Author: Happyman

Welcome back people and were you not entertained by the Six Nations. How good is FootyFinal trials on this weekend with the Reds in Roma playing the Tahs with a sevens comp on all day. I would love to get out there but unfortunately work at home will intervene.6 Nations Preview Week 2France v IrelandThe game of the weekend and possibly the game to decide the tourney. Ireland were magnificent last week against a disappointing Wales and I have rarely seen a 20 point test win that flattered the beaten team as it could have been much worse. (Our friends…

Second week of G&GR for me and what a week it’s turning out to be. This week’s reading will feature a preview of the 6 Nations and some other bits and pieces6 Nations PreviewFor many years the southern hemisphere has rightfully said of the 6 Nations “yes it’s a great tournament but the rugby is pretty rubbish”. Truthfully that cannot be said anymore the standard of Northern hemisphere rugby has never been higher and neither Australia or New Zealand will be thinking the tours by England or Ireland will be a walk in the park.Scotland v EnglandThe Calcutta Cup match…

Welcome back peeps after some IT issues last week which stopped me from publishing my worthless drivel.I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable pagan festival and a happy new year.Much to look forward to this year with the Soap dodgers touring and the Super Rugby season whatever that looks like going ahead.Volunteers make the world go aroundThe Australia Day honour list had many worthy recipients this year and none more deserving than the following people for their services to Rugby.Mr Peter McGrath.Mr Terrance WillisMr Peter ‘Doubles’ DaleyMr David Dunworth,Mr Brian Rudder Mr Kim BeresfordDr Jane WilsonI am sure each of…

Happy Thursday all.This will be my last Thursday Rugby News for the year and in a similar way to the other contributors I may dust off the keyboard if something grabs my attention and Sully does not change my password. This year has been a blast for me and has been a great thing to do during a year with some personal ups and downs.Special thanks to Sully and all of the other contributors who although I have not met personally seem like great blokes to eventually have a beer and red wine or two with.Considering the comments on other…

Happy Thursday all.Being a Wallabies supporter at the moment is a rollercoaster ride the enjoyment of Super Rugby AU. The disappointment of the Super TT and the Bled followed a good patch up until last weekend. What Does Everyone Who Reads This Article and Will Skelton Have in Common?We all made the same number of tackles against the English on the weekend. on a positive note he made one more carry than I did. Unfortunately he played 18 minutes..I think Dave Rennie has used the Northern Tour as a look and see mission of what we have available from those Australians…

Happy Thursday all.As today is remembrance day to all current and former serving members off the armed forces both past and present I say thank you for your service. I also say Lest We Forget to constantly question the call to arms by our political leaders. The Wallabies v Scotland – OpinionI consider myself eminently qualified to speak about the performance against Scotland as I am a proud Scottish-born Australian rugby tragic.Firstly to all of the Australian fans who say that berating Scotland is a non-negotiable here are some facts. That is Scotland’s third win in a row against Australia. In the…

This week we are going to be positive as hope springs eternal for Australian rugby fans for the final three weeks of the season with eh upcoming games against Scotland, England and Wales.What do you think is a good result for Australia in the final three games of the season. For mine I am still of the opinion that while results are important as long as we play our game for 80 minutes then the result is the result. Also the RUOK piece’s response was fantastic and some contributions were brave and heartening at the same time. it is great that…

Due to a busy week at work and too much driving around I have not been able to comment on some of the goings on in the Rugby front this week. So here goes.KB I think I speak for most GAGR fans when I say for the love of god no.I also listened to a Scotland Rugby Pod this week and they fancy their chances.This weekends Autumn Nations Series fixtures From our friends at ESPN This weekend we will naturally focus on the games that affect our teams int eh Autumn nations cup. The big games are Scotland v Tonga.Wales V New Zealandand the…

Welcome to my contribution for this week and a thank you to Yowie for Wednesdays work.We are all looking forward to the next four weeks of international Rugby and I will touch on some of the opposition this week. I also go down a bit of a rabbit hole so apologies.Scotland name 14 Uncapped players in the Autumn international training squad.As A Scottish born Australian I would warn all of those people who are talking up the Australia playing Scotland as a easy win beware. Scotland recently beat the Soap Dodgers At Twickenham last year and the Cheese Eating Surrender…

Thanks KARL for a great Hump day contributionMale Players Given Permission to Wear Tights and LeggingsCue all of the silly jokes but this is actually a serious issue. From the Scotsman Male Players have been granted permission to use tights, leggings with immediate effect by the governing body WR. This reflect the growing use of artificial pitches particularly int he Northern hemisphere. The law change will apply to all levels of the game in a bid to protect players from abrasions.Edinburgh have moved to a new stadium with artificial turf this season and Glasgow Warriors have played on a 4G surface since…

We here we are earthlings. I am sitting here on a Wednesday evening like a 20 year old Uni student preparing an assignment. This is my first draft it is very disappointing when work gets in the way of my GAGR gig.As I have been pretty much offline all week let me say firstly say congratulations to all of the players who made last weekends games so entertaining and to the Saffas, Argies and New Zealanders safe travels. It is easy to forget that most of these guys have not seen friends and family for quite a while so your…

This week we travel across the globe hopefully it makes some sense as I am a bit of a rush this week.Staring down the barrel of four wins in a row I have an unusual sense with respect to the Wallabies, surely it cannot be optimism.This weeks thoughtsThis weeks important game stats We are now 5 games in and what we see is that the NZ v SA game was a very tight affair with NZ only making 4 Clean Breaks for the game to SA’s 2. Australia defence was the real improver keeping the Argentinians to zero clean breaks. last…

So now what do we want to see as Australian Rugby Fans. I say consistency, I was asked in the comments section last week if I was OK with losing and I said as long as we play our game well then the outcome is the outcome. The facts are this week if we play our game we should win against the Argentinians. We need to be more focused on the way we play rather than the outcome.“Well we Australian Rugby Fans are an interesting bunch. a short three months ago everyone was saying how we are looking like we…

What a difference a week makes this is what I prefaced last week’s article with “Well, we Australian Rugby Fans are an interesting bunch. A short three months ago everyone was saying how we are looking like we are turning a corner and now everyone is banging on about how rubbish we are.” This week it is sunshine lollipops and rainbows everywhere.This week’s thoughtsThis week’s important game stats V SALast week I made some observations around how little SA play and how we are playing too much. Suddenly we had an experienced flyhalf who sees the game at a different level, and…

Well, we Australian Rugby Fans are an interesting bunch. A short three months ago everyone was saying how we are looking like we are turning a corner and now everyone is banging on about how rubbish we are.This weeks thoughtsThe Light at the end of the tunnel may not be an oncoming trainThis week as part of my looking around the Interwebs I came across the Stat’s page on the SANZAR Website. The Stats revealed two things to me, firstly anyone expecting a festival of running rugby watching South Africa and Argentina play are in for a rude surprise.Secondly, the…

As a Brisbanite Grand Final Week is always a special time of the year even though I do not have a horse in the big race.The TRC is warming up where we will welcome our friends from the shaky isles to WA for a rumble in Perth.As you are probably aware GAGR has had an upgrade and I am still on my L plates. The presentation will be better next week.This weeks thoughts New Zealand Rugby signs sponsorship deal with AltradLast week New Zealand Rugby (NZR) revealed a multi-million dollar kit sponsorship deal with Altrad, the company owned by billionaire…

Well that was an interesting week in the world of rugby I have taken a different tack for this weeks offering enjoy This weeks thoughts Eddie Jones Carousel of Coaching Eddie jones has done it again this time losing another analyst Joe Lewis after he decided to re-join Welsh region Scarlets rather than stay on longer than a four-year stint with England. It was late July, amid reports that the England boss had been sounding out Richard Cockerill as a potential new coaching assistant, that speculation emerged that Lewis was leaving the Test team set-up he had joined in 2017.  For…

Covid corner in South East Queensland officially finishes on Friday at 4pm unless some of those pesky Mexicans come over the border to spoil the party. Community sport starts on tthe weekend so all is good with he world. This weeks thoughts The Giteau Law for and against  This is my opinion. For It widens the pool available of players to pick from.  It makes overseas clubs pay market rates for our best players and we can redistribute the funds to areas of need. it would improve results. Against It would weaken the Super Rugby Teams even further as all of…

Thursdays News this week coming from Covid Corner all eyes are on on NZ for Bled 2 the ambush at Eden Park. This weeks thoughts The Rugby Championship  The Rugby Championship this year will be a drawn out affair. Round one starts this weekend as Bled 2 serves as Round one with the Saffas playing Argentina in Gqeberha (Formerly Port Elizebeth) on the 14th followed by Round two seven days later on the 21st. One can only assume they will then travel to NZ to serve quarantine before matches against Australia and New Zealand culminating in the final matches…

What can be better than the first week of a Bledisloe cup encounter. We are still level pegging with the forces of Mordor and hope is springing eternal. This weeks thoughts Both Teams to play at Eden Park when announced Over the last couple of seasons the it has felt like we we are getting close. I am now at the point where I look at our bench and think we are better in some positions than the Kiwis. Unfortunately in the modern day it is a 23 man game and in my view this is where we have been…