Weekend news In brief

Picture: US Rugby

World Rugby to set up "Women's Advisory Committee"

Very little news on this important development, annouced today (10th November) other than the following: "With women's rugby now one of the world's fastest-growing team sports ... a dedicated Women's Advisory Committee will be established to oversee the implementation of the women's rugby strategy as the world's top female players look towards rugby sevens' debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland". Hopefully we will hear more details in the near future.

However, there is now a signifcant carrot to developing women's rugby as it may give a nation an extra vote on the new World Rugby Council, so long as they have qualified for the last two (men's) world cups and, among other things:

*Have a sustainable women's programme with participation in the Women's Rugby World Cup or qualifiers in the past eight years

*Have men's and women's sevens programmes – reflected by a minimum participation in regional competitions and or the World Rugby Sevens Series (men's and women's)

Oceania Olympic qualifier (Auckland, New Zealand)

This will be the first time that New Zealand have hosted an international women's sevens, but ironically they will not be taking part in it as they (and Australia) have already won their places in Rio. With both of the region's big teams absent, Fiji appear to be the overwhelming favourites to win the automatic place for the Olympics, while for the rest it is likely be a question of qualifying for the two places in the repecharge.

Schedule:14th November: 10.00 Samoa   v   Tonga; 10:22 Papua New Guinea   v   Cook Islands; 12:36 Papua New Guinea   v   Tonga; 12:58 Fiji   v   Cook Islands; 15:12 Samoa   v   Papua New Guinea; 15:34 Fiji   v   Tonga; 17:48 Cook Islands   v   Tonga; 18:10 Fiji   v   Samoa; Samoa   v   Cook Islands; Fiji v Papua New Guinea15th November: SEMI FINALS 10:00 2nd ladder v 3rd ladder; 10:22AM 1st ladder v 4th ladder. THIRD PLACE (and reprecharge qualifier): 12:58;. FINAL (and Olympic qualifier) 13:20

Elche International Sevens

Spain host a six-team international sevens this week (13th/14thNovember) in Elche, Alacante. As well as Great Britain and France – who, along with Spain played in a training tournament in Guildford a couple of weeks ago – the tournament will also include Ireland and Portugal, as well as an Alacante Select team. However, unlike the Guildford tournament, this will not be a closed door event so we hope be able to provide full scores and a report.

While most of the participants have been preparing at home, France have returned from two weeks of altitude and hot weather training in Pretoria, South Africa today (10th November). Coach David Courteix confirmed that he will be making his selection for Dubai after the Elche tournament, with the best players from his newly-enlarged squad competing in the World Series while the rest will join the the development team in the women's open competition.

Valentin Martinez Sevens

Brazil dominated the Valentin Martinez Sevens, in Montevideo, last weekend. They split their players across two squads - Brasil Verde and Brasil Amarelo - and the two teams both qualified for the final, only the leading of the two Argentine squads - Argentina Azul - giving them any serious problems, just losing to Verde to 12-10 in the pool and then going down 19-12 to Amarelo in the semi-finals. The continents' other Olympic team - Colombia - had a far tougher tournament, failing to reach the last four after losing to Brasil Verde and Argentina Azul in the pool, beating only Paraguay - though they were unbeaten on the second day and won the bowl..

Results:Pool A:Brasil Amarelo 21 - 5 Argentina Rojo; Uruguay 05 - 24 Chile; Brasil Amarelo 38 - 00 Chile; Argentina Rojo 29 - 00 Uruguay; Argentina Rojo 05 - 19 Chile; Brasil Amarelo 41 - 00 Uruguay.Pool B:Argentina Azul 26 - 00 Paraguay; Brasil Verde 17 - 07 Colombia; Brasil Verde 12 - 10 Argentina Azul; Colombia 20 - 07 Paraguay; Brasil Verde 29 - 00 Paraguay; Argentina Azul 19 - 12 Colombia.Bowl semi-finals:Argentina Rojo 12-24 Paraguay; Colombia 27-0 Uruguay.Bowl final:Paraguay 0-15 ColombiaCupSemi-finals:Brasil Amarelo 19-10 Argentina Azul; Brasil Verde 22-0 Chile.Third place:Chile 0-29 Argentina Azul.Final:Brasil Amaraillo 7-26 Brasil Verde

All-Ireland League

There are three rounds to go in the nine-team All-Ireland league. Since we last looked at the competition, Blackrock have gained a firm grip on the title, now riding top of the league, unbeaten, and with a game in hand over the next two teams (Railway Union and Old Belvedere). As a result they could have at least one hand on the trophy after this weekend as they welcome Railway Union to Stradbrook, while Old Belvedere having a week off. Their only other threat is Bohemians, currently in fourth, who have lost only one game.

Blackrock sat out the last round, which allowed the chasing back to narrow the gap. Niamh Briggs' Bohemians recovered from a 25-12 defeat the previous week to Old Belvedere with a big 43-7 win over St Mary's, while Railway Union - who had also lost the previous week, to Galweigians - also stormed back with a 39-0 win against Highfield. Old Belvdedere themselves had a walkover against Queens.

The top four teams qualify to the AIL semi final on 6th Dec with the final taking place on Sat Dec 12th.

Current standings: 1 Blackrock P5, W5,  24 pts; 2 Railway Union RFC P6 W4 21 pts; 3 Old Belvedere P6 W4 21 pts; 4 U.L. Bohemian P5 W4 19 pts; 5 Galwegians P5 W3 14 pts; 6 Cooke P5 W2 12 pts; 7 Highfield P5 W1 5 pts; 8 St. Mary's P6 W1 4 pts; 9 Queens P5 W0 -2 pts.

Six Nations

Date and venue information for all but three of next year's Six Nations have now been published (seehere). The only remaining games where the information needs to be confirmed all involve England - their away game v Scotland on the opening weekend, and their home games v Ireland and Wales (though the former is likely to be part of a double-header at Twickenham on 27th February). In addition the FFR have revealed that their U20 international against England on 5th March will be in Esher.

United States

The finals of the United States' Women’s Premier League take place this weekend, beginning on Friday after a final weekend of the regular season saw five team battle for the final three places, with only Twin Cities had guaranteed a spot in the final four.

However there was plenty toplay for for all teams, with D.C. Furies saving their best for last. A week after tying Atlanta, beat New York, 17-10, for their first win of the season, and so will battle for fifth place this weekend with some confidence. The coach Joanna Bader singled out players like Anna Cohen-Price and Maggie Olney, who have emblematized the growth and versatility of the squad this year, but on Sunday, it was US Eagle Kimber Rozier who made the biggest difference.

“She made excellent decisions at fly half and effectively controlled our offensive structure,” Bader commended. “Additionally, her open-field kicks helped gain territory, and her kicks for points were important to our win."

The result left second place in the Red Conference dependant on Atlanta’s performance against Twin Cities, and although the "Harlequins" put in a gritty performance, it was the "Amazons" of Twin cities who triumphed, 28-12, leaving them the only unbeaten team going into the finals, while Atlanta miss out in favour of New York. Kaelene Lundstrum scored two tries, while Maria Bowker and Jacie Vonada – who also handled kicking duties – added a try apiece. “We played the closest match we've ever had against the Twin Cities Amazons since joining the WPL,” Atlanta center Ros Chou said. “We definitely believed we could challenge them and be very competitive in the contest. The conditions were wet, so there were more handling errors than usual, but we were able to have a number of good attacking series throughout the game. Overall, the team is very pleased with the outcome compared to our first outing against them this season. We know we are continuing to develop players and improve each week.”

In the Blue Conference the top two were eventually confirmed as Glendale and Berkeley, with Oregon just missing out. The Glendale "Raptors" went travelled to San Diego, holding on for a 29-23 victory that puts them on top of the conference, meaning they avoid Twin Cities and will instead place New York in the semi-finals. In the final tense moments, some standout performances emerged Katie Janus, who typically gets time at flanker, started at tight head prop, standing out. “Our back three came of age in confidence,” coach Bullock said after the game. “Last week, Berkeley kicked on us effectively, and this week, it became clear that San Diego was going to put the kick behind us. Denali Graham, Fatima Chavez, and Kelly Mullen all did a really outstanding job.”

Finally Berkeley qualify for their seventh consecutive semifinal after a 34-25 win over visiting ORSU. Wing Ardia Kelker and Eagle flanker Phoebe Boone scored a brace of tries apiece, while lock Allison Byrne and No. 8 Sarah Walsh also scored. Fly half Ruth Bryson added two conversions.

The national semifinals will pit Glendale against New York and Twin Cities against Berkeley. The fifth-place bracket will see Atlanta versus San Diego and D.C. Furies versus ORSU on day one.

South Africa Interprovincial Sevens

With the international sevens season just around the corner, South Africa's provincial teams competed for the major domestic sevens title last week. The title was eventually won by the Blue Bulls (who achieved a double as their men's team were also triumphant). they started the tournament strongly as they defeated Eastern Province 40-0, but they went down 19-17 against the Golden Lions in their second match. They bounced back strongly, however, to defeat Boland 54-0 and the Pumas 47-0, which earned them a place in the Cup Quarter-final on Saturday.

The team picked up where they left off and beat the Free State 24-15 in the Cup Quarter-final and then registered a convincing 34-0 victory against KwaZulu-Natal in the Semi-Final. The Blue Bulls, however, were forced to work hard in the final against Western Province and fought until the death for their 24-22 victory.

Free State won the Plate Final with a convincing 19-7 victory against the SA Students, while Eastern Province won the Bowl Final and the Blue Bulls XV won the Shield Final.

Published results:Border 19 – 7 SA Students;  Western Province 20 – 7 Golden Lions;  Blue Bulls 24 – 5 Free State;  Sharks 22 – 0 Griquas;  Lions 0 – 29 SA Students;  Free State 26 – 5 Griquas;  Blue Bulls 34 – 0 Sharks;  Eastern Province 43 - 0 Falcons;  Leopards 27 – 5 Limpopo Blue Bulls;  SANDF 12 – 28 Boland;  Blue Bulls Inv 33 – 0 Falcons;  Limpopo Blue Bulls 34 – 7 SANDF;  SWD 7 – 31 Eastern Province;  Leopards 31 – 14 BolandFinals: Shield: Limpopo Blue Bulls 10 – 24 Blue Bulls;  Bowl:  Eastern Province 14 – 7 Leopards;  Plate: SA Students 7 – 19 Free State;  Cup: Western Province 22 – 24 Blue Bulls