Author: Happyman

Hi everyone, the teams are out the injuries are out and there’s some news as well. Loving how close Super Rugby is this year, Club rugby is back this week so get down to your local club and support the grassroots of the game.Highlanders medical staff are cheats (in my opinion)Now that I have your attention I’m accusing the Highlanders medical staff of cheating. The Highlanders replacement prop Sefo Kautai injured his leg immediately after taking the field. The trainer taking him from the field told the referee the player had suffered a HIA, giving them a period to time…

Hi everyone, the teams are out the injuries are out and there is a bit of news. How good is rugby?RFU Mismanagement and RugbynomicsRugby in the UK is having a bit of an existential crisis with the Welsh problems both on and off the field. In the midst of all of the this the RFU has reminded me of the omnishambles that was the ARU from about 2005 to 2020. RFU to host special general meeting amid calls for CEO’s removalThe meeting, which is reportedly set to take place in late March or early April, comes after 141 member clubs and referee…

Hi all. Back from a week’s holiday as I caught up with the weekend’s games and ruminate upon some of the things from the week that was.Norths Rugby Union Clean Up DayThe featured photo is from the last flood and the one above is from a great day’s rugby.From Norths Facebook if you live in Brisbane and have an hour to kill on Sunday.Following the flooding of Field One, Norths will be having a clean up day this Sunday from 9am. We are asking for anyone able to donate a few hours of their time to assist. We will be…

Another great weekend with Super Rugby and the Six Nations providing some enthralling rugby with games that suited every want and whim. This week I also caught up on a Japanese game which was fast paced. If you get the chance it is worth finding it on YouTube.Teams for the WeekHappyman’s fearless guessing: Landers by 7Tahs by 5Chiefs by 15 (the Chiefs are better and the Doleman effect)Blues by 5 to get the season on trackReds by 10 this is a start of a tough road tripFriday 5:05 pm AEDT – Moana Pasifika v Highlanders at North Harbour Stadium, PASIFIKA (1-15): James Lay,…

How good is it to have the Super Rugby back with fast, fun and exciting footy? I expect this year’s comp will be the closest in years with any team capable of beating another. The Six Nations is heading for the pointy end so let’s get into it. Keith will preview on Saturday; don’t worry mate we’ll keep the Calcutta Cup safe for you for another year.Wallaby coaching appointment opinion.RA is in an enviable position going into this appointment of the Wallabies coach. For the first time in 20 years, we have the opportunity to have continuity with Joe Schmidt…

This week we’ll run around the around the world with Rugbynomics and other matters. We’ll also dive into the Super Teams for the weekend and injury news.Gats GoneWhile I never want to see someone get sacked something had to change for Welsh rugby to move forward. By any measure Warren Gatland has had a successful career in rugby. Link Here. 17 caps for New Zealand. He coached from 1989 to 2025 starting at Galwegians RFC and finishing up with Wales. My favourite Gats coaching tip is be the best at things that require no talent. Follow the Link for potential replacements, which includes everyone’s…

Welcome back everyone for another year of G&GR. I’m going to try and keep it positive this year, personally I think Super Rugby will be the most competitive in many years. Let’s dig in shall we.Rebels Squad, where are they now?With the unfortunate demise of the Rebels, I thought I would give a quick update on where they all ended up. While I have no sympathy for the club I do have feel for the players and coaches who have had to move families to new places of employment.Australian ExilesI have always maintained that the reason Australia doesn’t have at…

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…