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.

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.

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.

Gary Kemble will coach the Kiwis through the World Cup in Australia next year.

The New Zealand Rugby League has put their faith in Gary Kemble, extending his position as coach till the end of the 2008 World Cup in Australia.

There was doubt as to whether Kemble would stay on after the Kiwis suffered a record 58-0 defeat to Australia in October and went on to be whitewashed 3-0 by Great Britain, but it appears a 22-14 win over France has earned him brownie points.

"The Test against Australia and the following tour to Britain and France provided a difficult assignment for everyone involved," said Kemble. "While results didn't go the way we hoped, I have always wanted to continue in the role.

"There's much work to be done and I'm confident the Kiwis will perform well in next year's Centenary Test against Australia [May 9] and then in the World Cup."

Kemble, a former Hull and New Zealand full-back, took over from Brian McClennan, the newly-appointed Leeds coach, in August. Despite winning just one of five Tests to start his tenure, he found favor with his employers.

"Gary has the board's support to continue as coach through to the World Cup, as he was contracted to do when he was appointed," said NZRL chairman Ray Haffenden, who succeeded Andrew Chalmers as NZRL chairman at the end of the tour of Britain and France. "In beginning our review of the tour today, our focus was on the head coach's job and, after considering reports, we have stayed with the status quo."

Kemble has had his share of critics, however, who believe he failed to win the respect of his players. Kiwi captain Roy Asotasi and Hugh McGahan, the former Leeds and New Zealand forward, are two vocal objectors. "Gary hasn't been coaching at this level and has no experience at National Rugby League or Super League level -- he really has to work hard to try and make up," Asotasi said recently. "A lot of players have been coached by elite coaches ... Gary's approach is a bit different and we are just trying to do our best to work with him."

Kemble also has injury concerns on his hands, with as many as eight of the starting line-up from the England tour unlikely to make the May Test.

England's record cap-holder Jason Leonard has been appointed to the Professional Game Board (PGB), which will run elite rugby in England from next July.

England's record cap-holder Jason Leonard has been appointed to the Professional Game Board (PGB), which will run elite rugby in England from next July.

"I am delighted to be joining the PGB," Leonard told reporters after his appointment. "I am a huge supporter of the elite game, and I hope I can bring the substantial playing experience I enjoyed to the meetings, which are aimed at ensuring the elite game is the best it can be at club and international level."

Leonard, who played as prop for Harlequins, won 114 caps for England between 1990 and 2004. He retired from international rugby after the 2004 Six Nations.

Leonard will work alongside fellow Rugby Football Union representatives Francis Baron, Rob Andrew and John Spencer on the PGB, chaired by RFU management board chairman Martyn Thomas.

The PGB, formed earlier this year as part of a deal between the RFU and the top clubs, also contains four Premier Rugby Limited representatives - Tom Walkinshaw, Mark McCafferty and Peter Wheeler, and an undecided fourth spot.

The PGB will begin work next summer and run until 2016, giving £110m to the Premiership clubs in exchange for more time with elite players.

If Australian Rugby Union deputy chief executive Matt Carroll is to be believed, Argentina may be the right ingredient to "freshen up" the Tri-Nations and Super 14

If Australian Rugby Union deputy chief executive Matt Carroll is to be believed, Argentina may be the right ingredient to "freshen up" the Tri-Nations and Super 14.

Carroll doesn't expect the ARY to afford an additional extra Super 14 side just yet, but suggested Melbourne could host an expansion team consisting of Australians, Argentinians and Pacific Islanders. This came after Carroll met with Argentinean officials.

"Their Argentina's] initial solution was to play in Europe but they've been rebuffed," he told press agency AAP. "Does the Tri Nations need freshening up? Yes it does. Could Argentina provide that freshness? Quite possibly yes. What have we got to do? Make sure that the Argentineans have their best players so we've got to find a solution for that.

"You want Argentina to come into the Tri-Nations, you've got to get Argentinean players [into the Super 14] somehow... and additional teams could be the key. Then they're playing at the same time as us and their players can be released to play for Argentina when we're playing the Tri Nations.

"I don't think Australian rugby at the moment could tolerate an extra team out of our resources. Four teams seem to be where we're at at the moment. But that doesn't mean we can't have other teams come into the competition."

The mass exodus of players to Europe, with bigger clubs and fatter paychecks, is an issue Australia and New Zealand have struggled with for some time now. According to Carroll, one solution was rebuffing the structure of the Tri-Nations and Super 14.

"Unless we have strong competitions in the southern hemisphere, both in terms of quality rugby and strong financially, then we won't be able to retain our players," he said. "It is making sure Super 14 is powering along, making it an attractive competition. [If it] keeps the players, generates money, you can pay the players their salaries."

The ARU has a rule against foreigners playing in Australian sides, but Carroll said that could change in lieu of the Pumas' possible inclusion. It is foreseeable then, that Australian players sign with South African or New Zealand sides without risking selection to the Wallabies.

"Australians could be marquee players in other Super 14 teams. You start to look at it competition-wise as distinct from narrowly in your own back yard," said Carroll. "That [would] allow for [Australian] players to be picked in Test teams within the SANZAR [the event's governing body] year because they would all be playing in the one competition."

The matter will be discussed in the ARU's three-month review.

With all of the changes occurring in the organization and scope of the US rugby arena, two more actions were taken by USA rugby extending especially to the collegiate level of competition. The first move announced from the headquarters in Boulder, Colorado was the dedication of the USA Rugby National Guard College Club National Championship trophy to Dennis Storer. Storer made a huge impact on the American rugby game starting in the mid-60's when he came over from Britain to head up the soccer and rugby programs at UCLA. He eventually was named the head coach for the US national team, a position he held for six years. The newly named trophy will make its debut at the 2008 college championships in Stanford, California.

In other USA Rugby news, Dan Payne was recently hired as the competitions director for the organization. Payne will work with all levels of rugby overseen by USA rugby and brings a wealth of experience to the position as a coach and as a player who was most recently named to the USA rugby world cup squad. His coaching positions have included coaching the Southern California All-Star squad and the San Diego State team. While Payne will begin his new position in January of 2008, he will remain on as the head coach of the SDSU team through the spring.

Despite missing out on some top hardware, the US men's nationals evens rugby squad put in a strong performance at the sevens tournament in George, South Africa this past weekend. After going a disappointing 0-5 in the opening tournament of the IRB sevens schedule in Dubai, the US team rebounded with some surprising performances against some top talent. Perhaps the biggest win for the US came in the plate quarterfinals where they downed a highly touted Samoa team 24-19 to advance to the semifinal round. The USA's prospects for making the finals rounds looked slim as they started the tournament off by absorbing a pounding from defending champions New Zealand, 36-0. The surprising win over Samoa led to the US's appearance in the plate finals where they met up with a talented Kenyan team. Up 14-10 in the final minute, the Eagles could not close out the match as Kenya got a try in the final seconds to squeak out the plate title 15-14. Despite missing out on any hardware, the play of the US team is inspiring to team members and coaches alike as the US worked methodically through pool play and notched noteworthy victories, including the win over Samoa and a victory over France in pool play. The USA sevens squad gets a bit of a break over the next few weeks and returns to action in New Zealand at the beginning of February.

A trip to the Bahamas is usually a positive experience, but the U.S. women's developmental sevens squad made its trip extra special by tallying a 4-2 mark at the NAWIRA Sevens tournament and finishing the weekend with a runner-up finish. The only two losses of the tournament came against the eventual champions Canada, but the coaches and players of the U.S. squad were generally pleased with the team's efforts and are hopeful for the potential of the group.

The South African rugby team, commonly referred to as the Springboks, are currently ranked number one in the world rankings and are the reigning world champions. They compete annually in the Tri Nations alongside the New Zealand and Australia, as well as in other international competitions.

South Africa played no part in the first two Rugby World Cups, due to the apartheid boycott of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, but the side returned from isolation and promptly won the 1995 World Cup.