Author: Matt Rowley

I started Green and Gold Rugby (G&GR) in 2007 as an experiment; it was the time before social media and there were these new things called ‘blogs’ – I wanted to find out how they worked. There was a Rugby World Cup that year, why not Aussie rugby?Four World Cups later and G&GR has become one of the greatest influences on my life. I’ve had the opportunity to meet or speak with every player, coach and leader in the game I’ve ever wanted to. I was taken to a World Cup and partied with the Reds the night they won…

G’Day all.Regular readers will spot that there’s been a spot of movement with a number of G&GR contributors hanging up their G&GR boots. There’s absolutely nothing sinister or untoward in this and zero hard feelings. All we can do is thank them for their service to this fine organ – they’ve been legends and I’m sure we’ll see them around the traps.Of course this has opened up opportunities and already a number of fearless souls have volunteered to step into the breech for the glory of Aussie rugby, you’ll be reading more from them in the near future. If anyone…

Newscorp’s campaign against Rugby Australia over the television broadcast rights agreement between Foxtel and RA reveals the potential value they hold

The GAGR rugby podcast is back for the 2017 season and if you can’t believe it’s that time already – neither can we! This week Reg, Matt and Hugh discuss: What was the highlight of the Sydney7s? Can the Brisbane 10s be a success What excites you most about the season ahead? Can the Womens National circuit be a success Where will barba, Giteau and AAC be playing in 12 months?

This week Reg, Matt and Hugh wrap up the year with our final podcast in which we decide on the following awards: Highlight of the season Lowlight of the season Best Australian Rugby Player (Reg let’s slip the GAGR Wallaby of the year) Your wish for 2017 Favourite Podcast Guest Thanks for listening everyone this year and tune in around Sydney Sevens time in early February for our 2017 show.

Suckers for punishment that they are, Reg, Matt and Hugh have Tim the pommy Eggchaser on the podcast AGAIN. This week they answer these burning questions: What was the biggest factor in that result? England – arse or class? Does Australia have a discipline issue? What did we learn from this tour? State of Origin proposed for the June window next year – is it a brainfart? Get your ideas in for a summary of the year bumper sticker to be used on next week’s show!

The boys discuss the progression of the wallaby team throughout their spring tour and analyse who deserves to keep their jersey next June.

This week Reg, Matt and Hugh are joined by Egg Chaser Tim as they look forward to the big clash between the Wallabies and England on the weekend. The boys also look back at the Ireland test asking how Australia lost and whether Michael Cheika was right to spit the dummy at the ref quite so hard.

In this Report Card the boys pick over the bones of another lost grand slam with the 3 point loss to Ireland in Dublin. Get along to https://www.thecraftbeermarket.com.au/gagr84 to order some of the sweet craft beers the boys talk about. LANGUAGE WARNING

On this week’s rugby podcast Matt is joined by Reg and Hugh as they punch on with these burning questions: 1. How did the French win rate – best of the year? 2. Was Cheika right to rest so many players? 3. Who are you most excited to see for the Aussie Barbarians? 4. What’s the key to beating Ireland? 5. What caught your eye in last weekend’s internationals? And yes we know you want to take advantage of the special offer we have for you so get yourself so here it is – GRAND SLAM CRAFT BEER There’s only one thing…

In this week’s rugby podcast Reg and Matt are re-joined by Jamie Miller all the way from the USA and they smash the hell out of these burning questions: Was that a better Wallaby win than Wales? Who caught the eye (good or otherwise?) What do we expect for France? Half way there – are we set for Grand Slam or Grand Flop? Biggest surprise in the international results on the weekend? This week we mention our special GRAND SLAM CRAFT BEER promotion which you can find here http://bit.ly/2g8I4nf

Qantas Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has made four changes to his starting side – including benching Quade Cooper –  for the final Bledisloe Cup clash against New Zealand at Eden Park. Nick Phipps will wear the number 9 jersey in the absence of Will Genia and joins Bernard Foley in the halves – Quade moves to the bench. Foley’s shift to flyhalf sees Reece Hodge claim the number 12 jersey, with the Melbourne Rebels star moving to his preferred position for the first time in the Gold jersey. It’s a return to the Test arena for Brumbies winger Henry Speight who hasn’t featured…

This week Reg, Matt and Hugh are joined by former Wallaby and now Western Sydney Rams coach Jeremy Paul as they wrap up this week’s burning questions: What are the biggest challenges for the NRC moving forward? The Rams have only just one their first game, but they have really competed well all weekend, can rugby thrive in western Sydney? There were a lot of high scoring games on the weekend, as seems to be the norm in the NRC, is there actually any defence in the NRC? The Super Rugby draw for 2017 has been released and there’s talk…

Another week and another win for the Wallabies, this time over Los Pumas. This is just getting so repetitive. Enough of this gloating though – how did this next notch on the Wallabies bed head unfurl? The Vibe It took just twelve minutes for the Wallabies to be three tries and 21 points up. You heard me, 21 in 12. The first try in the first minute, used a skill we didn’t know the Wallabies had – straight forward draw and pass. On attack in Argentina’s half, it was Folau to Haylett-Petty to Hooper (a gorgeous dummy to draw the…

James, Blake and Richard blaze away at the first round of the Rugby Championship in their Rugby Report Card. WARNING – Change Sheds Language

NEW! The boys from The Rugby Podcast join the GAGR podcast channel to start their new GAGR wrap segment. This week they wrap the team for the Bled joined by GAGR podcast old hand Hugh Cavill.

Enjoy smashing a tasty craft beer from time to time? What am I saying, of course you do! Well, GAGR has organised for you to get a $20 discount per case when you order any of the ‘Tight Five’, ‘The Forwards’ or ‘The Backline’ Bledisloe special mixed cases from The Craft Beer Market. Each case has competing line ups of fine Aussie and Kiwi craft beers. Make up for our super rugby showing – YOU decide who wins in this battle and every case you buy goes to help GAGR keep fighting the good fight! Just enter GAGR20 as a code on checkout to get a…

Coming into the Super Rugby semi finals that no-one cares about, Matt “Gagger” Rowley, Hugh “Barbarian” Cavill and host Rugby-football “Rugby Reg” Roberts go through this week’s five burning questions: Ok, who wins the Super Rugby Comp going on last weekend? Should the ARU and Tahs sign Hayne? Is Mick Byrne the messiah? Which job should Bernie get? Nick Stiles has been appointed Reds head coach after a ‘world-wide search’ – is it just jobs for the boys or the right decision? We are also picking our Southern Hemisphere Nude-Nut Bald XV front row. We hope you enjoy these as much…

Thank god those Poms have Brexited so we can get back to Super Rugby. In this week’s podcast sponsored by Sporple.com we cover these five burning questions: Is bringing back OS players for the RC the right call? What should Cheika do for the next month Are we worried about the Force? Will the test season break impact Oz teams? Which player has the most to prove leading up the the Rugby Championship? Finally, we introduce our new segment – sweet lids of rugby. This week – the backs.

Were you perplexed by some of the astounding decisions Craig Joubert made when refereeing the Wallabies against England in Melbourne last weekend? Turns out World Rugby agrees. Since Alain Rolland took over as head of World Rugby reffing, he’s started a new system whereby he send out clarifications of contentious calls in the previous week’s internationals. For this week, three major points. One, Rolland said Moore’s action in the first half melee was no worse than the original offence by England, and so the penalty shoudl not have been reversed. Two, Rolland said Foley running back for the kick performed…