Author: Happyman

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…

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 Here Ellis Park has a fearsome reputation as an intimidating stadium…

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…

Wallabies-Springboks opening Test in Brisbane officially a sell-out Sorry 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 Pravda Rugby 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…

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 Pravda A 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…

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…

Sevens superstar Maddison Levi believes the bright lights of the Olympics and a sold-out Stade de France will be music to their ears as they press for a gold medal. Levi and the Australians are in Montpellier at their pre-Olympic campaign as they kick off their tournament on 28 July. If the pools go as planned, the Aussies will likely have to get past hosts France in the semi-finals for a shot at the gold medal. It presents a potential hostile environment for Tim Walsh’s side, with Levi welcoming the noise and atmosphere. “I was at Stade de France last…

Now hear me out, rugby has always been about what you can get away with and has never been about following the rules. This quote from the WR website illustrates my point: “William Webb Ellis literally broke the rules of the game he was playing to allow for rugby to be born.” So, all players have cheated right from the start. In 1823, William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School, caught the ball and ran with it. With this “fine disregard for the rules”, Webb Ellis is credited with inventing the game of rugby football as distinct from its kicking…

Special thanks to Marcoondam Images for permission to use this from the weekend’s game between Roma and the Toowoomba Rangers. Fresh off a sensational rookie campaign in Super Rugby Pacific with the Queensland Reds, flyhalf Harry McLaughlin-Phillips is expected to play a leading role with the Junior Wallabies at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Cape Town. Australia U20 fielded a star-studded squad at the event last year, but they had their work cut out for them in a pool of death that featured England, Fiji and Ireland. The Irish were coming off an unbeaten run to glory in the Six Nations U20 from February to…

Fearless Prediction The weather forecast is good and a sold out Eden Park should be humming. I think the Chiefs have caught fire in the finals series and have demonstrated the form in the finals campaign that can, and I reckon will, take them all of the way. Chiefs by 10. Saturday 22 June 5:05 PM AEST – Blues v Chiefs at Eden Park, Auckland, BLUES (1-15): Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Ricky Riccitelli, Marcel Renata, Patrick Tuipulotu (c), Sam Darry, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papali’i, Hoskins Sotutu, Finlay Christie, Harry Plummer, Caleb Clarke, AJ Lam, Rieko Ioane, Mark Tele’a, Stephen Perofeta RESERVES: Kurt Eklund, Joshua Fusitu’a,…

Lead photo is a nod to one of your contributors, see if he/she gets it. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto says he will be ready to answer a call from Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, despite missing the back half of the Super Rugby Pacific season. LSL was the form lock in Australia prior to his injury and would be an excellent addition to the Wallabies this year. The Melbourne lock had a pin inserted in his foot after fracturing it in mid-April and hoped to make his return this weekend if the Rebels made the semi-finals. They were eliminated by the Hurricanes last Saturday, but the 27-year-old said he’d…

With the demise of the Melbourne Rebels this article in The Guardian is a timely reminder that the economics of rugby are not easy and fiscal restraint must be shown. It’s easy to forget that while we’ve lost the Rebels the English have lost three clubs, Wasps, Londons Irish and the Worcestor Warriors.  I would point out the Rebels were always going to find it difficult. There are nine AFL teams located in Melbourne as well as the Storm (which lost money for a very long period of time). Also soccer, basketball and netball all competing for 6.6 million total population of…

As always this is a fan run site and any contribution is always welcome feel free to reach out to me at happyman@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea or an opinion piece. There’s also a ‘Submit a Story’ option. So feel free to have a crack as the more the merrier. Antoine Dupont is the Best Player In The World View this post on Instagram A post shared by BallCarrier Rugby (@ballcarrier) Stats from the Champions Cup. I don’t like to compare players across eras. However, IMHO Antoine Dupont is the best player in the world at the moment. Prove me wrong…

German rugby operates one step below the Six Nations in Europe and have come close to getting on the 7s circuit a few times. As always this is a fan run site and any contribution is always welcome feel free to reach out to me at happyman@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea or an opinion piece. There’s also a ‘Submit a Story’ option. So feel free to have a crack as the more the merrier. Super Rugby Judiciary Incompetent or Broken I have long held the view that the judiciary is incompetent. This year there has been more than one instance where…

In 1965, a deadly explosion at Cambrian Colliery in the Rhondda valley claimed 31 lives. Two years later the colliery closed down, ripping the heart out of the local community. The legacy of the miners lives on through the local rugby ground, as Cambrian Welfare chairman Jonathan Davies explains. “The ground is at the top of a mountain,” says Davies, who explains that a century ago, miners took their pickaxes to a patch of land and levelled it. “There wasn’t really a team or a league to play in, but it was something for the miners to do at weekends…

Parisian grounds, just magnificent. As always this is a fan run site and any contribution is always welcome feel free to reach out to me at happyman@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea or an opinion piece. There’s also a ‘Submit a Story’ option. So feel free to have a crack as the more the merrier. Mosese Tuipulotu Signing a Scottish Perspective From an economic perspective Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are net exporters of talent. The facts are that rugby is an international game and decent players can earn better money playing in France, Japan or the United Kingdom. For those…

As always this is a fan run site and any contribution is always welcome feel free to reach out to me at happyman@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea or an opinion piece. There’s also a ‘Submit a Story’ option. So feel free to have a crack as the more the merrier. Ex-Scotland captain Hogg ‘resets’ in rehab after arrest It’s always a good time to reach out to a friend, acquaintance or colleague and ask the question ‘are you OK, mate?’. You don’t have to wait for a specific week. While some of Stuart Hogg’s wounds have been self-inflicted I hope he’s…

Harold George (Eastern Suburbs, Waratahs, Wallabies):A prop forward and stalwart of the game, George was ever present in Waratahs and Wallabies teams from 1910 until the war broke out days before the final Test against the All Blacks in 1914. “It is hard to imagine anyone playing a harder, tougher game than he did. Perhaps never super-brilliant, he always played himself out to the last ounce, and was an awfully hard man to beat for the ball in the front rank of a scrum” wrote The Arrow of George. Enlisting in the AIF, and just two weeks into the Gallipoli campaign, he undertook a “heroic rescue of a wounded comrade,…

Today’s feature photo is from the Hong Kong Tens, it’s worth the visit for any rugby fans. As always this is a fan run site and any contribution is always welcome, feel free to reach out to me at happyman@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea or an opinion piece. There’s also a ‘Submit a Story’ option. So feel free to have a crack as the more, the merrier. Strap in guys and girls.  Late Mail: Giteau Law to Stay Personally happy about that. Byrne accepts appointment as the new FIJI Water Flying Fijians coach From the Fiji Times This is either an astute…

Rugby School was established in 1567 and is famous for two things: Tom Brown’s School Days, and inventing the game of rugby. The legend of William Webb Ellis, a pupil who picked up a ball during a game of football and ran with it, is part of the sport’s folklore. The game that evolved was picked up by other schools and then codified at Rugby School in 1845 As always this is a fan run site and any contribution is always welcome feel free to reach out to me at happyman@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea or an opinion piece. There’s also…