Leicester Tigers and Harlequins will contest the Aviva Premiership Final on May 26th following their semi-final victories over the weekend. The Tigers are favourites for many, but Harlequins don't see it that way.

A late try from Harlequins prop Joe Marler sealed a 25-23 win over Northampton Saints at The Stoop on Saturday, setting them up for an eighth consecutive Premiership final appearance.

Marler, whose 77th-minute try was converted by Nick Evans, says that despite Leicester's powerful forwards and incredible record, Quins will take it to them up front.

"People expect us to the throw the ball about, it is what Harlequins have been known for over the years. We like to think we can still do that but we want an all-round game," he said. 

"The scrum is a big area we have worked on this year and so is the maul. That showed out there. We’ve played in big games and we are starting to mature. We will back ourselves against anyone.

"And in the set-piece, that’s where it starts. If you don’t get that right then you are going to struggle all day. We are just buzzing for Twickenham now. The final will be massive. We have had great games against Leicester. We will front up."

The Tigers beat Saracens 24-15 thanks to a great display from young flyhalf George Ford, and tries from Alesana Tuilagi and Steve Mafi. You can catch a quick summary of what took place via the official wrap-up video below.

WIN Tickets to the Aviva Premiership final
We've got a pair of tickets to give away for the final at Twickenham, which takes place on May 26th. All you have to do is predict the winner. Click here now to enter

Posted at 15:13 pm | 5 comments

Share | |

The Reds ended the Chiefs' nine-game winning streak with a 42-27 victory in Brisbane on Sunday. The win keeps their title defence hopes alive, and has helped build momentum in time for the return of star flyhalf, Quade Cooper.

The Queensland outfit are ninth on the overall Super Rugby table, but with the conference system, they sit in second place in the Australian section, so still have a good chance of making the playoffs.

They came from 22-8 down against the table topping Chiefs, scoring four tries in 10 minutes, including a brilliant 60 metre solo effort from halfback Will Genia. He'll be buoyed by the return of flyhalf Cooper, who makes his comeback this weekend against the bottom of the table Lions.

Cooper has been out of action with a damaged ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament in the knee) since the Rugby World Cup in October 2011. He says he's prepared well and is ready to get out there.

"Everything which could be done has been done and the rest is now out of my hands," said Cooper.

"It has been a long six-plus months on the sideline and I know I've done everything I can to tick all the boxes during my rehab and have been as diligent as possible to ensure I am ready to return

"I'll be going out on Saturday knowing I've done everything within my power to be prepared both physically and mentally and it's now about going out and doing the best that I can for the team.

"It has been special to see all the support I've had from fans while I've been injured and all their well-wishes just make you more determined to get back out there.  They've been a real motivator during my rehab and I hope to see them all out at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night."

The Chiefs scored some excellent tries too, hence featuring these highlights on the homepage, but remember you can view all other Super Rugby Highlights in our archived section too.

Posted at 08:20 am | 4 comments

Share | |

Today we complete the School of Hard Knocks with the final two episodes, as well as some updates, and a chat to one of the participants. It was a fantastic eight week-long project, and has yet again made genuine changes to the lives of those involved.

If you haven't watched the show yet, go ahead and watch the two parts below, but be sure to come back and read more as we've caught up with one of the standout leaders, Michael Finnegan, to find out what he and some of the other guys are up to lately.

He told us that the experience has made a 'real and lasting difference in my life'.

"We trained with World Cup winners and had Shaun Edwards as our defensive coach for the day. The whole experience has been amazing and I've made some friends for life from it all," he said.

"Myself, Colin, Bruno, Hames, Lee and Jack Cannon, Pedro, Louis, Demitrius, and Daniel are meeting up at the end of the month for a few beers in Central London.

"Over the last couple of weeks I have been working with Saracens and Hitz Rugby as a community coach. I'm currently looking for full-time employment and I continue to play rugby wherever a prop is needed," Michael said. 

He also explained that the charity he was working on (as mentioned at the end of the show) isn't going ahead unfortunately, as the setup costs are too steep at this stage.

Some recent updates on a few of the guys:

Pedro: Studying for an HND in IT at London School of Science and Technology. He is hoping to get CISCO qualified as well and is seeking sponsorship and an internship to help him achieve these goals. He continues to play rugby Haringey Rhinos.

Bruno: Is currently playing for Southend RFC but Lyn Jones is keen to get him involved in the London Welsh set up, providing that his basic skill sets improve. Southend play in the 4th tier of English Rugby. He is working closely with Michael Henderson, and wants to get a professional qualification in the fitness industry.

Colin: Just got a job in recruitment and starts in June. He continues to perform in Comedy clubs across London, and is playing rugby for Haringey Rhinos.

Louis: Continues to play rugby for Haringey Rhinos after the course finished. He works as a DJ regularly but is available for full-time work opportunities.

Anthony: Is currently working for Paddy Power and plays for Shooters Hill RFC.

James: Plays Rugby for Edinburgh Northern RFC and has just finished his internship with Grant Thornton. He wants to train as a teacher and is working towards his coaching badges.

Many of the participants are still looking for full-time employment, so if you can help out in any way, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Ken Cowan at [email protected].

As always, thanks to Sky Sports for a brilliant production, and everyone else involved. Both parts below are over 45 minutes long, but extrememly inspirational, enjoyable, and well worth watching. 

Posted at 09:05 am | 10 comments

Check out these related posts

  School of Hard Knocks 2012 - Episode 2
  School of Hard Knocks 2012 - Episode 1

Share | |

Fiji took the London Sevens title in convincing style as they beat rivals Samoa 38-15 in the Cup final on Sunday, but it was New Zealand who captured the overall series title, their 10th in 13th years. Below are highlights from both day's play at Twickenham.

New Zealand's 36-0 demolition of South Africa in the quarter-finals was enough to clinch them the overall title, so when they lost 37-7 to Fiji in the semi-finals, it didn't bother them too much. They ended top of the table and as you can see below, finishing just marginally ahead of Fiji.

"It's pretty special, we worked extremely hard to get this one and I think everyone knows how competitive the Sevens Series is now. We came here with an 11-point lead but still with an opportunity of blowing it," said New Zealand's inspirational captain, DJ Forbes

"The quarter-final win was probably our only complete game of rugby this weekend, but there was a lot of passion, a lot behind it to make sure we wrapped up the series. At the end of the day it comes down to consistency and that's where we were probably a little bit ahead, but taking nothing away from Fiji, they've done extremely well to win here," he added.

Fiji captain Setefano Cakau said his team were delighted with the result, and had excelled all season, achieving the goals they set out. "We came from fifth last season to second which is a big improvement for us,'' he said. 

Australia beat England 14-12 in the Plate final, Wales won the Bowl final, and France beat the USA to win the Shield final. Below are official highlights from Saturday and Sunday, including the final.

Posted at 15:35 pm | 5 comments

Share | |

On a day that determined who progresses in the Top 14 play off race, two red cards and a yellow were brandished in a heated game between Toulouse and Montpellier. Both players are likely to face suspensions, ruling them out of the next round.

Toulouse won the match 20-13 and in doing so ended top of the table on 87 points, alongside Clermont, both of whom have securred semi-final places. The next two spots will be contested when Toulon play Racing Metro, and Castres play Montpellier.

Winger Timoci Matanavou scored three tries, but one of the more significant talking points in the game occured in the first half, when referee Frank Marciello sent three players from the field.

A quick tap from Luke McAlister led to a scuffle between a few players, before Mamuka Gorgodze flew in with a punch, to which Yoann Maestri retaliated.

Agustin Creevy was sin-binned, while Gorgodze and Maestri got red cards, a decision that Montpellier's Fulgence Ouedraogo said irritated him in light of the upcoming games. Both players will face a Ligue Nationale de Rugby disciplinary hearing and face a possible 20 day suspension. 

"Maciello told me he had more punches than the opponent. This is not a sufficient reason. We do not count the punches in a brawl," said Ouedraogo, before saying that Gorgodze is viewed as a violent player, but in reality he is not worse than any others. He added that his potential loss, ahead of their game against Castres, is a huge shame. 

Gorgodze, who joined Montpellier very early on in his rugby career, was featured on Total Rugby recently. You can view that interview, which includes highlights of Georgia vs Russia, here.

Posted at 07:19 am | 36 comments

Check out these related posts

  Georgian Mamuka Gorgodze on Total Rugby
  Jean-Pierre Perez loses the plot against Montpellier
  Midweek Madness - The old ball in the jersey trick

Share | |

Here is a quick catch-up post for the Rugby Club's Plays of the Week from Fox Sports, which was broadcast on Thursday night in Australia. As always, it features the best of the action from Super Rugby, and in this case, Round 11.

It's been a busy weekend and there's loads to catch up on and sift through, but this, even though it's for last weekend's round, is another classic so it's well worth watching.

Please note that we've also got highlights up from this weekend's Super Rugby games (except for the Reds vs Chiefs - that was this morning), so have a browse through all of them in our Super Rugby Highlights section. Some of the quality is poor, but we'll get that sorted asap too.

Tomorrow we've got a few clips lined up for that include a few red cards for flying fists, some Sevens stuff, and the last two episode of School of Hard Knocks.

If you spotted anything over the weekend that you'd like featured, please get in touch. That can be for a hit, try, funny, etc. Let us know, send as many details as possible, and we'll see if we can track it down and hopefully share with you, and other rugby fans, here on the site.

 

Credit: Fox Sports Australia

Posted at 19:27 pm | 3 comments

Check out these related posts

  Rugby Club Plays of the Week 2012 - Round 10
  Rugby Club Plays of the Week 2012 - Round 9
  Rugby Club Plays of the Week 2012 - Round 8

Share | |

The Ospreys produced a clinical five-try demolition of Munster in the first RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final at the Liberty Stadium on Friday night. The 45-10 victory was one of their best of the season, setting them up nicely for a final in a fortnight's time.

Dan Biggar scored a try and kicked four penalties and four conversion for a personal haul of 25 points for the Ospreys, surpassing 300 points for the season, and over 1000 for the region.

Things hadn't gone entirely the home side's way initially, as Munster scored first through Ian Keatley after a fantastic break by Keith Earls. It was all Ospreys after that, with tries scored by Biggar, Kahn Fotuali'i, Hanno Dirksen, Andrew Bishop and Rhys Webb.

Shane Williams came close to another farewell try, but unfortunately stepped on the touchline.

The home side played some dazzling rugby at times, counter-attacking from deep and splitting the Munster defence on regular occasion. Their defensive effort on the other hand was watertight, thanks in large part to the hard work from the forwards.

It was a sad farewell for Munster players Mick O'Driscoll, Tomas O'Leary, and Lifeimi Mafi, as well as coach Tony McGahan, but with Ospreys in the mood to play, they lacked firepower.

Posted at 16:57 pm | 21 comments

Share | |