France is to host Rugby World Cup 2023. Confirmation came through in a live announcement this morning from World Rugby. The sport’s governing body made the announcement that France 2023 had won the vote, defeating bids from Ireland and South Africa. The bid was won despite World Rugby having recently …
Read More »The Winners and Losers of RWC 2019 Match Schedule
Thursday morning’s live match schedule announcement saw some smiling while others looked at their lists wondering what to think. This was based on RWC 2019 handing out a range of demands to the twenty participants. There were some clear winners and losers. Match Days In terms of overall match days …
Read More »Forward Thinking (Vol 3, Iss 7): Ledesma’s First Act Should Be Captaincy
Mario Ledesma’s First Act Should be captaincy. As Head Coach of Los Jaguares Mario Ledesma’s first act should be naming a new Jaguares Captain. He ought to use Forward Thinking to identify and name a new leader. This is not to say that Agustín Creevy is a bad leader. To the …
Read More »High hopes for Canadian University Men’s Championship
Canadian rugby could be on the verge of a significant milestone on November as a joint announcement last week confirmed an initiative to hold a Canadian Men’s University Rugby Championship in November of this year. The event is set to be hosted by Guelph University, located approximately 100 km west …
Read More »Forward Thinking (Vol 3, Iss 6): Pumas Final Quarter Failures
Houston we have a problem. Los Pumas are unable to finish off matches. They are proving to be competitive at half time and, usually, still so into the second half. But in the final quarter there is a growing list of failures in which Argentina is getting beaten. Los Pumas’ …
Read More »UAR President Hints at Selecting European Players for Pumas
The UAR President has hinted at selecting European players for Los Pumas. The official policy is under serious questioning now. With those based in Europe blocked from international duty Argentina has experienced a run of negative results since Rugby World Cup 2015. Head Coach Daniel Hourcade has firmly stood his …
Read More »Notes from the North
Once again we’ve drifted far too long between entries. With so much going on behind the scenes it’s hard to keep track of what’s most important in Canadian rugby right now but in this column we’ll try to focus on the immediate concerns – the Women’s World Cup, the CRC, …
Read More »Would Two Argentine Teams be Competitive in Super Rugby?
Super Rugby is downsizing. The 2018 season will have 15 teams, down three from 18. There are a variety of motives driving the change, one of which is performance. This raises the question – would two Argentine teams be competitive in Super Rugby? Comparative Performance Los Jaguares completed their second …
Read More »Talking Rugby: USA Rugby at Crossroads
I write this with a heavy heart. It’s been a long time since I contributed an opinion piece for Americas Rugby News. I certainly wished that I had taken Paul up on writing a piece about the storied career of Todd Clever as he retired from International duty. Instead I …
Read More »Forward Thinking (Vol 3, Iss 5): Booking Rugby World Cup 2019
With Tonga qualifying for Japan 2019 this past weekend Pool C is complete. The Oceania side officially joined Argentina, England, France and the USA in the Pool of Death. This serves as a reminder of the need to book Rugby World Cup 2019 appropriately. Inappropriate Booking The existing model of …
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