WHEN Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka took the first Fiji team to the World Sevens in 1992, there was no rugby league at all in the island nation. When Skipper Nuilevu arrived in Sacramento 26 years later as a first generation domestic Fijian rugby league player, there was none there either. So like the General, he started it. “The club started back in…
SUCH is the scope of rugby league’s gathering of the tribes in Las Vegas this week that when Matty Barron coached Ontario Ospreys to victory in the women’s division of the NRL Nines, the man who introduced him to rugby league in north-east England 25 years ago just happened to be in the crowd. The Ospreys downed fellow Canadians BC…
UKRAINE, Thailand, Chile, South Sudan, Philippines, Malta, Syria, Macedonia and Cambodia will all be represented at the Harmony Nines in suburban Wollongong this weekend. The concept, showcasing diversity in Australian rugby league at grassroots level, began in 2009. This weekend’s two-day event at Croome Road Sporting Complex in Albion Park will involve as many as 1000 men and women, boys…
By CHAMPIONSHIP RUGBY LEAGUE WITH the most rugby league players ever assembled in the one location at one time in this country, the USA National 9s successfully opened the door on Stateside potential. The host city Winnemucca was the perfect backdrop for the 10 hours of rugby league played by over 200 athletes. With the perfect blue skies and mountains…
THE French women’s Nines featuring seven clubs will be staged at Stade Alessandra in Cavaillon tomorrow. Kicking off the domestic season with a Nines tournament is becoming an annual tradition in France, where the men had their event in Toulouges on Saturday. As in the men’s tournament, teams are split into two pools – in this case one of four…
THE French Elite 1 season, which runs over the Northern Hemisphere winter, will kick off with a 10-team Nines tournament in Toulouges this weekend. It’s a lightning-quick series of matches running from 2.3opm to 8.30pm on Saturday at Clairfont Stadium, with the sides divided into two groups. The top two teams in each group will proceed to the semi-finals and…
A DAZZLING sidestep from England international Tara Stanley in pouring rain decided the first ever women’s rugby league title in Europe to carry prize money.The York City Knights star star glided through the Leeds defence after seven minutes at AJ Bell Stadium in the RFL Women’s Nines final to bag a converted try in the bonus zone – she did the converting too – and…
TODAY’s RFL Women’s Nines finals from AJ Bell Stadium in Salford are to be televised on the ouRLeague platform, it has been announced. Five English and one French club will play off after 20 teams originally took part in qualifying on May 1, fighting to be crowned Europe’s first club champions in the abbreviated version of rugby league. It will…
Her father played in the first-ever Super League game and now Zoe Pastre-Courtine has been added to the Catalans Nines squad for their own tilt at rugby league history this Sunday. The Catalans Goddesses will bring a smaller squad to the RFL Women’s Nines finals at AJ Bell Stadium than travelled to Warrington for the pool matches on May 1….
