Rugby

He had captained the Washington Huskies to the national championship playoffs, and had an opportunity that most players can only dream of.

But not Wooching. Ever since he was a kid growing up in Hawaii, this burly, tattooed linebacker had harbored dreams of a different kind.

"My passion was rugby," the 23-year-old tells CNN. "The first time I picked up a ball ... that's when my love for the game started, and ever since then it's just been gaining.

Fiji head into the Singapore sevens this weekend fresh off a comprehensive Hong Kong tournament victory.

Fiji is currently second on the series ladder with 122 points, with the Blitz Bokke 23 points ahead.

Teams receive 22 points a tournament win, the runner-up gets 19 and the third place team is awarded 17 points.

Gareth Baber said this means South Africa will have to drop their standards signifcantly for Fiji to have a chance.

"They have been a model of consistency throughout the series," Baber said.

The highly-anticipated championship will feature Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia.

According to the tournament’s organising body, Oceania Rugby, only the top two Pacific teams after New Zealand and Australia would be selected for the Championship. The Tonga U20s were not considered because they were ranked lower than Fiji and Samoa.

The Mate Ma'a will take on Fiji in May's Pacific Test, which has been boosted by the inclusion of England and the Cook Islands.

Woolf was excited by the growth of the international weekend.

"It's great to see that it's expanding and really good to see the Cook Islands involved - they've certainly deserved that for a while I think," he said.

"They were really competitive at the last World Cup and they were really hard for us to beat not that long ago in a World Cup qualifier as well.

Hansen offered his congratulations to Jones after England equalled the All Blacks' record of 18 consecutive victories for a tier-one nation by battering Scotland 61-21 in the Six Nations on Saturday.

The record will be England's alone if they can beat Ireland in Dublin this weekend, which would also see them clinch back-to-back Grand Slams.

Rather than be disappointed that New Zealand, whose own run ended against Ireland in November, may no longer have the accolade Hansen welcomed the competition.

North had been warned about his form by defence coach Shaun Edwards in the build-up to the game and responded by demonstrating his quality and power as Wales scored three unanswered tries in a hard-worked win.

RNZ reports Wales led 8-6 at half time.

Jamie Roberts clinched the game with Wales' third try in the 78th minute.

Ireland's New Zealand coach Joe Schmidt said his side paid a high price for a yellow card handed to first five Johnny Sexton which saw Wales score 10 points in six minutes either side of half-time.

An estimated one million people were killed during a 100-day period, among them Tharcisse's father and two brothers. Aged 13, he was forced to flee his home and then the supposed safe shelter of a camp to stay alive with his mother, sisters and remaining brothers.

However, he has been able to slowly and steadily heal his emotional wounds thanks to an unlikely source of solace -- the game of rugby.

England remain on course for back-to-back Six Nations grand slams but celebrations will be muted after they produced their worst performance under Eddie Jones.

RNZ reports it is a 17th game unbeaten for England who can draw level with the All Blacks record of 18 when they take on Scotland in their next Six Nations game.

Lauaki is understood to have suffered kidney problems.

The block-busting loose forward played 70 Super Rugby games for the Chiefs between 2004 and 2010 and was capped 17 times for New Zealand.

He made his All Blacks debut against Fiji in 2005 and was part of the All Blacks team that contested the 2007 World Cup in France.

His final Test in the black jersey was against Samoa in 2008.

Lauaki moved to France in 2010 to play for top 14 side Clermont before joining Bayonne in 2011.

Four days after Stuff broke news that Tuipulotu failed a test for a specified substance last November while touring with the All Blacks, results of the 24-year-old's second B sample came back negative.   

That cleared Tuipulotu, who faced a potential two-year ban, to return to training immediately with the Blues, but left several unanswered questions about the discrepancy in his two samples, which were tested nine weeks apart.