Author: Hugh Cavill
Hugh Cavill
Can't write, can't play.
This is the Super Rugby Ultimate Preview, your one-stop shop for everything you need to know for those all-important tips and fantasy transfers. The Brown Hornet is along for the ride, providing his well thought-out tips for each fixture. Friday 25th February, 2011 Highlanders vs. Chiefs @ Carisbrook Stadium, Dunedin, 5:35pm EDST Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith, 14 James Paterson, 13 Kendrick Lynn, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Kade Poki, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Alando Soakai, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 David Te Moana, 2 Jason Rutledge, Jamie Mackintosh [c]. Reserves:…
The opening round threw up plenty of talking points, as scratchy rugby dominated with only a few moments of brilliance. It’s time to look at what we have learned from the weekend: 1. It is going to be tight for finals spots. The Blues, Crusaders and Waratahs were easily the best looking sides, but after that you would say it all looks pretty even. Of the other pre-tournament hopes the Bulls only just pipped the Lions, the Sharks were unspectacular, the Reds were scrappy and the Canes were downright awful. After watching the first round you would only suggest the…
We are always looking for quality fundraising ideas at Green and Gold Rugby. Because we have had absolutely none of those in the past three months, we have had to turn to the last refuge of the struggling sports fan- gambling. Seriously though, how hard can it be? I watch every game, and nod along with Austin’s analysis as if I understand. I tip way more winners than losers, and do OK at fantasy. With the amount of quality inside information on the blog and forum I know who’s looking good in training, and who has their mind on the…
Welcome to the Super Rugby Round 1 ultimate preview, your one stop shop for details about the scintillating weekend of rugby ahead. No more will you have to stumble blindly though cyberspace looking for precious morsels of information upon which to base your tips and fantasy selections. Each week Green and Gold Rugby will be your destination for all the latest teams, changes, match history and anything else we deem useful for you as you make those valuable picks and selections. What of Round 1? Well I’m glad you asked… Friday 18th February, 2011 Hurricanes vs. Highlanders @ Westpac…
Regular G&GR readers would know that rugby TV advertising has been a bugbear of mine for some time. So much so that I made my own ad to rival anything the ARU and others had to offer, and with over 6,000 YouTube views and a post on the Wallabies Facebook page I consider the ad to be a big success (have a look here). So it was with bated breath that I first observed the ads for Super Rugby in 2011. Have the ARU and the finally got the message to show more rugby and less arty bullshit? Today I…
The 2011 season is fast approaching, and there are plenty of huge rugby questions that will be answered in the coming 12 months. The year promises to be a belter, with the new Super Rugby Competition, a Tri-Nations, and of course the World Cup. The enormity of the season coming presents us at Green and Gold Rugby with the opportunity to find the ultimate rugby tipster. Someone who sees beyond the next week’s tips or fantasy selections and looks to the future with a sharp mind and a clear head. A rugby Nostradamus. And so we are proud to unveil…
About a month ago I wrote a piece about how consistently shithouse rugby advertising is in this country. I claimed that I could produce a better commercial than those currently controlling the ARU account. Well, I am a man of my word and I present to you my attempt at a commercial for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. It is pretty simple really. It shows rugby, and only rugby. No butterflies, no laundromats, no references to broadway musicals. More than that it shows most aspects of the game, and doesn’t solely focus on tries. It highlights our marketable figures- Rocky,…
How good was the rugby this season? The new laws made the rucks cleaner without losing the contest for possession, and as a result we saw more quick ball, more breaks, more tries and less pointless kicking. All in all I’d say our on-field product is as good as it has ever been. From an Australian perspective we have plenty of marketable figures, from brutal forwards to angel-faced backs. This stuff should sell itself, right? But it doesn’t. Crowd numbers are falling and TV ratings are going south as well. Rugby is struggling in the swirling ocean that is the…
Its post-mortem season, so I have decided to cast my (dubious) eye over the Wallaby players. Some stepped up to the plate, others fell away without troubling the scorers. I haven’t used any statistics (except for the G&GR ratings received for each game, which you see in brackets after the review in order of the games played) so I must prepare to stand corrected on a few issues. Overall I just went off the vibe of the thing, which is what this site is all about. I am only rating players who played key roles in at least two games.…
Last week we saw an open, free-flowing encounter with flourishing backlines, dynamic forwards and most importantly tries by the bucketful. It seems like a long time ago doesn’t it? Tonight was a scrappy, scraggy, gritty clash where the Wallabies once again found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A healthy crowd of 70,000 wasn’t enough. The Old Boys Rugby Choir wasn’t enough. Even John Williamson and a cracking rendition of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ couldn’t get them over the line. The forwards were gutsy, the backs showed flashes of what they were capable of. But it just never…
Another entertaining, if one-sided, day of GPS matches saw Newington clinch their first GPS title since 1979, Kings rout Shore at Northbridge and Scots continue Grammar’s frustrating season. As usual, G&GR was present at a few of the games, and have recorded our half-baked opinions below. Here is what Lee Grant thought of the Newington vs Joeys game at Stanmore, which saw the home side run out 51-7 victors: Ouch. Well done to Newington: they were superior, and it’s good to see another school, not one of the usual suspects, winning the GPS, And watch out in 2011 too folks…
What a game. It had it all- ebb and flow, up and down, physicality and skill, early tries, late comebacks, and in the end an underdog victory. Newington scored two late tries to overhaul the much-fancied home side in a thrilling match, finishing 26-25. The game was always going to be a tight encounter. Newington came into the game undefeated, chasing their first premiership since 1979, however they were yet to face any of the year’s title contenders. Kings regained some much-needed confidence with a good away win over Riverview, yet needed to finish the season undefeated if they had…
Any doctor worth his salt will tell you that a thorough warm-up is crucial to playing good rugby, and the same goes for watching. In last week’s Tri-Nations game I came in cold, and as a result it took me a good half hour before I could start to make cogent observations to my mates on the couch. So considering the enormity of the task faced by the Wallabies tonight, I thought the least I could do was venture over to Saint Ignatius to watch the clash of the blue-and-white stripes- Riverview and Kings. Riverview were flying high after a…
After rigorous selection trials in all states