Good news for the men and there have been rumblings from Nigel Melville that some games at the Women’s Rugby World Cup could televised as well.

from USA Rugby:

Networks Partner with International Rugby Board for Rights to Rugby World Cup in 2011 and 2015

All World Cup Matches to Air across Universal Sports’ Media Platforms

NEW YORK CITY — June 17, 2010 – Universal Sports Network, NBC Sports, and the International Rugby Board (IRB) today announced a partnership that will bring to U.S. audiences unprecedented national television and digital media coverage of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup tournaments.

The announcement was made by Universal Sports CEO David Sternberg and Mike Miller, CEO and Secretary General, International Rugby Board. The official launch was supported by USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville and the local New York rugby community in the build-up to the Churchill Cup finals set for Saturday, June 19 at Red Bull Arena.

“This is a huge step in the right direction for USA Rugby,” Melville said. “A major broadcast partner will create a number of new opportunities for the sport, raising rugby’s profile in America, as well as allowing supporters to follow the Eagles on their road to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.”

Universal Sports, the preeminent destination for Olympic-related sports programming, and NBC Sports will provide full, multi-platform coverage of all 48 matches during the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand and the 2015 World Cup in England. Two matches in each tournament, including the Finals in 2011 and 2015, will air either live or on a same-day delay on NBC Sports. Live and delayed match video will also be accessible at www.universalsports.com, and on Universal Sports’ mobile platforms. Universal Sports’ and NBC Sports’ match coverage will feature a studio pre-game show, halftime and post-game shows, as well as several other production enhancements, and will be offered in high definition.

“This is a very significant rights acquisition for Universal Sports, especially given the growing popularity of rugby around the world and in America,” said Sternberg. “We are delighted to be partnering with the IRB for the Rugby World Cup and other top events, and we look forward to showcasing global rugby, at its highest level, for our audiences across all of our platforms—television, online and mobile.”

“Today’s announcement represents a significant milestone in the development of Rugby in the United States,” said Miller. “NBC and Universal Sports are globally renowned for quality broadcast delivery of major sports events in the United States and their considerable experience and passion for sport will deliver the widespread platform for Rugby World Cup to truly capture the hearts and minds of American sports fans.”

The Rugby World Cup is one of the largest and most avidly watched sporting events in the world, drawing an estimated 4.2 billion viewers worldwide during the last championship in France in 2007. The competition next year begins on September 9, 2011, when host New Zealand meets Tonga in Auckland. The tournament field consists of 20 different nations, likely including the United States, who will compete over the course of a month for the coveted Webb Ellis Cup. New Zealand and Australia jointly hosted the first edition of the Rugby World Cup in 1987 while South Africa is the defending champion from 2007.

The agreement extends Universal Sports’ focus on rugby, which will debut at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since the beginning of June, the network has really built up their rugby coverage. They have teamed up with USA Rugby and televised the U.S. College Sevens Invitational and the six-country Churchill Cup tournament. The final two matches of the Churchill Cup, featuring both the U.S. national team and the England Saxons, will air live from Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, this Saturday, June 19 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, LP, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related sports programming on television and online. Universal Sports is available in more than 63 million homes, including all of the nation’s top 10 DMAs: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Denver, Portland, and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com.

ABOUT IRB & RUGBY WORLD CUP: Rugby World Cup is the world’s third largest single sports event and the 2011 tournament in New Zealand will be broadcast to a potential audience of over 4 billion in 200 countries. All tournament surpluses generated by commercial revenues underwrite a range of major funding initiatives aimed at increasing global growth and stimulating participation. In total the IRB will invest over £153 million during the period 2009-2012.

ABOUT USA RUGBY: USA RUGBY, founded in 1975, is the national governing body for rugby and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Rugby Board (IRB). The organization is responsible for the development of boys, girls, high school, collegiate and club rugby programs, as well as the nation’s rugby coaches, referees, administrators and all of its national teams that represent the U.S. in international competitions. As part of this development, USA Rugby hosts a number of courses, clinics, National Championship events and international matches throughout the year. For more information, please visit www.usarugby.org.

CONTACT INFO:

Universal Sports
Kevin Endsley
kendsley@universalsports.com
818-661-4188

Greg Hughes
Ghughes5425@gmail.com

NBC Sports
Adam Freifeld
Adam.freifeld@nbcuni.com

IRB
Dominic Rumbles
Dominic.Rumbles@irb.com

USA Rugby
Sara Wright
swright@usarugby.org

from USA Rugby:

BOULDER, Colo. – The Churchill Cup makes its return to U.S. soil this summer,once again stopping in the City of Glendale, Colo. before making its East Coast debut at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

The 2010 lineup showcases the USA Eagles, Canada, England Saxons and tournament newcomers France A, Russia and Uruguay in three rounds of doubleheader pool matches at Infinity Park, Glendale on June 5, 9 and 13.

The pool stages lead into a tripleheader finals day at Red Bull Arena, the new home of the New York Red Bulls Major League Soccer side, on June 19.

“The Churchill Cup is a vital part of our international season and offers top flight international competition, as well as providing increased exposure of the sport to new audiences in the United States,” said Nigel Melville, Chief Executive Officer of USA Rugby.

“We are excited to be returning to Infinity Park and to be staging the finals day at a new venue, the Red Bull Arena, a world-class stadium that provides both players and fans with an unparalleled experience.”

Terry Burwell, Churchill Cup Tournament Director, said: “We are delighted to take Churchill Cup VIII back to Denver and to add Harrison to the 10 other cities in the Canada and USA who have hosted the tournament since 2003. Infinity Park is a top grade dedicated rugby ground and we are looking forward to the pool stages there before a bumper finals day at a superb new facility in the Red Bull Arena.”

In 2009, the first time the Churchill Cup was held entirely in the U.S., the pool matches consistently attracted near sellout crowds to Glendale’s Infinity Park and the tournament hopes to build on past success in 2010.

“In June 2009, rugby enthusiasts from around the world came to Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado to experience world-class rugby at the 7th Annual Churchill Cup. It is so exciting to see this great sport growing in communities throughout this country. We are honored to host the Churchill Cup again in 2010 at Infinity Park, the first rugby-specific stadium in the U.S,” said Mike Dunafon, Mayor Pro Tem, Glendale, Colo.

The Churchill Cup will be the first non-soccer event held at the Red Bull Arena. After much anticipation, the 25,000 capacity soccer-specific stadium is scheduled for its grand unveiling on Saturday, March 20, when the Red Bulls take on Brazilian side Santos FC.
“We are honored to host the Finals of the Churchill Cup at Red Bull Arena,” said Red Bull New York Managing Director Erik Stover. “It continues our commitment to bringing top international events to the Metropolitan New York area. This event fits well into the schedule of Red Bull Arena as the Red Bulls are on their World Cup break.”

The 2009 Churchill Cup finals were played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, Colo.) and saw Ireland A upend perennial victors England Saxons in a six try final effort to claim the Cup. Argentina Jaguars defeated Canada 44-29 to earn the Plate and the USA Eagles took home the Bowl in a 31-13 final over the republic of Georgia.

For more information on the 2010 Churchill Cup visit www.churchillcuprugby.net.

2010 Churchill Cup Pools & Schedule

Pool A
Canada
Uruguay
France A

Pool B
USA
Russia
England Saxons

Schedule
Saturday, June 5
Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado
Canada v Uruguay
USA v Russia

Wednesday, June 9
Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado
England Saxons v Russia
France A v Uruguay

Sunday, June 13
Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado
USA v England Saxons
Canada v France A

Saturday, June 19
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey
Finals Day tripleheader

About Infinity Park: Opened in September 2007 with a 4,000-seat game-day capacity, Infinity Park is one of the only rugby-specific stadiums in the United States. Owned and operated by the City of Glendale, it is also home to the Division I Glendale Raptors Rugby Football Club, and boasts a state-of-the-art broadcast production facility (all home games are broadcast live on RugbyZone.com and also on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain), a natural grass turf system, and the Try Club, a uniquely-appointed pub-type clubhouse for players, VIP guests, and sponsors. The Infinity Park complex includes the Glendale Sports Center, a high-tech fitness center with a full range of cardio equipment, weight rooms, basketball court, and deluxe locker room facilities, and the new Infinity Park Event Center, featuring a virtual 360-degree video screen in the 800-seat International Ballroom, as well as smaller meeting rooms for training, board meetings, and conferences.

About the Red Bull Arena: Red Bull Arena is a world-class sports venue located in Harrison, New Jersey. The 25,000-seat stadium features a dynamic form roof that covers all of the seating and features 30 Skyboxes, three premium clubs, two retail outlets and a Kentucky Bluegrass field. Red Bull Arena is the home of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer. Red Bull Arena is privately funded stadium and owned by Red Bull GmbH, an Austrian company that produces the worlds leading energy drink. For more information, logo onto www.redbullarena.us.

Churchill Cup Background: The Churchill Cup is an alliance between the English Rugby Football Union (RFU), Rugby Canada and USA Rugby. The tournament was launched in 2003 and aims to develop and grow the sport of rugby union across Canada and the USA. It is named after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who shared close ties with the United States – his mother was American – and with Canada during the Second World War. With support from the International Rugby Board the tournament has grown in success since 2003 when 5,000 people attended to watch the three Alliance nations in Vancouver. Since its introduction, both men’s and women’s teams from England, USA and Canada have participated although since 2005 it has been a men only event. Invitational sides from Argentina, Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand have all participated, while there was also a women’s competition in 2003 and 2004.

I have partnered with UR7s to do a monthly blog, so I will post the article here and it will be available on UR7s as well. Very exciting and this will hopefully bring more exposure to the 7s side of things.

from UR7s:

I am so happy to be writing here on UR7s! You may be familiar with my main blog at Your Scrumhalf Connection, but I am branching out to a few partner sites.

I started the blog Your Scrumhalf Connection because I was incredibly frustrated with the lack of coverage for women’s rugby. The original form of YSC was a much smaller version only meant to cover rugby in the Western Rugby Union.

But after a few months when I realized that most of my visitors were from outside the Western Rugby Union, I quickly branched out to include all women’s rugby.

While the focus of YSC is always changing, the main core has been to promote and evolve women’s rugby. As a player, coach, referee and lover of the game I can’t imagine my life without rugby and my blog. But lets be honest, one girl and a computer can’t do it all!

That is why I was so excited when UR7s asked me to contribute on their site. The more positive sites out there with the same purpose to bring women’s rugby into the light means the more support we will have.

Speaking of support, I was so enthused at the turnout at the February USA Sevens Tournament!

Our men and women had some great performances, especially the 2nd place finish for the women. This is the 2nd year in a row that the USA women have come in 2nd at this tournament. It followed up on an encouraging few days at the Dubai Sevens back in December also.

Next up for our National teams is Hong Kong Sevens and we will expect our teams to domintate there as well. WRONG!

The women unfortunately will not be attending Hong Kong Sevens and will actually have a long sabattical from International rugby since there is no Hong Kong funding for the Sevens girls. Well, that kind of makes sense since this is a World Cup year for the 15s program, right? Wait, wait, you say that the 15s program is hurting for money as well?
This disappoints me gravely as our women in both programs have proven themselves over and over on pitches across the world. I don’t want to turn this article into an analysis over how much the women have won or not won compared to the men…but its time to demand equal funding for our programs again.

The USA women’s program is heading to the 2010 Rugby World Cup with minimal funding and minimal training time together. They recently had a Developmental Camp but will only have one other skill camp and possibly two test matches against Canada before we they leave for England on August 8. While there are rumors of a camp leading up to the World Cup, who knows if the funding will arrive in time?
Since there is limited funding for the 15s team to prepare for the World Cup, what will happen in 2016 when the Sevens team heads to the Olympics? We all know that sending an army to a battle with no spears is not very smart and I hate to say it but that is what it feels like!

Now I know our women will rally with what they are given and continue to show their heart, commitment and desire, but can USA Rugby honestly say they have done everything they could have done to prepare our Women’s National teams?

Let us wait and see.

Courtesy of Paki’s Corner, view the Best Tries of the 2010 USA Sevens Tournament:

and courtesy of Monty, here is the video of Kevin Swiryn proposing to his girlfriend Lauren Shaughnessey, sooo cute!

To view more YSC videos hover over the heading ‘Videos’ on the navigation bar up top and choose Rugby Video Monday.

Please continue sending in your videos and I will keep posting them! Send them to wendy@scrumhalfconnection.com.

from USA Rugby:

DUBLIN, Ireland – The International Rugby Board has confirmed that eight Unions have expressed a formal interest to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013.

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Scotland and USA all submitted their interest to tender for the global showcase tournament by the deadline on October 30.

The strong level of tender interest is another significant boost for Rugby Sevens at a time when the sport is enjoying its highest ever profile following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to include the sport in the Olympic Games, starting from 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

“The International Rugby Board is delighted with the phenomenal level of interest in hosting Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013,” said Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“Rugby Sevens’ winning formula of exciting, explosive action, competitive matches, world class men’s and women’s players and plenty of spectacular tries has proven a major hit with commercial partners and broadcasters the world over, while also proving highly successful in reaching out to new audiences.”

“At a time when we look forward to the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, that eight Unions from countries across five continents are attracted to hosting Rugby World Cup Sevens clearly highlig hts the global prestige of the tournament which has grown to become a major event on the global sporting stage,” added Lapasset.

The eventual host of the 2013 tournament will look to emulate this year’s ground breaking event held in Dubai. The first to feature a women’s competition, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 pushed the boundary for Rugby Sevens once more, shattering all previous broadcast records with the action reaching 141 countries through 29 international broadcasters in 19 languages.

“Rugby World Cup Sevens was a resounding success on and off the field, breaking all previous hosting records. It also highlighted the exponential growth across emerging markets such as North and South America, Asia and Africa with the likes of Kenya, USA, Argentina and Tunisia stamping their mark in the men’s tournament and Brazil, Uganda, Thailand and China shining in the women’s event,” added Lapasset.

Tendering Unions for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 have been asked to follow the same format as the 2009 tournament with 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams competing over two or three days.

RWCL has also recommended that tenders maintain the blend of two pitches within one city, ideally co-located. This will maximise the festival feel across the two competition pitches and the integration between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Unions have until 1700 GMT on December 15, 2009 to formally confirm that they will tender for the tournament. The Host Union for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 will be selected by the IRB Council at its May 2010 meeting.

Further Information:

Dominic Rumbles, IRB Head of Communications, +353-86-852-0826, email: dominic.rumbles@irb.com