The Churchill Cup
England Saxons reach Churchill Cup final
Monday 15 June 2009
England Saxons are on course for their third successive Churchill Cup with a much improved performance over USA and won 56-17.
After not performing to their best against Argentina Jaguars
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Wales smash USA in 'friendly'
Sunday 7 June 2009
Jonathan Davies scored two tries and Nick Robinson was deadly with passes and kicks Saturday, sparking Wales to a 48-15 victory over the United States here in an international rugby union friendly.
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Lacklustre Ireland beat USA
Monday 1 June 2009
An Ireland team missing many of their top players posted a lacklustre 10-27 victory over the United States on Sunday.
London Irish captain Bob
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Wales sweat to beat Canada
Sunday 31 May 2009
An under-strength Wales labored to beat Canada 32-23 at York University Stadium in the opener of its North American rugby tour on Saturday.
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Best to captain Ireland in N.America
Monday 11 May 2009
The Ireland squad for the summer international tour will be captained by Rory Best and shows a mixture of youth in addition to a strong spine of experience for the two international test matches against Canada and the USA
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Pumas on prowl in Churchill Cup
Monday 7 April 2008
Argentina will complete a six-nation Barclays Churchill Cup line-up in North America this summer.A Pumas XV will join Canada, USA, England Saxons, Ireland A
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The Churchill Cup will take place in Colorado this summer, marking
the first time North America's premier XV-a-side rugby tournament has
been staged solely in the United States.
This year will see the U.S. Eagles, Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, the
Argentina Jaguars and Georgia play double headers at Infinity Park, Glendale
- the first municipally-owned rugby-specific stadium in North America - on June
6, 10 and 14.
These pool stages will be followed by a triple-header finals day at Dick's
Sporting Goods Park, home of Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer side, on June
21.
"The Churchill Cup continues to be a valuable part of our international
season, offering top class international competition, as well as allowing us
to showcase international rugby to new audiences in the United States,"
said Nigel Melville, Chief Executive Officer of USA Rugby.
"We are delighted to play at two great facilities in Infinity Park and
Dick's Sporting Goods Park. This will give the Churchill Cup and rugby in general
a great platform in a wonderful sporting city and help us achieve our objective
to grow the sport."
Mike Dunafon, Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Glendale, said: "We are proud
to host the Churchill Cup pool matches in Glendale. It has been our vision to
bring international rugby competitions to Glendale and the metropolitan Denver
area. We look forward to showcasing Infinity Park."
Terry Burwell, Churchill Cup Tournament Director, added: "The Churchill Cup goes from strength to strength and is now established in the international
rugby calendar.
"This will be the seventh Churchill Cup and we are pleased to add Denver
and Glendale to the eight other cities in Canada and USA who have hosted the
tournament since it started in 2003. With the tournament being based solely
in one state for the first time we hope that we can build a following throughout
the pool stages, culminating in a bumper crowd on finals day."
Dick's Sporting Goods Park Senior Director of Venue Operations Allison Hamilton
concluded: "We are very excited about our role in hosting the Churchill Cup during its first time to be played in Colorado. Between Dick's Sporting
Goods Park and Infinity Park rugby fans will have an opportunity to experience
this wonderful event in two world class facilities."
The 2008 Churchill Cup finals were played at Toyota Park in Chicago and attracted
more than 9,000 fans. England Saxons beat Scotland A 36-19 to retain the Cup,
while Ireland A and Canada won the Plate and Bowl with 33-8 and 26-10 victories
over Argentina A and USA respectively. In 2009, Georgia has replaced Scotland
A from last year's line-up.
Tickets for Churchill Cup matches will be on sale to the public starting Saturday,
April 11, at 10am for as little as $15 and are available online at TicketHorse.com.
Finals day tickets will also be available at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Box Office from Monday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 10am-3pm via phone by calling
1-866-461-6556, at the kiosks inside all Colorado Dick's Sporting Goods locations.
The games will be broadcast live on SkySports in the UK and Setanta in North
America.
Churchill Cup 2009
Pool A
Canada
Georgia
Ireland A
Pool B
Argentina Jaguars
England Saxons
USA
Fixtures (kick off times local)
Saturday June 6
Infinity Park, Glendale
England Saxons v Argentina Jaguars (2.15pm)
Canada v Georgia (4.30pm)
Wednesday June 10
Infinity Park, Glendale
Canada v Ireland A (4.30pm)
USA v Argentina Jaguars (7pm)
Sunday June 14
Infinity Park, Glendale
USA v England Saxons (1pm)
Georgia v Ireland A (3.30pm)
Sunday June 21
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Churchill Cup finals (12.05pm, 2.30pm, 4.45pm)
Infinity Park: Opened in September 2007 with a 3,000-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 , 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.
Dick's Sporting Goods Park: Dick's Sporting Goods
Park comprises the 18,086 seat home stadium of the Colorado Rapids and
24-field, fully-lit professional soccer complex. Arguably the biggest
and most state-of-the-art professional stadium and field complex in
the world, amenities include a total of 20 luxury suites, a unique open
concourse design that allows 360-degree sightlines to the field, and
a world-class grass field with an underground heating and draining system.
The stadium also features cutting edge technology, featuring the largest
video scoreboard and the most LED boards for a stadium its size anywhere,
as well as the only fully-integrated digital signboard system in the
world. The stadium opened its doors for the first time to the public
on April 7, 2007 when it hosted Major League Soccer's season opener
as the Colorado Rapids defeated DC United 2-1.
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, as part of their Rugby World
Cup-funded strategic initiatives, the tournament has grown in success since
2003 when 5,000 people attended to watch the three Alliance nations in Vancouver.
In 2008, when the tournament was played in Canada and USA, the finals day in
Chicago attracted more than 9,000 spectators.
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.
