Author: Matt Rowley

The Vibe As they were expected to do, the Wallabies thrashed Los Teros 11 tries to zip. In doing so they racked up the biggest win the 2015 Rugby World Cup so far and leapt to the top of the pool of death, ahead of Wales on points difference. However, the performance was far from the tight, professional one we saw from the Wallaby A team against Fiji. It was a festival of balls dropped, passes pushed and penalties given away – the Wallabies turned the ball over 20 times against the 19th ranked team in the World. In a match that…

The Vibe Wales have come away with an improbable and vital win against England at Twickenham in the Rugby World Cup pool of death. Up until the 60th minute the match see-sawed from a breakdown penalty at one end of the field to the other (take note Wallabies – neither side missed one place kick from 14 attempts). The difference between the sides being a try to Pommy winger Johnny May in the 26th minute that come from a bungled England set piece move in the Welsh 22. Mike Brown and Ben Youngs were crucial to this try and the…

The Wallabies team to play Uruguay on Sunday has been announced. As expected it’s the dirt trackers (with presumably Sio covering for Slipper’s head knock). Not as expected is Dean Mumm being named as Captain. Cheika said about the squad “We really want the entire squad to get a touch of the ball early at this Rugby World Cup and get everyone into match mode. We will need all 31 players ready for action throughout the tournament and this is the first chance to do that for many of this team. “We’ve had a solid preparation for this match considering…

Re-watching the match it’s clear the Wallabies put in a great defensive performance that killed Fiji stone dead. The second half fade however raised questions we hadn’t asked this season. All of this goes into the Wallabies player ratings against Fiji. (I’m on holiday, so the reserves are over to you.) [one_third last=”no”] 1. Scott Sio Great scrum performance and tidy around the field. 7[/one_third][one_third last=”no”] 2. Stephen Moore I won’t put the whole line-out shmozzle of the second half down to Squeak, but his all round game was unsqueaklike. Is he 100%? 3[/one_third][one_third last=”yes”] 3. Sekope Kepu Put the meat on the…

THE VIBE The Wallabies will be pleased with a first hit out in which they were never under threat, defended impressively and weren’t even required to show much in attack. Taking the free hits that World Rugby’s rule interpretations is handing out, David Pocock scored two 2015 vintage Brumbies backline moves through driving mauls in the first half. Foley had his kicking boots on and the first half ended 18-3. The second half looked good to start with, sustained attacking pressure led by a dangerous looking Folau resulted in Sekope Kepu slicing through the line from 10 out. But from…

The latest instalment of the Foxsport’s all Mic’d up segment has North Harbour Rays scrummie Josh Holmes. There’s a lot in this video that’s great about Rugby.

With their last game before the Rugby World Cup now gone, in this podcast we talk about what the Wallabies’ 47-10 win over the USA has told us in terms of selection. Then we discuss how the Northern Hemisphere sides have been getting on before checking in on the NRC.

It was a friendly using the dirt trackers in Australia vs USA Eagles, but what did we learn from the Wallabies’ 47-10 win? 1. We’re ripe for a pool upset With a game-plan that relies on ball in hand getting over the gain line, an opposition with a good rush defence and havoc at the breakdown are a mix Cheika’s Wallabies find hard to handle. Just imagine if at half time with the score 10-14 the Eagles had the scoring ability of say, a Fiji? I did and it wasn’t pretty. The Wallabies need to be able to think their way out of these…

It all came good in the end, but what are your Wallabies player ranking versus the USA? The Greatest Rugby Players of All Times

The Wallabies have announced the team to play the USA Eagles at Soldier Field in Chicago Sunday morning AEDT. It’s looking like a chance for the dirt trackers to have a run out, save for the potential 9-10-12 combo of Phipps, Foley and Giteau. Regular Wallabies Captain Stephen Moore isn’t even in the squad for the match, instead James Slipper takes on the skipper role and Matt Giteau says “I’m the Vice Captain”. View image | gettyimages.com There are two uncapped players in Toby Smith and Taqele Naiyaravoro on the bench – a good way for Cheiks to lock the Fijian…

A nice feature that Foxsports have started with the NRC this year is mic’-ing up a player through the game. They then take the highlights of that and show them on NRC Extra Time, Monday night. This week it was Dave Dennis, as you can see above. Last week it was Karmichael Hunt all mic’d up – footage of which we’ve thrown in as a bonus below.

Queenslanders better get an ice bath ready for after this best of Quade Cooper’s footwork video

So, maybe the less said about last night the better, but as a form of therapy let us have your Wallabies player rankings vs the All Blacks Eden Park. The Greatest Rugby Players of All Times

Michael Cheika doesn’t want to choose a World Cup squad of 31 still wondering. Today he will announce a Wallabies team for the vital Bledisloe decider in Eden Park that has one eye placed firmly on giving Bill their best shot. Into the starting lineup will come Quade Cooper at 10, for whom G&GR believes this is last chance saloon. Can he conquer his big game nerves against the All Blacks in a cauldron of hate? We’ll find out on Saturday night. Quade will partner Matt Toomua at 12 and be served by Nic White. There are probably not many coaches who have scrambled a…

The Wallabies attitude immediately after the Bledisloe Cup win last weekend told us more about their progress than the score or their performance

Hard not to give everyone a thumbs up for that momentous win, but no doubt you’ll want to give your Wallabies player rankings versus the All Blacks. The Greatest Rugby Players of All Times

It’s already the ultimate test in rugby. Throw in some championship silverware on the line, a looming Word Cup and you wouldn’t think the prospect of this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup match could be any more exciting. But it is. Yes people, G&GR can exclusively reveal we will finally see from the Bledisloe kick-off a back row pairing that feels so right it must somehow be wrong – THE POOPER (and before you lose your shit about the line-out, Horwill and Mumm with Fardy at six will be the options, Skelton on the bench).   If that high octane  mix of a ball scavenging, Argie-slapping back five…

Above – Manly vs Randwick Experienced Woods See Off Rats Challenge Eastwood will host a home Intrust Super Shute Shield Semi-Final next weekend after seeing off a gallant Warringah, 23-10, at TG Millner Field this afternoon. Buoyed by a vocal home crowd, the reigning Premiers were made to work hard for their victory by a Rats side that had pushed them to the wire seven days ago in the final round of the regular season. Behind 10-3 at the break, the visitors rallied with the sort of breakaway try for Josh Holmes for which they have become noted in recent…

As foreshadowed yesterday by G&GR, and then scooped by us this afternoon on social media, Michael Hooper has been cleared of punching Nicolas “Dirty” Sanchez and his one match ban will mean he is available for selection against the All Blacks next weekend. “It was found that Hooper, in circumstances of considerable frustration and in order to try and rid himself of his opponent, drew back his free right arm and … struck out at the opponent’s head and neck area with his open hand,” read the judicial officer’s finding. “I found no aggravating factors to be present but did…

Proof has come to hand that Michael Hooper is not guilty of punching Argentinian fly half Nicolas Sanchez and as such should be cleared by SANZAR tomorrow. Re-watching the zoomed in slow motion video above it becomes clear that: 1 – There is no swinging arm punch past or on the head. In fact, it appears to be a strong push to the top of the back 2 – Hooper’s hand is open before and after he makes contact – there is no fist 3 – After Sanchez hits the ground he doesn’t grab the top or side of his…