Rugby artwork

All Blacks in Chicago

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New Zealand All Blacks to play at Chicago’s Soldier Field in November

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Agreement is understood to have been reached that the All Blacks will play a test in Chicago on November 2. Some tinkering of the pitch at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, will ensure it is wide enough to host the fixture. USA Rugby is moving towards agreement with relevant English Premiership clubs about player release.

The expectation is that a minimum 40,000 tickets will be sold, which should enable USA Rugby to make a sizeable profit after they have paid the New Zealand Rugby Union a guaranteed sum, believed to be $1 million to cover their costs.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11233010

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Round 3

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France 30 - Italy 10

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France v Italy - Official Short Highlights

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France made it back-to-back victories in the Six Nations Championship as a second-half stampede saw them ease past Italy 30-10 in Paris on Sunday.

A 9-3 half-time score summed up perfectly what was a dismal opening 40 minutes before the floodgates opened after the break for Les Bleus.

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Man of the match: Few would have scored the try that Wesley Fofana did. His ability to see space before others was evident when he spotted just that on the blindside of a ruck. Net result, he picked, went and raced over despite the best efforts of covering full-back McLean.

Moment of the match: When the French aren't playing well, they can always look to Louis Picamoles to get them going forward. His try to make it 16-3 with the conversion was key.

Villain(s) of the match: No place for headbutts in rugby. Michele Rizzo and Rabah Slimani.

Match Report from Planet Rugby

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next test:

Feb 21

Wales v France

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Feb 22

Italy v Scotland

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Calcutta Cup 2014

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England thump hapless Scots

Scotland v England - Official Extended Highlights 8th February 2

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Luther Burrell and Mike Brown both scored as England produced a simple 20-0 win over a dreadful Scottish outfit at Murrayfield.

The pace was not perhaps as frenetic as we have come to expect from Calcutta Cup rugby, but tries from Burrell and the Man of the Match, Mike Brown, were more than enough to secure victory for England in Test rugby's oldest fixture.

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Man of the Match: The chief contenders for this one were unsurprisingly all in white, with Danny Care and Billy Vunipola in particular picking up where they left off in Paris. The award was rightly handed to Brown, however, whose kicking was secure, running sharp with a whopping 114m gained, and bagged the try that killed the game.

Moment of the Match: Brown's try was the killer blow; silencing the last few spirited, optimistic souls in the home crowd, and ensuring there would be no Scottish revival.

Villain of the Match: Big Jim Hamilton, the enforcer of the Scottish pack, is proving himself something of a liability with the penalties he concedes. Warned by referee Craig Joubert in Dublin last week, his indiscipline yielded three penalties for an England team that needed no extra invitation.

Match Report from Planet Rugby

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next test:

Feb 22

England v Ireland

Italy v Scotland

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Calcutta Cup

Named after the Calcutta Football Club which, after disbanding withdrew the club's Silver Rupees from the bank, and had them melted down and made into a cup which they presented to the RFU in 1878, with the provision that it should be competed for annually.

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Ireland 26 - Wales 3

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Ireland suffocate subdued Wales

Ireland v Wales - Official Extended Highlights 8th February 2014

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Ruthless, clinical and unrelenting, Ireland confirmed their status as title contenders with a convincing 26-3 win over Wales.

Man of the Match: The accolades should flow Peter O'Mahony's way. Prominent at the breakdown, in defence and at the line-out - he looks like a future captain.

Moment of the Match: Ireland had enjoyed plenty of possession but only had six points when Chris Henry flopped over for the first try. It opened the scoreboard up.

Villain of the Match: The needless handbags from Mike Phillips after Jackson's try summed up his and Wales' frustration.

Match Report from Planet Rugby

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next test:

Feb 21

Wales v France

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Feb 22

 England v Ireland

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Andy Capp 1961