World Rugby Weekend Review

Aviva Premiership

It will be a Midlands derby for the Aviva Premiership title as Leicester beat Harlequins 33-16 and Northampton upset Saracens 27-13. Saracens had been heavily favored going into the match a having been the best team in the Premiership all season, but tries from Brian Mujati and Jamie Elliott in the 20th and 22nd minutes opened up the match for the Saints. Saracens didn’t get on the board until the second half when Owen Farrell hit two penalties and Duncan Taylor scored a try, but Taylor’s try only came after GJ van Velze scored one of his own to ice it for Northampton. In the other match Leicester did a brilliant job in holding Harlequins. The Tigers got tries from wings Niki Goneva and Niall Morris, as well as Tom Croft. Nick Evans was able to match Toby Flood’s three penalties from the Quins but they weren’t able to register a try until substitute Ross Chisholm scored in the 76th minute.

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Super Rugby

After last week's win the Highlanders season looked to be on the up swing, but after an embarrassing 34-27 loss to the Southern Kings over the weekend the team is back to square one. Luke Watson had two tries from the Kings. Each team had four tries but the King were able to get one more penalty and more more conversion from Demetri Catrakilis than the Highlanders. The only good news for the Highlanders is that the Force keep losing, like they did to the Chiefs 22-21 over the weekend. The Force got the board early thanks to the first to Pat Dellit's two tries, but the boot of Aaron Cruden a try from Lelia Masaga were too much.

The Bulls are in first place in the South African conference after their 36-32 narrow win over the Rebels. Frank Halai continues to have a tremendous season and notched a hattrick only 31 minutes into the match. Mitch Inman had two tries for the Rebels and Jason Woodward's try in the 80th minute made things interesting but it was too little too late. Trailing the Bulls in South Africa are the Cheetahs, who lost to the Hurricanes 39-24 in Bloemfontein. In other scores, the Stormers continue their up and down season with a 21-15 loss to the Waratahs while the Reds put pressure on the Brumbies in Australia after beating the Sharks 32-17. Click here to see the full table.

RaboDirect Pro12

It will be an all-Ireland affair in the RaboDirect Pro12 final as Leinster beat Glasgow 17-15 and Ulster topped Scarlets 28-17 over the weekend. It was a back and forth affair between Leinster and Glasgow as each team picked up early tries. Nikola Matawalu got the try scoring started for the Warriors in the 15th minute but Jaime Heaslip was able to respond for Leinster roughly ten minutes later. The Warriors would actually score more tries on the day thanks to a Mark Bennett try late in the match but Jonathan Sexton’s four penalties were enough to make the difference. In the other match Ulster got things going early through Tommy Bowe, Robbie Diack, and Tom Court, but Scarlets came roaring back with tries from Gareth Davies on Sione Timani, but it was too late to change the result.

Top 14

Toulouse will face rivals Toulon in the Top 14 semi-finals after they beat Racing Metro 33-19. Gael Fickou got things started for Toulouse in the 18th minute before Racing’s Sakiusa Matadigo matched him the 35th minute. Louis Picamoles would score for Toulouse in the second half while Henry Chavancy would do the same only minutes later. The wide difference in this match was all due to Luke McAlister and his seven penalties. Castres will play Clermont in the other semi-final thanks to their 25-12 win over Montpellier. Antonie Claasen scored the only try of the match. Rory Kockett hit five penalties from Castres while Montpellier’s Benoit Paillaugue managed four.

RFU Championship

The Newcastle Falcons are one step closer to returning to the Premiership after they beat Leeds 15-6 on Sunday. Leeds had beaten the Falcons 24-19 the week before but Newcastle was able to do enough to win on aggregate 34-30. They will play Bedford in the Championship final after the Blues beat Nottingham 23-21 last Friday. The win gave them an aggregate victory of 49-38. Bedford fail to meet the Premiership minimum standards and if they defeat Newcastle, there could a fight similar to the one London Welsh had last summer.

Pro D2

Pau will play Brive for a shot at promotion to the Top 14 thanks to their wins over the weekend. Pau topped LaRochelle 30-16 thanks to efforts from Daniel Ramsay and Saula Radidi. Brive beat Aurillac 30-14. Of course, Oyonnax has already received promotion thanks to their regular season title. Naturally, we have to show you footage of a massive brawl from the Pau-La Rochelle match.



Vodacom Cup

Western Province couldn’t make it three finals in a row after losing to the Lions 44-25 in the Vodacom Cup semi-finals. The Lions needed what is the equivalent of their first team to get the win. They needed to play in the Vodacom Cup after their Challenge Series imploded. The Lions will play the Pumas for the title. The Pumas beat Eastern Province 39-13.

Excellenza

Regular season top finished Viadana will not play for the Excellenza title after losing to Mogliano 18-8. Mogliano will play Cavalieri Prato, who beat Calvisano 24-6.