Women's College Player Of The Week: Joyce Taufa, Lindenwood

For the first time since the mid 1980's, New Zealand is set to reintroduce the famous North vs South Island match on August 29th, pitting players from each of the two parts of New Zealand against one another to settle where the best rugby players in the country truly come from. 

The other day I was thinking about fly-halves in the MLR -- since that is my position -- and I got to thinking how few American players there are playing fly-half in Major League Rugby. The only ones I could think of off the top of my head were Ben Cima (SEA), Scott Dean (SEA), Tadgh Leader (NE) and Zinzan Elan-Puttick (AUS) -- and it's worth noting that both Leader and Elan-Puttick grew up playing rugby in Ireland and South Africa respectively. 

With much of the world shut down still thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, rumors are swirling that New Zealand could be home to the entire 2020 Rugby Championship. The past three weeks have seen the beginning of the Super Rugby Aotearoa, a competition involving just the four New Zealand Super Rugby franchises. 

The other day I was thinking about fly-halves in the MLR -- since that is my position -- and I got to thinking how few American players there are playing fly-half in Major League Rugby. The only ones I could think of off the top of my head were Ben Cima (SEA), Scott Dean (SEA), Tadgh Leader (NE) and Zinzan Elan-Puttick (AUS) -- and it's worth noting that both Leader and Elan-Puttick grew up playing rugby in Ireland and South Africa respectively. 

Round 3 of Super Rugby Aotearoa was the most competitive one yet, and as such there is a fairly even distribution of players from all four teams on the team of the week. 

My name is Alex Rees and  I am introducing a new FloRugby column titled "Rees' Pieces". I currently play rugby in Austin, Texas for the Austin Huns and the Austin Gilgronis, as well as write and create content for FloSports. 

Round 3 of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season provided the most competitive weekend of rugby we've seen since rugby ended back in March. The Chiefs were close to pulling off an upset over the Crusaders in Christchurch, while the Highlanders were just inches from knocking off the Blues. 

GLENDALE, CO – Elected members of the USA Rugby Senior Club Executive Committee were announced today after a vote by the Senior Club Council, comprised of representatives from the 19 Member Unions across the country. As part of the governance reorganization, this Executive Committee including officers and committee chairs will represent and administer the Senior Club community across USA Rugby membership. These elections are in line with the newly developed Terms of Reference, where Union representatives collaborated to determine what the Council committee structure will be, along with roles and responsibilities. The Executive Committee consists of nine representatives; five standing committee chairs and four officers. The standing committees will facilitate certain elements of the Senior Club game including Eligibility, Discipline, Competitions, Training & Development and finally Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. The Officers include the council Chair and Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.  The Senior Club Representative to the USA Rugby Board of Directors is an ex-officio member. Next steps for the Senior Club Council will be selecting representatives to the USA Rugby Board and its committees, followed by negotiation with the USA Rugby National Office on supportive services through a Community Service Agreement.

After two rounds, the Blues, the Highlanders, and the Crusaders remain unbeaten, while the Chiefs and the Hurricanes stay winless. The Blues have been the most impressive side thus far, ringing in two double-digit victories over the Hurricanes and the Chiefs, while the Highlanders picked up a last-gasp win against the Chiefs in Round 1 before getting a bye in Round 2. The Crusaders were off in Week 1 but came out firing in Round 2 against the Hurricanes to win their one contest of the campaign. 

The sport of rugby features members and participants from every corner of the world, so naturally you will hear various bits of lingo around the game. If you're new and learning about the sport, one of the best things to do is watch rugby and listen to the commentators, who will explain what is going on and why.