Monday’s Rugby News looks at the results from Super Rugby and the rest of clubland, the Waratahs major salary cap decision and Matt Toomua’s major praise for Michael Hooper
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Super Rugby recap
Super Rugby Australia continues to find another gear as we start getting closer to the finals.
The action for round seven started in the Gold Coast with the Force hoping to secure their first win of the comp against the Waratahs.
The Tahs were looking to mark Michael Hooper’s 150th with a win and they produced a near-perfect performance, with Alex Newsome and Jack Maddocks crossing either side of half-time as they cruised to a 28-8 victory.
“It’s great for the spirit of the team, the boys are pretty pumped about it. It’s something we’ve been trying to build for a while, we scrapped one [a win] early in the year and couldn’t back it up, but it’s more exciting to see improvement in the group,” captain Rob Simmons said.
“There was lost of really good contributions throughout [the match], everyone had their moments which is important when you have a pretty good performance at the end of the day. It wasn’t classic or as clinical as we’d like but it was good off the back of a short turnaround,” coach Rob Penney added.
Saturday’s contest headed up the road to Suncorp where the Reds looked to bounce back against the Rebels.
The Reds would race out to an early lead thanks to tries to Jordan Petaia and Brandon Paenga-Amosa.
They would then produce what I believe is the greatest defensive half in Super Rugby history, rebelling the Melbourne side before finding their way over thanks to replacement Hamish Stewart.
With the Reds having just 9% possession in the second half, coach Brad Thorn was near-speechless after the ‘test match worthy’ performance.
“It was Originesque, it was a Test match,” Thorn said.
“Just kept fronting, just kept turning up.
“Queenslander. That’s what it was. If you summarise Queensland, that’s what it’s about. You can’t describe it except saying ‘Queenslander’.
“Super proud of the guys.”
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Club rugby recap
With the Super Rugby setting the scene, the club rugby across the country picked up where it left off with some cracking encounters.
Starting with the Shute Shield and the big result came with Southern Districts causing a major upset over Sydney Uni 32-31.
In the other games, Eastwood accounted for Western Sydney 57-14, Norths pumped Hunter 50-10, Randwick dominated Penrith 49-3, Warringah cruised to a 28-14 victory over West Harbour and Gordon continued their strong start with a 26-3 win over Manly.
In the John I Dent Cup, Wests make it three on the bounce as they beat Queanbeyan 30-14, Vikings edged out Uni Norths Owls 26-25 whilst the grudge match between Canberra Royals and Gungahlin was postponed until next week.
Heading up to Queensland for the Premier Rugby, there were some narrow wins for Sunnybank and Bond Uni who were one-point winners over Souths (14-13) and Norths (44-43) respectively.
Across the rest of the comp, Easts were narrow 31-24 victors over Uni of Queensland and GPS cruised to a 26-13 victory over Brothers.
Heading to the Coopers Premier and it was Brighton that won the top of the table clash against Old Collegians, winning 34-27.
In other results, Elizabeth eked out a 36-35 win over Adelaide Uni, Onkaparinga continued to impress with a 39-25 win over Southern Suburbs, Burnside pumped Port Adelaide 65-7 and Woodville outcounted for Barossa 38-12.
In the West, the big result in the Fortescue Premier came with Associates recording a dominate 38-13 win over Joondalup. handing them their first loss of the year.
Across the state, Bayswater were narrow 18-17 victors over Nedlands, Kalamunda dominated Curtin Uni 56-20, Wanneroo smashed Southern Lions 50-17, Wests cruised to a 29-5 win over ARKs, Cottesloe blanked Coastal 56-0 and Palmyra defeated UWA 38-17
And finally, a special shout out to the Darwin Dragons, who capped their dream run in the senior grade competition by defeating Casuarina 17-15, having upset previously undefeated University Pirates 17-14 in the semis.
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Million dollar mare
As the NSW Waratahs deal with the pressures of COVID-19, chairman Roger Davis has admitted that they could slash their player wages by up to $1 million next year.
With the future of Super Rugby still up in the air, it has been reported by The Sun Herald that the Tahs are preparing to wipe $1 million off the player budget next year, putting them considerably below the $5.5 million salary cap.
Along with this, they fear that the rebuilding Rebels will target a number of key players off-contract as they look to turn themselves into potential powerhouses.
With negotiations on hold as they try and work out how much money they have to spend, Davis believes that the game can no longer afford the inflated wage demands of players.
“Until we get certainty of income, we’ve got to be conservative in the way we spend the resources we’ve got,” Davis said.
“Hopefully there will be rivers of gold and more money so we can contract departing players at more competitive rates, but this whole landscape has changed. The game can no longer afford the high levels of player payments that were traditionally part of the rugby environment.
“If you’re on a million bucks, we just don’t have that money any more. We’re all going to have to come to grips with that.
“It’s balancing act…we don’t want to find we’ve contracted all our players and find the club goes broke in January but, by the same token, we want to make sure we’re competitive and we’ve got the best team available to put on the paddock.
“We’re going through the list of who we want to retain. It’s about working out how we allocate those scarce dollars. It’s not going to be as it was. You’d normally run yourself up to the salary cap and Bob’s your uncle and everyone gets a pay increase.”
As they work out a solution, Davis suggests a reduction in the playing rosters as they look at optimising their expenditure.
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Hooper’s the man
As we start to work out what a potential Wallabies line-up looks like (whenever we get clearance to play against another nation), Rebels flyhalf Matt Toomua believes that flanker Michael Hooper must be captain.
With Hooper celebrating his 150th game over the weekend, Toomua believes that he would provide some much-needed consistency as we head into a period of change and player turnover.
“It’s all a part of the story and whilst we have a new coach and a new chapter, there’s still going to be a lot of players who were a part of both campaigns and won’t be scared but will learn from the past,” he said.
“He’s been captain of Australia under the one coach, he’s done a great job, now he’s going to have a new coach and he’ll learn more and he’ll develop.
“From my point of view, I do. I think it’s a no-brainer but we obviously have a new coach with new ideas and he’s a lot smarter than I am.”
He suggests that Hooper and the rest of the squad will learn from 2019’s disappointing World Cup campaign, gaining inspiration from the rise of England.
“I think he’s been a great captain and I think he’s only going to get better,” To’omua added.
“Yes, it hasn’t been the most successful time but these are learning moments for him.
“I’d caution against (a change). He just has a wealth of knowledge and experience and that’s all a part of it.
“I look back to England in 2015 and then where they went to in 2019, I don’t think they get to the final in 2019 if they don’t experience that hardship and, to me, that’s how I see our journey with Australia as well.”
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