Wow! How was that for a weekend of Rugby League! The NRL is back in full swing while the ESL keeps throwing up some amazing games at us. France is quickly reaching it double climax with the LER and LDC coming close to their conclusions. Lebanon has reached its half way point and Jamaica’s Uni Championships have their finalists decided. Some more news from the USA and Russia as well.
Bang! The National Rugby League in Australia kicked off with two absolute thrillers Friday night. Brisbane went into half time with a 20-00 lead against the Cowboys, but had to fight off a second half comeback to win it in the dying minutes 30-24. While St George showed that they still deserve to be title contenders with a thrilling 18-12 win against Parramatta. Saturday saw Melbourne win a tight contest against the Sharks 14-10 while the Panthers trounced Canberra 34-16. Newcastle despite their off field dramas showed that they have fight in them beating the Bulldogs 20-14. Sunday saw Sydney City thrash a fancied Souths outfit 32-10 but Sam burgess still impressed and the Titans just held off the Warriors 24-18. Monday Night Lote Tuqiri made a triumphant return with the West Tigers who beat Manly in a thriller 24-22.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| Penrith | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 |
| Sydney City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| Brisbane | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Gold Coast | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| St George | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| West Tigers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Newcastle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Melbourne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Manly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
| Canterbury | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
| Cronulla | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
| Nth Queensland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 0 |
| Parramatta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 0 |
| Canberra | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -16 | 0 |
| South Sydney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -18 | 0 |
Just a side note. I was at the Queensland Cup opener on Saturday between Wynnum and Burleigh. In what was a high quality match one of the most amazing scores happened. A 0-0 draw. Yes that is right. The last time this happened I am told was in 1925 or something. I do know that in the NSWRL in 1982 Newtown and Canterbury also played out a 0-0 draw.
Super league also see that the old guard has finally changed. New teams are starting to step up and Challenge St Helens and Leeds, where I thought it could have been an anomaly in the last couple of weeks this week we see the trend continue. Though Leeds and St Helens are still in the top 8 they certainly are not dominating like in the last few years. Wakefield defeated Hull KR 31-18, Wigan hammered Hull FC in what was a bad day for the Humberside teams, St. Helens was pushed all the way by the Crusaders to win 37-30, Warrington beat Bradford 33-8. Castleford defeated Catalans 20-14 in a close one Salford had its first win beating Harlequins 24-22 and Huddersfield had a rare win over Leeds 24-20.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| Wigan | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 140 | 10 |
| Warrington | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 131 | 10 |
| Huddersfield | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 88 | 8 |
| St Helens | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 8 |
| Hull FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 8 |
| Wakefield | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -19 | 8 |
| Leeds | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 68 | 6 |
| Bradford | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -41 | 6 |
| Hull KR | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -43 | 6 |
| Castleford | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -37 | 4 |
| Crusaders | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -79 | 4 |
| Salford | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -65 | 2 |
| Catalans | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -100 | 2 |
| Harlequins | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -140 | 2 |
Round 15 of the LER Elite 1 was played on the weekend with the dominant teams staying that way. Its pretty clear to see who the top 5 will be now. Limoux defeated the Canaries (Carcassonne) 30-20, Carpentras beat Villeneuve in a tight one 22-16 and Lezignan showed that they are going for 3 in a row beating Pia 44-16. Avignion had the bye while UTC and St Gaudens has been postponed.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| Lezignan | 15 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 222 | 40 |
| Limoux | 15 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 125 | 29 |
| Pia | 14 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 128 | 28 |
| Carcassonne | 13 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 28 |
| Villeneuve | 15 | 5 | 1 | 8 | -77 | 25 |
| Carpentras | 14 | 5 | 0 | 7 | -18 | 22 |
| Avignion | 15 | 4 | 1 | 8 | -162 | 22 |
| UTC | 14 | 4 | 0 | 8 | -50 | 20 |
| St Gaudens | 14 | 1 | 0 | 11 | -270 | 14 |
Two matches played over the weekend in Lebanon. Jounieh pasted AUST 46-0 while LAU did similar to USJ 70-4. Next week sees and exciting weekend with the top 4teams facing off against each other.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| LAU | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 360 | 14 |
| Balamand | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 8 |
| AUB | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -7 | 8 |
| Jounieh | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -8 | 8 |
| Wolves | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -53 | 8 |
| USJ | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -94 | 4 |
| AUST | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -216 | 0 |
The last of the pool games in the Jamaican University Championships has been played with a surprise result. The University of Technology defeated GC Foster College to secure its final spot against the same team 28-14.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| GC Foster | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 6 |
| University of Technology | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 4 |
| University of West Indies | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -29 | 2 |
Some news from the USA and Russia today as well. Last blog I mentioned that the Victory Cup will be revived. This will be in a 7s or 9s format as to make it more appealing to teams. So far all I know is that Estonia have been invited and the USA have received and email about it.
Speaking of the USA, David Nui yesterday on Twitter let slip a few development in the NRL and NRLUS. So the AMNRL draw is not long away from being released to the public and will probably be launched with a the new website and logo for the AMNRL. Also negotiations for the NRLUS are going well… not sure what this means but I hope that refers to the TV contract. Also the USA are deep in the planning stages with the Italian tour.
Also the Atlantic Cup has had the USA and Jamaica finalised as teams, though this does not mean other nations like South Africa or Japan can’t come in still. But its looking like Jacksonville will host Reggae Rugby once again.
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