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London Welsh sign Kassam Stadium deal

Rugby Football Union or RFU Championship side the London Welsh have pledged their foreseeable future to the Kassam Stadium in Oxford after signing a new three year deal with the stadium owners.

The Exiles have been playing at the Oxford ground since they got promoted to the top flight last season but with relegation, there were fears that they would leave the ground for pastures anew with revenue expected to drop in the RFU Championship. But that didn’t happen and the club played the RFU Championship with Oxford as their home base and that structure is expected to continue now for the next three seasons at least.

The London side has been planning to redevelop the old football ground at Witney Town and had also been granted planning permission. But with development being very slow, they have now decided to commit to Kassam Stadium, which they share with League Two football club Oxford United.

The club announced in a statement their decision and admitted that the facilities at Kassam Stadium are one of the best in the country. The statement further read that the club is delighted to be able to reaffirm their commitment to Oxfordshire with this new contract extension.

The club’s former home had been the Old Deer Park in Richmond and many people considered that to be the spiritual home of the club and so, fans were taken by surprise when they first announced their decision to move to Kassam.

But with the club currently lying in second place in the RFU Champions and a spot in the playoff sealed, the revenue generated by the club is strong enough to sustain them at the stadium long enough for them to redevelop the Witney Town ground before they move into their new home sometime in the next few seasons.

Luke Marshall and Andrew Trimble Added In The Ireland Team

The opening match of the Six Nations between Ireland and Scotland will see two surprises in the Irish team in the name of Luke Marshall and Andrew Trimble. Marshall will be replacing Gordon D’Arcy and Trimble will be replacing Tommy Bowe both of which are suffering from back injuries.

There will be some other changes in the Ireland team as Chris Henry the Ulster player will be replacing Sean O’Brien, the injured flanker. Apart from this there will be several records to be made as Brian O’Driscoll will be making his 129th appearance in this match. He will surpass Ronan O’Gara’s 128 caps. Another personal milestone will be for Rob Kearney who will make his 50th appearance for Ireland. D’Arcy who will be replaced by Luke Marshall was one of the best performers of Ireland and was also a great player in All Blacks. It is to be seen whether this will be a setback for Ireland or not.

One of the major talking points about the team selection is the omission of the Leinster centre who has 75 caps under his belt. Given the physical demands which this competition requires it was a wise decision taken by the coach. When asked about this he said that it is better for the team and he would definitely understand why he was not included in the squad. It is being speculated that he is being kept fresh for the clash against Wales.

Regarding Gordon the coach said that it was the stomach bugs that were disturbing him in the beginning of the week and he hopes that it would go away before the match against Wales. The back injury is something to worry about but he thinks that the medical staff will be able to come up with something positive before the end of this week.

Agulla Trying To Increase His Try Tally

Last season, Horacio Agulla (player for Argentine Rugby Union) was one of the top try scorers for Bath Rugby. He is thinking that the stop-start campaign can be ignited by the last weekend’s overdue touchdown.

Agulla dotted down during the Aviva Premiership for around six times last term. However, because of his international duty towards Argentina and his injury, he could not make a seasonal bow until the month of November.

During the Rugby Championship, Agulla performed exceptionally well in a match against the Worcester Warriors, but it was on the 8th of February, 2014 (Saturday) that he was able to boost his try tally.

The Aviva Premiership match between Bath Rugby and Newcastle Falcons took place at the Rec on 8th of February, 2014. Nick Abendanon got injured and therefore Horacio Agulla replaced him on the field. Agulla did not disappoint Bath Rugby at all. He performed really well.

Horacio Agulla was of the opinion that the Bath Rugby team is absolutely superb and competitive, so every time a player gets the opportunity, he ends up performing well only.

Agulla was not expecting to get into the field that early (he entered the field after around 10 minutes), but he thinks such things happen on the field and so players have to be ready to perform at all times.

Along with that, Agulla was not happy that Nick Abendanon got injured. But he was pleased that he got a chance to perform.

Competition in the team has increased because it consists of such good players that it has become difficult to secure a position in the team. But Agulla thinks that this has helped him as he can improve himself and perform in a better way.

Horacio Agulla really hopes that in the future he gets enough game time to boost his try scores.