Rugby World

Force v Reds Rd - Super Rugby Pacific 2023 | Highlights

2023-04-20T03:26:00.003-07:00

Universiadi 2019

2019-07-08T02:17:00.002-07:00

Universiadi 2019 Day 3 results: Women: 🥉 🇷🇺 #RUS 12-31 #JPN 🇷🇺 #RUS 12-10 #RSA Men: 4th 🇷🇺 #RUS 0-14 #JPN 🇷🇺 #RUS 10-12 #FRA

Haka 2019 - All Stars Women Unity Dance v Maori Ferns

2019-06-25T07:35:00.001-07:00

The best Haka 2019

from All Stars Women Unity Dance v Maori Ferns

How can rugby have the same ball-in-play time as football?

2019-06-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Firstly, let’s see how much more ball in play time rugby needs to find. In the 2015 Rugby World Cup the ball in play time was 35.12 minutes and in the Bundesliga in 2017, the league I could find the most accurate data for, the total was 56.05 minutes. So rugby needs to find 20 minutes, how do we do that?

The first things to look at are penalty kicks, conversions, and scrums. In the 2015 RWC the average number of penalty kicks were 4.4, conversions were 6.8, and scrums were 13. We already know that kicks take 90 seconds, sometimes longer but very rarely shorter. By just stopping the clock when penalty kicks and conversions are taking place you will add 16.48 minutes to the ball in play time. By just stopping the clock for every kick at goal we have almost reached our target.

The scrums take a little less than a minute per scrum. Averaging out around 50 seconds per event. If we stopped the clock until the ball was played from the back of the scrum or a penalty was awarded then we could save 10.50 minutes. If we put those two things together than we can add 27.38 minutes to the ball in play time equaling 62.50 minutes, easily enough to beat the Bundesliga.

That might seem like an immediate improvement that we should send off to World Rugby. Anyone with a ticket to the Rugby World Cup will see almost twice the rugby they would see previously. However, it’s important to think what else this will mean and why it may not be such a good idea. In the 2015 World Cup the average number of rucks and mauls was 178, that is about a 20% increase from the 2003 World Cup. That means more contact and more tackles. Adding 27.38 minutes to the existing ball in play time would be a 78% increase, let’s call it 80% for ease. That is another 142 rucks and mauls per game, a total of 320. We already have players retiring early due to concussion or injuries caused by the constant battering they are taking.

How easy is it to give rugby the same ball in play time as football? Very easy, but that doesn’t mean we should be doing it.

Intense face off: Tonga VS Samoa haka - RWC2007

2017-09-12T01:46:00.000-07:00

Final black ferns Haka on #WRWC2017 England - 32 VS New Zealand - 41

2017-08-30T00:59:00.001-07:00

Winning black ferns Haka of #WRWC2017 with England Rugby team!

Black ferns - New Zealand women's national rugby union team.

Rugby World Cup 2019 - 19 SEP - 2 NOV 2019

2017-08-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for the greatest rugby battle in 2019?

New Zealand VS England 41-32 to win Women's Rugby World Cup 2017

2017-08-28T00:45:00.001-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS Black Fern. New Zealand

New Zealand are about to lift the trophy, but both sides can hold their heads high after a breathless final. It had looked set to be a shootout right down to the wire, but the Black Ferns found extra gears to dominate the second half.

It was also a fitting contest for primetime TV, with 11 tries scored and the title in the balance until New Zealand slowly pulled clear. Perhaps the two sides’ respective rugby unions might see fit to pay these exceptional players for their time – no switching to sevens, no semi-professionalism. It only seems fair. That’s all from me, but stick around for a full report. Bye!

HAKA Black Ferns bring it to USA in the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 - semi final

2017-08-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

All matches of the Ukrainian national team on Roma seven-2012

2012-05-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

All matches of the Ukrainian national team in rugby-seven men on the international commercial competition.

All Blacks legend Ian Jones introduces his hometown of Whangarei

2011-04-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Rugby World Cup 2011 - Soon

2011-04-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

Soon

Fresh rugby fights 2010

2010-11-25T02:18:00.000-08:00

Do you know NZ haka history?

Uruguay vs Romania RWC2011 Qualifier match

2010-11-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

First leg of the Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifying play-off final between Uruguay and Romania with the winner taking the 20th and final spot at next year's tournament.

Three cheers for Uruguay team!!!

Amazing Skills at Rugby Training :)

2010-11-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

While All Blacks Cory Jane, Piri Weepu and Rene Ranger wowed viewers with their skills at training, the CA Technologies Brumbies have responded with a few class skills of their own. Watch CA Technologies Brumbies players Josh Valentine, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Tyrone Smith show off some of their AMAZING skills!

Waikato vs Otago

2010-10-08T01:01:00.000-07:00

Waikato wins!

I believe ... For now 27:15 (17:3)

Left to play 15 minutes

Lrft to play 5 minutes! and 41:15 Yahoooo!

Rugby Union Big Hits and Tackles

2010-03-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Just a bunch of hard tackles. Some are leagle some not so much, but they show how physical Rugby Union can be. The choice of "favourite rugby tackles" may be an unfortunite phrase as many are illeagle. The clips are a compelation of other posters in which I don't own the rights for and the song is "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show.

Rugby9 Team Sports

Game Preview: England vs Ireland

2010-02-26T05:10:00.000-08:00

Grand Slam champions Ireland sweep into Twickenham on Saturday with their reputation and unbeaten record of 2009 in tatters.

Heading so confidently into 2010 after a victory over South Africa and the draw with Australia last November, Ireland finally went off the rails in Paris a fortnight ago. The 33-10 defeat was described as 'demoralising' by a couple, a 'reality' by a couple of others and 'a kick up the ass' by Gordon D'Arcy.

Moreover, the discipline is ebbing too. Cian Healy's yellow card was the costliest of all the mistakes the Irish made in Paris and was just plain stupid. Jerry Flannery's kick at Alexis Palisson was worse than stupid. By the end, despite the consolation try from David Wallace, Ireland looked tired, down and out and utterly devoid of inspiration. They will have welcomed having a fortnight off to prepare for England at HQ.

England's ship is sailing in waters no calmer. Impressive against Wales, the lack of anything resembling an attacking strategy against Italy has come in for fierce criticism. Even Jonny Wilkinson is being told he is no good any more. What's that all about?

English rugby fans have become punishingly demanding the longer their drought goes on. It's not enough just to win any more. Seven years is long enough. There must be a Six Nations title, or a Grand Slam run, or a dominant victory, or... something, anything to make England believe all is well and right again.

The match is, in fact, leaning towards being between one team whose fans are too critical, and another whose fans are presenting an air of blind loyalty.

You have to look critically at Ireland now, as must Declan Kidney. Taking a team that had yearned for a Grand Slam for so long to their holy grail is one thing, but the next step is to develop and keep things fresh. This has not been done. Both against France and, perhaps more pertinently, Italy, Ireland looked stale and unimaginative.

Italy in particular should have been finished off cleanly, but Ireland just could not break the shackles. The French sports model found an extra gear almost at will in Paris, Ireland's machine looked more like a clunky diesel engine at times.

England's has rarely looked like anything else for a couple of years now, but it's not supposed to. The management and players make unashamed declarations that they are not there to win pretty. While this squad is being forged, results are all that matter - it's what confidence is built on.

That would be all very well if this were a bunch of fledgelings, but it's not. This is hardly a young bunch of promising players being brought on with a view to something special, this is a well-hardened tribe being hemmed in by stifling tactics. On the rare occasions England ran the ball against Italy, they actually looked pretty good - certainly as though they knew what they were about.

As the French showed, that is the way around Ireland. You find a way to match them up front and then it's the flourishes. England have the former, if they can find the latter, they are still on course for that Grand Slam, critics or not.

Ones to watch:

For England: Riki Flutey looked to be the man most likely to spark something on that flat Valentine's Day in Rome. Ireland presents a different challenge, but assuming he can make another couple of breaks, will he have someone running off him this time?

For Ireland: Cian Healy did his side no favours with a yellow card against France, but was a king of the scrum against Martin Castrogiovanni as Ireland rumbled to victory in the opener. Ireland need the former in a match they have to get on top in at the set piece to stifle their opposition.

Head to head: Jonny v Jonny is a battle of two fly-halves in vastly differing stages of their careers. Jonny Sexton is Ireland's golden boy in many eyes, the man to slip into the mantle of the waning ROG and steer Ireland's backs to their former fluency. Jonny Wilkinson was once England's golden boy, but now the sheen is off. Some say he was fool's gold, others say that those in charge of him are currently the fools. Either way, more is expected of the World Cup winner, who holds 72 more Test caps than his counterpart. Saturday will come the test of whether the powers are on the wane or not.

Recent results:

2009: Ireland won 14-13 at Croke Park
2008: England won 33-10 at Twickenham
2007: Ireland won 43-13 at Croke Park
2006: Ireland won 28-24 at Twickenham
2005: Ireland won 19-13 at Lansdowne Road
2004: Ireland won 19-13 at Twickenham
2003: England won 42-6 at Lansdowne Road
2002: England won 45-11 at Twickenham
2001: Ireland won 20-14 at Lansdowne Road
2000: England won 50-18 at Twickenham

Prediction: We have a sneaking feeling that Ireland are on the wane and that England's belligerence might exploit this. England by three.

The teams:

England: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 David Wilson, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Joe Worsley 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden.

Ireland: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Shane Jennings , 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Andrew Trimble

Date: Saturday, February 27
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 16.00 GMT
Weather: Dry, breezy, 8°C
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos (France), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Carlo Damasco (Italy)

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Heineken Cup quarter-finals photos

2008-04-08T08:02:00.001-07:00

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All Pakistan National Rugby Championship

2008-03-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

17th All Pakistan National Rugby Championship will be played at the DHA ground here on Sunday, a spokesman for the Pakistan Rugby Union said on Thursday. “The championship will be played on a 7-a-side format. The event will be participated by the departments, provinces and educational institutions,” added the spokesman. The 16 teams have been divided into 4 pools.

Punjab A and Pakistan Army, the last year’s winners and runners-up respectively, are the favourites with the teams from Islamabad, Pakistan Police and Central Punjab being capable of springing some upsets. “This will be a full day event, the first game will kick-off at 10:00 am, a total of 24 pool matches will be played on a round robin basis and the top 4 teams going into the knock-out phase (semi-finals) for the eventual winners,” the spokesman said.

Shepherd's son who made rugby history

2008-03-07T02:28:00.000-08:00

JIM Telfer lost more Calcutta Cup matches than he won, both as a hard, roving flanker and as a demanding coach, but when he savoured victories over the "Auld Enemy" they were so great as to douse the entire nation in an exhilarating cocktail of invigorating spirit.
The most memorable moments in Scottish rugby's recent past remain the Grand Slam wins of 1984 and 1990, when, bizarrely, the winning match each time was played on 17 March, the day of Telfer's birthday. On the first occasion he was the head coach, who steered a team featuring John Rutherford, Roy Laidlaw, Jim Aitken and David Leslie to Scotland's first clean sweep of the then Five Nations Championship in 59 years.

He was assistant to Ian McGeechan when a David Sole-captained side repeated the feat by beating England six years later, a senior delegation of players having persuaded him to don the tracksuit again. On the only other occasion since the 1920s that Scotland won the full championship, in 1999, Telfer was again head coach.

The shepherd's son who started life high in the Cheviot Hills , just a mile or so from the English border, went on to play for and coach Melrose, Scotland and the British and Irish Lions. He remains the only person to have played for Scotland against the "big three" southern hemisphere nations – South Africa, Australia and New Zealand – and not lost. He retired in 2003 after ten years as the Scottish Rugby Union's first Director of Rugby.

How hopeful are you of a Scotland win this weekend?

The results so far have not been encouraging, but when you play England it's a one-off. We had not won a game when we played England at the end of the 2000 championship, and we beat them.

Results so far don't reflect how good we could be, and England have not struck the right balance yet, so hope springs eternal.

How important is rugby to Scotland?

Soccer is the national sport and gets a huge following from the media; far too much in terms of how well we perform. But when Scotland are doing well in rugby the whole country is ignited, and it creates a good feeling among everyone; it lifts us and makes us visibly proud to be Scottish.

It's like when Andy Murray does well or Chris Hoy wins gold and flies the Saltire. When rugby does well it is talked about across Scotland, and it is also a greater game for Scottish communities than many realise.

Rugby is not confined to private schools, but played in great, small communities like Alloway, Musselburgh, Lasswade, Melrose and Ellon – just some examples. These are community towns where rugby clubhouses engender a unique, binding social aspect that you don't get with soccer and it would help Scottish society, in my opinion, if we had more of them.

How did your upbringing shape your rugby career and wider philosophy on life?

My upbringing was one where there were no privileges; you had to work for everything you got. I was not born into a family with money, so I had to earn everything.

I took that into my rugby, and teaching probably, in the way I would choose to develop someone no matter what his background was; he was judged by me only on his ability and his attitude. I would always try to encourage the trier; maybe not the most talented, but the one who showed commitment and worked as hard as he could to improve himself.

I came from a non-rugby family, so I had to start from scratch and I've never had much time for people who think they're better than they are, either in rugby or education or in life. The players who always had excuses for not training could disappear as far as I was concerned.

You helped Scotland compete with and defeat some of the leading nations in world rugby. Scotland are currently ranked 10th in the world. Are we much worse now than in the past?

No, we are not much worse. It is more difficult for Scotland to win now than before, with professionalism having improved the leading nations, those who have ten times the number of players we have.

But while we may not have the so-called "stars" of Hastings, Andy Irvine or Jim Renwick, players like Mike Blair, Simon Taylor and Jason White have done great things for Scotland and are as good as any players of the past. The likes of John Barclay, Ross Rennie and Nick De Luca are also great talents of the future.

It is inevitable in a small country that we'll have difficult periods, and others such as 1986, when we had great experienced players merging with an exciting new generation and we beat England 33-6 – Scotland's best Calcutta Cup performance ever, I think.

We lack depth in certain positions, like prop, but what we need right now is confidence because when you look at the quality of back rows, second rows, scrum-halves and back three players we have, we could be a very competitive team.

Can Scottish rugby ever break out of its traditional Borders and independent school territories?

I worked for the SRU for ten years before I retired and we made big inroads into areas that hadn't seen rugby before, particularly disadvantaged parts of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

That work is ongoing, though it does not get reported much, and I think we're doing a remarkably good job of spreading rugby throughout the country. But there are two problems.

The first is the lack of resources and facilities. After spending six weeks introducing children in Easterhouse to rugby, and seeing real enjoyment, eyes being opened, there was nowhere for the youngsters to go and play rugby within walking distance. There were so few rugby clubs around, and if they found one they would feel uncomfortable because it was some way from their home. And rugby isn't a game you can play as easily as football, where all you need is a ball, waste ground and jackets for posts; it relies on more equipment and parental help.

The second thing is the incredible lack of knowledge of what rugby is about, especially among football and so-called "sports" commentators, who are completely ignorant and dismissive of rugby as a middle-class sport. That might be the case in some areas, but in many places it's just a local, community sport.

Personally, though the SRU's work should be praised, and will help continue and strengthen current rugby communities, some of whom are struggling to keep going, I don't think there will be much difference to the numbers playing the game in 20 years' time … unless rugby changed to a summer sport for youngsters and the amateur clubs.

That has the potential to revolutionise rugby, but we're too scared in Scotland of major change. Most if not all of our rugby players don't reach their potential in Scotland because of the weather and lack of opportunity to develop week on week; we don't maximise the talent we have. A change to the better weather would be huge.

How much of a role could the government play, and has the SNP made any noticeable change?

The government could play a huge role. I don't think the government has to give all that much more money to be honest, but where they can make a huge difference to Scottish sport is in making the sporting facilities better across the country.

I coach youngsters through the winter and the weather makes it hard to improve skills and develop enthusiasm. If the government committed itself to a proper facilities strategy, with indoor facilities and more 3G or 4G all-weather multi-sport pitches, we would see a major improvement across Scottish sport.

Is Scotland really a sporting nation?

In individual sports, yes, from sailing to cycling, bowling to skiing and snowboarding, which we don't hear so much of in a soccer-obsessed media, but we're not as committed to sport as some countries, and as some people like to think.

Let's face it, we're not very good at football, yet that dominates the tabloids and skews the picture of sport in Scotland.

Could the London Olympics in 2012 and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 leave a lasting legacy for Scottish sport?

I think it's great to have the Olympics in the UK, although it is a phoney event now compared to what it set out to be. There is all sorts of cheating going on, which everybody knows, but few are brave enough to speak about, so it's not conducted in the same spirit it was in the early 20th century.

But it has this magic because it only happens once every four years, and being world champion in athletics isn't, it seems, as important as being Olympic champion, so it carries a lot of currency. It also attracts great interest and influences people inside and outside of sport so, yes, it can be very positive for the UK.

Scotland is not particularly athletic as a whole; we're better at sports where we don't have to run far or very quick. But the Commonwealth Games will be great for Scotland providing it is not allowed to become an exclusively Glasgow event, which is my problem with the SNP. They are no better than the last government in terms of concentrating on the Central Belt, where they get most votes, to the detriment of the south and north.

So do the SNP and their campaign for independence not seem attractive to a Scottish socialist?

I see myself as a patriot and socialist, but I vote Labour and not SNP because I don't agree with their policies, particularly their anti-nuclear, or anti-war policy. Nobody wants war, but we need strong leadership to counteract tyrants.

If the SNP become a dominant power we'll have a problem because the party simply brings together people with a desire to become independent, but if we got independence, I think people would then vote down the traditional lines of socialist, liberal or conservative politics and the SNP would have no use.

I have become less left-wing in recent years because I see the value in some areas of private enterprise and believe in a mixed economy, but I am still left-of-centre and believe in social justice, strong leadership, rewarding people who work hard in life, equal opportunities and the minimum wage, for instance. If we were a one-party state I'd be in prison before I voted Conservative, but that's just me.

Rugby having been at the centre of your life for more than 50 years, are you able to escape the sport in retirement?

Yes. It took me a while to get used to retirement, and days that didn't start at 6am and finish at midnight, but I disappeared from rugby for two years and it's now creeping back in.

My wife Frances and I enjoy travelling. We were in New Zealand at this time last year, and we're going to Las Vegas, Washington and Orlando this year. I've always been fascinated by America and I would like to go to China and India.

I am also going to Spanish classes at the Borders College in Peebles. I believe you have to keep your mind active; keep challenging yourself. I'm not in the gym so much now after a heart operation nearly three years ago, but I do a lot of gardening, and walk my Labrador three times a day.

Have you caught up with electronic age – do you own an iPod?

An eye what? I have a mobile phone and a computer, just, but hardly use them. My grandson Kenneth shows me, but if he can do it why should I interfere?

If you had a magic wand, what would you want for Scottish rugby over the next decade?

I would just like to see all levels thriving and being reasonably successful. We'll never be world-beaters, and the only time I've ever been really disheartened was during the political fighting in 2005, which, thankfully, is behind us now, so I'd want to see Scotland winning three or four Six Nations games each year, Glasgow and Edinburgh reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup and clubs thriving and continuing to produce real rugby talent.

I worry about having professional rugby contained in our two biggest cities, and would want to see rugby spread so that youngster
s as far afield as Wick, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kelso and Dumfries have the same opportunities to enjoy rugby, be the best they can be and help Scotland be the best it can be.

What has been your most rewarding achievement?

I don't judge my life on achievements; I tend to judge it on what I am doing at the present time.

I was very happy teaching in Glasgow and the Lothians, and when I was headteacher at Hawick High School and took great satisfaction in seeing pupils achieve, whether it was passing an exam they didn't think they could, going to college or university, doing well in sport, or simply growing into a happy and confident adult.

But this week my "'reward" will be seeing Melrose Wasps beat Forrester in the youth cup and/or the Borders U16s beat Newcastle Falcons on Sunday … and Scotland beat England, of course.

Heineken Cup 2008 Results

2008-01-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday 19th January 2008
Newport-Gwent D'gons 0 VS Perpignan 25
Treviso 11 VS London Irish 24
Toulouse 34 VS Edinburgh 10
Leicester 25 VS Leinster 9
Llanelli Scarlets 0 VS Clermont Auvergne 41
Munster 19 VS Wasps 3

McGeechan rues European exit

2008-01-20T05:13:00.000-08:00

Wasps boss Ian McGeechan was full of praise for Munster following their 19-3 victory in Ireland on Saturday, but he questioned referee Nigel Owens's decision to sin-bin Simon Shaw for not retreating the required ten yards at a penalty.

The loss means that Wasps are now out of the Heineken Cup, with the defence of their title being washed away in treacherous conditions at Thomond Park.

Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara booted 14 points with a flawless kicking display to lead Munster's assault while Denis Leamy broke Wasps' resistance with a late try.

The holders would have progressed to the quarter-finals with a draw but ultimately could not even claim the losing bonus-point that guaranteed second place in Pool Five.

As it was, the defending champions finished third in Pool Five following Clermont's triumph over Llanelli and McGeechan conceded Munster were worthy winners.

"Simon's sin-binning was crucial but these are the things that you have to live with in big games," he said.

"We were on the receiving end of some tough calls and in a marginal game it's the little things like that become huge.

"Some of those decisions in the first half, had they gone for us, might have swung the pendulum in our way.

"We're disappointed. We said who missed out in this group would be unlucky because it was such a tough group.

"I think we played well throughout the group campaign but a couple of bonus points went begging.

"Clermont sending a second team to Munster was also quite instrumental in the outcome.

"We knew we'd have to get it 100 per cent right tonight to win but the penalty count went against us and Munster kept all the ball.

"Munster kept their noses in front at key times and it was always going to be difficult against them.

"I think we had the stronger pack so I'm not sure the wet conditions favoured Munster.

"On the night we can't complain about Munster winning."

Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio also questioned the decision to send Shaw to the sin-bin.

"Line-out and discipline was the key. We started well but I thought the turning point was Simon Shaw's sin-binning," said Dallaglio, who was also yellow-carded later in the game.

"I am not sure it was a sin-bin offence, a penalty yes, but in the context of the game, it helped them gain the momentum.

"Small decisions make a big difference but it is not sour grapes. Ultimately we were beaten by a side that played the conditions better than us."

Meanwhile, Munster boss Declan Kidney hailed his side who have reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for an unprecedented tenth successive year.

He said: "This is a special day. To beat a team of Wasps' calibre by this score was very impressive.

"It speaks volumes for all the players and the decision making out on pitch.

"We managed to scrape a point out of every game we played in the group stage and that was very important to qualification.

"I'm very proud of the boys. When it comes to matches like this we have to punch above our weight and that's what we do."

Kidney hailed O'Gara who also set up Leamy's try to cap a magnificent effort.

He said: "Ronan was absolutely magnificent. I can't speak highly enough of him. He's getting better and better."

But the victory was built on a titanic display from Munster and Ireland lock Donncha O'Callaghan who proved a thorn in the side of the visitors' line-out.

"Today was a cup final in itself and that was how we approached it," said O'Callaghan.

"We have huge respect for Wasps and we are thrilled to get out of the group.

"Every match was a dog-fight and it was brilliant to be a part of it. It was an immense effort.

"We would have settled for a quarter-final before the group began so not having a home tie doesn't bother us."

European Challenge Cup Fixtures(January 11- January 20)

2008-01-18T03:12:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 11
Connacht v Brive
Dax v Calvisano
Saturday, January 19
Bath v Auch
Rugby Parma v Montauban
Worcester v Bucuresti
Petrarca v Bayonne
Albi v Overmach Parma
Montpellier v Sale
Sunday, January 20
Newcastle v Cetransa El Salvador

Foley eager to swat Wasps

Top 10 HEC Tries Of 2007

Heineken Cup Fixtures (18th - 20th January)

2008-01-17T10:00:00.001-08:00

Friday 18th January 2008
Glasgow v Saracens
Biarritz v Viadana

Saturday 19th January 2008
Treviso v London Irish
Newport-Gwent D'gons v Perpignan
Toulouse v Edinburgh
Leicester v Leinster
Munster v Wasps
Llanelli Scarlets v Clermont Auvergne

Sunday 20th January 2008
Gloucester v Ulster
Bourgoin v Ospreys
Harlequins v Stade Francais
Bristol v Cardiff Blues