Tuesday 5 November 2024 #018
Good morning team, and welcome to Tuesday’s news. It’s a test match week as the Aussies prepare to kick off their northern tour against England at Twickenham on Saturday. There’ll be a lot of interest in the squad for this game, and I’ll put in my 2 cents worth about the make up of the team. Australia XV are also playing on the weekend, they face the Bristol Bears in what should be good experience for them.
There’s plenty, and I mean shedloads of international rugby this weekend including: Ireland hosting New Zealand, Italy hosting Argentina, France hosting Japan, Wales at home to Fiji, and Scotland taking on South Africa. And that isn’t counting the 11 other games taking part between tier 2 and tier 3 nations.
In news closer to home, the Reds played against Saitama Wild Knights in Japan, and the Under 16s and Under 19s finals were played at Ballymore.
Wallabies team to play England?
The team and squad will be announced later in the week, but before then I’m going to do some speculating on who might make the team to take on England. These are my thoughts, influenced by the performance of the Wallabies players in the Rugby Championship. Here goes.
Starting Side
- Angus Bell
- Matt Faessler
- Taniela Tupou
- Nick Frost
- Jeremy Williams
- Rob Valetini
- Fraser McReight
- Harry Wilson
- Jake Gordon
- Noah Lolesio
- Dylan Pietsch
- Samu Kerevi
- Len Ikitau
- Andrew Kellaway
- Tom Wright
Reserves
16. Brandon Paenga-Amosa
17. Isaac Kailea
18. Allan Alaalatoa
19. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto
20. Langi Gleeson
21. Tate McDermott
22. Ben Donaldson
23. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii
Obviously putting Suaalii’s name there will be controversial, and people will say it devalues the jersey and all that. He may not’ve played any professional rugby, but I have a feeling that he’ll get a run from the bench this week. The Wallabies will be desperate for a win, and there’s no time like the present to see what he has. Another week of opposed training probably won’t make much difference, he’ll either have something or not. Also, looking at the squad, there aren’t too many centres if Paisami is going to miss the tour.
I’m sure you’ll let me know what you think.
Saitama Wild Knights v Reds
The Reds have continued a good tradition by playing against the Wild Knights, with the latest instalment taking place at the Kumagaya Rugby Stadium in Japan. You can watch the game here: https://www.youtube.com/@jsportsrugby
The Reds fielded a pretty good side with Ryan Smith as captain in what is excellent recognition and reward for the big man’s example of never quitting and doing the hard work. Smith made his debut for Queensland in 2021 at the prime age of 24 (doesn’t that sound young to most of us) and is now a mainstay of the side and has racked up 50 caps. Other key Reds players included Hodgman, Nasser, JTA, Josh Canham, Connor Vest, Kalani Thomas, and Tom Lynagh, with Richie Asiata and Sef Fa’agase on the bench. Emerging Reds forwards Kohan Herbert, and Joe Brial also featured in the starting side with Massimo DeLutiis coming off the bench.
The game itself was high scoring, with the Reds eventually getting the victory 42-28. Tom Lynagh was adjudged to be the player of the match in a good showing given his injury concerns this year. The Reds jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, but after that the scoreline tightened up with the Wild Knights getting to within 3 points after 60 minutes before Reds winger Murray scored a scrappy try. Harry Mclaughlin-Phillips kicked two late penalty goals to seal the win.
These sort of games provide a fantastic opportunity for the Reds players to continue their rugby journey (or start it in the case of the four players below) against quality opposition. They certainly didn’t have it all their way and the coach was happy with the win.
You can read Nathan Williamson’s match review here, or the Reds Media Unit write up here.
Under 16s and Under 19s
New South Wales has taken out the Under 16s Super Rugby final with a very tight 31-29 win against Queensland at Ballymore on Sunday. That’s three titles in a row for NSW, and well deserved given their unbeaten season and previous 50-20 win over the Reds. You can read Lachlan Grey’s writeup over here.
The Brumbies took out the Under 19 Super Rugby grand final with a 40-31 victory over Queensland. I haven’t watched the game yet, but according to Lachlan Grey’s news article, the lead changed seven times during the match and the Brumbies came from 31-26 behind with 14 minutes to play. Two late scores to the Brumbies saw them take the victory (their second title in a row).
Hopefully we see more of these young men in professional rugby in coming years.
That’s a wrap
That’s it for this week, as always, thanks for reading today’s ramblings, and I look forward to the comments section.
