ENGLAND RUGBY
APRIL 2009: IN REVIEW

IRB Sevens Series - Adelaide 2009 Fixtures and Results

England ended up winning the Plate Final against Australia at the Adelaide Sevens earlier in the month. Having lost to the Aussies in the pool stages, followed by a win against Portugal, and a draw against Samoa, England were comprehensively beaten by Fiji, before pulling off a convincin win against New Zealand.

England 17 - 21 Australia
England 29 - 0 Portugal
England 24 - 24 Samoa
QF Cup - Fiji 40 - 0 England
SF Plate - New Zealand 14 - 21 England
Plate Final - Australia 19 - 24 England

Full Fixture list and results here

England Women to take on World Champions New Zealand

The reigning RBS 6 Nations Champions, England Women, will take on the reigning World Champions, New Zealand, in two Test matches in November in West London.

The two fixtures, which also sees England Women A play the Black Ferns in a mid-week Test, will be used as vital build-up preparations ahead of the IRB 2010 Women's Rugby Cup in London.

England last played the Black Ferns in the 2006 Rugby World Cup final, which New Zealand narrowly edged 25-17 in Edmonton, Canada.

England Head Coach Gary Street said: "It's fantastic news that New Zealand will be coming over in November. This is great preparation for our World Cup campaign and also gives us a tremendous focal point post the Nations Cup in August.

"It will be the first time we have played them since the 2006 World Cup Final and my first game in charge against them. Our players are excited to play them and I'm sure we'll see some excellent games of rugby.

More here

Tickets on sale for England v Argentina - First Test

International rugby union returns to Manchester for the first time in over a decade when the Argentina Pumas take on England at Old Trafford, the 76,000 all-seater stadium, home of Manchester United.

Argentina (5th) and England (6th) are only one place apart in the world rankings and with the Puma’s finishing 3rd in the 2007 Rugby World Cup (RWC) it is bound to be an exciting encounter. The teams will be looking to get the edge over each other as they are scheduled to meet again in their opening match of the 2011 RWC.

Tickets are available from just £10 by calling Ticketmaster on 0844 847 2492 or the Old Trafford ticket office on 0161 868 8000, or you can buy online at www.ticketmaster.co.uk

More here

England Saxons defend Churchill Cup in Denver 2009

Well Howdy folks looking forward to seeing you all in Denver Colorado!

This year will see the U.S. Eagles, Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, the Argentina Jaguars and Georgia play double headers at Infinity Park, Glendale - the first municipally-owned rugby-specific stadium in North America - on June 6, 10 and 14.

Infinity Park - Glendale

More here including full fixture list

England James Haskell Video on the Lions and Life in France

James Haskell on the Lions and Life in France It’s an interesting time for England and Wasps flanker James Haskell.

Like many other players from the home countries, he is on tenterhooks to see if he will be chosen for the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa .

In this video James talks about Lions selection, playing abroad and also gives us an insight into his team-mates driving habits.

For the video click here

England U20s Squad Named for Junior World Championships 2009

ENGLAND Under 20 head coach Mark Mapletoft has named his squad for the 2009 IRB Junior World Championship which takes place in Japan in June.

Sixteen of the 26-man group have appeared in the Guinness Premiership and there are eight survivors from the 2008 campaign when England were beaten in the final by New Zealand.

Flanker Calum Clark (Leeds Carnegie), hooker James Clark (London Irish), centre Luke Eves (Bristol Rugby), fly half Rob Miller (Newcastle Falcons), flanker/lock Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), wings Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby) and Seb Stegmann (Harlequins), and scrum half Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) all bring previous Junior World Championship experience to England's bid for victory in Tokyo on June 21.

England Under 20 head coach Mark Mapletoft

Full report here including full squad details and quotes

England U20s Junior World Championship Fixtures - Japan 2009

England Under 20 Squad named for IRB Junior World Championships to be held in Japan - June 2009. Listed below are the 5th June, 9th June and 13th June Fixtures. Results will be added as and when they come in during the tournament.

England seeded second start the tournament with Pool B games against hosts Japan on June 5 (7pm), Scotland on June 9 (5pm) and Samoa on June 13 (1pm), all at the Prince Chichibu Stadium in Tokyo . The semi-finals and finals are scheduled for June 17 and June 21.

England prepare with a warm-up game against Loughborough University on May 13, part of a week-long training camp in the Midlands, before departing for Japan on May 27.

Full fixture list here

England RFU Head Groundsman to insepct playing surfaces

RFU Head Groundsman Keith Kent is giving playing surfaces throughout the country the Twickenham treatment with a unique series of personal pitch inspections.

This year's programme will see him visit 96 of the RFU's member clubs and meet dozens more at pitch maintenance workshops.

His latest round of visits starts today in Surrey and Sussex before he heads to Hampshire, the East Midlands and the North East in May.

Kent joined the RFU in 2002 after 15 years with Manchester United and is regarded as one of the country's leading authorities in maintaining and improving playing surfaces.

Keith Kent, right, with assistant Ian Ayling at Twickenham

Full report here

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