The News Review:
- Supporters in fake rugby gear may be punished
- Heineken Cup lures rugby’s southern elite
- Rugby: Guildford joins the Hurricanes
- A Fierce Sport From Britain Finds a Foothold in Syria
Supporters in fake rugby gear may be punished
Independent nline – Oct 31, 2007
These are ideas being punted by Canterbury South Africa the official manufacturer of Springbok gear to curb the large amount of counterfeit rugby merchandise being sold. Canterbury found that 80 percent of supporters’ items sold in South Africa were counterfeit and sold through the informal sector. The Rugby World Cup period saw rugby jerseys being sold on street corners for as little as R150. A genuine replica long-sleeved Springbok jersey sells for R599 at the Shark Cage at the Absa Stadium while a short-sleeved jersey sells for R549.
Heineken Cup lures rugby’s southern elite
Telegraph.co.uk – Oct 31, 2007
While the television pictures of games such as London Wasps against Munster Leinster versus Leicester Tigers and Clermont Auvergne against Llanelli Scarlets will as usual be piped to the other side of the world many of the southern hemisphere players who featured in the recent World Cup will be sampling the competition for the first time. No longer in the shadows of the Super 14 the Heineken Cup which attracted a world record club crowd of 81000 for last season’s final in which Wasps beat Leicester is very much the box office event of the season. Derek McGrath the chief executive of European Rugby Cup said: “It’s a staggering figure but we will have more than 200 players from the World Cup turning out for the 24 teams next weekend. “The competition has gone from strength to strength in recent seasons. This season I believe we have the most competitive tournament since the competition was formed in the mid-Nineties. The arrival of so many of the game’s leading players has certainly increased the profile of the competition with South Africa’s World Cup winners John Smit and Percy Montgomery as well as All Blacks Doug Howlett and Byron Kelleher among those who will be in action. The return of those who helped England to the final in Paris two weeks ago will provide added spice to the first round of pool games.
Rugby: Guildford joins the Hurricanes
New Zealand Herald – Oct 31, 2007
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A Fierce Sport From Britain Finds a Foothold in Syria
New York Times – Oct 31, 2007
Renowned for its exhausting nonstop play and rough often bloody full contact (players wear no pads or helmets) rugby tapped into a deep well of Syrian Arab pride. Within three years the small expat game mushroomed into a full-blown Syrian affair. A committee of Syrians now runs the Zenobians Rugby Club named for the headstrong third-century queen of Palmyra who briefly defied the Roman Empire which plays in a hypercompetitive league with neighboring Arab countries. n the field the players can channel in a less destructive way some of the rivalries that play out far more bitterly between their governments. The Zenobians for instance are known to fight fierce matches with the club team from Beirut the Phoenicians. For a time after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005 the two teams did not play at all. “A lot of their differences they air out on the field especially when they play Lebanon” said Ryan Knox the team captain a Briton who works for the… “I want to hear you talk to each other” Mr. Knox shouted at his players. “Let’s go let’s go yallah!” Since its invention in.