Author: Charlie Mackay
Welcome, G&GRs, to this week’s Monday News. What an entertaining finish to the Super Rugby Pacific Round Robins! Up until the final few minutes places in the finals were still up for grabs. The weekend saw some upsets and some bloody great rugby. As a famous Roman general once exclaimed, “are you not entertained?”. We’ll catch up on the Sevens in London, a review of finals rugby around the world and the referee announcement for the Women’s RWC in October/November. SUPER RUGBY ROUND 14Well, safe to say there were a few results that didn’t quite go as expected. That most…
Welcome, G&GRs, to the rugby news for the penultimate round of Super Rugby Pacific before finals begin. Today will be a recap of scores from Round 13, an update on the Sevens in Toulouse, pondering who might make the Australia A side and a call to action from a Canberra club.Finally, before we get to the news… Canberra had one win this weekend with the probable election of David ‘Poey’ Pocock to the Senate. Bloody excellent! SUPER RUGBY ROUND 14Crusaders 61 v Fijian Drua 3: A tough ending for the Fijians in their first season. It’s always hard coming up…
Hello, G&GRs!Charlie Mackay is back! Apologies if this upsets you, Reg and Juswal. I’ve managed to clear up my Sunday night schedule (by doing a very millennial thing) and the other lads have graciously let me have Monday’s rugby news again (well, maybe more a handball back/hot potato/finders keepers/”hehehe, it’s ALLLLLL yours buddy” sorta thing… but whatever!). I’ve missed this little weekly column; however, I think, upon reflection, that it was getting a bit too content heavy. Therefore, I’ll be keeping it far lighter than it had been.So….. without further ado… I present Monday’s Rugby News.SUPER RUGBY – ROUND 13The…
Dear GAGRs,Welcome to this week’s delayed rugby news! The three days (and a dabble of AFL… Go the Dees!) got the better of me……Anyhoo, that was certainly a fun weekend down here in sunny Melbourne! Five Super Rugby games and a cracking Super W Final. There was the fourth round of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations and some domestic rugby kicking along here in Australia. All in all, it seems like it’s back to business in terms of rugby! I’m reverting back to four simple paragraphs this week as, well, I’m already late…EDIT: I saw this on the rounds and…
Hello and welcome, G&GRs and friends, to another Monday News! Somehow, we’ve made it pretty much to the halfway point of the Super Season. All teams have now played eight games (poor Moana having played four games in what seems like a fortnight) and we have a gist of how and where the teams will approach the end of season. There were some fucking cracking games this weekend! Gee whiz, talk about some amazing individual and team skills, too. What I really appreciated was the positive media representation of the Crusaders v Blues game…. which didn’t last long until “the…
Welcome to Monday, G&GRs! I trust that your tips were accurate and your bellies are full of your choice of beverage and a few pies! Plenty of rugby to ponder over the weekend, including: Super Rugby, Women’s 6 Nations, and the Singapore leg of the World Series Sevens. In deference to last week’s marathon read, this edition will be, comparatively, shorter (after reading and editing this… yeah, it’s defs not short…. Soz!!). I’m heading up to the Nation’s Arsehole Canberra to spend Easter at home for the first time in five years (sorry, Mum!) so an early start is required.…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs.Well, that was certainly an interesting weekend of rugby. Plenty of results, more pieces of cheese which were accompanied by some vino and enough bone-rattling hits to make me praise the rugby gods that I’m a referee! In the words of Nutta, I hope you all have a pizza pockets day, folks! SUPER RUGBY ROUND SEVENMoana Pasifika v Blues 1.0 – This was Tuesday last week so fuck it. Moana 19 – Blues 32.Blues v Moana Pasifkia 2.0 – OK, this was a bit closer to Monday! The Blues pretty much left off from where…
Welcome, G&GRs, to Monday’s Rugby News.I trust that your weekend got better after the utter shitfuckery of tipping results from Friday night… What the fuck even was that?! Apart from the Super Rugby, we’ll have a review of the TikTok Women’s 6N matches, a review of the Banks red card and Simon Cron taking the coaching reins at the Force in 2023. Don’t forget there’s a Moana v Blues match on Tuesday at 5pm! Then the Reds and Ponies showdown again this weekend (dumb scheduling that…).Happy Monday! SUPER RUGBY – ROUND SIXMoana Pasifika v Hurricanes – Well, my Friday night…
Welcome to a slightly delayed Monday News, G&GRs. Firstly, apologies for my tardiness with events outside of my control. All good though! Secondly, what an intriguing weekend of rugby we saw. From the Brumbies v Reds clash to the Ities giving the Taffs a loss in Cardiff, all of it was super enjoyable! I was surprised with a Wallabies squad announcement (did anyone know about this being announced?!) and some results from around the globe. Happy Monday, y’all! SUPER RUGBY ROUND…. I don’t even know now with the Spicy Cough fucking things up…A chaotic end to last week saw a…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs!Well, fuck me, what a weekend that was. It’s going to be a bitch to unpack all of it… but I’ll give it a fair shake of the sauce bottle so to speak. We’ll go through Super Rugby, Super W, Super Aupiki and the 6 Nations. If you’re still conscious at the end of the articles… well done! If not… enjoy your well earned slumber, especially if you’re in a state/territory that has a long weekend!SUPER RUGBY – ROUND FOUR Blues v Highlanders – Despite some late withdrawals due to Covid, the Blues were able…
Happy Monday, G&GRs, and welcome to the rugby news for the new week. Today, we’ll review the weekend of Super Rugby Pacific Round Three matches and the Super W Round One, a player sticking to rugby among ‘code wars’ and the announcement of further pay deals for Women’s rugby players. SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – ROUND THREEAnother fascinating round of rugby action this weekend, with some emerging leaders in the race for the Championship streaking ahead in the early stages of the season, whileother clubs are definitely firming to be in the race to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon. Here’s how…
Welcome, G&GRs, to another edition of Rugby News! I trust that your weekends have been filled with your pursuit of the glorious game. We’ll recap the Super Rugby Pacific round two, the third round of the 6 Nations, other international rugby news and Michael Cheika’s views on where rugby ‘has gone wrong in Australia’.For those wondering about the title picture, it is the logo of Ukrainian Rugby. We think of all those affected in the shitfuckery of the present moment. SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – ROUND TWO Brumbies v Drua – The Brumbies were relatively clinical in their win over the…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs! Isn’t it fucking fantastic to have rugby back?! Even if some of the rugby was tripe, it’s still a beautiful thing to behold. In today’s news, we’ll recap the first week of Super Rugby Pacific, the 6 Nations shitting on South Africa, Gus Gardner doing his best Swinton impression (sans red card) and a thought on the culture of Super Rugby Pacific. Waratahs v Drua – The Waratahs will no doubt be thanking the draw-creating gods for giving them the Drua up first. Although never an easy opponent, the Drua (and, most likely, Moana)…
Welcome, G&GRs, to another week of rugby. Well, folks, the 6 Nations has certainly been a cracker thus far…hopefully this meme ages well… but all to be revealed while most of us will be tucked in bed as warm and cosy as cinnamon buns. In other news, I’ll have you up-to-date with the latest Super Rugby Pacific news, including the link for the G&GR Superbru tipping competition, some highlights from the weekend and a refereeing initiative. SIX NATIONSJocks v Taffs: Well, in true Jock fashion, they have lived up to expectation one week then embarrassed themselves (somewhat) the next. The…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs! I reckon that all most of you will have been delighted with a Jocks’ victory over the SDs last night. A Taff loss to the Leprechauns is the one positive for the Queen’s loyallest subjects and the Frogs are likely to dominate the Italians (scores TBC when I can be ‘bovvered’ to wake up). In other news, we have a wrap up from the Super Rugby trials with covid problems for the Reds and law explanations from the weekend.Happy Monday! SIX NATIONSWell, folks, the woes of the English sports teams continue. Not only are…
Welcome to Monday’s Rugby News, G&GRs. Apologies for my tardiness this Monday! This week has seen some incredible sporting events in our time zone. The Barty Party came away as a winner, “Kyng Kokks” got up over Ebden and Purcell and Rafa beat Djokovic 2.0 Medvedev. The women’s Ashes in ‘Canbrizzle’ was a match for the ages, with the English side proving that they can snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat just as good as their blokes team can! Firstly, I’d like to share the fundraiser for Tonga which is backed by Moana Pasifika. An obviously vital cause,…
Welcome to another week of G&GR news, folks! I trust your livers have recovered sufficiently for the upcoming 6 Nations, soon to be followed by the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific! This week, we’ll have my preview of the 6 Nations and how team are likely to go, the referee appointments for the matches, some Sevens news from Espana and local Super Rugby updates.SIX NATIONSThe 6 Nations are rapidly approaching and the countries have named (or will shortly) name their squads. My thoughts on each country are:France: I think will be very hard to beat this year, particularly holding the home…
Welcome back to Monday’s Rugby News, GAGRs! I must say that the return to the column has definitely snuck up on me. Here I was thinking I had another week or so… then the reality hit! I’ve posted a bit early as I’m prone to waking up on a Monday and completely forgetting my responsibilities… Oops!I hope you’ve all been merry and bright, particularly with our red ball brethren giving the Poms the shellacking they so desperately deserve. On the rugby front, not much has been happening domestically. There is a smattering of action in the newly named Japanese Rugby…
Hello, G&GRs and welcome to Monday’s Rugby News – my last Monday news for 2021 (unless I feel the urge to rant on something… likely as us referees always like the attention on us… allegedly…)Today we’ll have a review of Week Four of the AIs, a ‘where to’ for the G&Gs looking ahead, looking ahead to RWC 2023 and a philosophical discussion on refereeing. Where to for the GAGs? Well, I predicted the potential outcome of the AIs a few weeks ago – that is, the tour could well be a disaster for the Wobs. Unfortunately, it has come true…
Well, G&GRs, Rassie-gate has finally reached its conclusion. Months after the appalling video was “leaked”, World Rugby’s investigation has finally handed down the verdict that was blatantly obvious from the moment the first few minutes of footage were viewed. I apologise for a bit of a rant; however, this is an issue that cut me deep. I know Nic Berry as a fellow referee. Indeed, I’ve worked as a subs controller in Super games with him. I was horrified and appalled, as were all of my referee colleagues, when this video was “leaked”. The summary of the ‘punishment’ is:1. A…