For all the rugby fans the July Internationals has kicked off and an exciting few weeks laying ahead.

Week 1-
England beat Japan 52-17
South Africa beat Wales 41-13
Barbarians beat Fiji 45-32

Week 2-
Samoa beat Italy 33-25
New Zealand beat England 16-15

Today the mighty Springboks play against the mighty Irish.Even though Ireland is my favorite international team,I strongly believe that SA will be victorious.

Australia play Wales, this will be an interesting game since the Aussies has dropped to Welsh standards this will be a tight minnow teams game hahaha.

Argentina play France.French rugby has improved the last two seasons and with that said so did Argentina, this will also be a tight game.France is good but I hope Argentina might get a surprising win.

Canada play Scotland.This will be a highschool game.Even though Scotland ended third in the Six Nations, they're a team that does not deliver against teams outside the northern hemisphere rugby.Canada is worse than Scotland.The only beautiful thing from this game will be the Scottish national anthem...

Yes it is maybe similar and yet not similar.Both involves running and throwing/passing and kicking a ball and trying to score points behind the opponents area,in the goal/scoring area behind the "goal line".
American football wear helmets and body pads/armor and rugby has no helmets but some players prefer to use head padding(soft padding protection against bumps and cuts) and lately a soft padding underneath the jerseys are used to protect the shoulders. (Rugby is slowly becoming a sissy sport in the new world hahaha)...and in American football you can throw the ball forward,in rugby you not allowed to pass forward.Youtube videos will explain the differences and similarities more in detail.

Week 2-continue

Australia beat Wales 25-16.The Aussies dominated the game even though the Welsh had good defense at times but it was not enough, Australia managed to claim a solid victory.

France beat Argentina 28-13.Argentina made an effort to stand up against the French but did not look like they were up to standard.The French played the better rugby and won fairly.

South Africa beat Ireland 27-20.The Springboks dominated most of the game and kept the Irish constantly on the backfoot.The Irish however dominated the scrums at times and when they managed to turn the ball over they failed to capitalize on the turnover and gave away advantage.Late in the second half the Irish came dangerously back and scored two tries but it was too late win the game.Both fly halves from SA and Ireland missed 3 crucial penalties which could have changed the outcome of the game.

Scotland beat Canada 73-12.As expected a hiding.

Week 3 starts Wednesday 10 July 2024

Week 3 -

France beat Uruguay 43-28

Italy beat Tonga 36-14

Scotland beat USA 42-7.

As I've mentioned, Scotland is an international team that only performs against the weak teams.Scottish rugby has declined into the "B league".The USA effort will pay off in the future should they be exposed to more international rugby.

I will miss a few upcoming games due to real life responsibilities and will try to update the thread.

Week 3 -continue

New Zealand All Blacks beat England 24-17

Australia beat Wales again 36-28

Portugal beat Namibia 37-22

Ireland beat South Africa Springboks 25-24. The last two drop goals saved the Irish from a defeat nonetheless a win is a win.The Springboks could not score a try against the Irish,all their points came from penalty conversations.

Argentina beat France 33-25.I am really happy for the Pumas to come back from a loss last week and win this game.The South American teams are really starting to play competitive rugby and will become part of the top teams in the near future.

The RWC-Rugby World Cup occurs every 4 years and teams need to qualify for it, same as in soccer/football.

The July Tests/Rugby Internationals, also known as the summer Tests or mid-year Tests, are international rugby union matches played around the month of July each year. They include traditional summer tours by European nations to countries in the southern hemisphere, North America or Japan, as well as shorter international trips and one-off test matches. They follow the end of the domestic rugby season for northern hemisphere countries. In 2008, the International Rugby Board (IRB) introduced a three-weekend window in June during which players are required to be released by their clubs for international matches.From 2020 due to changes to the World Rugby international calendar, the window will be moved to July.