Armchair Playmaker » NA4

Big Weekend for Both Codes in America

admin — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:05:00 +0000

There are plenty of big rugby union and rugby league matches on in the U.S. this weekend. In rugby union, the North America 4 series wraps up with its grand final and consolation final Saturday. The U.S. Falcons and Canada West will meet in the championship decider, while the U.S. Hawks and Canada East will play for third. The semifinal matches, played earlier this week, can be viewed online in the video archive of the Glendale Raptors, hosts for the semifinal and final rounds at their Infinity Park home ground in Glendale, Colorado. The consolation final kicks off at 6:00 p.m. local time (5 p.m. Pacific U.S., 8 p.m. Eastern U.S.), and the grand final starts at 8:00 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Pacific U.S., 10 p.m. Eastern U.S.).

Both matches can be seen live at the NA4 site, and will presumably be archived in the can be viewed online in the video archive of the Glendale Rugby video archive. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the first clash between the grand finalists, which was handily won 55-3 by Canada West:

In rugby league, the final week of the American National Rugby League’s regular season is on. With only six teams of the ten-team league qualifying for next week’s knockout rounds and the top two sides getting a bye in those rounds, there is a lot to play for. The Aston DSC Bulls and New Haven Warriors are locked at the top of the competition points table. This weekend’s match will determine what seed them and the other playoff qualifiers will take during the postseason. This weekend comes on the heels of last week’s intense “War at the Shore,” an annual regular-season feature wherein all of the AMNRL sides leave their home grounds to meet at one venue and play the weekend’s fixtures back-to-back. The War at the Shore atmosphere also features tag rugby matches and other festival events. See highlights below:

Even More NA4 Online for Free this Weekend

admin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:00:00 +0000

In recent posts from early this week and late last week, we’ve noted that matches from the North American Four (NA4) representative rugby union series can be viewed live online for no charge.

There will be more such matches Saturday, when Canada West and the U.S. Falcons (who currently share the top of the table with 2-0 records) play at 2:00 p.m. Pacific U.S. time (5:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time). After that, Canada East and the U.S. Hawks (both 0-2 so far), will play at 4:00 p.m. Pacific U.S. Time (7:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time). These matches, the last of the round-robin series, will determine seeding of the semifinal matches to begin at the end of the month. Live feeds of the matches will be available at the NA4 site.

If you can’t wait for the live feeds, some clips from the first match of the series (played in May between the two Canadian sides) are available below. Armchair Playmaker will be sure to share more match clips as they turn up.

Watch Live U.S. Representative Rugby Tonight

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:36:00 +0000

The North America Four (NA4) series, a representative senior men’s competition featuring two all-star sides from Canada and two all-star sides from the United States, continues tonight. The schedule features round-robin matches between the four sides, followed by semifinal and final matches based on round-robin results.

In the 2008 series’ first match on May 17, Canada West beat Canada East 20-15. Tonight, the U.S. Hawks play the U.S. Falcons in the second match of the tournament. You can watch the match live for free at the NA4 site starting at 6:30 p.m. Pacific U.S. Time/9:30 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.

Given the United States sides’ recent troubles, the good news is that an American side looks like winning tonight!