Author: Steve Lenthall

Friday’s top stories are here including Luke Burgess returning to, and AAC to stay in, Australia.

Today’s top rugby stories including Liam Gill being ruled out of this weekend’s match with the Bulls and the Poms having a whinge about Steve Walsh.

Here’s our daily roundup of what’s hot in Aussie rugby.

Tuesday’s Top Stories include the revelation that Ewen McKenzie is stepping down from the Reds at the end of the year

Here’s what’s hot this Monday including video highlights from Wales smashing England in the Six Nations

The Brumbies lobbed in the Republic and named five changes for this match against the also undefeated Sharks. Would Jake White’s changes be enough to extend the Brumbies’ winning start to the season? The Match The Brumbies enjoyed the early share of possession and their forwards dominated the play before Jesse Mogg dived over for the first try within 5 minutes. The Sharks were being starved of the ball and the visitors added to their score with a try down the left wing to Joe Tomane after foregoing a penalty shot at goal. The Sharks eventually got their hands on…

The Brumbies have landed in the Republic for their two-match tour and first up is the clash with the Sharks in Durban. Jake White’s team is flying high, being undefeated in three matches to start the season, but now comes the real test when they come up against South African sides over the next four weeks. The Sharks are also undefeated with three wins to their name, although those wins have been largely underwhelming with try scoring proving difficult to come by. With those things in mind here are some things to look out for. Winning Formula Jake White has…

Here’s our daily roundup of what’s hot in Aussie rugby. [one_half last=”no”] Pocock undergoes surgery Brumbies and Wallabies flanker David Pocock underwent surgery on his ruptured ACL and is expected to miss between 6 and 9 months. Will Michael Hooper or Liam Gill get the nod at 7 for the Wallabies? [/one_half] Cheetahs bite the Tahs The Waratahs’ difficult season continued with a close loss to the Cheetahs in Sydney. Some bad news on the injury front too with Berrick Barnes suffering a dislocated thumb. Do you think the Tahs’ performance last night was better or will it be long…

Here’s our daily roundup of what’s hot in Aussie Rugby [one_half last=”no”] Palmer gives us food for thought Brumbies prop Dan Palmer gives us a rundown on what he thinks constitutes ‘real’ food. Perhaps some other teams need to follow his program to add some mongrel to their game? [/one_half] Mitchell on the outer? After Drew Mitchell was dropped from the match day squad entirely to face the Cheetahs, questions are surrounding his future in the sky blue jersey. Is it time for Drew to move on or knuckle down and put in the hard yards like Michael Cheika expects…

Here’s our daily roundup of what’s hot in Aussie Rugby [one_half last=”no”] Ioane stood down for Force clash Reds winger Digby Ioane has been stood down for the Force match this Saturday for ‘poor behaviour’ leaving the Reds coaching staff with a selection headache. It is also suggested Reds CEO Jim Carmichael was alerted to a ‘gangster style’ photo doing the rounds – perhaps he reads Green and Gold? What do you think of the penalty – too harsh or too soft? [/one_half] Cheika to wield the axe Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has hinted changes are in store after their…

Here’s our daily roundup of what’s hot in Aussie Rugby [one_half last=”no”] Surgery for Pocock Brumbies and Wallabies flanker David Pocock is to undergo surgery on his knee this week after rupturing his ACL. [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”] Genia on the comeback Reds and Wallabies scrum half Will Genia is ready to make his comeback from knee surgery against the Western Force. [/one_half] [one_half last=”no”] Waratahs a work in progress Waratahs coach Michael Cheika says hard work is needed and is certain it will eventually pay off. [/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”] 6 Nations England put in a scrappy display but defeated…

Here’s our daily roundup of what’s hot in Aussie Rugby [one_half last=”no”] Pocock suffers ACL injury Massive news for Brumbies and Wallabies supporters with David Pocock possibly ruled out for the rest of the seasonwith an ACL tear. [/one_half] Burgess to the Rebels? Speculation that Luke Burgess will return to the Rebels is getting louder with reports that current Rebels scrum half Nick Phipps will head back to Sydney to join the Waratahs for 2014. [one_half last=”yes”] [/one_half] [one_half last=”no”] Hodgson staying with the Force Western Force captain Matt Hodgson re-signed with the Force for another two years. From the…

The Brumbies and Waratahs finally went to battle on the field after a week of back and forth barbs from the respective coaches. The mind games went a step further even on game eve with the Waratahs ‘late’ to the final training session in Canberra to delay the Brumbies and show them a metaphorical middle finger. The Match The Waratahs started off in their usual fashion struggling to get into the game and after only eight minutes found themselves down 9-0 on the back of three Lealiifano penalty goals. Disaster struck for both sides early on with the home side…

Former Brumbies and Wallabies flanker George Smith will return

The Brumbies rolled in to Melbourne after knocking over the Reds on the strength of an impressive defensive display. The Rebels were full of confidence after beating the Force and getting their season off to a strong start. The big question: would strong defence overcome a team with two flashy Wallabies in the backline? The Match The Brumbies have secured their second win of the season with a four-try win victory over the Rebels in Melbourne. The result for the home team comes at a cost with injury concerns hanging over two of their star players, James O’Connor and Kurtley…

With the Aussies kicking off Super Rugby this weekend, we can’t forget our friends across the ditch who kick off next week. The New Zealand conference looks to be one of the most open this year and with some big changes on and off the field it will certainly make for some great viewing in 2013. One of the biggest issues is the turnover of players from the franchises that is sometimes difficult to keep up with. BLUES The men from Auckland had a hugely disappointing 2012 but have sought to fix that with a massive overhaul in the coaching…

The Brumbies and Wallabies have made a significant step in consolidating their forwards stocks with the re-signing of hooker Stephen Moore and prop Ben Alexander until the end of the 2015 season. The success of the Brumbies under Jake White in 2012 and the hunger for further honours went a long way in securing their recommitment. The plans White has put in place for the Brumbies were one factor that helped the pair decide on continuing their careers in Canberra. Signing the pair before the start of the 2013 season will help them concentrate on what will be a big…

Brumbies coach Jake White has unveiled the captain and vice-captains for the 2013 campaign. On the back of the 2012 season where the Brumbies surprised many by just falling short of a finals berth, White has stuck with Ben Mowen as captain despite the arrival of David Pocock and said he had not even thought about changing the captain. White said that Mowen had the respect of the team and was the logical choice to continue in the role in 2013. Mowen was integral in setting up the culture for the new-look Brumbies in 2012 and those plans are slowly…

The end of 2012 marks five years of Robbie Deans being in charge of the Wallabies. On the back of Scott Allen’s articles looking at rankings and workloads, I thought we’d have a look back at those five seasons. With the British and Irish Lions to visit next year, there has been much debate on whether Deans should stay or go. Hopefully this retrospective will shed some light on what’s been going on with the Wallabies. 2008 The appointment of Deans came with much interest and questions over whether he could could bring his provincial coaching form from the Crusaders…

The pool allocations for the 2015 World Cup to be hosted by England were held overnight. The draw took place in London with Mayor Boris Johnson leading the proceedings (with a few jokes he may have written himself), joined by the majority of the captains of the twelve directly qualified teams. The Wallabies have been drawn in Pool A alongside the host nation England, Wales, and the yet-to-be-decided teams Oceania 1 and the play-off winner. The makeup of the bands were based on the latest IRB rankings and were as follows: Band 1: New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, France Band…