The biggest event on the international rugby calendar for 2013, has arguably been the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. The interest for this ‘unique’ event has been nothing short of fanatical. The term unique is used in the sense that it is the only occurrence where four nations come as one, be you English, Irish, Welsh, or Scottish, and play under one banner  - the ‘Lions’.  All rivalry within the home nations are put on hold, till the long blast of the final test match.

The mighty New Zealand will face their 2011 world cup final opponents France for the first time since that intense encounter at Eden Park in Auckland. The All Blacks took the final in what was a thrilling encounter with a score line of 8-7.

The famous British and Irish Lions kick off their month long tour of Australia on Wednesday. En-route the Lions stopped over in Hong Kong  for a game against the Barbarians ( 59-8 Lions). The much anticipated tour has been 12 years in the making since 2001.

Bayern Munich won their fifth European title equaling the feat of Liverpool as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley. The German champions were slow off the blocks as Dortmund started bossing the game from the off. The first half ended goalless thanks to saves from Manuel Neuer and Roman Weidenfeller and also due to poor finishing from Arjen Robben.

English Premier League

West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United

It was an absolute thriller and a spectacle for the neutrals as both sides had moments to forget and had their respective defences to blame for most of the goals.

Chelsea created history as they became the first team to win the Europa League while holding the Champions league as they beat Benfica 2-1 at the Amsterdam Arena.

UEFA Champions League

Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate to progress to the Champions League final and will meet German rivals Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on 25th May. This will be the competition’s 1st all German final.

The much anticipated British and Irish Lions tour of Australia is set to kick off in the early days of June. The Lions come together just once every four years in order to tour one of the big three southern hemisphere nations.

Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate to progress to the Champions League final and will meet German rivals Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on 25th May. This will be the competition’s 1st all German final. 

I am very excited about the opportunity to be writing for ThePapare.com and being able to talk about the latest Rugby news from around the world and how to keep fit and healthy…

English Premier League

Manchester United were crowned English champions for the 20th time in their history (13th Premier League title) with 4 games to spare as they beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Old Trafford. Robin Van Persie scored a hat trick that sent him to the top of the scorers list with 24 Premier League goals and looks the favourite to retain the golden boot. 

English Premier League