Author: Bob Dwyer

New Zealand teams are playing out of their skins and Aussie teams aren’t. In terms of the Rugby Championship though, Bob Dwyer’s not so sure all is lost.

I read a piece in yesterday’s Times by Stuart Barnes titled Yes, Richie McCaw is a cheat, but that is his job and what makes him great. It agrees (as I do) that to deliberately play outside the laws of the game is to “cheat”. To cheat is to take an unfair advantage on someone who is, or chooses not to play outside the laws of the game. There are a lot of things you can’t do outside the laws of sport. Drugs for example. Anyone who takes them is rightly castigated and banned for a long time. In some sports you are…

I’m excited to be going to the Rugby World Cup and it certainly brings back memories of 1991. It’s really not like any other rugby tour  – the feeling when you arrive in the place is that the whole country is alive with anticipation. All of the towns and cities where the teams are based have that feeling of excitement and it gets picked up by the squads. If you approach it in the right way – to have the ‘on/off’ switch – you can really enjoy yourself (sensibly of course). It’s like nothing else and you shouldn’t miss out…

It was a great night for Australian rugby in that we haven’t had that sort of a victory over New Zealand for some time. It was an even greater night in as Matt Giteau said – we won the game and yet there are so many areas we can improve on. We know the Wallabies are going to get better. One of the things that will help us in future games was that the ref was unbelievabley tolerant of some clear and consistent illegal New Zealand tactics. There were three yellow cards but the most consistent deliberate infringement was a player in black lying…

There were a few plusses from Saturday night for the Wallabies. First – we won. Second plus –  we had the courage to take risks to get the victory. Third –  our bench did plenty and ensured the win. Fourth – certain players probably made it clear that they’re not likely to be fist choices, clarifying selections somewhat. I said a couple of weeks ago after the Super Semi-Final that Nick Phipps probably played Genia in to the Wallaby half back spot – but just as quickly Will played himself out. I also thought Cheiks gamble that he could get the…

All of our hopes and aspirations for the world cup have suddenly been put into disarray as our two best teams were dished up, well and truly. The Waratah pack was demolished everywhere bar the scrum by a team that has not a single All Black in the forwards. Clearly we realise NZ are the world’s leading team – in terms of IRB calculations and observation – but we still think we might just give them a shake. Until Saturday night. We now have problems nowhere more significantly than in Wallabies team selection. A month ago I sent a text to a mate asking how do…

World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer gives us his 2015 Wallabies World Cup Squad. Check out who’s in and who’s out

Bob Dwyer looks at the Wallabies loss to Ireland and sees signs of improvement, despite the disappointing result

At first viewing my total impression was that the Wallabies were terrible and that was the cause for our loss. But on second viewing I have to give a lot more credit to France. Certainly we made a lot of unforced errors, but one of the major contributors to our loss was that were were virtually never able to make the gain line due to very committed French defence: fast off the mark, making the initial contact on our side of the gain line. We weren’t able to match the power of their defence and leg drive in contact. I mention leg drive in…

The first test of the the Wallabies spring tour and it’s a win – so we’ve got to be happy about that. It wasn’t a complete performance but it wasn’t too bad at all

The first match for the Michael Cheika Wallabies – even though it wasn’t quite what he would have wanted on the scoreboard – showed a lot

Bob Dwyer looks at the third Bledisloe cup match in Brisbane between the Wallabies and the All Blacks

Bob Dwyer looks at the match between the Wallabies and Argentina in Mendoza and says it was a total and utter shambles

Bob Dwyer asks whether Kurtley Beale should become Campo mark II?

Bob Dwyer reviews how the Wallabies were beaten so decisively by the All Blacks in Bledisloe two 2014

We’ve all known for a long long time that when Rugby is played this way it’s the best game. After the match I was talking to the son of a friend of mine and his friend. He referred to his rugby league supporting friend and said “Michael says that the best game of football he’s ever seen.” Michael then piped up,  “No, that’s not right. That was the best sporting event I’ve ever seen.” That’s saying something. I’ve been extremely lucky in my rugby life and have spent well over 50 years associated with a rugby club who believes (but doesn’t always succeed) that this…

We had two super rugby semi finals on the weekend and the imbalance in terms of possession and field position was quite pronounced and similar in each game. The Crusaders enjoyed a huge territory and possession advantage over the Sharks and managed to win quite handsomely. The Brumbies enjoyed similar advantages over the Waratahs, but managed to lose decisively. So there’s got to be a story in there somewhere. It’s fair to say also that the Brumbies played pretty well, but the Sharks played poorly. Where all this analysis leads us is that the Waratahs were able to overcome some serious…

If your attack stands fairly close together, runs straight, accelerates onto the ball and supports the ball carrier accurately, it gives you maximum opportunity to ask questions of the defence. It also gives you maximum opportunity to recycle the ball immediately, and if you shift it again without delay then you are a difficult team to defend against (the more things change the more they remain constant). #452373322 / gettyimages.com The Brumbies are a very well coached group; the refinements to their running lines and spacing – and I must say the accuracy of their passing-  is a credit to the…

By most standards the Waratahs had a dominant season in the minor premiership. If we look at the competition ‘log’ they were seven competition points ahead of second place, with the most wins, equal most bonus points, scored the most points, had the least scored against and they scored the most tries. So if we compare the Waratahs performance with those in the Australian conference, what did they do that was better than the rest? The first thing I’ll say is that I read somewhere a long time a go – and have thought a truism since – that the measure of success is…

Bob Dwyer reviews the Waratahs defeat Highlanders and says it’s the best Waratahs performance since Super Rugby began