Aviva Premiership Final Preview

The Champion of English rugby will be crowned today as the home of the RFU, Twickenham stages the 2012 Aviva Premiership Final to be contested by the Harlequins and the Leicester Tigers. Should the Quins be victorious it would be the first ever championship title for the London based side. While a win for the Tigers would see England´s most successful club continue to expand on its untouchable resume in English rugby. Leicester are nine time champions of England, three more than the nearest best clubs, Bath and the London Wasps who have both been champions six times. Leicester´s last championship victory came in 2010 while the club was defeated by Saracens in the 2011 final. 

Regardless of who wins, the Final will be a further illustration of the strength of Argentine rugby with Pumas players being present in both teams. The Harlequins will have a Pumas secondrower on the bench as Tomás Vallejos Cinalli looks to break into the squad for The Rugby Championship. The Leicester Tigers have two Pumas in the starting lineup with Horacio Agulla set to play his final match for the club. He will start on the right wing while Marcos Ayerza is to start at loosehead prop. Argentine-Italian tighthead prop, Martín Castrogiovanni has been named on the bench. 

Prediction: Leicester to win by 8 points. 

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Marcos Ayerza

While Rodrigo Roncero ahs been terrorizing scrums in the French Top 14 for years Marcos Ayerza has been doing similar things in England´s Aviva Premiership. A player of the callibre of Roncero is not easy to replace but in the case of Marcos Ayerza, the man they call Toro (Bull) is an excellent alternative. Ayerza has been a Puma for a long, long time having made bit debut in 2004 vs South Africa as a 21 year old. He emerged as a player to replace the old guard of Roberto Grau and Mauricio Reggiardo who left international rugby following Rugby World Cup 2003. Roncero became Argentina´s leading loosehead prop with Ayerza his replacement while Omar Hasan and Martín Scelzo were the two leading players for the tighthead position. Coach Marcelo Loffreda maintained it this way and selected these four props and Santiago González Bonorino for Rugby World Cup 2007. 

Ayerza for Leicester

While it has been hard for Ayerza to break into the starting XV he has constantly been an outstanding player for the Leicester Tigers in England. He joined the club in 2006 and is a three time champion having won the English championship in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Such has been the importance of Ayerza for Leicester that he has played 150 matches for the club, having picked up his 150th appearance in the final round of the regular season on May 5th vs Bath at Welford Road. Ayerza has not only played plenty of rugby but has dominated the tighthead position, having started in 125 of his 150 appearances for what is the most successful club in the history of English rugby. He has been recognized as one of the best around winning nominations and official awards such as being included in the 2009 Sky Sports Dream Teat for being the best loosehead prop in England. The club also wants a lot more from Ayerza and signed him on a new deal earlier this season with will see him playing for the Leicester Tigers until Rugby World Cup 2015. 

Ayerza vs Georgia, RWC 2011

Since debuting in 2004, Ayerza has played 34 tests for Argentina with 15 being in the starting lineup and 19 as a replacement, due to Rodrigo Roncero´s long term hold on the position fo tighthead prop. It is, however, misleading to say that he has been surplus to requirements. Ayerza started in some key wins for Argentina, including the history making 25-18 win over England at Twickenham in 2006 and Argentina´s win vs England three years latter in Salta. The two matches showcase his attributes as he started in his normal position of loosehead prop in the 2006 match while in 2009 he started at tighthead. Ayerza has also started in wins against Chile, Ireland, Italy Japan, Scotland and Uruguay as well as having started vs Georgia in Rugby World Cup 2007 and again in 2011. During his career as a Puma he has scored one test try, vs Japan in 2005. 

Ayerza is going to be a key player for Argentina in The Rugby Championship and is set to form a new look frontrow alongside hooker Agustín Creevy and tighthead prop Juan Figallo. Both players, like Ayerza, are having solid seasons. The trio could very well be the same combination to take on the world at Rugby World Cup 2015 in England. With over three years of international competition between now and then they will be able to combine their individual talents to work together. As such they have a long time and could certainly be the best frontrow going into England 2015. It all starts in less than a month from now with Argentina taking on Italy in San Juan. Ayerza is certain to be Argentina´s starting loosehead prop this season and could, indeed, be a star performer in The Rugby Championship. 

Week One: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week Two: Lucas González Amorosino

Week Three: Marcelo Bosch

Week Four: Agustín Creevy

Week Five: Juan Martín Hernández 
Week Six: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week Seven: Leonardo Senatore

Week Eight: Rodrigo Roncero
Week Nine: Gonzalo Camacho
Week Ten: Patricio Albacete
Week Eleven: Horacio Agulla
Week Twelve: Juan Figallo
Week Thirteen: Santiago Fernández

Week Fourteen: Tomás Cubelli

Week Fifteen: Marcos Ayerza

Week Sixteen: Manuel Carizza

Aviva Premiership Semi Finals - The Road to Twickenham

The Aviva Premiership is down to four with the Semi Finals of England´s premier rugby competition to be played on Saturday in Leicester and London. The two winning sides will qualify for the final to be played at the home of English rugby, Twickenham Stadium on May 26. The same venue will host the Heineken Cup Final one week earlier between Leinster and Ulster. It will also be the central venue for Rugby World Cup 2015 with the RFU having said the venue will open the tournament as well as host the final.

The Aviva Premiership Semi Finals will be a further case in point for Argentina to host Rugby World Cup 2023 due to the involvement of Pumas players in both Semi Finals. No other country yet to host a World Cup will have players in both Semi Finals. The case for Argentina to host is also supported by the involvement of the USA with the North American country having a player involved in one of the two Semi Finals. With Japan hosting Rugby World Cup 2019 the Americas will be the onl region yet to have hosted a World Cup. The same region is the only to have produced a World Cup Semi Finalist yet to host a tournament.

Leicester Tigers vs Saracens

Saracens won the 2011 Final while Leicester won in 2010. In 2012, however, they will play at the Semi Finals stage. Leicester enter as heavy favorites having dominated the Aviva Premiership inr ecent times. Since the completion of the Six Nations no team has come close to playing the kind of rugby that Leicester have. 

Players from the Americas: Horacio Agulla and Marcos Ayerza (Argentina),  Chris Wyles (USA), Martín Castrogiovanni and Carlos Nieto (Argentine players who are Italian capped)

Prediction: Tigers to win by 12 points.

Leicester15 Geordan Murphy (captain), 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 George Skivington, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza

Bench: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 Craig Newby, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Scott Hamilton

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Steve Borthwick (capt), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.

Bench: 16 Jamie George, 17 John Smit, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Hugh Vyvyan, 20 George Kruis, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Adam Powell, 23 James Short.

Harlequins vs Northampton Saints

The Quins dominated the first half of the season and were well out in front in the Premiership before other clubs closed the gap following the return of players from World Cup duty. Northampton were the final team to qualify for the Semi Finals but are no weak opponent. The match could go either way with the sides being of similar abilities.

Players from the Americas: Tomás Vallejos Cinalli

Prediction: Harlequins to win by 3

Harlequins

15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson,
4 Olly Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler

Bench: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Tomás Vallejos Cinalli, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Richard Bolt, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Matt Hopper.

Northampton15 Ben Foden,14 Chris Ashton, 13 George Pisi, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 James Craig, 5 Christian Day, 4 Mark Sorenson, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Andy Long, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha

Bench: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Ben Nutley, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Tom May.

2010 Final 


2011 Final 

Exeter Chiefs resign Ignacio Mieres

Two year extension for Ignacio Mieres

The bombshell that the Leicester Tigers management dropped in January due to the club likely to lose the services of winger Horacio Agulla to The Rugby Championship threatened to seriously harm Argentina rugby. It created a grave scenario in which Pumas players may well be forced into chosing their careers as professional rugby players or playing international rugby for their country. Thus far, however, the seriousness of the threats have failed to materialize and the evidence suggests that clubs are seeing that they cannot lose their star Pumas players. 

With Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga and Marcos Ayerza both having agreed to stay at Stade Français and Leicester already another player has today confirmed he is staying on with his European club. 24 year old  Ignacio Mieres has been a key player all season for the Exeter Chiefs, contributing in no small manner to the teams performances which have seen the club move to close to securing a first ever Heineken Cup place for next season. The club is also close to the Top Four of the Aviva Premiership. Mieres has been instrumental as a goalkicker and playmaker in general. He has played 22 matches, scoring 240 points for the club this season. The result is that Exeter has signed the player known in Argentina as Cangu for an additional two years. In an interview with Argentine site Scrum, Cangu made it clear that his intentions are to be a Puma and no longer a fringe player.

His form will, without question, see him earn an international call up and with Argentina´s first match of 2012 being vs Italy on the same day as the Top 14 Orange Final Mieres could even start at flyhalf for his country. A lot could well depend on who makes the French Final but Santiago Phelan will, nevertheless, be using his pencil to good effect with the name of Ignacio Mieres. A likely scenario is that players from the Top 14 Orange Barrage and Semi Finals stage who miss out on the Final will be rested for the Italian match at San Juan, with them likely to instead play vs France in Córdoba the following weekend.

Pumas Players Remain in High Demand

The transitional year of 2012 threatened to tear apart Argentine rugby as European clubs were not happy with having to release players for international duty in The Rugby Championship. The Southern Hemisphere competition will finish in October, meaning players involved will miss the pre-season and early rounds of the season in Europe. Racing Métro and the Leicester Tigers had both stated that they were not impressed and would not be looking at signing Pumas players in the future. The pendulum has swung, however, as the same two clubs are showing no signs of ending contracts with Pumas players. Racing Métro are in the process of trying to resign Juan Martín Hernández with the flyhalf also having been given official offers to return to Stade Français or play Super Rugby for the Blues in Auckland. Similarly, while Leicester had said it won´t be resigning Horacio Agulla the player himself is still in negotiations with the club and has continues to do the talking on the field having been nominated as Leicester´s player of the month for the second time this season.

Ayerza staying at Leicester

Agulla´s Leicester and Pumas teammate, Marcos Ayerza has finalized talks with Leicester over his involvement in The Rugby Championship with the club accepting his involvement rather than giving him the choice os staying at Leicester or playing for Argentina.Other clubs are not being put off resigning their Pumas stars. Stade Français is a club with many Pumas and it could have more soon if Hernández does return from Racing Métro. The club is negotiating a new deal with Martín Rodriguez Gurruchaga for him to play for a further two or three years for the Paris club. Curiously, the club sees him as an inside centre rather than a fullback. This could very well be replicated by Santiago Phelan who initially selected Rodríguez Gurruchaga as an inside centre in 2009. 

Agulla and Ayerza help Leicester win LV=Cup

Horacio Agulla

With Horacio Agulla playing the full match and Marcos Ayeza playing 69 minutes, the Leicester Tigers wno the Anglo-Welsh Cup Final on Sunday afternoon at Sixways in Worcester. The 26-14 win means Leicester have automatic qualification for next seasons Heineken Cup regardless of where or not the club finishes in the top six of the Aviva Premiership. The Aviva Premiership resumes next weekend with Leicester hosting Worcester and Northampton hosting the London Wasps. Both the Leicester Tigers and the Northampton Saints are well placed for an appearance in the Semi Finals and have been two of the best teams in recent times. A rematch is a strong possibility to determine the English Champion latter this season in the Aviva Premiership Final. 

Known as the LV= Cup for commerical reasons, the Anglo-Welsh Cup competition is considered as being in third position behind the Aviva Premiership and the Heineken Cup. This does not mean that teams are not in it to win. Both clubs fielded strong sides, but sides missing players to Six Nations duty. The two Pumas were joined by former English, Irish and New Zealand internationals. Horacio Agulla entered the match having already been nominated for the second time this season as Leicester´s player of the month. He is one of three players in contention for the award. He joins Steve Mafi who started in the backrow in the final and George Ford who played flyhalf. His continued strong form would suggest that the club will not be going through on its promise to not resign Agulla due to his involvement in The Rugby Championship.