Author: Steve Lenthall

Green and Gold Rugby brings you live updates from day 2 of the 2012 Oceania Sevens Championships at North Sydney Oval. Final Australia have defeated Samoa 12-7 in a tough encounter to run out winners of the 2012 Oceania Sevens Championship. Samoa got off to a great start and opened the scoring with a converted try but the Aussies responded shortly after through Pama Fou, who was having a great day out. Samoa looked likely to score but Luke Morahan made a try-saving tackle in the corner to keep the score at 7-5 to Samoa. A series of penalties then…

If you’re in Sydney and keen for some fast-paced rugby action this weekend, the 2012 Oceania Sevens Championship will be held at North Sydney Oval.

The Wallabies have announced the team to take on the All Blacks at Eden Park this Saturday, with the return of Quade Cooper the big change. In the latest news, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau has been ruled out of the 22 with a corked backside suffered in training. Stephen Moore takes his place and in doing so will be the most capped hooker in Wallabies history with 72 caps, surpassing Jeremy Paul. Wallabies coaching staff were hopeful that Polota-Nau’s injury could improve after the Captain’s run and could be named amongst the reserves, but t hat wasn’t the case. It has…

The 30-man Wallabies squad for the inaugural season of The Rugby Championship has been announced today. Ben Alexander – ACT Brumbies Adam Ashley-Cooper – NSW Waratahs Berrick Barnes – NSW Waratahs Kurtley Beale – Melbourne Rebels Quade Cooper – Queensland Reds Dave Dennis – NSW Waratahs Kane Douglas – NSW Waratahs Anthony Fainga’a – Queensland Reds Saia Fainga’a – Queensland Reds Will Genia – Queensland Reds Liam Gill – Queensland Reds Mike Harris – Queensland Reds Scott Higginbotham – Queensland Reds Michael Hooper – ACT Brumbies Rob Horne – NSW Waratahs Digby Ioane – Queensland Reds Sekope Kepu – NSW…

Were the Brumbies a success or a failure in 2012?

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has today announced a provisional train-on squad

The Brumbies suffered a bad case of the yips in going down 30-16 to the Auckland Blues in Canberra this afternoon. They must now rely on results going their way, the planets aligning, and picking tonight’s Lotto numbers to stand a chance of featuring in next week’s finals series. In the lead-up to the game coach Jake White said his team needed to control the play and not let the Blues run rampant. Unfortunately for the home side, the Blues controlled the majority of the play. They held the ball for the first 10 minutes and it soon appeared the…

The Brumbies chances of playing in the SupeRugby finals are in their own hands heading into the final round of the regular season. To progress to their first finals appearance in eight years they require just one competition point against a resurgent Auckland Blues side. The Brumbies will need to focus on the game at hand even though the temptation to look ahead to the finals will be there. They have won both their games since SupeRugby resumed, although they have probably only had one decent half and that was the first half against the Force two weeks ago. However,…

Here are live updates from the match — it’s not being televised anywhere. You can listen HERE.

Wales’s tour of Australia continues in Canberra on Tuesday night when the reigning Six Nations champions take on the Brumbies. It’s been some time since a touring international side has visited Canberra to play an ACT side. The last fixture was back in 2001 when the British & Irish Lions dropped by. This will be the fourth time the Red Dragons have played an ACT side, although they did spend some time here during their 2003 World Cup campaign, and the ledger currently stands at two wins for the locals and one win for the visitors. Wales’s first trip to…

Scotland have snatched a penalty goal after the final siren to defeat the Wallabies 9-6 to retain the Hopetoun Cup. Scotland can thank their gritty defence for the win, while the home side let slip many chances to score that ultimately ended up costing them a win — a scenario that has been seen by many a Wallabies fan before. The weather in Newcastle had everyone confused, including the singer who came up with an alternative version of the Australian anthem for his ‘noble’ servants. In conditions that were far from ideal for rugby, the game failed to reach any…

With the International Test break upon us, it’s easy to forget that Australia has sent a squad of 28 Under 20 players to contest the Junior World Championships being held in and around Cape Town in South Africa. Australia have been drawn as the top seed in pool C along side Scotland, France and Argentina and will be looking to improve on their 3rd placing at the 2011 tournament. In the other pools, pool A sees winners of the last four tournaments New Zealand take on Fiji, Samoa and Wales, whilst pool B has South Africa as the only Southern…

Both the Rebels and Brumbies head into this match on the back of losses last time out but at different ends of the spectrum. The Rebels were battered and bruised in a disappointing effort against the Hurricanes, whilst the Brumbies went down by one point against the Reds. To be belted in Wellington was hard enough to cop, but watching your star play maker go off with a serious shoulder injury was even worse considering the calibre of players already in the medical room at the Rebels. It could have been worse with Mark Gerrard defying medical science and somehow…

The Queensland Reds have hung on for close fought 13-12 win over the Brumbies in Canberra tonight. The game came down to the very last second when referee Steve Walsh awarded a penalty to the Brumbies with fly half Zack Holmes stepping up despite suffering cramp in the lead up but his shot narrowly missed to the left. The Reds started the game the better of the sides and after conceding an early penalty for Digby Ioane mistiming his jump in a contest for a high ball on Henry Speight, they surprised the Brumbies when fullback Luke Morahan fielded a…

At the beginning of the year if anyone said the Brumbies vs. Reds match in May could decide the Australian Conference winner, they would have been laughed at. But that is the reality of this match on Saturday in Canberra when the conference leading Brumbies take on the Queensland Reds. For the Reds it’s not quite a must win game but they do trail the Brumbies by 8 points and have a game in hand and this could prove vital in the final wash up. The big talking point in the lead up to the game that everyone wants to…

The Brumbies have produced a stunning second half to overcome the Hurricanes in Wellington to secure their first win in the windy city since 2003. The Brumbies started the match the better of the sides as they used a simple but effective one out ruck option that paid dividends when Fotu Auelua dived over from close range. However, the old mistake of poor kicking that has plagued the side this season reared its head again with some less than effective kicking putting themselves under pressure and allowed the home side to get back into the game. Tries to TJ Perenara…

The Brumbies have faced many tests in 2012 but their match against the Hurricanes in Wellington must be the toughest of the season so far. With the cruel injury that struck down in form flyhalf Christian Lealiifano in the final play of the Waratahs match, the call went out for a replacement flyhalf. There was talk that local hero and current backs coach Stephen Larkham could fill the void, but I suspect that was one giant smokescreen from coach Jake White to take the pressure of the two remaining candidates for the position – Robbie Coleman and Zack Holmes. That…

The ACT Brumbies have cemented their place on top of the Aussie conference with a 23-6 win over the Waratahs in Canberra. The win was soured by a broken right ankle to flyhalf Christian Lealiifano that occurred after the final siren and dashed his Wallabies aspirations in 2012. The Waratahs looked the more confident side in the opening exchanges and showed their hand early with their forwards laying the platform before attempting to go wide against the Brumbies. When the Brumbies got their first use of the ball it was kicked out on the full and it appeared it could…

The Brumbies have returned home from South Africa full of confidence after collecting seven competition points from their travels to take on a Waratahs side that went close to defeating the Crusaders, despite their injury woes. This match sees first versus second in the Aussie conference and will go a long way to determining the make up of the table with the Brumbies holding a five point lead over this weeks opponents. The Waratahs may have had a six day turnaround but the Brumbies have had the added obstacle of returning from South Africa and touched down in Australia at…

The Brumbies have dominated the Lions and come away from Johhanesburg with a 34-20 win in a six try to two display. The Brumbies continued their attacking display from last week against some poor Lions play both tactically and defensively. The opening exchanges saw both teams ease themseleves into the game with a tactical kicking battle that the Lions got the edge as the visitors struggled with the rarified conditions at the Coke tin. Lions fly half Elton Jantjies got the home side on the board with an early penalty after a break from winger Deon van Rensburg gave the…