Author: Happyman

Good news everyone. After 10 years the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be just that: a light, not an oncoming train.Personally, I had a great year of rugby starting with a trip to Roma (highly recommend). I caught up with the G&GR boys at the Reds v Tahs game. I also got to a few more matches while watching heaps of community games and then the northern tour. I hope your year was as good.I thought it might be a good time to do a quick review of the Wallabies tests and look forward to the…

What a difference a week makes. We played well against Scotland and but for unfortunate injuries late in the week, some illness and an injury early in the game to a position we didn’t have cover on the bench, it could’ve been different.Scotland are a good team and are 20 points better at Murryfield than 100 yards down the street. An English media personality asked after the game was Australia suffering from a bug or virus as he felt they looked very lethargic. A fair question.Personally, I liked the St Joe post-match press conference not seeking comfort in any excuses.Ireland without…

What a difference a week makes with more progress from a team coming off a good win the previous week. My observations were that we put an inferior team away on the day. How many times in the past ten years have we allowed the opposition set the tempo and subsequently played down to their level?Scotland will be a step up in what could be the game of the year as both teams like to play. The weather could play a part with a 65% chance of rain on game day.Samu Kerevi gets shafted by the judiciaryOne of my favourite…

Wales 1 Gareth Thomas 2 Dewi Lake 3 Archie Griffin 4 Will Rowlands 5 Adam Beard 6 James Botham 7 Jac Morgan 8 Aaron Wainwright 9 Ellis Bevan 10 Gareth Anscombe 11 Blair Murray 12 Ben Thomas 13 Max Llewellyn 14 Tom Rogers 15 Cameron Winnett Substitutes16 Ryan Elias 17 Nicky Smith 18 Keiron Assiratti 19 Christ Tshiunza 20 Tommy Reffell 21 Rhodri Williams 22 Sam Costelow 23 Eddie JamesAustralia1 Angus Bell 2 Matt Faessler 3 Allan Alaalatoa 4 Nick Frost 5 Will Skelton 6 Seru Uru 7 Fraser McReight 8 Rob Valetini 9 Nic White 10 Noah Lolesio 11 Max Jorgensen 12 Samu Kerevi 13 Len Ikitau 14 Andrew Kellaway 15 Tom Wright Substitutes16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa 17 James Slipper 18 Zane Nonggorr 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto 20 Langi Gleeson 21 Tate McDermott 22 Ben Donaldson 23 Joseph-Aukuso SuaaliiMatch Officials: Referee: James Doleman (NZR) ARs: Karl Dickson (Eng) & Angus…

What a difference a week makes after one of the great games of 2024. Word from League Central that the NRL hierarchy are enquiring of Channel Nine why they’re giving rugby so much coverage. Newsflash: rugby is an international game. This week it’s Wales, hopefully more progress is made.My other laugh for the week is that now the narrative from my gaol rugby friends is that all NRL players would be world class rugby players. My response is to name Suli Vunivalu, Will Chambers and quite a few others.International games of interest this week.Italy v Georgia is always feisty. USA…

Isn’t international rugby great? While most of us will be looking at the big games it’s important to note there are 15 international games on this weekend. I would imagine there are some spicy fixtures among some neighbouring countries, eg Czech Republic v Croatia.The Rugby Hierarchy OpinionRugby is a game played by alpha males and females who like to physically dominate their direct opponent. But, most rugby players are submissive when dealing with coaches who ultimately decide how the team is run and how much they play in an inequitable dynamic.Samu Kerevi has his opinion here and Danny care has his here on Eddie Jones.…

This week I spent a couple of days on a road trip, which was a wonderful opportunity to listen to most home nations podcasts. With the autumn internationals coming up it gave me a level of insight into how the Australians are perceived; I can report that without exception the Wallabies are perceived as the easy game. With the Scottish podcast in particular saying that a loss to us could see Gregor Townsend in the hot seat. As an ultra loyal Aussie I will never tip against the Wallabies, but as a realist I pose this question: what do you…

If you thought the Wallabies had it hard try being a Newcastle Falcons supporter or player.Newcastle Falcons consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond believes their win over Scott Sio’s Exeter Chiefs was the first step towards regaining respect in the Premiership. The 24-18 success at Kingston Park last Friday was a first for 581 days in the league and came after 25 successive losses. Some observers had questioned the Falcons’ worth in the league after such a terrible run, so Diamond knows the timing of the result was crucial.”That was the first fix,” he said. “For the product that we are trying to…

Name the rugby player with the highest social media following. If you said Siya, Antoine, or even Quade, you’re not in the correct postcode.  Ilona Maher, a squad player in the USA bronze medal winning Sevens team, is the correct answer. She has a shade over 4 million Instagram followers, which makes Siya’s 1.3 million not even close. She’s an interesting study with her profile and has probably done more to lift rugby in the US in six months than the MLR has done in 10 years. She has even been on the US version of Dancing with the Stars.Perry Baker -…

In some positive transfer news Jahrome Brown is signing with the Chiefs. It’s good to see a quality player get the chance to further his rugby in a new environment. It aligns with my personal view that for Super Rugby to grow there has to be a free flow of players within the comp.Melbourne Rebels Directors to sue RAAfter promising myself that I’d be positive this year it has taken until October for the Melbourne Rebels to wear me down. I was taught by a client many years ago that as a director total ownership of events is a non-negotiable issue, the…

For everyone who thinks Australia needs a quality inside centre, here’s an interview with one we prepared earlier. Wouldn’t he have been good at 12 for the Wallabies on the weekend. From our friends at the offsideline.SIONE Tuipulotu has become a key player for both Glasgow and Scotland since moving here four years ago. His younger brother Mosese has impressed in his two outings to date since joining Edinburgh in the summer. And now the two siblings are working together to persuade Ottavio, Sione’s “littlest brother”, to join them in Scotland.At 20, Ottavio is the youngest member of the Australian-born family,…

Short version today as work has intervened so strap in.Word out of camp is Marika Koroibete – the two-time John Eales Medallist – could’ve played his last Test in the Wallabies jersey after being left out of Saturday’s Bledisloe fixture in Wellington due to injury. Given his age profile and talent coming through this might be the end of Marika’s Wallaby career. If that’s the case, thank you for your service. At his best Marika has been a dominant winger and has always given his all.Wallaroos hunting for Wales revenge as they set out two WXV goalsThe Wallaroos are undeterred…

I would recommend this week’s great pod by the boys from The Dropped Kick Off. They asked the question: what would give up for Australia to win back the cup this year? Nathan initially suggested a finger. Nick went with he would listen to one of the many South African Twitter trolls for 10 minutes every day for the rest of the year and agree with them.Personally, I will go on record in saying that Matthew Raynal got the call correct in the game a few years ago when he robbed the Wallabies of a deserved victory which saved Ian Foster’s…

Relax people, we lost on the weekend, it’s part of the journey. A South African team that included Marx, Kolisi, Etzebeth, Kreil, Mostart, Mbonambi, Kitshoff, De Jager, du Toit, Pollard and de Allende lost to New Zealand in 2017 by a record 57 to nil. Link Here. I’m not for a moment suggesting that the result on the weekend was acceptable and nor are the coaches but let’s look at some facts. Some of the positives from the weekend. We led the game for 34 minutes of the game and at 20 to 3 we played some of our best rugby this year.…

It’s feeling like the adults are running the asylum. The Wallabies are not the finished product by any means. My biggest take away from the weekend was the scrum operated at 83% the lineout operated at 100% and apart from the restarts we looked like a team that gets the basics right. Sure, we can’t live with the Saffas yet, and will probably come up short against the New Zealanders but I reckon we’ll run other teams close for the rest of the year, and the games we lose will be by small margins. As a fan that is all I…

A few weeks ago, I was on the 8/9 Podcast and made the point that the Rugby Championship doesn’t have the same passion as the Six Nations due to a lack of travelling fans. While I think that comment is largely true the multicultural nature of Australia means that travelling teams always have decent support and South African fans certainly showed it for the recent two tests here. My call to them is to also attend Super games. The following shows why so many South Africans live in Australia. Link HereEllis Park has a fearsome reputation as an intimidating stadium in…

Former average South African centre, Jean de Villiers, and eye gouger, Schalk Burger, have both questioned the validity of Australia’s front-row injuries in the Rugby Championship clash in Perth.During the second Test between the two nations in the tournament, Australia saw loosehead props Angus Bell and James Slipper leave the pitch with injuries and with no other options for the propping positions, the officials had no choice but to revert to uncontested scrums.The Springboks dominated the set-piece during the opening Rugby Championship clash in Brisbane, leading many to question whether it was a deliberate ploy from the Wallabies to nullify a strength of Rassie Erasmus’…

Wallabies-Springboks opening Test in Brisbane officially a sell-outSorry Melbourne, you don’t deserve more rugby tests. Both Perth and Brisbane deserve more at the expense of Melbourne, they just don’t turn up to any football that isn’t AFL. It is the pointy end of community rugby this weekend and local QPR clubs have done the right thing by scheduling games either at midday on Saturday of Sunday. From PravdaRugby Australia has announced the Wallabies’ first Test of the Rugby Championship against the Springboks on July 10 at Suncorp Stadium is a sell-out. Saturday’s Test will be the first time Suncorp Stadium has sold out…

George Gregan’s sledge seems to ring true for the Australian women’s Sevens after missing a medal in the Olympic final. All I can say as a fan I love watching the women play, the skill joy and adventure makes me smile. Keep your heads up, ladies, and use the disappointment as fuel. Congratulations on the result, we are still proud of you.This from PravdaA tearful Charlotte Caslick has been left to ponder what went wrong as Australia’s rugby Sevens golden ambition evaporated inside three long hours in the Parisian sun. The recent world series champions and Rio gold medallists had cantered into…

It’s a miracle when an Australian player gets off without a ban. Daugunu was sent off during the 40-29 victory over Georgia after a charge down gone wrong, collecting Georgian Demur Tapladze in the head with his knee. The incident was yellow carded before being upgraded at half-time, leaving the Australians to battle with 14 men for the start of the second half.Daugunu faced the independent Disciplinary Committee as he argued that it did not meet the red card threshold. While this was denied, the ruling was changed from a dangerous tackle to a reckless or dangerous act, allowing Daugunu to take…