Former All Blacks rugby player Chris Jack is reportedly slated to make a grand return to the Canterbury Crusaders by 2010 after his two-year stint with Saracens, a London-based club.

This development came out after five New Zealand Super 14 rugby franchises announced their players for the next season earlier in the day. Jack caught everyone’s attention when he was chosen to become part of Crusaders, a team he was playing for prior to his transfer to Saracens in 2007. He played 84 matches for Crusaders.

Also making a return to the Crusaders team is All Blacks flyhalf Daniel Carter who took a year-long leave to play for Perignan, a French-based club. He was forced to rest for more than seven months after incurring injury on his Achilles tendon.

All Blacks winger Zac Guilford will be playing for Canterbury.

In an interview, Wilkinson revealed that he’s no trying to get out of his comfort zone in a bid to make that much needed rebound and return to the sport that he’s identified to. He added that being at Toulon is a great gift for himself. He’s now gearing up with the team for the autumn internationals next month.

England will be facing Australia while New Zealand and Argentina will battle it out in the other matches. These rugby matches are expected to take place in a span of two weeks.

Being part of a team located in Southern France is a great opportunity for Wilkinson who needs this comeback to set his life in order.

The protest is said to take place tomorrow at the Recreation Group. The pressure group West Country Respect will be joining these rugby players in the demonstration.

Campaigners will be sporting slogans such as “Nice People Take Drugs.”

The protesters reasoned that nothing’s being done on heavy drinking which is as serious as drug taking.

Rugby players have left the team earlier this year due to drug-related issues. The most talked about would be the admittance of England star prop Matt Stevens of going on a cocaine habit. Stevens eventually decided to leave the sport.

Three players Andrew Higgins, Alex Crockett and Michael Lipman ended their contracts in the team after refusing to undergo drug tests following a party in London earlier this year. The three players maintained their innocence.

According to reports, Barkley was in Shaw last Thursday to help launch the new facility of Rocking Horse Nursery. Establishment owner Fiona Milner said that she did not have a hard time inviting the rugby star to the launch, stating that his mom also operates a nursery in Cornwall. Milner said that she met Barkley with her son at a rugby course recently.

Barkley officially cut the ribbon to signal the opening of the outdoor nursery classroom. The young students were excited to see their favorite player grace the occasion.

The outdoor classroom was made possible by a £2,000 financial assistance from the Wiltshire’ Council’s Early Years and Childcare department. The undertaking costs about £4,000.

In a media conference held earlier this week, the team composed of Danny Grewcock, David Flatman, Stuart Hooper, Joe Maddock and David Barnes were presented as the leaders behind these latest efforts by the group.

Five Bath players in the past have been suspended in long terms after being determined guilty for drug-related incidents. Matt Stevens is suspended until January 2011 after the prop was tested positive for cocaine use. Second-row Justin Harrison, who already retired from the sport, was banned for the next eight months after admitting to taking cocaine.

The players recently suspended were Andrew Higgins, Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett who will have to stay in the sidelines for the next nine months after the three refused to undergo mandatory drug testing requested by the club. This was initiated following an investigation over an incident that took place in London earlier this year.

The Rugby Football League (RFL) stated that the ten teams that participated in Australia last year showed high quality rugby that the officials believe that increasing the competing countries will be good for the sport.

Richard Lewis, RFL chairman, said that the business plan that they have set up proposed 12 countries to compete by 2013. He added that they are still working hard in order to achieve this goal.

This will serve as the very first World Cup that will take place in United Kingdom since year 2000 when RFL dealt with massive debts due to the disaster in financial aspects during that time. The under-attended competition was plagued with bad weather and lesser crowd participation.

RFL officials are confident this time that they won’t encounter the same mistakes as in the past. They’ll be scouting for venues that can withstand bad weather and other factors.

Lewis revealed that they will be offering tickets at competitive rates in order to attract real rugby fans in watching the competitions come 2013.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU), the governing body in England rugby, gave the penalty on the longstanding club recently. Despite this sanction, the union is satisfied with the terms specified in the takeover made by Red Dragon Rugby Limited, the new team owner.

RFU said in a statement that London Welsh is believed to be solvent once more after the financial takeover and has gotten the green light to continue playing next season.

The union then instructed the new owners to settle about 450,000 pounds to the existing creditors to show proof that it is capable of financing the club for the next couple of years.

The club’s shareholders and board have already written off debts amounting to 1.3 million pounds during the takeover. This was revealed by administrator Tenon Recovery.

Gareth Roberts, Tenon spokesman, said that London Welsh will also have private individuals as shareholders.

The London Welsh club was founded in 1885.

This is the first time that the England men and women rugby play at the same venue at the same date. This occasion is part of the three-Test series between New Zealand and England.

The England rugby team will have a chance to avenge its 2006 women’s World Cup final defeat against New Zealand. The latter team edged the former 25-17 during that blockbuster encounter. England will play host of the women’s rugby World Cup final next year.

England coach Gary Street said that he’s confident that the four-time defending Six Nations Rugby champion will do well in the upcoming match. He added that the team’s performance in this match will serve as a benchmark on how they’ll fare in next year’s World Cup.

RFUW Managing Director Rosie Williams said that the women’s team is garnering massive support from the public which is a positive development in the sport.

According to the rugby team club, Alex Crockett, Andrew Higgins and Michael Lipman immediately gave their notice of resignation before a disciplinary hearing is about to be scheduled due to the aforementioned incident.

Bath rugby team officials are currently conducting an investigation into reported incidents at a certain end-of-season party that took place earlier last month.

Bob Calleja, the team’s chief executive, stated that there were allegations on the conduct of the three players and they failed to submit themselves to take drug tests on three occasions. He added that the resignation of the players took effect immediately.

Despite the resignation, the players are not yet off the hook as the Rugby Football Union will decide next week if they will pursue with conduct-related charges against the three.

As of now, the Bath rugby team lost five players for the past three months, the first one was Matt Stevens who was found positive for using cocaine and Justin Harrison who requested for early release from his contract due to a brawling incident.

According to reports, Ryan revealed that he will be replacing several players in the squad by the end of this season. He admitted that the current lineup seemed to have a problem winning big matches and that there is a big possibility that they could not make it to the elite Guinness Premiership playoffs if nothing drastic would be done.

Ryan is aware that his job is on the line after the major defeat but he said that it’s all up to team owner Tom Walkinshaw to decide on his fate. He stressed that he’s more concerned about the industry’s future rather than his job.

Meanwhile, Cardiff Director of Rugby Dai Young expressed his happiness on his team’s efforts, stating that they did not expect to score that high (50) against a formidable opponent.

The team is set to join a summer tour in South Africa with the squad to be announced this week.