Author: Hugh Adams

Australian Sevens coach Michael O’Connor has announced that he will step down from his position at the end of the season. O’Connor cited family reasons for his decision as the travelling commitments associated with the job meant he was often away from his family. “With the Sevens program recently moving to a full-time base in Sydney, and with the international travel to tournaments, it simply meant too much time away from home.” “I believe that this young Australian squad will be a definite medal chance and now that they live and train in the same place, they will continue to…

In the final part of this series I’ll be looking at the Australian conference which is looking to be the most competitive it has been in years.  Here is all you need to know about the Australian conference for the upcoming Super Rugby season. Brumbies Position in 2013: Runners-Up. 2014 Luck of the Draw: The Brumbies will play some strong teams at home including the Stormers, Sharks, Blues and Chiefs. They also have challenging away games against the Crusaders, Cheetahs and Bulls Players to watch: Sam Carter, Scott Sio, David Pocock, Henry Speight and Michael Dowsett. Predicted position in 2014:…

In this series I’ll be looking at the various contenders for the 2014 Super Rugby title. Today the Kiwi conference. The Blues Position in 2013: 10th 2014 Luck of the Draw: The Blues have an exceptional draw. They face the Force and Lions away and they face the Waratahs, Reds, Sharks and Cheetahs at home. Return of Ma’a Nonu and Jerome Kaino Players to watch: Jerome Kaino, Charlie Faumuina, Charles Piutau, Tom Donnelly. Predicted position in 2014: 6th The Blues have traditionally been powerhouses of the Super Rugby competition but have had a disappointing last two seasons. Newly capped All Blacks…

In this series I’ll be looking at the various contenders for the 2014 Super Rugby title

The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series resumes in Wellington this weekend. The Men’s Sevens is set to have challenging matches against Samoa, Kenya and Tonga in Pool D. Australia currently sit in 6th position in the overall standings. South Africa sit in 1st position closely followed by New Zealand by just one point. After a strong start at the Gold Coast Sevens the Men’s team has struggled to perform in Dubai, South Africa and the USA. The return of Captain Ed Jenkins from injury should galvanise the side as they look to climb up in the overall standings. Jenkins expressed…

The Aussie Women got off to a strong start winning all their pool matches defeating Canada 17-0, Brazil 38-10 and France 31-0. On day 2, the Aussies faced England in the Quarter Finals and managed to bring in a win in the dying stages to win 19-12. They then cruised passed Russia in the Semi-Finals defeating them 31-0. Australia entered the final against the old rivals – New Zealand. The Aussies were down 22-0 just before half time until Rachel Crothers scored to keep them in touch. The score was 22-7 at half time. In the second half New Zealand…

The last game for the Wallabies erratic 2013 season is lining up to be a cracker and neither teams are taking this test lightly. If the Wallabies win this weekend against Wales, it will be the first time since 2008 they have won four matches in a row. If they lose they will be the only Wallaby team to lose 9 games in a calendar year and they will return to 4th on the IRB rankings. McKenzie has likened their 5 match Spring tour to the World Cup in two years time which will be hosted by England where they…

After New Zealand triumphed over Australia in the final of the Gold Coast Sevens, the IRB Sevens World Series now moves to Round 2 in Dubai. Last year Samoa upset New Zealand in the final to win the tournament. The New Zealanders are the team to beat yet they have not won the tournament in Dubai since 2009. The Kiwi’s are in good form but they face strong contenders in the form of Australia, England and South Africa. Don’t be surprised if Kenya, Samoa or Fiji are also in the mix. Australia sit in second position behind New Zealand on…

Preview of the match this weekend

Get the gong winners as it happens!

The All Blacks have answered Steve Hansen’s challenge to complete a three from three whitewash against the Wallabies this season. It was a much improved performance from the Wallabies but they were unable to hold out the world’s number one team, going down 41-33 in Dunedin. The Match Quade Cooper was booed in the warm up indicating the All Blacks fans haven’t let go of their grudge against him; yet by the end of the game those boos had been silenced. The emotions were running high with Wallaby debutant Peter Betham tearing up during Australia’s national anthem. The indoor field…

What’s ahead of us this weekend….

The Wallabies will be desperate to avoid the Rugby Championship wooden spoon when they take on Argentina in Rosario in front of 40,000 vocal Pumas supporters. The Wallabies have made one change to the starting line up this week with Will Genia returning and Nic White going back to the bench after starting in the last two Tests. Genia’s experience will be valued against an Argentina team which boasts more Test caps than the Wallabies. Uncapped Waratah Bernard Foley comes onto the bench for last week’s try scorer Chris Feauai-Sautia. After the Wallabies clinched a one-point victory over Argentina in…

The Australian Rugby Union have revoked James O’Connor’s ARU top-up deal after a string of off field incidences including being escorted by police from Perth Airport three weeks ago. The ARU have released O’Connor from his contract, which was due to end at the end of 2014. This means he is unable to receive an ARU top-up until 2015. In a statement O’Connor admitted he needed to rectify his attitude. ‘I realise I need to earn back a lot of respect, and that is exactly what I plan to do both on and off the field.’ The Qantas Wallabies Twitter account…

The match against the Springboks this weekend will be a challenge for the Wallabies, who were beaten 38-12 in Brisbane earlier in the competition and dominated 31-8 last year in Pretoria. The Wallabies have promised that they are a much improved team from the last time they played each other while the Springboks must win to remain in touch with the All Blacks at the top of the table. Australia have made a number of changes this week: James Horwill  returns to the side as captain, taking over from Ben Mowen. The suspension of James O’Connor has forced Adam Ashley-Cooper…

In Green and Gold Rugby’s latest podcast Matt Rowley and Steve Timms spoke to Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie and discussed an array of issues affecting the Wallabies as they embark on their tour to South Africa and Argentina. Tactics McKenzie admitted that if the Wallabies were to win more Test matches then they would have to play field position more effectively meaning more kicks especially from inside their own 22. He added: ‘The top teams are kicking… the All Blacks are kicking the most out of anyone’. ‘You’ve got to be relevant as much as you’d like to throw the…

Rocky Elsom and Ben Darwin give us their views on why the Wallabies are on the struggle bus

You wouldn’t believe it….

Both teams will be desperate for a win this weekend in Perth after neither of them have managed to win a match so far in this year’s Rugby Championship. The bottom of the table battle between the Wallabies and Argentina in Perth is a must-win for under-pressure coach Ewen McKenzie. The Argentines have made 5 changes from their 28-13 loss to the All Blacks last weekend. The strong Argentinian team features a return of 85-test veteran Felipe Contepomi into the midfield; inspirational leader Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe will play at flanker and last week’s stand-out Juan Manuel Leguizamon comes back…

The Melbourne Rebels have signed Highlanders midfielder Tamati Ellison for the 2014 Super Rugby season. The inclusion of Ellison (30) adds to the depth of the Rebels backline who are attempting to fill the spaces left by Wallabies James O’Connor, Nick Phipps and Kurtley Beale. The 4 test All Black will be a valuable asset to the Rebels backline which already features the likes of Mitch Inman, Lachlan Mitchell, Rory Sidey and Jason Woodward. The former Blues, Hurricanes and Highlanders player has been hailed as a good buy for the Rebels who was unlucky not to earn more tests with…