Thursday Afternoons’, Wednesday News.
If this Wednesday’s Rugby News ever sees the light of day amidst the server issues, we have Ollie Hoskins called out of retirement to play a Lions game for the Quokka- kickers, Angus Gardner get the Super final gig, a new Aussie super comp for later in the year, Johnny Sexton walks back some of his comments and Michael Cheika giving some balanced feedback.
Colonel Trautman convinces Ollie Hoskins to go on one more mission
Nathan “I call it Roger Moore Park” Williamson reports that Perth- born (but otherwise alright bloke) prop Ollie Hoskins will finish his career with the Western Force on a unique one-game loan deal for the British & Irish Lions tour game on 28 June.
Hoskins announced his retirement last month but his club side Saracens has permitted him to join the Force for the one-off game at Optus Stadium.
The 32-year-old started his career with the Force in 2014, playing 26 games before heading overseas with London Irish. Hoskins would record over 150 caps in the Premiership, eventually handed a lone Wallabies appearance in 2021.
“It’s such a poetic way to round it all up,” Hoskins said “It just seems full circle to be able to come home and hopefully play my last game in front of my home crowd with my family there. I’m chomping at the bit, I can’t wait.”
“A couple of weeks ago, when the Force got in touch with my agent, I was dumb founded. It was the quickest yes of all time.”
The deal works perfectly for the Force, which has had front-row issues since the start of the year.
New recruit Harry ‘best adult film name’ Johnson-Holmes and Australia A prop Harry Hoopert have not featured all year due to injury, while regular tight-head Tom Robertson is set to play loosehead against the Lions.
Gardner, most capped referee in Super Rugby history, to run Super Final
Rugby365 reports that Angus “constant” Gardner will take charge of the Grand Final in Christchurch on Saturday.
Gardner will be joined by assistant referees Damon “Robocop” Murphy and Matt “Dirty Harry” Kellahan, with Brett Cronan “the Barbarian” taking on TMO duties.
In 2018, Gardner became the first Australian since 1996 to officiate a Super Rugby Final when he took charge of the decider between the Crusaders and the Lions.
Since making his Super Rugby debut in 2012, Gardner has built an impressive
resume, including:
- Test debut: Papua New Guinea v Vanuatu, 2011
- Men’s Rugby World Cup 2023 semifinal: Argentina v New Zealand
- Men’s Six Nations 2025 decider: Ireland v France
- First Australian referee to officiate 50 Test matches
- 2018 World Rugby Referee of the Year
- Tolerating up to 30,000 words of yappy scrum-half shit per game.
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley said Gardner’s appointment is a deserved reward for his consistent high performance across the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.
“Super Rugby Pacific in 2025 has delivered one of the most exciting seasons to date. It is the second-highest scoring season on record, with noticeable reductions in stoppage times around penalties, scrums, lineouts, and general play. These improvements haven’t happened by accident. Our match officials have worked hard to apply the laws of the game with clarity and consistency, while also enabling the game to flow.”
Aussie team sure to win new September Super comp.
Rugbypass reports that Australia’s four Super Rugby clubs will compete in a new competition starting this September, with Rugby Australia unveiling Super Rugby AUS on Tuesday. The new tournament aims to provide more competitive fixtures to these squads over a four-week period.
The NSW Waratahs and the Western Force will go head-to-head in the first fixture on September 13, before the Queensland Reds clash with the ACT Brumbies the next day. There are three regular season rounds before the “Reds v whomever” grand final takes place on October 5.
Most of these fixtures will be fan-friendly double headers, with Rugby Australia announcing that this new competition will be held alongside the already-existing Super Rugby Men’s U19’s tournament.
RA’s Ben Whitaker explained, it was a priority to create more competitive fixtures for
the four senior squads.
“The Super Rugby Pacific season is relatively short and sharp, (like Don Rickles) and the contracted players who aren’t involved with Wallabies can go a long time between games at that level, especially once club rugby finals commence in August.”
“Super Rugby AUS will also be an opportunity to showcase the best emerging player
and coaching talent out of club rugby, along with the national and Super Rugby
pathway programs.”
Dignified Cheika gives measured post-match assessment.
Sky Sports reports that outgoing (in both senses) Leicester Tigers coach and purported Australian Super coaching option Michael Cheika has labelled the Premiership final sin-binning of Dan Cole as an ’embarrassing for the game’, and also criticised the performance of referee Karl Dickson.
Cole – playing in the final professional match of his career – was harshly sin-binned when he came out of the line to charge down a Finn Russell kick, making contact after the ball had gone.
Referee Dickson decreed it a penalty offence, marking where the ball landed in theLeicester half and sending Cole to the bin for the remainder. Russell kicked the resulting penalty, with the three points proving decisive.
That sin-bin decision and the lack of further reward for scrum dominance throughout the contest irked the normally measured & contemplative Cheika post-match.
“The scrum, we were dominating completely. I’ve never seen it before in my life, dominating like that and getting nothing, zero. In fact, getting penalised against!” Cheika said.
“Obviously that was a strategical (sic) point for us to try and dominate there and in mauls as well. That was completely nullified, it cost us field position. I think with three minutes to go it was nine penalties to two. It is impossible to manage a field position scenario with that outcome.”
“[The yellow card for Cole was] Ridiculous. And the guy should be embarrassed to send him off for that. It wasn’t even dangerous. It was hardly even a penalty. “For me personally, if the game is sending players to the sin-bin for that, or even penalising…What do I say mate? If I say something, I’ll get myself in strife and take away from the other team.”
“I just have to beat myself up inside and try and keep as much as I can inside. I’ve got my feelings on the referee’s performance but I’ll take that up with [head of refereeing] Paul Hull as one last final…banter, let’s say.”
“I thought we got nothing back from the referee at all and we kept on coming back and turning up. We scored three tries to two, that tells you something. I’m super proud of the players.
“Two men in the bin, the second one for nothing, really. It is embarrassing for the game that someone goes off for that. I’m allowed to be angry, but I’m over it and happy to accept the result now and get on with the next thing.”
Johnny Sexton says his Finn Russell comments were ‘blown out of proportion’.
Lions kicking coach Johnny Sexton says he is looking forward to working with Finn Russell on the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, claiming his comments about the Scotland fly-half were “blown out of proportion”.
Writing in his autobiography last year, Sexton suggested Russell’s status as the “darling of the media” was a factor in head coach Warren Gatland picking the Scot over him for the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa.
In a subsequent newspaper interview while promoting his book in October, Sexton said he would select former England captain Owen Farrell ahead of the “flashy” Russell for this summer’s tour.
“There’s a lot been made of the whole situation, primarily by you guys [the
media],” said Sexton.
“I don’t even think it’s what I wrote in the book, it’s more the comments I said when doing media for the book, but it’s probably been blown out of proportion really.”
“I was talking about myself in 2021 and how I felt back then. It was more really what I thought [Warren] Gatland was thinking as opposed to what I was thinking. But look, you have to deal with these types of challenges and it won’t be the last time.”
Sexton said he and Russell shared a “handshake” and a “brief chat” in Lions camp before Russell returned to his club for what Sexton called an “outstanding” performance in last week’s Premiership final victory over Leicester.
“He was racing off obviously because those guys were in finals, they didn’t stay around too long, they came in, got their kit, did a bit of media and were gone,” added the former Ireland captain.
“I’m looking forward to catching up with him later. What the Lions demands of you is that if there is a rivalry, which there’s not, you leave it at the door. I’m here to help him now, I’m, here to give him experiences, to answer questions, I’m not here to force myself or tell him what to do, it’s not that relationship. I’m here to help.”
