Author: Christian Tedge

Why has Tolu Latu been selected in the Wallabies to travel to South Africa? I’m confused at this for a number of reasons. Why is Latu selected when he starts from the bench every game behind the preferred hooker for the Waratahs? What has Latu achieved at Super Rugby and Test level that makes him a player that warrants selection? How can a player that is suspended for 6 weeks for foul play and then caught hiding the fact he was charged with mid-level drink driving still selected in the Wallabies team? Let’s start with the team Latu plays in, The…

The last round of Super Rugby was basically a disaster for all Aussies except Brumby fans. So putting the results behind us, what happened up front? WARATAHS V HIGHLANDERS     The Waratahs travelled to Invercargill to play the Highlanders in the last game of the 2019 season starting with Harry Johnson-Holmes, Damien Fitzpatrick and Tom Robertson. The Highlanders starting front row off Ayden Johnstone, Liam Coltman and Tyrel Lomax. The Highlanders winning convincingly 49 to 12. I’m not going to delve too much into this game as the Highlanders were a better team across the paddock especially in the scrum. The…

The Reds and the Brumbies were the only Aussie winners on the weekend with the Rebels suffering a hammering at the hands of the Crusaders.  But what happened up front in the important spots? Let’s check it out to find out. REDS V BLUES The Reds played the Blues at Suncorp Stadium in the final home game of the season with the Reds coming away with the win 29-28. The Reds starting front row of J.P Smith, Alex Mafi and Taniela Tupou and the Blues starting with Alex Hodgman, James Parsons and Ofa Tuungafasi. The Reds scrum performed well tonight…

It’s getting to the business end of the season which means Wallaby squad selection is getting closer.  We all now the game is won and lost up front, so let’s see how the big lads are doing at the dark arts. REBELS V WARATAHS The Rebels hosted the Waratahs at Aami Stadium in Melbourne in a game that Darryl Gibson said he wouldn’t rest his Wallabies as he saw this as an internal trial for the Wallabies. Luckily he didn’t as the Waratahs came away with the win 20-15. The Rebels starting front row consisted of Tetera Faulkner, Anaru Rangi…

More Aussie teams playing means more scrums to scrutinise! Here we go with Round 15’s big plays up front. CHIEFS V REDS The Reds travelled to Hamilton to play the Chiefs at FMG Stadium in a tough game resulting in the Chiefs taking the win 19-13. The Reds starting with Harry Hoopert, Alex Mafi and Taniela Tupou against the Chiefs front row of Atunaisa Moli, Nathan Harris and Nepo Laulala. The game was a grind for the Reds with 75% possession throughout the game but couldn’t fracture the defence of the Chiefs. The stats of the Chiefs front row is…

The Brumbies may remain on top of the conference ladder, but their bye last weekend means they missed the ultimate opportunity – analysis of their work up front.  So let’s look at the other Aussie teams instead. REBELS V BULLS The Rebels coming off the back of a good win against the Reds had the opportunity to see if they could back it up against the men in Blue (green this week) from Pretoria, The Bulls at Aami Park in Melbourne. The Bulls getting the win 32 to 17 in a physical game. The Rebels opting for consistency in their…

Big games call for big moments, and a lot of those big moments this week came from big scrums. Let’s get stuck in. REBELS V REDS What an excellent contest the 2nd Rebels v Reds Derby this year was at Aami Park Melbourne. Another local derby for players to stamp their authority over their opposition and help their teams make another step towards the finals. The Rebels again coming away with the win 30 to 24 with the Reds getting the late penalty kick to give them that bonus point. The starting front rows were Tetera Faulkner, Anaru Rangi and…

The Wanneroo Districts Rugby Under 15’s and their coach Tus Watene made the trip across the ditch to prepare themselves for the season ahead but also to see how a promising group of young men would stack up against our Kiwi opposition. This trip was 12 months in the making and would not have been possible without some steely eyed and determined parents that participated in every fundraising event known to man to see their boys make the trip of a life time. There is suspicion the parents just wanted the boys out of their homes for 10 days which…

With all Aussie teams playing for a return of two wins and two close losses, let’s take a look at the meaningful stuff that happened up front. REDS V SUNWOLVES The Reds played the Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium with the Reds getting away with the win 32-26 with Red and Yellow cards handed out like confetti. The Reds opting to start with Harry Hoopert, Alex Mafi and Taniela Tupou against the Sunwolves Masataka Mikami, Shota Horie and Hiroshi Yamashita. It was evident throughout this game that the Sunwolves were eager to win the set call in the scrum, winning the…

Confirming the absense of this article for the last couple of weeks is in no way an indicator that I am actually Israel Folau writing under a pseudonym about his secrtet love of scrums. I can assure you it’s just me back after a short break and keen to get back into our scrum watch! WARATAHS v SHARKS The Waratahs were assaulted all across the ground against the Sharks at the New Bankwest Stadium in Western Sydney with the resulting score 23-15 to the Sharks. The Waratahs started with the consistent front row of Harry Johnson-Holmes, Damien Fitzpatrick and Sekopu Kepu.…

Plenty of Aussie content this weekend and a hell of a lot of Wallaby contenders. So let’s get to it. REDS VS STORMERS JP Smith came out earlier this week in the media saying the South Africans consider the Aussies soft. This was clever in getting the Reds primed for a physical battle against the Stormers as well as selling their own branded Bros-Braai Sausages throughout Suncorp stadium, the stage was set for a must win for the Reds and win they did with the score-line 24 to 12. The Reds front row consisted off JP Smith, Brandon Paenga-Amosa and…

The Rebels were the only Australian team to get up in this round of Super Rugby. We knew they had class in the backs and some decent backrowers, but how did they fair up front? Similarly with the Tahs going down to the Sunwolves, were there any positives to take from the fat boys? WARATAHS V SUNWOLVES The Waratahs vs the Sunwolves. We watched it; we’ve read about it and clearly fans are frustrated with the result. I won’t add to the collection of depressive articles about this game as the scrum was rock solid and the forwards were doing…

The Waratahs were superb in their win over the Crusaders while the Reds impressed most in defeating the Brumbies by a record score. With the Rebels losing again in South Africa, how does it all relate to our front row play? Let’s take a look. NSW V CRUSADERS We heard all the work that had been undertaken to ensure the grass would be removed and repaired to ensure a competitive scrum without the SCG carpet rolling under the scrums feet but was it possible to replace over 3000 square meters of turf in time for NSW to face off against…

A local derby, a bottom of the conference play-off, and the trailblazers first match outside of the country. All fascinating encounters with lots to observe up front. NSW V BRUMBIES I enjoyed this game for the battle up front. Yes, there were a huge amount of handling errors and restarts but I thought the game started off with impressive involvements from all of the front rows. The Brumbies started with Scott Sio, Folau Fainga’a and Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin. Sio came out firing with 3 huge tackles, one dislodging the ball from Ned Hanigan.  Fainga’a was mobile around the ground inserting himself…

Round 4 brought the perfect scenario for Players to get one over their opposite numbers in the local Derby’s. How did it pan out? REBELS V BRUMBIES The Rebels clawed back a 19-3 deficit at half time to beat the Brumbies 29-26 on Friday night at AAMI Park, Melbourne. Dave Wessels, the Rebels coach opted to rotate his front row around with a new combination of Matt Gibbon, Robbie Abel and Sam Talakai to start the game off which was a bold move against the established Scott Sio, Folau Fainga’a and Alan Alaalatoa. Gibbon’s starting at loosehead for the Rebels…

Another mixed bag of scrummaging by the Aussie teams in Super Rugby this weekend. Let’s dig in and have a look at how it panned out. BRUMBIES V HURRICANES The Brumbies were coming off the back off a crushing  Round 2 win against the Chiefs the week prior and the Australian rugby public were waxing lyrical about the Brumbies playing the best brand off football in years and certain players being in contention for starting Wallabies roles. The Hurricanes were heavily defeated by the consistent Crusaders and had a point to prove in Paly North and the Hurricanes proved that…

Week two saw the Queensland Reds play their 1st game of the year, away in Dunedin, and the opportunity to see the much scrutinized young team? Could the NSW forwards continue to improve the scrum against the Sunwolves and get their first win of the season ? Would the Brumbies show what they are capable off against a NZ team? Read below and I would love to get your comments if I’ve missed the obvious or you agree! Highlanders V Queensland Reds How good were Queensland Reds in their first hit out for the year against the Highlanders in Dunedin? I don’t…

Unless you’re living under a rock, 2019 is a Rugby World Cup Year, but firstly we have the much anticipated Super Rugby season to get through before Rugby Championship and then onto the RWC. Super Rugby can take away from the necessity and importance of developing a strong Test scrum so what better way than to analyse and break down the Australian Franchises scrum stocks (specifically front row) as we progress throughout the Super Rugby season and ask the Question, Is the Australian Scrum solidified for the first World Cup Game or is there a bolter that unexpectedly gets called…