Winners
Todd Clever: As we've noted a couple of times now, Clever had a huge week for the NTT Shining Arc as he scored twice to help his team beat their rivals. That now makes five tries in eight appearances on the season. In the Top League teams can only have so many foreign players on the pitch at one time. That has limited Clever's time in the past but so far this season he seems to be getting a regular 80 minutes. A nice way to enter the holiday.
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Stars Rugby 7s: Hopefully you've heard about the Stars Rugby 7s. It's women's invitational team that will be playing in the Las Vegas Invitational. They've already confirmed their roster and includes top players from the U.S., Canada, and overseas. They have also done a good job of landing sponsors, including TIAR partner Grubber. We'll be covering the team while in Vegas.
Serevi Rugby: The folks are Serevi had another strong week by announcing the dates for their High Performance camps in 2014. This of course comes on the heels of their partnership with U.S.A. Rugby. In their short existence Serevi Rugby has proven that they can deliver high quality instruction to a broad audience.
Robbie Shaw: Shaw made the move from Esher in the National League 1 to London Scottish in the RFU Championship this week. He may not see as much time as he would with Esher but it will be at a higher level, which is only a good thing.
Losers
American derby: The Leicester-Saracens and Northampton-Wasps matches had the potential to feature every single American playing in the Premiership--roughly a half a dozen. Unfortunately only Chris Wyles and Samu Manoa got on for their clubs.
England: As we wrote earlier this week, Toby Flood's impending move to France will almost certainly see him removed from England selection. That's ridiculous. He's still young at only 28 and has the ability to contribute for years. There is no reason why moving to France should remove him from selection.