It is often said that you can have too much of a good thing, however personally I am of the belief that if you love something then you can never get enough of it and that is why I have found July to be a challenging month due to the lack of Aviva Premiership and England Rugby action.
Of course there has been rugby to enjoy with the grand finale of the Super 15, New Zealand playing their Test in Samoa and the start of the Rugby Championship, however I'm sure that you'll agree when I say that it just isn't quite the same. The positive news is that we have broken the back of the dry spell and a spot of normality is returning during the month of August with the opening QBE International at Twickenham Stadium, the Singha Premiership Sevens Series and a couple of domestic pre-season fixtures.
Since the end of the domestic season England Rugby have been tucked away in the beautiful surroundings of Pennyhill Park and most recently in Denver, Colorado working themselves into the ground in pursuit of supreme fitness levels. There has been no secret about the fact that the first three weeks of camp were solely focused on conditioning and speaking to a number of the players the sessions have been some of the toughest of their careers, brutal beyond belief. Denver has delivered a spot more rugby action and the fruits of all of this labour will be witnessed in a few weeks time when England play two tests against France. Stuart has been open about the fact that he will use the first test at Twickenham to see some individuals that may be on the cusp of the 31 man squad and then the second fixture at the Stade de France will be closer to a starting squad. Both fixtures will be power charged in terms of intensity and performance levels, for England they will set the platform and basis for the World Cup, alongside the final match against Ireland on September 3rd, and for some individuals they will make or break their Rugby World Cup dreams.
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Towards the end of August the Premiership Sevens will return and whilst the tournament has a brand new name, the Singha Premiership Sevens, the format remains the same as last year. The Welsh qualifying tournament will kick off the series on 15th August at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park and then the three English legs will occur at Kingsholm, the Ricoh Arena and Kingston Park. The series finale will be played at The Stoop with the top two sides from each of the qualifying competitions taking part. The Premiership Sevens always gives us a great insight into the depth of our Aviva Premierhsip side’s academies and with the Rugby World Cup continuing until the end of Round 3, this year's tournament provides a great window of opportunity for individuals participating to put their hand up for early selection.
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Alongside the culmination of the Sevens series a few of our Aviva Premiership teams are also starting their fifteen aside pre-season fixtures. Saracens are heading to The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) in Central London for a fixture against Ospreys on 27th August and the Newcastle Falcons are hosting Georgia as part of the latter's RWC preparations. Munster and London Irish will be playing their traditional pre-season fixture over in Cork and over in America Harlequins will be playing against the USA in Philadelphia on 30th August.
I totally understand that July may have felt a little difficult at times but hang on in there for August will certainly be worth the wait as domestic and international rugby returns to our lives and we all start to feel whole again!!
August - Domestic & England Rugby Fixtures
15th August - Singha Premiership Sevens Series - BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park
15th August - England vs. France - Twickenham Stadium
20th August - Singha Premiership Sevens Series - Kingsholm
21st August - Singha Premiership Sevens Series - Ricoh Arena
22nd August - Singha Premiership Sevens Series - Kingston Park
22nd August - France vs. England - Stade de France
27th August - Saracens vs. Ospreys - The Honourable Artillery Company
28th August - Munster vs. London Irish - Irish Independent Park, Cork
28th August - Singha Premiership Sevens Series Final - The Stoop
30th August - USA vs. Harlequins - Philadelphia
