August 30, 201015 yr Author Premiership Rugby season set for record-breaking opener The opening weekend of the Aviva Premiership season is set to break attendance records after over 70,000 tickets were sold for the London Double Header over the weekend. A record crowd of 67,684 supporters attended the event at Twickenham last season, but officials say they are expecting up to 75,000 fans as the new season gets underway next weekend. Tickets are valid for the two matches next Saturday, with London Irish playing defeated Premiership Rugby finalists Saracens at 2pm and London Wasps taking on Harlequins at 4.30pm. Club matches will now have attracted over 150,000 supporters to Twickenham for the last two Premiership Rugby matches at the famous stadium. Tickets are still available, however due to stadium regulations they will not be available on the day. New Premiership Rugby title sponsors Aviva signed a four-year £20 million deal earlier this summer to take over from Diageo Great Britain under the Guinness brand. http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2010/08/premiership-rugby-season-set-for-record-breaking-opener/
August 30, 201015 yr Good, the proper rugby is back :) I reckon Exeter Chiefs will go down, the newly promoted teams never seem to do that well in the premiership :(
August 30, 201015 yr Author Aviva Premiership 2010-11: club-by-club guide A look at the prospects for this season's Aviva Premiership teams. Bath Head coach: Steve Meehan. Captain: Luke Watson. Last season: 4th. Biggest signing: Lewis Moody (Leicester) - flanker (inset, below). Biggest loss: Julian Salvi (ACT Brumbies). Prospects: Expectations are high following the take-over of the club by multi-millionaire Bruce Craig and the signing of high-profile recruits such as Sir Ian McGeechan to the coaching staff and players of the calibre of England captain Lewis Moody, Simon Taylor and Sam Vesty. Prediction: Fourth. ---------------------------- EXETER Head coach: Rob Baxter. Captain:Tommy Hayes. Last season: Championship winners. Biggest signing: Jason Shoemark (Otago Highlanders) – centre . Biggest loss: Matt Cornwell (Northampton). Prospects: The Premiership newboys are favourites for the drop, but Exeter will take heart from Leeds’ ability to cement their place in the top flight. Sandy Park should prove a daunting venue for opponents but a lack of time to sign big names because of the Championship play-offs has left their squad looking a touch lightweight. All eyes will be on Andrew Higgins, who quit rugby after refusing a drug test at Bath last year. Relegated. ---------------------------- GLOUCESTER Head coach: Bryan Redpath. Captain: Mike Tindall. Last season: 7th Biggest signing: Jim Hamilton (Edinburgh) – lock. Biggest loss: Gareth Delve (Melbourne Rebels). Prospects: Bryan Redpath has lost more big names than he has been able to bring in and with Sir Ian McGeechan having moved on to Bath, this season will be a tough test of his coaching credentials. Still, there are enough talented players in the squad for a tilt at a place in the Heineken Cup next season. Eighth. ---------------------------- HARLEQUINS Director of rugby: Conor O’Shea. Captain: Chris Robshaw. Last season: 8th. Biggest signing: Ollie Smith (Montpellier) – centre. Biggest loss: David Strettle (Saracens). Prospects: The honeymoon period is over for O’Shea as he attempts to forge a post-Bloodgate era for Quins. The club lost their way last season following Dean Richards’ controversial exit but if O’Shea can imbue a more robust mental toughness on the road, Quins possess the talent to be in the mix this season. Seventh. ---------------------------- LEEDS Director of rugby: Andy Key. Captain: Marco Wentzel. Last season: 10th. Biggest signing: Steve Thompson (Brive) – hooker. Biggest loss: Calum Clark (Northampton). Prediction: In an attempt to build on their success at avoiding the drop last season, Leeds have gone for quality, not quantity in their recruitment. There are only 11 new faces to replace the 17 departures, but the club’s wage bill has still increased significantly. Nevertheless, they have some experienced players. Ninth. ---------------------------- LEICESTER Director of Rugby: Richard Cockerill. Captain: Geordan Murphy. Last season: Champions. Biggest signing: Thomas Waldrom (Canterbury Crusaders) – No 8. Biggest loss: Lewis Moody (Bath). Prospects: Only Leicester could see such luminary names as Lewis Moody, Ben Kay, Harry Ellis, Aaron Mauger and Lote Tuqiri either move on or retire and not bat an eyelid. Worryingly for everyone else, Richard Cockerill believes his squad is actually now in better shape to adapt to the higher tempo game following the new interpretation at the breakdown. Champions. ---------------------------- LONDON IRISH Head coach: Toby Booth. Captain: Clarke Dermody. Last season: 6th. Biggest signing: Daniel Bowden (Canterbury Crusaders) – fly-half/centre. Biggest loss: Peter Hewat (Suntory, Japan). Prospects: After enduring a horrific injury list last season, London Irish should be in better shape to compete for a place in the top four. The 2009 grand finalists will have learnt much from last season’s travails and now look to have greater depth to their squad in key areas. Sixth. ---------------------------- NEWCASTLE Head coach: Alan Tait. Captain: James Hudson. Last season: 9th. Biggest signing: Ally Hogg (Edinburgh) – back row. Biggest loss: Carl Hayman (Toulon). All eyes on: Jon Golding. Prospects: New coach Alan Tait will bring a fresh approach to Newcastle and his enthusiasm will be key revitalising a squad that lost some big names at the end of last season. Tait has high hopes for new signings Jeremy Manning and Redford Pennycook and an improvement in home form should be enough to guide the club to safety. 10th. ---------------------------- NORTHAMPTON Director of rugby: Jim Mallinder. Captain: Dylan Hartley. Last season: 2nd. Biggest signing: Calum Clark (Leeds) – flanker. Biggest loss: Juandre Kruger (Blue Bulls). Prospects: Northampton notched up more league wins that any other side last season and Jim Mallinder’s side should be even more of a threat to Leicester’s dominance this term. Calum Clark and Tom Wood could be inspired signings while the retention of Soane Tonga’uiha following the bitter tug-of-war with Saracens was crucial following the departure of Juandre Kruger. Second. ---------------------------- SALE SHARKS Head coach: Mike Brewer. Captain: Charlie Hodgson. Last season: 11th. Biggest signing: Paul Williams (Auckland) – full-back/wing. Biggest loss: Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens). Prospects: New coach Mike Brewer has wielded the axe over the summer months and brought in 14 new players following last season’s flirtation with relegation. The extent of the overhaul is laden with risk however and Sale could again find themselves battling at the wrong end of the table. 11th. ---------------------------- SARACENS Director of rugby: Brendan Venter. Captain: Steve Borthwick. Last season: 3rd. Biggest signing: Deon Carstens (Sharks, South Africa) – prop. Biggest loss: Glen Jackson (retired). All eyes on: Alex Goode. Prospects: Saracens were the story of last season. Top of the table at Christmas by dint of a limited kicking game, they came within seconds of winning the final against Leicester having discarded their shackles in the second half of the season. Bolstered by some heavyweight signings, Brendan Venter’s side should be title contenders again. Third. ---------------------------- WASPS Director of rugby: Tony Hanks.Captain: Tom Rees. Last season: 5th. Biggest signing: Riki Flutey (Brive) – centre. Biggest loss: Danny Cipriani (Melbourne Rebels). All eyes on: Dominic Waldouck. Prospects: Wasps are on the move again and the return of Riki Flutey and signing of Andy Powell from Cardiff Blues should sustain last season’s momentum. The question remains though if they have enough quality to break into the top four, given how much ground they have to make up. Fifth. By Gavin Mairs http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/7969691/Aviva-Premiership-club-by-club-guide.html
September 3, 201015 yr Yeah guys, my rugby thread is dying :lol:, so I hope you' ll be posting there during the VI nations tournament or the H Cup http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65723 In here, the Top 14 has begun since the 13 august ^^
September 4, 201015 yr Author Stylish start for Sale Mike Brewer's tenure as head coach of Sale got off to the perfect start as the Sharks recorded a convincing 35-18 win over Newcastle. In the first match of the new Aviva Premiership season, debutants Karena Wihongi and Tom Brady ran in tries and fly-half Nick Macleod notched four penalties and two conversions before the half-time interval at Edgeley Park. The Falcons had scored the first try of the night through Brent Wilson and former Munster stand-off Jeremy Manning would eventually kick eight points. But the hosts dominated for the vast majority of the game and two more penalties from Macleod and a drop goal from Dwayne Peel put them out of sight. Both sides were looking for a winning start after disappointing finishes last term and it was the hosts who were in the ascendancy in the early stages. Penalty Ben Cohen collected Macleod's kick-off and set up an attack that would yield a penalty, which the stand-off slotted through the posts with barely a minute on the clock. Props Andrew Sheridan and Wihongi carried the ball with purpose and their endeavour was rewarded with two more penalties, which Macleod also converted to make it 9-3. Manning had earlier nailed a three-pointer before hitting the post with a second attempt, but after five-metre scrum Newcastle flanker Wilson crashed over for a try to give the visitors the lead. Sale continued to enjoy most of the pressure, however, and retook the lead when Wihongi burrowed over after a break from young prospect Brady. And the advantage was extended when Macleod's well-weighted chip through allowed Brady to cross the whitewash to continue his impressive debut. Extras Macleod added the extras and sent another penalty through the posts to make it 23-10 before the interval. Manning was taken off for Jimmy Gopperth at the start of the second half but could not provide the spark that the Falcons needed to get back into the game. After Macleod added his fifth penalty of the night, he swapped places with Peel and the Wales international duly slotted a drop-goal over as Sale raced away from the visitors. Macleod made it 35-13 in the 59th minute with another penalty, although the hosts also suffered from indiscipline as replacement scrum-half Chris Leck was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle seconds after coming on. And the Falcons capitalised to score a late consolation as Wilson powered his way over in the corner with eight minutes left on the clock. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12573_6356606,00.html
Create an account or sign in to comment