Author: Charlie Mackay
Greetings, G&GRs! I trust your weekend was spent in a rugby-viewing bliss. We’ve seen the opening six matches of the Women’s RWC in the Auckland district of New Zealand, Australia ‘A’ play their second game against the Japanese XV, a Reds v Chairman’s XV match with variations, autumn international referee appointments. Happy Monday, folks! https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup/status/1578633642431037441?s=20&t=ud4TB5qMJue6MCk3c8xN3A WOMEN’S RWC – ROUND ONE Well, we’re off to a cracking start over in Hobbiton Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand for the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup played in 2022. I won’t go into every game as there simply isn’t enough time, space or brain…
Greetings, GAGRs, and happy Monday to you all! It’s generally a curious time of year within the interlude of TRC and the Autumn tours for the Men’s side, though the ‘A’ game gave us something to watch this weekend. Thankfully, as most on this site will agree, we will be lucky to witness the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Aotearoa as of next weekend. If you were aware, the Australian Rugby Shield was revived and played in Radelaide over the weekend. Finally, and unfortunately, Rassie is back. FML. WOMEN’s RUGBY WORLD CUP 2021 (in 2022) Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys,…
Greetings from the nation’s arsehole capital, G&GRs. I took the opportunity to visit friends and family courtesy of a super long weekend with the aerial ping pong granting all non-believers an extra day off. Alas, the Wobs were very much like Canberra, nothing farking changes! In other news, we have the Bokke v the Pumas, a breakdown of the penalty count in TRC, the referee appointments for the WRWC and the Super Rugby draw for 2023. ALL BLACKS v WALLABIES Deja vu, eh folks. Not really sure if it’s worth doing a whole spiel as there’s nothing really new or…
Welcome, GA&Rs, to Monday’s Rugby News! Today, we’ll check out the action in Buenos Aires, the viewing figures from Thursday’s match in the Sporting Capital of the World, the Super Round to return to, you guessed it, the Sporting Capital of the World(!), a brilliant view on ‘Final Whistle’ from World Rugby feat. VRRA and Australia’s own Amber McLachlan and pondering Lurch’s judicial hearing. SPRINGBOKS v LOS PUMAS South Africa emerged from Buenos Aires as New Zealand’s main rival for the Rugby Championship after beating Argentina on Sunday (AEST). The Springboks were made to work hard before securing a 36-20…
Greetings, G&GRs, and welcome to another new week! Whether you’ve been around the traps at various junior or senior grand finals as a player, coach, volunteer or referump (congrats, KARL, on your GF appointment!), or simply sitting forlorn at home, I hope it was well-enjoyed. Here’s to a good week ahead of us. I suspect that the “big news” of the weekend will come past Prime Possum time for me. Therefore, in anticipation, best wishes to the Aussie men’s and women’s teams for the Sevens RWC in Cape Town this evening. Go you good things! Otherwise, it’s been a relatively…
Welcome, G&GRs, to what seems like a rinse and repeat article of every second test of a series this season. Once again the Wobs have managed to take a step forward the previous week only to take three steps back in attempting to follow up a good win. Honestly, I’ve seen more consistency from an operational meteorologist! The worst part is I could’ve turned off after about five minutes of Saturday’s match and be able to tell you exactly what happened. Alas, I subjected myself to the torture that was the match and, well, here we are… In other news,…
Welcome to Monday, G&GRs! Well, the start of the week always feels better with a Wobbly win, and it’s extra sweet when the Kiwis lose! It doesn’t happen all that often so you can guarantee the ‘crapparzzi’ have been giving it to KARL all weekend… #SorryNotSorry. We’ll review TRC games, the Wallaroos v Black Ferns game, an update on the Sevens and a few irksome points from the weekend. The hardest part of writing this article is trying to select the best memes to use. On another note, as much as I love rugby and my association with rugby via…
Welcome, G&GRs, to another Monday. Even with TRC on a hiatus we still have plenty of news to digest within the Wallaby camp. Along with this, we have the Wallaroos match against the Black Ferns, English premiership teams in a financial hole and a podcast reflection from NZ referump, Dr Ben O’Keeffe, about refereeing at the highest level and the changes he’s seeing. Wallaby fans fly the flag WALLABIES NEWS Right, there’s a fair bit to unpack from the weekend, so here’s the gist of it: Laurie ‘Lord’ Fisher has been approached and duly appointed as an acting Wallaby coach…
Well folks, what a jolt back to our normal reality, where the Aussies are taking one step forward and three steps back, the Pumas playing winning Cheika-ball, the Kiwis beating the DDFs and the DDF fans being ferals on social media. Bugger. In other news…. well, there hasn’t really been much seeing as the Bokke Rugby NZ did us a solid by keeping Fozzie (for now). So I’ll pose a philosophical question I got involved in last week about handing out pieces of cheese and a look at the Challenger Series in Chile this weekend. WALLABIES v LOS PUMAS In…
Welcome, G&GRs, to the start of a new work week where we can savour a Wallabies win in the ungodly hours of Sunday morning and, unless you’re KARL, another Kiwi loss. We’ll recap both matches, observe yet another nation moving their women into the professional ranks and a chat about Hoops. WALLABIES V LOS PUMAS The Wallabies have defeated Los Pumas 41 – 26 in Mendoza. Despite yet another slow start where the Wobs were beaten off the ball and made poor decisions when attempting to exit their own 22m zone, they were able to overcome the Argentine side and…
Welcome, G&GRs, to a slightly delayed Monday News. I thought it best to wait for the results of the Commonwealth Games Sevens matches before posting. Another quietish weekend on the international scene prior to the coming fortnight of TRC action. Domestically, a lot of competitions are heading towards their finals series. COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2022 The Commonwealth Games Sevens have finished with the Australian women’s team taking away the gold, and the men’s side finishing fourth after their loss in the bronze medal match to the Kiwis. The gold in the men’s went to the Bokke after their demolition of the…
Welcome, G&GRs, to Monday’s rugby news. All quietish on the rugby front this weekend in the interlude between the July Internationals and The Rugby Championship. Across the ditch, the Kiwis have chucked a Cheika by sacking the assistant coaches and installing a pseudo-director of rugby, Tonga defeated Honkers for the right to be the 19th RWC 2023 team, rumours swirling about all sorts of ‘new competitions’ and WR have announced the referees for TRC. ALL BLACKS RING THE (WRONG) CHANGES Just when you think our Kiwi friends could stoop no lower… they have done the unthinkable! They’ve gone and taken…
Well, G&GRs…. What a ‘shit’ weekend that was. Despite our delight at watching the Kiwis get pasted by our Irish brethren, we weren’t able to down Eddie’s Englishmen when it counted. Bugger. The DDFs were able to beat the Taffs and the FISMs came away with a last gasp win over the Jocks. All up, means the four ‘main’ north v south teams finished in a deadlock of six wins each. Still, wouldn’t we all have loved seven (not you, NZ). Otherwise, we have seen a bit more of a shake-up with the world rankings (which, in reality, mean sweet…
“When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn; Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return; The welkin will ring loud; The great crowd will feel proud; Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn; And the rest coming home with the urn.” “In Affectionate Remembrance of Australia’s Fortress of Suncorp, which died in Brizvegas on the 9th July 2022. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. RIP. NB —the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to England.” Well, friends, what a dramatic turnaround from the weekend previous to this. Not only are…
Hello, G&GRs, and welcome to Monday’s Rugby News! I trust that you all enjoyed the Wallabies’ victory during the smorgasbord of international rugby on offer this weekend. I’ll be relatively brief about the matches as I’m sure most of us have watched the ‘Big 3’. If not, I’ll post links to news stories about each of the matches from the weekend so you can catch up! WALLABIES v ENGLAND Wallabies v England: The Wallabies have defeated the Soap Dodgers 30 – 28. The final scoreline flattered the tourists with two tries scored in the final few minutes with soft defence…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs! Well, in the interlude between the end of the Super season (and most other competitions around the world) and the July internationals, there has been sweet fuck all to do this weekend. I was so bored that I did all the washing, house cleaning and dog poo picking up all before 2pm! Yikes! If only there was a Mrs Mackay that would be suitably impressed at my once-in-a-year motivated morning! Anyhoo, I’ll be brief of the rundown of the little rugby there was. There has , however, been one topic of conversation that has…
Greetings, G&GRs! Apologies for the later than usual posting of the news today. Despite my finest intentions, Virgin Australia conspired to royally fark up my Sunday night plans… Today, we’ll have the summary of the Super Rugby Pacific season, how the Super Rugby Pacific ought to look going forward, the final two matches from the Pacific Four in Noo Zeelund and other results from finals in the UK Gallagher premiership and the Currie Cup URC final. Super Rugby Pacific SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – GRAND FINAL Cool, clinical, classical. The Crusaders have delivered another grand final masterpiece to strangle the life out…
Welcome, G&GRs, to Monday’s Wednesday’s Rugby News! Unfortunately, KARL’s workplace was selfish and took too much of his time so I’ve jumped in at late notice. I hope this doesn’t ruin anyone’s day! As it’s short notice, there won’t be a whole lot; however, I’m sure you can all find a bone to play with. THOUGHTS ON THE PACIFIC NATIONS CUP I’m delighted to welcome back the Pacific Nations Cup (or whatever they’re calling it) when the Pasifika Nations join Australia A (serious question… we got a better name for them?) in the July test window. World Rugby is taking…
Welcome, G&GRs, to another edition of Monday’s Rugby News! Today we’ll review the semi-finals of the Super Rugby Pacific, the Pacific Four competition and Dave Rennie’s Wallabies squad for the Soap Dodgers test matches. Happy Monday, folks! SUPER RUGBY SEMI-FINALS Crusaders 20 – Chiefs 7 – An intense match in ChCh with the Crusaders holding out the Chiefs in the first semi-final of 2022. The statistics alone are mindboggling. Indeed, reflecting upon the match, it seemed like I’d seen something like this before. And so I had! Wales v Australia in the 2015 RWC! It was Gatland-ball all over again!…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs! The Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals have been settled after this weekend’s quarter-finals. Big ups to all eight teams, and congratulations and commiserations to those involved. We’ll have a quick review of the matches, some interesting anecdotes on James O’Connor and a preview of the Pacific Four series. Happy Monday! SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – QUARTER FINALS Brumbies 35 v Hurricanes 25 – I’m unapologetically starting with the Ponies (despite the fact that I thought our goose was cooked mid-way through the first half… but not due to the red card). An inspirational comeback with a…