Author: Jack Howes

The Waikato Chiefs have slapped the Melbourne Rebels around at home, cruising to a 36-15 victory after a dominant first-half performance. The Match The trick to watching the Rebels without wanting to glass yourself is to understand that they really just aren’t very good. Early season results flattered to deceive in this regard, overly inflating the hopes of a fanbase who really should know better at this point. That winning record glossed over the fact that the wins had come against the collection might of the Force (2-9), the Dick Graham-led Reds (unmentionable), the Sunwolves (1-9), the Waratahs (6-5), and…

2016 IS A YEAR IN WHICH THE REBELS NEED TO START PUSHING FOR THE FINALS Things have improved under two years of Tony McGahan, from abject disgrace to borderline competence. Now it’s year three and time to start showing results. They’ve got stability behind the scenes, and a largely unchanged XV is returning to the park. With Nick Stirzaker taking over as captain, the Rebels will be looking to take that next step with him. THE SEASON THAT WAS 2015 was the most successful season in the Rebels short history, which unfortunately isn’t saying much. The 7-9 record came off…

In a game dominated by refereeing controversy and tough forward play the Rebels did just enough against the Chiefs, pipping them by a point. The Match This was a proper tough bastard game. Facing a Chiefs team missing their two best players in Aaron Cruden and Brodie Ratallick they knew they had a real shot. Make no mistake; the Chiefs are still an outstanding team with a champion captain-coach pair in Liam Messam and Dave Rennie. The way to beat them, as it is with most teams, is in the forwards and up the guts. Which is exactly what the…

5. Jack Debreczeni is getting way over-hyped He had a great NRC playing behind a dominant pack and with a back line full of strike-runners. He’s got a boot like a cannon, and is the first rugby player I’ve seen in this country since Mark Gerrard who seems to know how to flatten a kick out. Against the Tahs on Saturday night he was kicking goals from all over the park like it was nobody’s business. Few steps back, quick look at the posts, amble in and smack the ball through the middle of the sticks.  Superboot Jack Debreczeni View…

The Form Is it back to the future again for the Melbourne Rebels?  A promising start to the season brought undone by an all-pervading sense of mediocrity? It’s hard to shake that feeling after last week’s effort, a 16-20 home loss to the deeply limited Lions. The Rebels got off to a flyer but were unable to capitalise on their possession and territory domination. They might consider themselves unlucky in having two tries overturned on marginal rulings, but good teams don’t win in the margins. Soft defence in the second half helped the Lions make the most of their limited…

Nine reasons why round one of the NRC was awesome! 9. In the NRC Even the Rams scored some points. 8. In the NRC they’ve got wheels out West 7. In the NRC Peter Betham makes things happen 6. The NRC has Rolling mauls! Straya! 5. In the NRC a Canberra team is not just kicking for touch 4. In the NRC Dave Feltscheer goes flying 3. In the NRC Big Samu Kerevi makes rugby look very, very, easy 2. In the NRC Lopeti Timani wants to crush his enemies, see them driven…

Eight tries have seen the Melbourne Rising cruise to a comfortable 55-34 over the North Harbour Rays on debut at AAMI Park this afternoon. The Match From the opening whistle, with the new laws rendering penalty goals almost worthless, and the weather staying away, both sides showed a willingness to take the ball in hand and have as serious crack. The Rays hung with their more credentials for most of the afternoon, before letting the score slip with three late tries as fresh legs started to tell for the Rising.The game started in sprightly fashion as a darting run from…

With the Hong Kong sideshow over and done with, the British and Irish Lions have turned their eyes westward to the Force. They’ll be looking to set an early precedent for the tour, dominating from the get go. The Force have put out a largely second-string team, but have warned they won’t be afraid to go the biff. Hopefully we’re in for an enthralling contest. FULLTIME. Lions 69 – Force 17. That score’s a pretty fair reflection of the game. The Force tried hard and did a couple of good things, but the sheer class, size and power of the Lions…

Match review and Score of the British and Irish Lions vs Barbarians

Statistically speaking, there is no reason James O’Connor can’t excel as Wallabies flyhalf.