Edwards eyes Wales assistant role(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

Shaun Edwards has asked Wasps to release him on a part-time basis to become Warren Gatland's coaching assistant with Wales.

Wasps and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) are in negotiations for the former Wigan and Great Britain rugby league player to take up a part-time role as Wales defence coach.

"I want to improve as a coach, but I don't want to harm my situation at Wasps," Edwards told the Guardian. "I want to go on coaching there, and really it's just a question of the club and Wales coming to some agreement."

Edwards, 41, announced yesterday that he had turned down England.

“At present, I don’t see his equal in northern hemisphere coaching,” Craig Dowd, his Wasps co-coach, said yesterday. “England should be investing time in him, but they’re losing a very, very good coach. Their loss is Wales’s gain.”

One of the most highly-rated coaches in rugby union, Edwards helped coach Wasps to the Heineken Cup and three Guinness Premiership titles.

Wasps chief executive Tony Copsey told BBC Sport Wales the WRU had made an official approach for their head coach. "It is still far from being a done deal," he said. "But we would hope to sort things as quickly as we can because it runs the risk of being distracting."

Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio believed it was in the RFU’s best interest to include Edwards in their set-up. "Shaun Edwards would be a huge asset for England and it would be disappointing to see him coaching Wales," Dallaglio said. "But when you compare the options it is not difficult to see which is more attractive."

Corry says no to Ashton, hangs up boots(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

Martin Corry has declined Brian Ashton’s offer of a place in England’s squad for the Rugby Six Nations Championship.

Head coach Ashton is due to name his 32-man squad for the Six Nations championship on January 9 but according to Corry, a former national captain, has rejected his invitation to play in next month’s competition.

Corry, 34, doesn’t believe he can maintain his high standards in both international and domestic rugby. “It’s just a shame I am getting old,” he told the Guardian. “If I could carry on for the next 10 years I would because I genuinely love playing for Leicester and England.

“Brian rang me to say they were going to name me in the 32 and asked if that was what I wanted. Unfortunately, I just can’t keep doing it all. Something has to give if I want to keep playing to the required standard.”

Corry last appeared in the World Cup final defeat against South Africa in October. He earned 64 England caps as well as six for the British Lions. He captained England under Andy Robinson but was replaced by Phil Vickery 12 months ago when Ashton took control of England.

Following the retirements of Jason Robinson, Mike Catt and Lawrence Dallaglio for England’s first match against Wales at Twickenham on February 2, Ashton has a headache to deal with. If reports are to be believed, Ashton will call up youngsters James Haskell and Danny Cipriani.

“There's no point throwing youngsters in the deep end at once and telling them to sink or swim, because they would sink without trace," Ashton said recently. "The key word here is potential. We have a lot of very exciting individuals playing regularly in the Premiership, but there's a big difference between that - or the Saxons, come to that - and international rugby.

Corry says no to Ashton, hangs up bootsTaken From rugbydirt.com

Martin Corry has declined Brian Ashton’s offer of a place in England’s squad for the Rugby Six Nations Championship.

Head coach Ashton is due to name his 32-man squad for the Six Nations championship on January 9 but according to Corry, a former national captain, has rejected his invitation to play in next month’s competition.

Corry, 34, doesn’t believe he can maintain his high standards in both international and domestic rugby. “It’s just a shame I am getting old,” he told the Guardian. “If I could carry on for the next 10 years I would because I genuinely love playing for Leicester and England.

“Brian rang me to say they were going to name me in the 32 and asked if that was what I wanted. Unfortunately, I just can’t keep doing it all. Something has to give if I want to keep playing to the required standard.”

Corry last appeared in the World Cup final defeat against South Africa in October. He earned 64 England caps as well as six for the British Lions. He captained England under Andy Robinson but was replaced by Phil Vickery 12 months ago when Ashton took control of England.

Following the retirements of Jason Robinson, Mike Catt and Lawrence Dallaglio for England’s first match against Wales at Twickenham on February 2, Ashton has a headache to deal with. If reports are to be believed, Ashton will call up youngsters James Haskell and Danny Cipriani.

“There's no point throwing youngsters in the deep end at once and telling them to sink or swim, because they would sink without trace," Ashton said recently. "The key word here is potential. We have a lot of very exciting individuals playing regularly in the Premiership, but there's a big difference between that - or the Saxons, come to that - and international rugby.

Wilkinson expected to stay on with Falcons(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

Newcastle head coach John Fletcher expects Jonny Wilkinson to stay on with the Falcons. Wilkinson’s contract expires at the end of the season, but Fletcher is confident that an extended deal will be signed following talks with the superstar fly-half’s consultants in January.
"We're talking with Jonny Wilkinson and those talks will continue in the New Year," said Fletcher. "We're due to meet with his management in early January and we've no reason to believe he won't sign.
"As a side we've been competitive for a period of time. We've added to the squad in terms of quality and we're bringing through a number of good younger players."
There was speculation that Wilkinson could depart the club behind fitness coach and mentor Steve Black, and Newcastle said that they will continue to discuss a new contract in January.
Wilkinson added two penalties and two conversions in Falcons’ 22-19 win over Saracens this weekend, their first on the road since November 2006. His England team-mates Mathew Tait, Toby Flood and Jamie Noon added tries to help Newcastle move to seventh in the Premiership table.

IT’s time for Varsity status(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

As anyone who follows collegiate rugby knows, there are only a relative handful of teams that operate under the status of a varsity team. Most teams are club level teams, leaving them to work hard for their own funding and field privileges. This is especially true on the women’s side of the ball and time is running out for women’s college club teams across the country to join the varsity ranks. In 2001, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) put women’s rugby in the category of an “emerging sport” and struck a deal with USA Rugby. The deal was that if USA Rugby could field 40 varsity teams in 10 years, the NCAA would make women’s rugby an official sport. Approaching the seventh year of the bargain, only four schools have teams that have obtained varsity status: Bowdoin, West Chester, Southern Vermont and Eastern Illinois. While the sport is becoming more and more popular in the U.S., it may not be happening quickly enough in the women’s college ranks and there are many that don’t realize there is a timeline that needs to be met. The push to elevate teams to varsity level would allow for teams to have operating budgets, university sanctioned equipment and playing fields and recruiting abilities that most lack now. With three years left in the deal with the NCAA, look for USA Rugby to encourage a number of top women’s teams to make the jump to varsity in order to be recognized by the top governing body in college sports.

USRFF sets funds Goal for end of 2007(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

The United States Rugby Football Foundation set a campaign goal in November to help young rugby players experience top-level rugby all over the world. The foundation looked to raise $50,000 by the end of the year and is asking all those involved with the youth game to chip in. The director of the USRFF Brian Vizard is heading up the operation and cites his own experiences playing rugby abroad as reason for people to give to the foundation. Donations towards the $50,000 goal will be used is a number of ways that will benefit a range of players and teams. Ball grants will be at the base of the foundation so that children and new players will at least have the most essential piece of equipment to get accustomed to the game. Educational grants and high-school level team equipment packages will comprise another portion of the $50,000 to be spread out to schools with enough interest to start a team. Finally, the money raised will go towards portions of college scholarships, which are rare in the rugby arena, and towards grants allotted by the USRFF. The grants would go to specific qualified players and would allow them to attend elite rugby clinics held in the U.S. and abroad. With the year coming to a close, friends of the USRFF need to keep the gifts coming so that the organization can continue to promote the game amongst the youngest players.

U-20’S bring game to Ireland(Taken From rugbydirt.com)

The United States U-20 men’s rugby team is kicking off the New Year abroad as the squad is in the midst of its Ireland tour. After naming the starting squad on the eve of the beginning of the tour, the U-20’s began their quest by squaring of against the U-20 squad of the storied Munster club, the same team that took on the Men’s Eagles before they shipped out to the 2007 rugby world cup. A hard-fought match against Munster saw the US fall by a narrow 14-7 margin, but in many ways, it was a good start to the trip. Training had been difficult for the US team, as they have had to deal with wet weather and muddy field conditions, but the bad-weather training that the team did get in helped assimilate them with the playing conditions in the Munster game.
After dropping the match to Munster, the U-20’s had the task of taking down Trinity College; the oldest rugby club in the country. Heading into the match, the US had its work cut out as head coach Salty Thompson elected to start an entirely new front row, including six new forwards and four new backs. The change proved to spark the offense against Trinity and the two teams were tied at 22-apiece late in the game. The US managed one more try, but Trinity notched 14 more points and escaped with the 36-27 victory. Next up for the US team is Queens University and the US hopes to put what they have learned in the first two games to use to grab a victory in game three.