Sam Burgess did not have enough time to learn and prepare himself to take the part of a center for an occasion like Rugby World Cup 2015. As a former player of the rugby league he made this comment and he was with Sam Burgess in the training camp too for the Rugby World Cup 2015.
He thinks that Burgess is good enough to provide cover at the blindside flanker and he can do it in the center too. But the problem is with the combination of Brian O’Driscoll and Will Carling he believes there will be still gap in the midfield. On Saturday Burgess took his second cap for the England team where he had cameo part in the victory of England. England beat Ireland by 23-11 and match took place at Twickenham. Recently Ashton has joined in the columnist team of The Daily Telegraph and he made his comment there. He said
 Sam’s won a Grand Final in Australia, he’s played England rugby league, so he has that experience
He added he is one of the biggest lads playing rugby now and he had similar aura like Martin Johnson. You have to look at him to give attention when he walks past you. When it comes to the playing side he is a quiet a player and he is going to be even better as a union player. But the main problem is that he believes Sam did not have enough time to get himself prepare for this level. He did not have enough time to prepare and play at the position for the world cup level. He added,
 He can do what we’ve seen him do against France the other day. He’ll smash people and he’ll run all day. But it’s so different to knowing, without having to think, about your job in the team. It’s so different to smashing someone when they run at you
Talking about what he has to do Ashton said that at first he need to be get himself in the right position at the right time so he can his hand perfectly on the ball. At this part Ashton is not convinced yet because he believes that Sam did not have enough time to do this. He mentioned that it is sure that Sam is going to be a part of the England team and he can be either in forward or backward too but he is not sure that how much is needed for that. Finally he added
If they need him to come and play six, he’s played there before, so they’ve got that option as well
It is sure that for England in the case of midfield partnership Jonathan Joseph and Brad Barritt will be the first choice. So Lancester, the coach of England may use Burgess as an impact replacement. All things will become clear when England will Fiji as the Rugby 2015 world opening match.

South Africa vs. Argentina: The Springboks Won Conveniently By a Big Margin

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 / No Comments
South Africa vs. Argentina

South Africa did a tremendous job against Argentina. They won the match by 26-12. They played the first half with tremendous energy and confidence and ended up by leading 20-9. Though Argentina fought back in the second half but it was not enough. Three penalties were taken in this half. South Africa had two and Argentina had one. Argentina missed a lot of chances but it was their bad luck.
Because of hamstring injury and scrums, Marcos Ayerza got late withdrawal from the front row of puma. It’s sure that his absence is the reason of puma’s penalized for four times as scrums. Victor Matfield praised the South African coach Pieter de Villiers. He said that Villiers worked hard with his players through the week on scrumming. Though the scrums for the whole game were messy. 12 scrums happened during the match. Those scrums incurred sin penalties, twelve collapses, two free kicks and seven resets. At the end of the game Springboks had the control of the play.
Springboks were top of their game from the first to last whistle. They had solid possession and also did protect their possession at the same time. The game were started as Patrick Lambie kicked off. But it was Pumas who got the turnover when Zane Kircher was trying to do attack. Their first chance came when Eben Etzebeth did a splendid tackle. He helped Puma to get a corner. It was the best scoring chance for puma though it was a miss.
After sometime Agustin Greevy did a tackle and penalized. They were ahead just after six minutes as the result was 3 – 0. Then it was Marcell Van Der Merwe who got penalized because of arm binding. Nicolas Sanchez took the credit of first score for his team and after fourteen minutes it was 3 – 3. At sixteen minutes Argentina again penalized during tackle and Lambie scored against them. South Africa took the lead by 6-3. After that South Africa again tried to attack but this time Lambie failed to produce a good kick towards wing. After that springboks did attack after attack and got two penalties within five meter. But both of them were unsuccessful.  During second half, Springboks used a scrum (5 meter) which was also unsuccessful. Pienaar gave pass to Brayan Habana at the wing. Brayan scored the easiest try of the game. At twenty six minutes Lambie scored for South Africa and the result become 13-3. Lwazi Mvovo scored in 29 minutes by beating three defenders. It was converted by Lambie. Before half time Sanchez did tackle and missed. He gave the opponent a straight penalty.  After several minutes another player miss tackled against Etzebeth and gave away penalty. These penalties made the half time score 20-9.
In the second half, both of the hookers were substituted. At 43 minutes Lambie scored again and make the difference 23-9. Then Sanchez scored again in penalty at the result was 26-9 while only twenty five minutes remained for Argentina to come back. But Argentina did able to add only three more points. Patrick Lambie was nominated as the man of the match.

England vs. France: English Won through Set Pieces in Tight Game

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English Won through Set Pieces

It was a high pressure game between England and France. At the end England secured their victory by 19-14 at Tw Ickenham. Penalty count and poor set pieces of France made the win easier for England. England had showed that they can also play attacking game in this match. France players should be motivated to play better in the upcoming world cup (September 18) from this match. After the game England captain Tom said that it was important for them to start the warm up games with a win.
Dmitri Szarzewski was the skipper of France team. His team did much positive and stronger gameplay at the beginning. They almost did a flying start with winger May and center Dulin. But Dulin did not able to put his hand on ball right before the dead ball line. But they continued pressuring on France and Parra won the penalty for France when Sam burgess did a bad tackle. Morgan Parra scored and give France lead at the sixth minute of the match. But England took only five minutes to score back against France. Watson was tackled by Dulin and we must say that it was not Dulin’s best effort. England got the penalty and Anthony Watson scored at the eleventh minute. The score became 3-3. On the very next minute Owen Farrell scored for England. They took the lead as 7-3 in twelve minute. France tried their best to stop England’s next attack from the right wing. But they could not make it as Anthony Watson took the pass with a tremendous position and finished his run properly to the corner side. He scored his second at the eighteen minute of the game.  Not a single defensive hand from France was able to touch him. A hit by Burgess allowed France to drop the ball. Parra was in his best form during that day and earned a penalty from England due to scrum. He scored in that penalty at twenty sixth minute and lift up the confidence of France.  After six minutes Parra scored again. He sailed his third penalty through post at thirty two minute of the first half. Luke Burgess got the yellow card and forced to sin-bin. Luke Burgess scored at thirty four minute for England. England did lead after half time. The score was 12-9.
In the second half England showed an outstanding performance. The high cross kick by Alex Goode was perfect for May as he chased the ball. He did perfection for another score on behalf of England at the forty five minutes. OWEN FARRELL did another score in forty six minute. Calum Clark was replaced for Guilhem Guirado. But the flank player (Calum) got the yellow card at fifty four minutes which reduced England team into fourteen men. French team took the advantage and started fight back. At sixty minutes flank player FULGENCE OUEDRAOGO made his way by bull dozing to the bottom corner and made another score for France. Winger ANTHONY WATSON from England got the man of the match award.

France vs. England Live Stream: Match Time, Venue, Squads, Prediction

Thursday, August 27, 2015 / No Comments
France vs. England: Match Time, Venue, Squads, Prediction

France and England will play against each other on August 15 at the Stade de France, Paris. This match will be the 101st edition of the Le Crunch. Rumors going that almost twenty six changes have been made by these two teams from the last week.
In England team, the only player who has the experience from 19-14 victory. For France there are three players who has the same experience. Yoann Maestri, Scott Spedding and Louis Picamoles. Another two players Philippe Saint – Andre and Stuart Lancaster got themselves out from the team line ups.
France’s last week team was full of experiment. But in Paris, coach will not do much experiment with the lineup. For France, Mathieu Bastareaud, and Wesley Fofana are going to join back in the midfield. Also wingers Noa Nakaitaci and Yoann Huget are coming back on the team line up. For England Guilhem Guirado, Sébastian Tillous-Borde and Bernard le Roux all are coming back. But France’s Frédéric Michalak will remain the most interesting addition to the team. He is only four points behind from the record, France’s all time point’s scorer. Fans are hoping that he will be able to touch the milestone on this match as Saint Andre was not selected.
Frédéric Michalak has started his journey for this record milestone only two years ago. H is one of the most talented, smart and erratic international rugby player. He has versatile skill for the scrum half cover and also have extra value for fly half holds at the time of trimming down. Now it is the time to see whether his team members are going to give him proper support or not. Senior players Eddy Ben Arous, Rabah Slimani, Guirado will return for the front line up. For France, key player Michalak can make the difference. But the whole France team need to lift their confidence level and also the execution level.
In their last match, France did not play up to their level. Often they kicked aimlessly and also took many wrong decisions. In many times, they just let the ball go through their hands. Also they did not able to make enough scoring threats. They must improve their finishing. They should reduce the percentages of wasting chances.  Though it is a warm up match, Right now they badly need a win more than any other team to boost up their confidence level. They only managed to able two wins from their last six matches.
On the other hand England will mostly focus on their top player’s form. Lancaster is ready with their best line up. The only risk is selecting James Haskell and dropping Tom Wood.  
Tournament: Pre world cup campaign.
Date: august 15, Saturday.
Time: 19:00 GMT
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Match referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK)
Squad members:
France:  Eddy Ben Arous, Yoann Maestri, Noa Nakaitaci, Rabah Slimani, Mathieu Bastareaud, Guilhem Guirado, Louis Picamoles, Wesley Fofana, Noa Nakaitaci, Damien Chouly, Rabah Slimani, Pascal Papé, Scott Spedding, Sébastien Tillous-Borde, Frédéric Michalak, Yoann Huget, Bernard le Roux, Pascal Papé.
Replacement: Gaël Fickou, Vincent Debaty, Alexandre Flanquart, Rory Kockott, Uini Atonio, Benjamin Kayser, Yannick Nyanga, Rémi Talès.
England: Joe Marler, Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Ben Youngs, Jonny May, Jonathan Joseph, Mike Brown, Joe Launchbury, Luther Burrell, Billy Vunipola, James Haskell, Dave Attwood, Jack Nowell, George Ford, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole.
Replacement: Billy Twelvetrees, Danny Care, David Wilson, Mako Vunipola, Danny Cipriani, Nick Easter, Jamie George.

Canada vs. USA Live Stream: Match Preview, Date, Time, Venue, Squad

Saturday, August 22, 2015 / No Comments
Canada vs. United States: Match Preview

The United States and Canada are going to face each other on their final warm up match before their 2015 rugby world cup campaign in Twin Elm Park, Ottawa. This International match is scheduled to kick off at 16.00 Eastern Time (13.00 Pacific Time; 20.00 GMT). The USA recently beat the CANADIANS in the Pacific Nations Cup, 2015. So they might expect to repeat the history one more time. On the other side, the Canadian will expect to take some revenge upon the Eagles and seal a win over them. Both the teams are taking this match very seriously and rugby lovers’ audience all over the world are expecting to enjoy a thrilling match.
In a glimpse:
Date: Saturday, August 22
Venue: Twin Elm Park, Ottawa
Kick-off: 16.00 Eastern Time (13.00 Pacific Time; 20.00 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Andrew McMaster (Canada), Ed Gardner (USA)
Squad report:
USA team news: USA fly half AJ MacGinty led his team on the win over the CANADIANS with a late minute goal. He will again make a partnership with scrum half Mike Petri in this match. Thretton Palamo and Seamus Kelly will also resume their partnership as like as the last one year. Brett Thompson will also start for the fourth time on the wing opposite to Blaine Scully who scored total three tries since the year 2011 against the CANADIANS. USA head coach Mike Tolkin demands that the wing should be aerial and side by side also strong runners to win the ball. Zach Fenoglio, Eric Fry and Titi Lamositele will retain their positions on the final row. Al McFarland- as a flank, Andrew Durutalo’s place will be also in the back. Mike Tolkin said in the press conference,
Certainly we have excellent talent in the centers. The boys were in outstanding form.
United States Team: Chris Wyles (captain), Seamus Kelly, Blaine Scully, Brett Thompson, Thretton Palamo, Mike Petri, AJ MacGinty, Andrew Durutalo, Danny Barrett, Greg Peterson, Al McFarland, Cameron Dolan, Zach Fenoglio, Titi Lamositele and Eric Fry.
Replacements: Phil Thiel, Chris Baumann, Olive Kilifi, Matt Trouville, Louis Stanfill, Niku Kruger,  John Quill,  Andrew Suniula.
Canada Tema News: On the other hand, for CANADA due to Tyler Aarond’s absence, Aaron Carpenter will captain the side. Besides Carpenter, only Hubert Buydens, John Moonlight and Harry Jones are the CANADIAN players to be listed in this match after their last 15-13 defeat to the Eagles. Buydens will be in the front row with newly recruited Ray Barkwill and Doug Wooldridge, while Jon Phelan and Tyler Hotson will play in the lock. Another new recruiter Nanyak Dala will join up with Moonlight and Carpenter at the back row. McRoie will be at the scrum half, Hirayama as the fly half, Blevins at the center with Trainor, Jones at the full back, Mackenzie and Paris at the wings. Canadian Coach Kieran Crowley said,
 There are some guys in the team who did really well in the PNC and therefore deserve places in the team. Some talented guys are the newcomer and we hope they will prove their potential in the pitch.
Canada Team: Aaron Carpenter (captain), Phil Mackenzie, Harry Jones, Nick Blevins, Conor Trainor, Nathan Hirayama, Taylor Paris, John Moonlight, Gordon McRorie, Jon Phelan, Nanyak Dala, Tyler Hotson, Ray Barkwill, Doug Wooldridge and Hubert Buydens.

Replacements: Benoit Piffero, Andrew Tiedemann, Djustice Sears-Duru, Kyle Gilmour, Evan Olmstead, Phil Mack, Matt Evans, Ciaran Hearn..
After this match, the Eagles will host Harlequin on Sunday. Then they will face Australia on the next week’s Saturday. On the other side, Canada will face Glasgow Warriors on 29th August, Georgia on September 2 and take on Fiji, the PNC champion on 6th September.

Italy vs. Scotland Live Stream: match preview, Schedule, venue, team line up

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Italy vs. Scotland Live Stream

Italy will play their first warm up international game against Scotland on Saturday. There are so much predictions are going on because of this high pressure match. Scotland has already did a lot of changes in their team to ensure the best outcome. On the other hand this will be Italy’s first match after March.
Scotland will try to increase their game play level in the field. They lost their last game against Ireland which was really impressive the final score was 22-28. Coach Vern Cotter will try to ensure that his team should avoid this kind of little margin loss. He also said that he will talk with Matt Taylor, the defense coach about the lacking and will give extra effort on set pieces. Also it is important to ensure that Scotland’s breakdown area will not show any weakness during match time. They already replace a very potential player John Hardie (New Zealand) to repair the damage of their defense.
The host team Italy will also play for the win. It is sure that they will do some experiment with their team to find the perfect combination. Italian coach Jacques Brunel gave a huge surprise by letting Tommaso Benvenuti a start in the center position.  Also Zebre’s Guglielmo Palazzani replaced on the position of Edorado Gori as a scrum-half. He was suspended at the last match. Another player Davide Giazzon, will start his third match against Italy. He will make trio attack on the front row with Matisas Aguero and Lorenzo Cittadini.
If you see the last three matches between Italy and Scotland, all of them was decided by only five points in total. In the last game, Scotland was defeated at the last minute. An unpredictable penalty gave the win title to the visitor team Italy. So it is sure that the next game will be a high pressure match.
Tournament: Pre world cup campaign.
Teams: Italy vs. Scotland.
Date: On Saturday, 15th august.
Kick off time: the game will start at 18:00 GMT.
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Turin.
Referee: JP Doyle from England.
Live Stream: BT Sport App (UK)
Squads
Italy squad: 1. Matias Aguero, 2. Andrea Masi, 3. Lorenzo Cittadini, 4. Tommaso Benvenuti, 5. Giovambattista Venditti, 6. Guglielmo Palazzani, 7. Alessandro Zanni, 8. Valerio Bernabó, 9. Leonardo Sarto, 10. Gonzalo Garcia, 11. Tommaso Allan, 12. Samuela Vunisa, 13. Francesco Minto, 14. Quintin Geldenhuys, 15. Davide Giazzon.
Replacements: 1. Carlo Canna, 2. Mauro Bergamasco, 3. Martin Castrogiovanni, 4. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 5. Luke McLean, 6. Marcello Violi, 7. Marco Bortolami, 8. Michele Rizzo.
Scotland squad: 1. Gordon Reid, 2. Mike Cusack, 3. Grant Gilchrist, 4. John Hardie, 5. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 6. Richie Vernon, 7. Greig Tonks, 8. Rory Hughes, 9. Stuart McInally, 10. Richie Gray, 11. Alasdair Strokosch, 12. Adam Ashe, 13. Duncan Weir, 14. Matt Scott, 15. Sean Lamont.
Replacements: 1. Damien Hoyland, 2. Henry Prygos, 3. Jim Hamilton, 4. Alasdair Dickinson, 5. Ross Ford, 6. Peter Horne, 7. Willem Nel, 8. Hamish Watson.

IRELAND vs. SCOTLAND: WORLD CUP WORM UP MATCH PREVIEW DATE TIME VENUE SQUAD & LIVE STREAM

Wednesday, August 19, 2015 / No Comments
IRELAND vs. SCOTLAND

Ireland must be morally boosted up for their latest 40-10 win over Scotland at the Murrayfield as they are going to compete again in the worm up battle of rugby world cup 2015 this Saturday at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Despite a disappointed winless six nations tournament ending with the defeat against the Irish, the arrival of new head coach Vern Cotter is also making the Scottish optimistic about some positive result this time. This match is scheduled to kick off on 15 August, Saturday at 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
Match: Ireland vs. Scotland (world cup worm up match)
Date: Saturday, August 15
Kick-off: 17:00 local (16:00 GMT)
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Live Stream: Sky Go app (UK), Super Sport stream (SA)
TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), Super Sport 6 (SA)
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Ulster FM and the BBC Sport website. 
Squad Report:
Ireland Team News:  Irish coach Joe Schimdt has announced Sean O’Brien as the captain for the team for the Dublin encounter of Rugby World Cup 2015. Jack Conan, 23 years old young Leinster flanker is expected to make his place for the senior Ireland team for the first time as a replacement of Chris Henry. Henry got a mini stroke last November while playing test against South Africa. He had to undergo a surgery and back to the field again. Henry was the second half replacement against the Wales match and impressed Schimdt to secure his place in the team. Devin Toner and Dan Tuohy are going to join in the second row while Mike Ross, Sean Cronin and Dave Kilcoyne will join the first row. Gordon D'Arcy and Jared Payne will play at the centre position. Isaac Boss and Ian Madigan are going to pair up at the half-back. The Irish are pretty much confident with this squad. Their back row Sean O’Brien said, 
No doubt the last five or six weeks were full of hard work and intensive. We hope we can make this on the field now and approach it in the exact way.
Ireland Team: Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo, Gordon D'Arcy, Jared Payne, Ian Madigan, Luke Fitzgerald,   Dave Kilcoyne, Isaac Boss, Mike Ross, Sean Cronin, Dan Tuohy,  Devin Toner, Chris Henry, Jack Conan and Sean O'Brien.
Replacements: Michael Bent, Richardt Strauss, Paul O'Connell, Nathan White, Eoin Reddan, Jordi Murphy, Dave Kearney and Paddy Jackson.
Scotland Team News: Henry pyrgos has been announced officially the captain of Scotland side for the Dublin battle. Greig Tonks also gets a chance at the fly-half position. The 22 years old Hugh Blake has secured a place in the back row with Blair Cowan and David Denton. Ruaridh Jackson has been selected as the full back and Fraser Brown for the first time as a hooker. Jim Hamilton is going to start up with Grant Gilchrist in the second row. Their head coach Vern Cotter have evaluated their team as he said, “The boys have worked really hard for the team strength and conditioning as well, so that we can have more power and tolerance level from our players. We are also focusing to upgrade their basic skills.”
Scotland Team:  Sean Lamont, Ruaridh Jackson,  Peter Horne, Richie Vernon, Greig Tonks, Tim Visser,  David Denton, Henry Prygos (c), Blair Cowan, Hugh Blake, Jim Hamilton, Grant Gilchrist,  Fraser Brown Jon Welsh and Ryan Grant
Replacements: Gordon Reid, Ross Ford, Rob Harley, Mike Cusack, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, John Barclay, Matt Scott and Duncan Weir

Taranaki vs. Wellington: Match Preview, Date, Time, Venue, Squads and Live Stream

Saturday, August 15, 2015 / No Comments
Taranaki vs. Wellington

Taranaki, the defending champion of ITM Cup Premiership are going to start up their title retaining battle against local rivals Wellington at Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth. This match is scheduled to kick off at 14:35 local (02:35 GMT), Saturday, August 15. The strong side of Taranaki are hoping to have an easy win over the poor Wellington as they have been hurting from their relegation from the championship in the 2014 season of ITM cup competition.
A very powerful lineup has been announced by the head coach of the Taranaki Bulls Colin Cooper. Moreover, they have been strengthened as James Broadhurst has joined in the squad. His partner will be Blade Thomson at the lock. James Marshall will lead the fullback position of the team. The amber and blacks are going to miss Jamison Gibson-Park for a long term season ending injury. They are expected to make debut of New Zealand under-20 team’s promising halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi. Reuben O’Neill, Caleb Mawson, Latu Vaeno and David Ormrod are also expected to make their debut and impress all with their skills as well. On the other hand Cory Jane is back from the ankle injury which kept him away for the last three weeks. He is set to start off the game for the lions with their starting lineup against Taranaki. Jane will take his place on the right wing. Ardie Savea and Matt Proctor are also expected to return from their knee and ankle injuries as well. Hoani Matenga and Johny Bantley are also set to make their debuts for Wellington in lock and first five eighth positions respectively. Ben May, James Blackwell and Tomasi Alosio are also expected to play their first game of IMT Cup 2015 for the Lions on the next half of the game as they have been enlisted in the reserve list.
Wellington coach Earl Va’a that though the history is not on their favor, the Lions who are enlisted in the team will put some strong and brave performance against the Taranaki and start their campaign for the IMT Cup 2015 Championship. He said, “A stronger side of the experienced and the strength of the young and energetic guys have been mixed up. We are expecting to have a crack on the field and put some excellent performance.”
When:  14:35 local (02:35 GMT), Saturday, August 15
Where:  Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth
Referee: Steve Walsh (North Harbor) 
Teams:
Wellington Lions: Jimmy Gopperth, Lome Fa'atau, Ma'a Nonu, Tana Umaga, Roy Kinikinilau, Tamati Ellison, Piri Weepu, Rodney So'oialo (captain), Serge Lilo, Jerry Collins, Luke Andrews, Ross Filipo, Neemia Tialata, Luke Mahoney, John Schwalger. 
Reserves: Mahonri Schwalger, Tim Fairbrother, Ross Kennedy, Thomas Waldrom, Brendan Haami, Conrad Smith, Cory Jane. 
Port Taranaki Bulls: Scott Ireland, Brendon Watt, Mathew Harvey, Lifeimi Mafi, Sailosi Tagicakibau, Sam Young, Craig Fevre, Chris Masoe, Joe Lawn, John Willis, Jason Eaton, Scott Breman, Gordon Slater (captain), Andrew Hore, Tony Penn. 
Reserves: Laurence Corlett, Hamish Mitchell, Brendon McGlashan, Sisa Koyamaibole, Andrew Suniula, Todd Feather, James King.