Greetings August !!

Welcome August, can you believe that it is here already!?! The great news is that we have broken the back of the off-season and are on the home straight towards the 2014/15 Aviva Premiership Season! Can I hear a 'Whoop Whoop'!!? This month the pre-season fixtures start in earnest for all of our Aviva Premiership clubs and there are a few other events, both on and off the field, to delight all of our rugby senses! Here is an Out On The Full overview of the month ahead and a few dates for your diary;

@EnglandRugby

The Women's Rugby World Cup kicked off on Friday 1st August and for 17 days 12 nations will battle it out to be crowned Champions of the World. England’s chances of ending the campaign victorious are extremely strong and they started well with a 65-3 win over Samoa. The form book says that England should progress easily through to the Final however Katy Mclean and her side know that they will have to work for every point and that nothing is guaranteed in sport.  

The scintillating Super Rugby Final between the NSW Warathas and the Crusaders certainly wet all of our appetites for the forthcoming Rugby Championship. Argentina and South Africa will join Australia and New Zealand for what will be a tournament of colossal proportions. The first match kicks off on Saturday 16th August between South Africa and Argentina before the mighty Bledisole Cup clash between New Zealand and Australia on Saturday 23rd August. Sky Sports is the home for tournament and it promises to be an outstanding showcase of Southern Hemisphere rugby. 

Back on home soil the brunt of the pre-season graft has been completed for our Aviva Premiership sides and matches are in sight... cue a collective sigh of relief from all 12 squads!! Most teams will play two or three pre-season fixtures; some will stay at their home ground whilst others will head on the road to gain that valuable ‘cobweb blowout’ before Round 1. Wasps against London Welsh will be a great precursor to their Round 7 match, watching the new look Gloucester side against Munster will be interesting and the Saints hosting Leinster are just three that have caught my eye! The full list of Aviva Premiership pre-season fixtures are here.

Away from the professional game there are a number of other events that are happening in August as well, Finsbury Park RFC are hosting their Charity Tackle at Allianz Park, details here and the #RugbyUnited Team have their #RugbyFair at Hereford Rugby Club led by Gemma Fox (@Gemma_Fox). Both events are on Saturday 9th August and both promise to be great celebrations of rugby. On Thursday 21st August a wealth of International 7s players are holding their 'Lets Tackle Cancer' night at the No1 Sports Bar in the City. Tom Powell is the host for the night and he will be supported by a number of his International team-mates including Dan Norton, Marcus Watson and Phil Burgess... this event is a must for all 7s fans! 

Back at on the field the World Club 7s return after an extremely successful 2013 event. At the home of England Rugby teams from across the globe will showcase their speed and skills in a bid to be crowned the 2014 Champions. Once again all eyes will be on Carlin Isles to see if he has put on a bit of pace during the off season (!) and this year there will be an additional curtain-raising fixture between Rugby for Heroes and the Army.

There you have it... August in a rugby nutshell and all that is left for me to say is; August let's do this!!