Yachvili

The game was not a classic, but the English weather was a big factor as the rain came down making the ball greasy. Neither side was prepared to risk it and play expansive rugby and so it was a kicking duel between the left boots of Yachvili and Wilkinson, a duel that was won by Yachvili as he kicked all his attempts, whilst Wilkinson had a miss.

Wilkinson

The first half saw Biarritz take the lead and although Wilkinson missed a pot at goal he and Yachvili traded penalties for the Biarritz side to go in 12-9 up at the break. The second period and it was more of the same, though perhaps Carl Hayman and then Stefon Armitage being binned and Toulon down to 13 was the deciding factor as Yachvili kicked the points. Wilkinson did level late on at 18-18, but the Yachvili penalty took it to 21-18 and although Toulon pressed trying to force extra time they infringed at the ruck and Biarritz were able to clear their lines and run down the clock for a memorable win but in front of a small crowd of some 9,000. Final score:

Biarritz 21- 18 Toulon

Scorers

Biarritz
Pens: Yachvili 7

Toulon
Pens: Wilkinson 5
Drop-goal : Wilkinson

Teams

Biarritz: I Balshaw, T Ngwenya, J-P Barraque, D Traille, D Haylett-Petty; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; Y Watremez, A Heguy, E Van Staden, J Thion, P Taele, W Lauret, B Guyot, I Harinordoquy (capt).
Replacements: B Augus (for Heguy, 69)t, S Marconnet (for Watremez, 41), F Gomez-Kodela, E Lund (for Thion, 71), T Gray (for Guyot, 50), M Bosch (for Peyrelongue, 72), C Gimenez, I Bolakoro.

Toulon: B Lapeyre, A Palisson, M Bastareaud, M Giteau, D Smith; J Wilkinson, S Tillous-Borde; E Lewis-Roberts, S Bruno, C Hayman, C Samson, K Chesney, P Gunther, S Armitage, J van Niekerk (capt).
Replacements: J-C Orioli (for Bruno, 51), L Emmanuelli, D Kubriashvili, J El Abd, G Messina, D Schofield (for Chesney, 58), F Cibray, J Suta.

Yellow cards: Hayman (46), Armitage (53)

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Attendance: 9,376

ASM Clermont booked the second spot with a thrashing of Brive and that result confirmed Pro D2 for them. Fofana was the star in this meet, with a couple of tries and some superb assists as Clermont racked up 57-14.

Biarritz ended their season on a high and ensured that Stade Francais had no chance of reaching the play-offs 16-5 to Biarritz. This result meant that Racing slipping up at Agen going down 25-22 still left them in the play-off spot.

Bordeaux versus Perpignan was the scoring game of the weekend as neither side had anything to win or lose from the encounter and it was the home side that came through winning 37-29.

Lyon hosted Toulon and although the home side competed till the final whistle they went down 5-29 largely due to Jonny Wilkinson and that boot. Last up was Castres Bayonne and with Brive falling short as expected there was nothing riding on this for the visitors, whereas Castres needed to ensure a top four finish to get a home spot in the play-offs. The 31-29 result confirmed their status.

We slipped up on two results, Agen beating Racing Metro and Bordeaux Perpignan

So the play-offs see Castres hosting Montpellier and Toulon Racing Métro. We do not see either Castres or Toulon slipping up at this stage and so they should go through to the semis.

Results Week 26

Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Clermont 57-14 Brive Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Biarritz 16-5 Paris Parc des Sports d’Aguilera
Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Agen 25-22 Racing Métro Stade Armandie
Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Toulouse 20-13 Montpellier Stade Ernest Wallon
Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Bordeaux 37-29 Perpignan Stade André Moga
Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Lyon 5-29 Toulon MATMUT Stadium
Sat 12 May 15:15GMT Castres 31-29 Bayonne Stade Pierre Antoine

Highlights ESPN UK Monday 21:30

Play-Offs

Fri 25 May 20:00 Castres v Montpellier Stade Ernest Wallon (ESPN UK)
Sat 26 May 20:00 Toulon v Racing Métro (ESPN UK)

Players have been drawn from ten countries, with three of them being cap centurions.
The BaBaas tour kicks-off against England on 27 May at Twickenham with a 14:30 kick-off followed by Ireland in Gloucester at Kingsholm on 29 May with 19:45 kick-off and ending against Wales at the Millennium Stadium on the 2 June 14:00 kick-off.

Outstanding names in the recently announced squad are: New Zealand’s most-capped full-back Mils Muliaina, South Africa’s World Cup winning captain John Smit, Argentine legend Felipe Contepomi and Leinster utility back Isa Nacewa.
Among the Barbarian new boys.

The squad, which will be coached by All Blacks’ legend John Kirwan assisted by Grant Doorey, assembles in London on 22 May.

Full 33 Man Squad

Backs – Isa Nacewa (Fiji), Mils Muliaina (New Zealand), Ian Balshaw (England), Cedric Heymans (France), Shane Williams (Wales), Paul Sackey (England), Sailosi Tagicakibau (Samoa), Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu (Samoa), Mike Tindall (England), Damien Traille (France), Felipe Contepomi (Argentine), Stephen Donald (New Zealand), Stephen Jones (Wales), Rory Lawson (Scotland), Jerome Fillol (France)
Forwards – Schalk Brits (South Africa), Benoit August (France), John Smit (South Africa), Aled de Malmanche (New Zealand), John Afoa (New Zealand), Duncan Jones (Wales), B J Botha (South Africa), Neemia Tialata (New Zealand), Jerome Thion (France), Mick O’Driscoll (Ireland), Anton van Zyl (South Africa), Pelu Taele (Samoa), Raphael Lakafia (France), Antoine Burban (France), Akupusi Qera (Fiji), John Beattie (Scotland), Pedrie Wannenburg (South Africa), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Argentine)

Fixtures:

Sunday 27 May v England (Twickenham) 2.30pm

Tuesday 29 May v Ireland (Kingsholm, Gloucester) 7.45pm

Saturday 2 June v Wales (Millennium Stadium) 2.00pm

The first game of the weekend and the Rhinos visited Leigh Centurions who competed throughout but were blown away 12-60. Having been 6-24 down at the half. Scorers in this game were for Leigh; Tries Gouldon, McNally, Goals Ridyard 2 and for Leeds; Tries
McGuire, Webb, Jones-Bishop, Hall 2, Burrow, Sinfield 2, Lunt, Smith, Goals Sinfield 10 .

Saturday and Wigan Warriors hosted St Helens and the nail biter game of the weekend saw Wigan stretch out to a 12-4 lead at the break which only went to 18-4 at full time. Although the score was tight Saints never looked like they would take this one. Scorers Wigan; Tries Tomkins, O’Loughlin, Finch Goald Charnley 3, St Helens Tries Wellens.

On Sunday the other game was another tight affair down in the Basque country where Warrington Wolves ran out winners by 22-32, having had a big lead of 6-20 at the break, the Catalans fought back in the second period but could not do enough to stop the visitors progressing. Scorers Catalan Dragons; Tries Paea, Simon, Fisher, Duport, Goals Dureau 3. Warrington Wolves; Tries Monaghan, Hodgson, Riley, Wood, Bridge. Goals Hodgson 6.

The draw for the semi-finals produced a Wigan Warriors v Leed Rhinos meeting meaning that we will not have a repeat of last seasons final. The other match is Warrington Wolves v Huddersfield Giants. With the games to be played over the weekend of 14/15 July 2012.

This week’s round opened with the tightest of matches between premiers Manly and 2012 contenders Brisbane. The Broncos ran in five tries to four, but some weak defence on the line after a nine pass movement by the Sea Eagles kept the score lines close. Manly eventually showed their class in the final minute of the match to score and win 24-22.

In match two of the Brisbane double header the Titans outclassed the Bulldogs 25-14 in a match that was dotted with injuries and lacked structure at times but produced plenty of highly entertaining tries for both sides.

The Warriors also arm-wrestled with the Roosters in New Zealand on Saturday. Failing to put the match beyond doubt early due to poor discipline, the Warriors defended the middle well but struggled to contain the lateral movement of the Roosters. Eventually, with some confusion about the time keeping, the NZ side held on for a 30-26 victory.

Newcastle looked listless once more against Thurston’s Cowboys as they were handed a 32-12 thrashing in front of their home crowd. Canberra got off to a flying first half against the Eels, going into the break leading by 18 points. But the Parramatta side are becoming late raid specialists and closed the gap in the next 40, ending up losing by just six points.

The highlight of the round was Cronulla’s Paul Gallen-less streak-stopping victory over the Melbourne Storm. Winning 12-10 the Sharks remained composed and fed off some incredible crowd support, while Melbourne’s ‘big three’ failed to stick their passes, or bust through Sharks in the second 40.

After an early penalty to the visitors it was the Highlanders who crossed the line first, with Chris Noakes, a late inclusion in the run-on side, strolling through some weak defence, and subsequently converting his own try.

All Black loose-forward Adam Thomson continued a great start from the home-side, sneaking over for their second try, but young Beauden Barrett’s boot kept the visitors in touch as they trailed 14-9 at the break.

The roles were reversed in the second stanza, with the Highlanders relying on penalty goals to keep the scoreboard ticking over, and the enterprising ‘Canes scoring the tries.

With five minutes remaining the home side was ahead 20-19, before Julian Savea steamed on to a short-ball from Tim Bateman, and used a combination of strength and speed to score the winning try.

It was a captivating encounter between two sides in good form, but it was the Wellington-based side that had more x-factor during the key moments, and were deserving winners when the full-time hooter sounded.

The third place play-off between New Zealand and Argentina was a one sided affair which the Kiwis coasted through to a fine win at 40-0. This saw them end the season with 167 points, to Fiji on 161 and England third some way behind on 135 just two points ahead of Samoa.

Kiwis Training

The Womens Challenge Cup champions and worthy winners were England who went behind to The Netherlands before blitzing them 34-7. with Joanne Watmore scoring a hat-trick. next season they will compete on a regular basis as Sevens develops towards the Olympics in Rio 2016.

Results Finals

41 17:04 UNITED STATES 12-19 FRANCE Final Shield
42 17:32 WALES 27-5 SCOTLAND Final Bowl
43 18:00 ENGLAND 12-14v AUSTRALIA Final Plate
44 18:28 NEW ZEALAND 40-0 ARGENTINA Third Place
45 18:56 FIJI 38-15 SAMOA Final Cup

In the Bowl Wales just squeaked past Portugal but need to tighten their defence when they meet Scotland who had an easy run out against Zimbabwe 31-19.

The Women’s final sees England face the Netherlands who held on to beat Australia 19-14. England will need to be a lot more clinical in the play execution if they are to beat the Dutch girls who are improving in leaps and bounds.

The plate saw England scrap into the final with the last play having been put on the rack by South Africa. England are another side who will need to improve if they are to beat Australia in the final. Australia progressed having beaten a very competitive Spain 17-12.

The Cup we had the usual protagonists meeting each other in the semis in stead of the final as Fiji and New Zealand squared up, the Kiwis with the trophy as series winners in their pockets wanted to end on a high and so put Fiji to the sword, however it was the reverse as Fiji ran away with it and won 31-7. They will meet Samoa who powered away from Argentina, but let them run in a couple of tries late on to make the final score Argentina 19-21 Samoa.

Results Semi-Finals

33 13:20 RUSSIA 12-38 UNITED STATES SF Shield
34 13:42 KENYA 14-17 FRANCE SF Shield
35 14:04 PORTUGAL 26-28 WALES SF Bowl
36 14:26 SCOTLAND 31-19 ZIMBABWE SF Bowl
37 14:58 SOUTH AFRICA 17-19 ENGLAND SF Plate
38 15:20 AUSTRALIA 17-12 SPAIN SF Plate
39 15:42 NEW ZEALAND 7-31 FIJI SF Cup
40 16:00 ARGENTINA 19-21 SAMOA SF Cup

Kenya try v France

Fixtures Finals

41 17:04 UNITED STATES v FRANCE Final Shield
42 17:32 WALES v SCOTLAND Final Bowl
43 18:00 ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA Final Plate
44 18:28 NEW ZEALAND V ARGENTINA Third Place
45 18:56 FIJI v SAMOA Final Cup

Kenya Supporters

Twickenham Crowd a record

The Women’s competition is running as well today hence some of the early starts. England have progressed to the final having beaten a robust Canada in extra time by 19-12. This game saw a lot of unforced errors from both sides leaving them plenty to do as they develop towards 2016 and Rio.

Pick of the semis is the Russia USA battle in the Shield, South Africa England in the Plate and Argentina Samoa in the Cup.

Results Quarter Finals

25 09:30 RUSSIA 17-24 PORTUGAL ¼ Final Bowl
26 09:52 WALES 28-19 UNITED STATES ¼ Final Bowl
27 10:14 SCOTLAND 21-5 KENYA ¼ Final Bowl
28 10:36 FRANCE 17-19 ZIMBABWE ¼ Final Bowl
29 10:58 NEW ZEALAND 36-0 SOUTH AFRICA ¼ Final Cup
30 11:20 FIJI 21-14 ENGLAND ¼ Final Cup
31 11:42 AUSTRALIA 7-12 ARGENTINA ¼ Final Cup
32 12:04 SAMOA 22-7 SPAIN ¼ Final Cup

Fixtures Semi-Finals

33 13:20 RUSSIA v UNITED STATES SF Shield
34 13:42 KENYA v FRANCE SF Shield
35 14:04 PORTUGAL v WALES SF Bowl
36 14:26 SCOTLAND v ZIMBABWE SF Bowl
37 14:58 SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND SF Plate
38 15:20 AUSTRALIA v SPAIN SF Plate
39 15:42 NEW ZEALAND v FIJI SF Cup
40 16:00 ARGENTINA v SAMOA SF Cup

New Zealand Huddle

The other results went much to as expected though Argentina running the Kiwi’s close going down 15-10 caught our attention. Pick of the quarters must be Fiji v England in the Cup and Russia v Portugal in the Bowl.

Results Day One

01 10:30 FIJI 19-5 SPAIN Pool C
02 10:52 WALES 19-12 ZIMBABWE Pool C
03 11:14 AUSTRALIA 27-12 SCOTLAND Pool D
04 11:36 SOUTH AFRICA 41-0 PORTUGAL Pool D
05 11:58 NEW ZEALAND 49-7 RUSSIA Pool A
06 12:20 ARGENTINA 14-12 KENYA Pool A
07 12:42 ENGLAND 28-0 FRANCE Pool B
08 13:04 SAMOA 31-17 UNITED STATES Pool B
09 13:36 FIJI 29-0 ZIMBABWE Pool C
10 13:58 WALES 7-22 SPAIN Pool C
11 14:20 AUSTRALIA 26-5 PORTUGAL Pool D
12 14:42 SOUTH AFRICA 20-5 SCOTLAND Pool D
13 15:04 NEW ZEALAND 24-0 KENYA Pool A
14 15:26 ARGENTINA 24-14 RUSSIA Pool A
15 16:00 ENGLAND 15-5 UNITED STATES Pool B
16 16:22 SAMOA 26-19 FRANCE Pool B
17 16:44 SPAIN 38-0 ZIMBABWE Pool C
18 17:06 SCOTLAND 26-12 PORTUGAL Pool D
19 17:28 RUSSIA 21-19 KENYA Pool A
20 17:50 FRANCE 19-15 UNITED STATES Pool B
21 18:22 FIJI 43-7 WALES Pool C
22 18:44 AUSTRALIA 19-17 SOUTH AFRICA Pool D
23 19:06 NEW ZEALAND 15-10 ARGENTINA Pool A
24 19:28 ENGLAND 7-14 SAMOA Pool B

Fixtures Quarter Finals

25 09:30 RUSSIA v PORTUGAL ¼ Final Bowl
26 09:52 WALES v UNITED STATES ¼ Final Bowl
27 10:14 SCOTLAND v KENYA ¼ Final Bowl
28 10:36 FRANCE v ZIMBABWE ¼ Final Bowl
29 10:58 NEW ZEALAND v SOUTH AFRICA ¼ Final Cup
30 11:20 FIJI v ENGLAND ¼ Final Cup
31 11:42 AUSTRALIA v ARGENTINA ¼ Final Cup
32 12:04 SAMOA v SPAIN ¼ Final Cup

France Warm-up