The offence would usually be punished with a 18-week ban, but the RFU has halved that ban due to mitigating circumstances, meaning that Cueto, 31, will be available for England’s World Cup campaign in New Zealand.

“At the hearing Cueto did not contest the citing and he was suspended for nine weeks,” the RFU said.

“The suspension runs from 4 April to 6 June and he can resume playing on 7 June.

“The panel decided this was a mid-entry offence, which attracts a ban of 18 weeks, but because of the player’s compelling mitigation he received the full 50% discount.”

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England failed at the final hurdle in their Grand Slam attempt after being soundly beaten by Ireland.

Shaw, 37, told the Daily Telegraph: “In order to have beaten Ireland, we really needed to have raised our game to another level from the intensity we produced in Cardiff.”

He added: “I still believe, though, that if we get that right in New Zealand, there is no reason why we can’t go on to reach the final, as we did in 2007, and go one better this time.”

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“(Sevens) is what is going to open rugby up to the world,” former All Black Jonah Lomu said.

“It is going to go right through Asia, because it is a more level playing field than playing 15-a-side.”

New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens, who has taken his side to the top of the IRB Sevens circuit after three days of action in Hong Kong said: “What an incredible atmosphere. This just showcases all the excitement of the sport.”

The series moves to Adelaide next week before finishing in England and Scotland in May.

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Young had spent almost nine years working for the International Rugby Board, who own the World Cup. In this time, Young played a major role in 2003 in Australia, and 2007 in France. He is now working on New Zealand’s preparations for this year’s World Cup.

Since Young has been involved, Rugby’s biggest tournament has generated record surpluses for the IRB to invest in the development of the Game. Now installed as one of the world’s top three global sporting events, Rugby World Cup attendance topped over 2m in 2007.

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Wales will host South Africa on Saturday 13th November at Cardiff Millennium Stadium whilst on the same day, England will take on Australia at Twickenham Stadium in London. Scotland vs New Zealand will also take place on Saturday at Murrayfield Stadium.

Wales vs South Africa tickets start trading at £47, and there are over 1,500 still available from various ticket outlets.

England vs Australia tickets start at £60, and despite being entirely sold out from primary vendors, are still available from fan-to-fan ticket exchange websites.

Scotland vs New Zealand tickets are still available at face value, with prices starting at £48.

Compare all Autumn Internationals tickets and find the cheapest available.

There are over 500 tickets still remaining for both games with prices starting at around £45.

Autumn Internationals tickets for these fixtures and more are available to buy online.

The Samoans will be highly motivated to play the 2007 Rugby World Cup finalists, and an ounce of complacency from Martin Johnson’s side could see them capitalise. Expect to see the visitors’ perform their traditional war dance, the Manu Siva Tau, prior to the match, which can intimidate opponents in a similar fashion to that of the All Blacks’ of New Zealand’s Haka.

England v Samoa tickets are on sale now for the sides’ clash, with those below the age of 16 able to attend for under £11. They must be accompanied by an adult, of course, and adult tickets are available from £67.

England won the Webb Ellis trophy in 2003 and were runners up in 2007, while New Zealand last made it to the final in 1995.

Recent form though does point to an All Blacks victory though, and England will do well not to be intimidated by the Haka prior to the match.

England v New Zealand tickets are on sale now – and tickets in the North Stand are currently the cheapest available at £100 from trusted vendor Seatwave. Lower Tier tickets meanwhile, will set rugby union fans back £200 – again from Seatwave.

France are famed for their inconsistent performances away from home, however, a comprehensive victory at New Zealand’s home ground last June proved they are more than capable of performing abroad. Scotland will be wary and seem to be pulling out all the stops in their preparations, with record points scorer Chris Patterson recalled at full back.

Scotland vs France kicks off at Murrayfield this Sunday (February 7th) and tickets are available from just 27 pounds.

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Ireland’s talismanic captain has been named as the Rugby Union player of the decade by Rugby World magazine.

The UK-based publication named a 22 man squad – a first XV plus seven replacements – that they fell reflects the greatest exponents of the oval ball game throughout the noughties with O’Driscoll named as the sport’s premier player.

The dynamic centre has had a remarkable ten years in which he embarked on three British and Irish Lions tours – one as captain – led Ireland to their first Grand Slam since 1948 as well as lifting the Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009.

There are several expected members in the selection such as England’s World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson, New Zealand’s mesmerising fly-half Dan Carter and South Africa’s long-serving leader John Smit.

Some of the more surprising choices include Argentina’s Agustin Pichot at scrum-half ahead of Fourie Du Preez – South Africa’s number nine only making the bench – while Schalk Burger and Doug Howlett have been overlooked completely.

Five members of the list – O’Driscoll, Shane Williams, Jonny Wilkinson, Gethin Jenkins and Yannick Jauzion – can be seen in 2010 Six Nations Championship that kicks off on February 6th. Tickets are available to compare and buy at tixdaq.com.

M Muliana (New Zealand); J Robinson (England), B O’Driscoll (Ireland), M Giteau (Australia); S Williams (Wales); D Carter (New Zealand), A Pichot (Argentina); G Jenkins (Wales), J Smit (South Africa), C Hayman (New Zealand), M Johnson (England, capt), V Matfield (South Africa), R Hill (England), R McCaw (New Zealand), S Parisse (Italy).

Replacements: R Roncero (Argentina), M Ledesma (Argentina), S Marconnet (France), JM Fernandez Lobbe (Argentina), F Du Preez (South Africa), J Wilkinson (England), Y Jauzion (France), JM Hernandez (Argentina)

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Tournament Chief Executive, Martin Snedden said, “We believe the ticketing policy will result in each match being played in front of full venues, showcasing New Zealand’s love of rugby and its place as a host of major international events,”

Compare and buy 6 Nations tickets at tixdaq.com.

Folllowing the conclusion of the Autumn Internationals – with the exception of the Barbarians clash with New Zealand at Twickenham this weekend – the new IRB world rankings have been released and they have certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The main talking point is that England, despite a highly disappointing November campaign, actually climbed up the rankings to sixth spot in the word from a previous position of seventh.  They remain above Argentina – whom they narrowly beat at Twickenham but have overhauled a much-vaunted Wales side.

Wales were well beaten by Australia in their final game and were also dispatched by the All Blacks but it seems rather harsh that they have been demoted to eighth in the world.

Ireland recorded a dramatic 15-10 victory over world champions South Africa at Croke Park which has lifted them to fourth above France who were totally obliterated by a sensational New Zealand performance in Marseille.

The All Blacks claim the number one spot for the end of 2009 with the Springboks and the Wallabies second and third respectively.

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Wales’ confidence of a back-to-back win against a faltering Australia – who lost 8-9 the previous weekend to Scotland – wewre dashed as a regrouped and revitalised Wallabies scythed through Welsh defences to score five times in the convincing 33-12 win.  Dogged kicking by Stephen Jones kept the home side barely in touch to reach 12-23 at half-time, but two more tries from the visitors sealed the game tight and banished memories of the Australian’s loss to Wales this time last year.

On a high from beating Australia last week, Scotland should have been on the front foot against Argentina, but despite controlling the first half of the game to lead 6-0 at the break, the Scots could not control their discipline, giving away two penalties to even the score at 6-6, and at 78′ Martin Rodriguez dropped into goal to take the game 9-6, leaving Scotland with a 19-year-long record of losses to the Pumas at home.

Elsewhere South Africa extended its run of disappointing results with a loss to Ireland at Croke Park.  The Springboks led 10-6 thanks to two tries at the break, in a match notable more for post-Lions tour niggling and some predictable gamesmanship from Schalk Burger.  Again the Springboks’ discipline was the death of them as Sexton slotted three more penalties for Ireland to take the match despite late pressure from South Africa.

The Autumn Internationals draw to a close but the rugby continues with the All Blacks vs. Barbarians on December 5th – tickets to this match are available to compare and buy at tixdaq.com.  And Ireland has just announced its Six Nations tickets as revealed earlier – and as favourites to take the 6N Title in 2010, fans will need to move fast to secure a ticket.

This weekend sees the culmination of the Autumn Internationals as far as the northern hemisphere nations are concerned.

There is a prestige friendly on December 5^th when a Barbarians invitational XV takes on New Zealand at Twickenham but for Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy their last matches before the Six Nations Championship take place this weekend – England’s programme ended in defeat against the All Blacks last Saturday.

There are two particularly mouth-watering matches taking place. In Marseille at the Stade Velodrome, France take on New Zealand in a fixture that has always had something about it. Twice France have eliminated the All Blacks from the World Cup yet they have also suffered some massive defeats to them on home soil. France’s tour of New Zealand in the summer yielded a victory and a narrow defeat and the home side will be take significant encouragement from that.

At Croke Park in Dublin, the best of both hemispheres clash as Ireland take on South Africa. The reigning Six Nations champions face the Tri-Nations champions in what is something of an unofficial world championship though the Springboks will be keen to point out that it is they that are actually the World Cup holders. Ireland snuck a last minute draw against Australia two weeks ago and know they will have to up their game against South Africa even if the tourists have massively underperformed so far in Europe.

Wales face Australia in Cardiff in another attractive fixture with the Wallabies keen to erase memories of last weekend’s shock 9-8 defeat at Murrayfield. Their conquerors, Scotland, take on Argentina this weekend while Italy face the power and bulk of Samoa.

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The Barbarians squad has been announced for their huge clash with New Zealand at Twickenham on December 5^th.

Only three British players have been called up and they all play for Wales. Centre Jamie Roberts, winger Leigh Halfpenny and back-row forward Andy Powell have all been invited to play for the select XV and they will line-up alongside a glittering array of southern hemisphere talent.

Matt Giteau, George Smith and Rocky Elsom will arrive from the Australia squad while Bryan Habana, Fourie Du Preez, Schalk Burger and Victor Matfield arrive from the World beating Springboks.

Former All Black winger Joe Rokocoko will have the unique experience of lining up against his former teammates.

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The hottest sports tickets on the market right now are for the autumn rugby internationals in November.

The cream of the southern hemisphere is landing in Europe to test themselves against the best that the Six Nations Championship can offer.

Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Samoa and, of course, World and Tri-Nations Champions South Africa will all be descending on our shores for some scintillating games of rugby.

Ireland v South Africa, Wales v New Zealand and England v Australia are the stand-

out fixtures of this jamboree but each and every game will be full of interest. Autumn rugby internationals tickets are still available so grab them while you can.

Undoubtedly, the biggest fixture on the bill is a repeat of last year’s World Cup Final. England will be looking to exact revenge on South Africa following the Springboks’ triumph in France last October. Martin Johnson will be looking to put last week’s defeat by Australia behind him with a victory over their bitter rivals. England kick-off against South Africa at 14:30 at Twickenham on Saturday and hundreds of tickets are still available. Tickets are can still be picked up at face value with prices ranging between £41 and £71. Meanwhile, similar tickets are being listed for as much as £500 on a number of online exchanges.

Wales will need to be on their very best form as they face New Zealand at The Millennium Stadium. The Welsh managed to defeat Canada last week, but the Kiwis will be seen as a much more daunting challenge. The All Blacks destroyed Ireland last week and are expected to sweep Wales aside. Elsewhere, Ireland take on Argentina and Scotland face Canada.

Tickets are still available for all of this weekend’s matches, some even at face value. Following the recent announcement by the RFU on fraudulent secondary ticket vendors, fans are urged to shop with caution and only buy from trusted websites.

Undoubtedly, the biggest fixture on the bill is a repeat of last year’s World Cup Final. England will be looking to exact revenge on South Africa following the Springboks’ triumph in France last October. Martin Johnson will be looking to put last week’s defeat by Australia behind him with a victory over their bitter rivals. England kick-off against South Africa at 14:30 at Twickenham on Saturday and hundreds of tickets are still available. Tickets are can still be picked up at face value with prices ranging between £41 and £71. Meanwhile, similar tickets are being listed for as much as £500 on a number of online exchanges.

Wales will need to be on their very best form as they face New Zealand at The Millennium Stadium. The Welsh managed to defeat Canada last week, but the Kiwis will be seen as a much more daunting challenge. The All Blacks destroyed Ireland last week and are expected to sweep Wales aside. Elsewhere, Ireland take on Argentina and Scotland face Canada.

Tickets are still available for all of this weekend’s matches, some even at face value. Following the recent announcement by the RFU on fraudulent secondary ticket vendors, fans are urged to shop with caution and only buy from trusted websites.