Andrew Hore, a New Zealand born rugby administrator, believes that Welsh as well as Pro12 rugby squads could one day be a part of the Super Rugby elite in an elaborated contest.

Andrew, who was the Crusaders’ trainer one time, is leaving his job as Welsh club Ospreys’ chief executive to become the Waratahs’ new Chief Executive Officer in Sydney.

He fears that the Pro12 that features the Ospreys as well as other teams from Scotland, Italy, Wales and Ireland,, is in danger of leaving behind other Euro contests – England’s Aviva Premiership as well as France’s Top Fourteen as their considerably stronger financial sinew – and later on further the gap between the northern as well as southern hemisphere.

Hore, who has earlier worked for the New Zealand and Welsh rugby unions in high performance roles, thinks that a radical shake up is needed for Pro12 to survive, along with something which is uniquely different to the contests in France and England – and something that could increase Pro 12’s TV appeal.

Speaking to Sunday Times, Hore told that he could not see any deal being overtly great unless they are prepared to change their structure to give television something. The important thing is, what is it their supporters and television companies want that would make a different and valuable proposition, uniquely different from the Premiership and Top 14. They have to bring in a new product around them instead of stagnating and staying with tradition.

Stephen Larkham, an ACT Brumbies coach, suggested that the off-field upheaval fencing the Super Rugby province would not be misdirection and their only focus is on bedeviling the top-of-the-table Waikato Chiefs at the Canberra Stadium, on Saturday.

And Larkham consecrates high penalty counts would not stop Brumbies from their attack on the breakdown, but it admits they do require to cut out silly penalties against 2 time champions.

It has been very easy for Brumbies to outstrip themselves from their front-office problems given they were ten-thousand kilometres away in South Africa, but they came back in Canberra later on Monday evening with chief executive Michael Jones’ court case all set to resume in ACT Supreme Court later on Tuesday.

The Brumbies board stood Jones down previous week, but Jones got a temporary enjoinment against the conclusion and came back to work. Jones was stood down after an volatile interview on ABC Grandstand, along with an on-going Australian Federal Police probe into Brumbies’ sale of their Griffith headquarters the cause of all the unrest.

Larkham told that this is hundred per cent focus on Chiefs and this is what everyone at Brumbies wants. The things that one could control are those that you might spend a bit of time thinking about.

Nathan Grey and Stephen Larkham have been reportedly appointed as assistant coaches for Wallabies.

The defense coach for Waratah and head coach for Brumbies have taken up their new responsibilities for Test season 2015, whilst continuing with previous roles at Super Rugby.

Stephen, who would have a dispatch to work with backs, is revered as one among Australia’s best of playmakers whose stellar record includes Bledisloe, Rugby World & Tri-Nations Victories. Grey is an erstwhile centre from the Australian rugby team & he had been an eminent part of 2 Rugby Worlds and also played a huge role in the first Super Rugby championship title of Waratah.

Michael Cheika, the Wallabies, had only great words to say about the recent selections. “It is crucial that you’ve the best possible personnel & best probable high performing program now when you are marching towards winning performances”, remarked Cheika.

The coach described Stephen as “a great coach & erstwhile player with seriously incredible credentials & in-depth understanding on the steps taken to succeed at this environ- including playing a significant role as an Australian player in 3 Rugby World campaigns.”

Speaking on Grey, the coach noted that Nathan has come up with “a brilliant job in his days at Super Rugby & his great coaching has received kudos by whole Wallabies team during 2014 Spring Tour.”

Wallabies coaching ranks are further upped by selection by Mr. Dean Benton and the man would be playing a significant role in players’ preparation for Rugby Worlds.

However, Cheika should appoint a forwards coach & set-piece given the resignation of Blades (Andrew). The coach has stated that a declaration is to made over time after he expressed his thanks for Blades for a great service.

On the other hand, whilst Patrick Molihan would be the Team Manager, Simon Roberts would be Team Operations Manager.

Kurtley Beale, the troubled playmaker for the Australia Rugby team has seen his contract with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) extended by a further year despite off field troubles ahead of the Rugby World Cup in the summer.

Beale will be a part of the Wallabies squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup on English soil despite being sanctioned by the ARU for a lewd text message that he had sent to a former business manager of the Wallabies and an altercation in-flight against a member if the team staff in October 2014.

Beale, who currently plays with the Australian Super Rugby XV club the New South Wales Waratahs will remain with the club for the upcoming 2015 season as well.

The 26 year old was sacked from the Australia Rugby team by the ARU after the team returned from Argentina following their autumn internationals in October to allow a full investigation into the incidents. However, after the investigation failed to throw up enough evidence to prove him guilty, Beale managed to escape suspension by the ARU.

He linked up with the Wallabies squad for the final two tests during their spring tour of England and Ireland.

He said that he remains grateful to his club and the ARU for allowing him to continue his playing career in the country. He added that with the Rugby World Cup just around the corner, he is looking forward to getting back out there and play his best rugby for his club in order to cement his place in the Australia Rugby team.

The club was also delighted to announce his extension and is hoping that his off field distractions are behind him once and for all and he will be able to perform n the field with full focus and fulfil his potential.

The tragic news of Hughes’ demise was not only saddening for the Australian cricket team but for the entire sports sector of Down Under. Along with the Baggy Greens, the Aussie rugby too came up with their tribute to the late young cricketer earlier this month.

Australian rugby team players put out cricket bats in the memory of Hughes at Dubai Sevens & produced a stellar power play that definitely made their country, even amidst the mourning ambience for a premature death all over.

When the Australian national rugby women squad lined up ahead of the world series finale against the Kiwis, they had bats along with. It echoed their heart-felt tribute to late Australian cricket player Phil Hughes. Albeit the women side succumbed to a sad final-play loss yet their male counterparts maintained hopes of 1st Dubai title thanks to their 3 great triumphs in the pool play.

The team signed off at the inaugural day of world series challenge by beating the English rugby team before a bustling gallery of 44,000+ people at Sevens.

Erstwhile volleyball player Pama Fou & NZ-born Fa’alava’au (Allan) scored tries in the 12-5 win by Australia. They too came up with cricket bats as a tribute to Hughes.

The team coach Geraint John shared that the team had discussions on how to pay fitting tribute to Hughes.

“We had discussions on it and decided to come up with cricket bats & black armbands”, stated the Welshman. John has been coaching the Wallabies for 5 months now.

“We decided to do that since it’s not only the Aussies who have paid their tributes to the young talent but also sports personalities from all across the world. It was a duty for us & it’s the 1st time that we could come up with our performance since his death.”

Dai Young has said that despite winning, his side’s performance was not up to the mark. Two tries were scored by tom Varndell and James Gaskell and Rob Miller each scored a point. The team won a bonus point and moved up to the fifth place. Their overall performance though was good enough to win them the match; it wasn’t an overall good performance. Young said that some parts of their game was “messy” and they appeared “shaky” at times, he admitted that they provided opportunities for their opponents to score which they utilized. He further added that team Newcastle was very hard to defeat and as they fought with all their might till the end of the match, they deserve all the glory. But the only thing that made Young satisfied was that his team was able to get a bonus point in this game.
The only outstanding performer in the wasps team was Ashley Johnson. He was the person who provided passes that scored tries twice.
Young said that Ashley deserved to be the man of the match. His performance for the whole season has been outstanding.
Newcastle struggled very hard all through the match but they were only able to manage two tries due to the efforts of Ruki Tipuna Juan Pablo and Rory Clegg.
Newcastle lost for the 20th consecutive time I this tournament but Richards still holds that his team is making improvements.
He said that they lost the game for making individual faults way too much, and it cost them dearly. He further added that in the last season all they wanted was to avoid being relegated and they succeeded at their aim though they were only able to score a tie in their first five to six games. But in this season they are scoring a number of tries and it is a significant improvement and might be able to bring them to a better position than they were before.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is surely going to be one of the toughest competitions till date among the various nations of the world. This is especially clear from the fierce rivalry that the fans are getting to witness in the qualification campaign. Two new teams have emerged as major powers in the early stages which include Uruguay and Russia. Russia beat Zimbabwe in the Repechage semi final in Krasnoyarsk with a score line of 23-15. The Bears received huge support from the home crowd each time their players were in possession of the ball. The atmosphere was electrifying as flay half Yuri Kushnarev kicked a third minute penalty but failed to capture the extra points. The second try provided the hosts with the much needed 13-0 lead. Guy Cronje was the star performer for Zimbabwe in the fly half position but a number of easy misses in the penalty area led to their downfall. Even though Russia was a man down for a major part of the second half, they provided a resilient performance much to the delight of the fans.
Uruguay kept alive their hopes for qualifying into the final rounds of the Rugby World Cup for the third time in a row. Their win came against Hong Kong with a score line of 28-3 which does not quite reflect the tension in the match. It was only in the final quarter that the Los Teros managed to score two tries and increase the lead to such an extent. Jack Delaforce and Phillipe Berchessi were the most impressive players on the pitch throughout the match. The two evenly matched teams will be for booking a berth in Pool A of the Rugby World Cup along with England, Fiji, Australia and Wales and it is tipped to be an exciting encounter by the experts.

The London Irish Rugby club is getting ready for a stern test against the Harlequins at the Super Sevens Rugby championship quarter finals. The Exiles qualified for the quarter finals after winning their two group B games in Gloucester. The team put up some impressive performance in attack and defense by the young as well as the experienced players coming to the fore. Cam Cowell who will be playing as a winger expressed his confidence in the side lauding their fearless nature. Each of the players is hungry to make an impact and according to Cowell their analysis against the opponent team shall help them in the course of the game. This will be the young star’s maiden first team appearance since he had become a part of the academy after playing for the England Under-18’s team.
London Irish Academy Director Nick Kennedy made his point clear saying that he has no illusions ahead of their fixture against probably one of the best teams in the competition. They will have their task cut out and will have to play out of their skins in order to win the campaign. The London Irish team has made four changes to the squad from the last week. Will Harries, Ollie Williams, Jamie Hearn and Theo Brophy Clews shall join the squad. Ollie Curry will have the onus of captaincy on his shoulders in the crucial match. The Harlequins have also followed it up with four changes in their squad. Louis Grimoldby, Charlie Walker, Sam Stuart and Kieran Tredwell have been replaced by Ian Clark, Simon Pitfield, Gavin Dampies and the academy scrum half Jordan Burns. The much awaited quarter final is sure to produce some fireworks as fans from each side will be rooting for their favorite stars going up against one another.

George North has claimed that he joined the Northampton Saints to win silverware, stressing that he wants to play an important role as the Jimmies chase two titles over the next two weeks.

The Saints face the challenge of fellow Aviva Premiership rivals Bath Rugby in the final of the European Challenge Cup this weekend and then take on Saracens FC in the final of the Aviva Premierships playoffs in what is their second straight final appearance.

The 22 year told the BBC that anyone who doesn’t get excited about being in such a scenario and doesn’t want to play in a final shouldn’t come anywhere near the rugby field.

He went on to add that he joined the Kingston Park outfit to play in big matches and to win silverware. He added that he believes he has hopefully done enough to warrant a place in the two final matches.

The Welshman scored his ninth try of the season to lead his side to a playoff semi final win over bitter rivals the Leicester Tigers, avenging their loss in the final last season. He mentioned that the atmosphere in the match was something that hadn’t experienced before and it was an electrifying experience.

North is hoping to play a pivotal role in the European Challenge Cup final at Cardiff Arms Park as they try to secure their first major title since 2010.

He added that he has never played at the stadium and he is looking forward to going back to Wales and play in the stadium for the first time and he is hoping that his first experience of playing there is sweet enough for him and ends with the team holding the trophy aloft.

North will be hoping to ensure his selection to the Wales side on the back of the Saints’ run as well.

A new competition involving nine new domestic rugby union teams called the National Rugby Championship will kick off in August, according to a press release by the Australian Rugby Union or the ARU as they target further development for Australia Rugby in the next few years.

The competition is set to feature four teams from New South Wales, two from Queensland and one team each from the three regions of Victoria, ACT and Western Australia.

These teams will also be representing the New South Wales Country as well as Queensland Country.

In a format similar to the Aviva Premiership, each of the nine teams will play against the other eight teams in matches spread over nine weeks, which will also include a bye. The four teams that top the points table after the nine weeks will play and end of season play-off to determine the winners of the competition.

All players of the Super Rugby will be eligible to play in the National Rugby Championship while each team will also be allotted a player from the national team of Australia Rugby who will turn out for their respective teams when available for selection.

The ARU had previously tried to float a second tier competition to supper the Super Rugby competition back in 2007 but had to fold the event after losses in excess of $ 5 million.

According to the head honchos of Australia Rugby, this competition will give the fans a taste of rugby in second half of the season once the elite Super Rugby competition has completed for the season. For players wanting to make a name for themselves, this will provide a platform that could earn them contracts with Super Rugby clubs or get them to the attention of the national team selectors in the long run too.