International 9s Results and News

By Daniel Andruczyk

This week the International 9s results are in, the final being played out between the Fiji Bati and Balmain-Ryde Eastwood. A great start to their tour. In Lebanon the Tri-Series was completed over the weekend as well the next round of the Elite 1 in France was played. Some news from Papua New guinea and the USA as well.

International 9s Results

A round up of the results from the International 9s played on the weekend. The teams that won their pools were: Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers (Pool A), Cabramatta (1) (Pool B), The Entrance Tigers (Pool C), Windsor Wolves (Pool D), Fiji (Pool E), Tonga (Pool F). Wentworthville Magpies & Australian Indigenous will also progress through to the Quarter Finals of the Cup as the two highest ranked runners up:

Poll Games

• Cabramatta (2) Grey 16 def. Liverpool Titans 4
• Cabramatta (1) Blue 28 def. Macarthur Brothers 4
• Bankstown Sports 12 def. Canley Heights Dragons 10
• Windsor 18 def. Mounties 8
• Australian Indigenous 10 def by Fiji 12
• Cook Islands 24 def. Niue 6
• Wentworthville 18 def by Cabramatta (1) Blue 24
• Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers 28 def. Cabramatta (2) Grey 10
• Maitland 18 def. Windsor 12
• The Entrance12 def. Bankstown Sports 0
• Tonga 24 def. Cook Islands 4
• Japan 4 def by Australian Indigenous 38
• Liverpool Titans 0 def by Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers 28
• Macarthur Brothers 6 def by Wentworthville 52
• Canley Heights Dragons 0 def by The Entrance 14
• Mounties 12 def. Maitland 6
• Fiji 44 def. Japan 0
• Tonga 32 def. Niue 14

Quarter Finals

• Mounties 14 def. Canley Heights Dragons 6 (Trophy)
• Cabra (2) 16 def by Bankstown Sports 20 (Trophy)
• Maitland Pickers 12 def by Liverpool Titans 16 (Trophy)
• Cook Islands 14 def by Niue 20 (Trophy)
• Tonga 20 def Windsor Wolves 10 (Cup)
• Cabra (1) 10 def by Entrance Tigers 14 (Cup)
• Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers 20 def Australian Indigenous 6 (Cup)
• Fiji 20 def Wentworthville Magpies 16 (Cup)

Semi Finals

• Bankstown Sports 26 def Liverpool Titans 14 (Trophy)
• Niue 12 def by Mounties 34 (Trophy)
• Fiji 20 def Tonga 16 (Cup)
• Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers 26 def Entrance Tigers 1 (Cup)

Grand Finals

• Macarthur Brothers 28 def Japan 12 (Plate)
• Mounties 22 def Bankstown 10 (Trophy)
• Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers a 6-4 Fiji (Cup)

Lebanon on the Up

The Tri-series in Lebanon was completed over the weekend with the Federation XIII and Liban Espoir playing it out. With new selection methods the teams this year have been evened out and in the past Liban Espoir dominated, this year they have lost both matches. The Federation XIII won 26-4 over the Espoir to finish second in the series.

The Junior Cedars train-on squad for the MENA Championships in April has been selected. the squad is: Ali Kang, Ayman Akl, Bilal Ajaj, Carl Baroud, Daniel Habbal, Fawaz Abdo, George Farah, George Yazbeck, Karim Tannir, Khaled Masri, Khoder Naserddine, Liam Laba, Mohamed El Hassan, Mohamed Omar Zein, Nour El Baba, Omar Marhaba, Radwan Masri, Ryan Osseiran, Sultan Saadeh, Wael samad, Ziad Zohbi. The active reserves are Amen Soultan, Basher abed el Risk, Bassel Tlayje, Ibrahim Raad, Imad Arnaout, Mohamad Hamwi.

France Elite 1

Round 14 of the French Elite 1 Championships were played. Results are Lezignan 56-18 Carpentras, Limoux 50-34 Pia, Carcassonne 46-06 St Gaudens/Toulouse, Avignion 40-22 UTC and Montpellier 22-33 Villeneuve. The table stands as:

Kumuls Outrage

Some sad news that former Kumuls icon Aquila Emil was shot in Port Moresby last week. Former Kumuls Ben Bire, Bal Numapo, John Unagi, Johannes Kola, Wamil Gul and Maima Kawagle, who were teammates of Emil said that “for someone who dedicated his time to developing rugby league, this was a terrible loss for the game”. Our thought go out to Emil’s family.

Denver Wolverines Options

Some news from the Denver Wolverines. This was posted on their Facebook site earlier today.

After carefully reviewing our options, we feel it is the best choice at this time to align the Denver Wolverines RLFC with the USARL. The overall level of communication with the USARL has been excellent, and both the USARL and the Denver RLFC share the same vision for RL in the United States. ~Jeff Eberle Co-Founder Denver RLFC

Also David Niu is in Las Vegas this week. According to his tweets he is in meetings for the AMNRL and Tomahawks. I guess he is also checking out the venue at the Vegas 7s to see if its a possible venue for future AMNRL games.

Daniel Andruczyk’s email: daniel@rugbyleagueinternationalscores.com