Rugby Players prepare for the busiest time of the season.
After a 5-week break for the Autumn Internationals, teams throughout Europe got ready for action in the Gallagher Premiership, the URC, the Investec Champions Cup and, in the New Year, the 6 Nations Championship.
On November 29, the Premiership and URC got back to business, playing Round 7 in their 18-Round season. Not much changed on the Prem’s leaderboard with Bath still at #1, tied on points with Bristol but with a better (6-1) record. Leicester Tigers dropped to 3rd after losing to Sale (#6) and Saracens, despite losing to resurgent Newcastle, stayed #4. Quins dropped 2 spots to #7 after losing at home to Bristol and Gloucester moved to #5 after beating the Northampton Saints. Newcastle have won 2 of their last 3 and Exeter are bottom with an 0-7 record. Round 8 will be played December 20-22, the first of 3 consecutive weekends of English club rugby.
The URC follows the same calendar as the Prem and after 7 Rounds sees Leinster on top with a 7-0 record plus 6 bps giving them a 7 point lead over #2 Glasgow Warriors, 5-2 with 7 bps. The Vodacom Bulls, despite still having a game in hand are 5-1 in 3rd and Cardiff (4-3) are in 4th. The URC play 2 more Rounds before the end of the year and then break until January 24-26.
The reason for the 2-week break between Rounds 7 and 8 is the Investec European Champions Cup which, starting on December 6, plays 4 pool stage games (2 in December and 2 in January) and then starts a knockout process the first week of April. Four pools of 6 teams comprise the starting lineup, fighting for a place in the last 16 on April 4. With only 1 Round played there’s a long way to go but defending champs Stade Toulousain won, as did the beaten finalists, Leinster; Northampton Saints, the Premiership champions and Glasgow Warriors who won the URC also came out on top.
So, plenty to excite rugby fans over the holidays: 4 Rounds of English Premiership through the end of January (shown on the rugbynetwork.com); 3 Rounds of URC (florugby.com); and 2 Rounds of Investec Champions Cup (also on florugby.com). Then the 6 Nations Championship starting in early February, live-streamed on Peacock.