Despite 90% of the rugby news being about Jac Morgan’s cleanout of Carlo Tizzano, we’ve found some other rugby stories on the dark web (and also sites that aren’t stuff.co.nz).
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin backs officials
According to RugbyPass, World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin has confirmed that the governing body will be supporting its match officials following the controversial cleanout decision at the end of the second Lions Test in Melbourne.
“Emotions understandably run very high with a compelling and fiercely contested match, such as the one we saw going right down to the wire,” said Gilpin. “In those tight contests, decisions made in crucial moments inevitably draw a lot of scrutiny, and while World Rugby has stated that we do not publicly comment on match officials’ decisions or performance – even when they have a Barry Crocker like that French bloke losing it at Foley’s fart-arsing around*, given the nature of the commentary surrounding last weekend, I just wanted to express our support for the team of match officials involved.
“There is no other position on the field that is under the scrutiny that our match officials are under, yet they do an incredible job under incredible pressure in a very hard environment. I think it’s fair to say that when referee groups are reviewing decisions—and they do review decisions, they review with the coaches, they review them across the game—we are always proud to support our match officials as part of that process, and that’s what we are doing now and in the coming days with our colleagues in Rugby Australia. So suffice to say we won’t be taking any further questions.”
(*quote may have been embellished by about 18 words)
PlanetRugby reported that Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is also in the clear for his comments on the incident, with Gilpin saying he didn’t think Schmidt had called into question the integrity of match officials.
“I think it is disappointing when the reaction is one of, ‘this means player welfare isn’t taken seriously’, because we have worked really hard on that narrative,” Gilpin said. “Everyone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda. You can see that from what we are doing with the instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, and the investigations.
“You’ll all recall, three years ago in the last Lions series in South Africa, when the match official in the first test was very heavily criticised, the mental health challenges. (Ex-referee) Wayne Barnes has talked about it – we’ve got match officials who, when they’re criticised publicly, having their families targeted outside the school gates, that’s not good, that’s not fair, and that’s not right, so we’ve got to support these guys.
Australia on the non-petulant side of a referee exchange
Danny Stephens of Planet Rugby has this amusing description of an incident with the referee and both captains at the recent Lions test: (after the) ...first half bout of handbags as referee Andrea Piardi wisely opted to simply tell the teams to calm down and get on with it. “But they started it!” was (Itoje’s) plea. Really? Yes, Will Skelton was a little late in the play before – which was what had the teams simmering. It was clear for all to see and Mr. Piardi had a word with him, which was all that was needed.
Like admonishing quibbling siblings in the back of a car, Mr. Piardi told everyone to be quiet and calm down. And like the moany sibling who is never wrong, Itoje insisted he was above admonishment because he didn’t start it. He didn’t. But what he also did not do is stop it. He was the first one there, fist at Skelton’s throat, escalating everything. In the altercation after Jack Conan’s unsuccessful lunge for the line, it was also Itoje there at Ollie Chessum’s side, giving it the full handbags. In a rugby context, also fine. You don’t back down. But you don’t squeal either.
But “they started it”? Harry Wilson did better. “I’ll talk to my team,” was the response, quickly backed up by “don’t be a schoolkid,” to Itoje.
“A million tickets under $100” reasonably-priced tickets for 2027 World Cup
Nathan Sims Williamson reports that World Rugby is aiming to make Rugby World Cup 2027 (to be held in Australia) the most accessible and family-friendly tournament yet, with over 2.5 million tickets set to be available for purchase.
The expanded World Cup will have one million tickets available for under AUD$100, with tickets starting at $40 for adults, $20 for children with Wallabies tickets starting from $65. Tickets will first go on sale in February 2026, with a presale open to fans who have registered their interest. Following this, a three-week general application phase will be open to all fans, which will also include a ballot system to request tickets for matches and sections that are sold out.
For those looking to avoid the rush, World Rugby has also unveiled a Superfan Pass (here we go…). The Superfan Pass will cost $750 (imagine my surprise) and the pass will provide the holder with confirmed access to buy up to four tickets per match for any of the 52 games, including the final, with a total limit of 52 tickets. A strictly limited release of just 2,027 Superfan Passes ($1,520,250 worth) will go on sale at 2:00pm on 5 August.
(On 4 August G&GR will be offering 100 Hyper-Super-Fan passes for $30,000 each. The passholder will have a guaranteed chance of buying a Superfan pass for $750.00. Applicants must send cash in non-sequential notes to the PO box I’ll text you from my burner phone.)
TICKETING TIMELINE
29 July, 2025: Presale opens for fans to register (until end of January 2026).
30 July, 2025: World Cup hospitality and experiences on sale for eight matches.
4 August, 2025: Yowie’s cunning scam starts raking in sweet cash.
5 August, 2025: Superfan Passes on sale.
December 2025: RWC 2027 draw.
January 2026: match schedule announcement.
February 2026: presale for tickets.
May 2026: general on sale.
Tom Donnelly to join Wallabies coaching staff ahead of Rugby Championship
Western Force forwards coach Tom Donnelly will join the Wallabies coaching staff ahead of the 2025 Rugby Championship according to this article. Donnelly will replace current assistant coach Geoff Parling who will return to the UK following the end of the British & Irish Lions Tour.
The 43-year-old Donnelly spent the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season with the Western Force, having moved west after spending the previous two years as an assistant with the Highlanders in Dunedin. Before that, he was the head coach of NPC side Otago and had a stint leading New Zealand’s Under-20s side when they won the 2022 Oceania Championship.
Video: fans celebrate too early
This video posted by stuff.co.nz shows Southern’s supporters sprinting onto the field, thinking their team had won. But the referee said there was still time left to play, opening the door for Ashburton Celtic to snatch a dramatic victory.
