Author: Kiap

The Hurricanes drifted early before blasting past the Western Force in their Round 4 Super Rugby clash at an old speedway track in Palmerston North. The visitors made a match of it for the first hour of the game, but five tries in the last twenty-odd minutes made it a 41–6 caning in the end. It was a well deserved bonus point win to the Hurricanes. First half Peter Grant, starting at flyhalf for the Force in place of the injured Jono Lance, opened the scoring after 14 minutes with a penalty goal from more than 40 metres out. The…

New South Wales Country revelled in the win from their trip west, defeating the Perth Spirit in a closely fought Round 7 match, 32–29. The Country Eagles now move into fourth spot on the ladder and are well in contention for a semi-final berth with two matches to play. The Spirit by contrast drop to sixth position with only one match remaining to press their claims for 2015. The match was played in overcast conditions at UWA Sports Park. Unfortunately, it also turned out to be another “Yellowfest” with both teams wearing predominantly gold jerseys and black shorts despite having…

The Perth Spirit have recorded a convincing 31–21 win over the Melbourne Rising in their Round 6 NRC clash at UWA Sports Park. The match was stacked with Super Rugby players on both sides and played in perfect conditions. Rising made the early running with the breeze at their backs and the lion’s share of territory and possession but, as the game wore on, the Spirit began to get the upper hand through the strength of their forward pack. While the battle up front was crucial, the backs did plenty of work and accounted for almost all the scoring in…

The University of Canberra Vikings held off a second half surge from the Perth Spirit to secure a 26–23 win in their Round 4 NRC clash at UWA Sports Park on Saturday. Perth scored four tries to Canberra’s three, but Rodney Iona’s accurate boot ensured that the visitors finished on the right side of the scoreboard ledger. It was the solid forward play of the Vikings that made the difference on the field. The match was played in changeable conditions with gusting winds and occasional showers. Fearsome tackling was produced in the opening quarter. Ita Vaea was a human wrecking…

A bonus point victory from their 33–20 win in Perth has secured the Brumbies a Super Rugby finals berth for 2015. A hat-trick to David Pocock from the back of the Brumbies’ rolling maul ensured that Larkham’s men had control of the match against the Force. They racked up five tries in just over an hour before two late tries to the home side made the score a little more respectable for the Force. View image | gettyimages.com Pocock scoring his third try The Brumbies showed superior teamwork on attack and were better drilled in defence. It wasn’t quite a…

Western Force v Stormers: Will the Force prevail after the Waratahs could not? The Western Force hosts the Stormers on Saturday night for the South African team’s last match on their four-week tour of Australasia. The Force are near enough to level pegging in their record against South African sides in Perth having won ten and lost eleven, so they’re in with a shot. Both teams have recorded bonus point wins in Sydney this season against the reigning Super Rugby champions, the Waratahs. But that doesn’t quite tell the full story. The Form The Stormers moved into the top six…

The Western Force have gone down 15–9 to the Sharks at Kings Park in Durban. It was yet another case of ‘What might have been’ for the Force who had made the majority of the running and led for most of the game. The crucial moments in the match went against the visitors. The Sharks took their chances to score two good tries, but the Force had three opportunities to get over the line go begging. Two errors were of their own making but they also copped a bad call from the TMO. In the end they had to rely…

What should we expect this weekend when the Sharks play the Western Force in Durban?

The Perth Sprit unleashed another bonus point thumping at home to defeat Queensland Country by 68–29 in their Round 7 NRC clash at Rockingham. RugbyWA spread the love again for their final home match of the season, taking it 55km south of Perth this time to the Rockingham Rugby Club’s ground at Lark Hill in Port Kennedy. The crowd wasn’t as big as for the other two games in The West, but they saw a rousing win for the local side. The Match Perth got straight into their work with debutant Christian Joubert scoring in the corner and openside Kane…

The Perth Spirit cut loose with a comprehensive win over the Sydney Stars in their Round 6 NRC clash on Sunday afternoon. The bonus point win lifts them from 8th postion to 4th and back into finals contention with three rounds to go. After a bright start with the first 2 tries, the Stars were cast as extras for the main event as the Spirit waltzed away with the prize, putting on 8 unanswered tries and 58 points in the middle hour. Adding 1 more try each near the end, the score was 63-21 at full time. Perth’s second game…

   Match Report by “GaffaCHinO” Brisbane City defied all odds to travel across the Nullarbor and come away with a defiant 26-21 win over a disappointing Perth Spirit side laden with Western Force players. McGillivray Oval was picture perfect for an enjoyable Sunday afternoon of rugby in Perth. Long stands of trees line the edges of the park and on a normal day it’s hard to even tell you’re near the city. But for this occasion, a temporary pallisade was in place around the University Rugby Club’s ground and a crowd of over two thousand was building up on the…

The final of the 2014 Pacific Rugby Cup will be played in Sydney today between Queensland Reds A and the Argentina Pampas XV. This Sunday afternoon match, to kick-off at 3 pm on Eastwood Rugby Club’s TG Millner Field, will be the culmination of an IRB tournament for the best locally-based players from development squads in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Japan, Argentina and Australia. Fiji Warriors will play Tonga A in the curtain raiser at 1 pm to determine who finishes third. Pampas XV Los Pampas, coached by former test players Martin Gaitan and Raúl Pérez, have a strong starting line-up for…

The structure of the new National Rugby Championship is due to be announced soon and will set the ball rolling again on the long-awaited national third tier. Suggestions from the media are that 8 to 10 teams will be chosen for the NRC, and more likely 10, with five teams from NSW, two from Queensland and one each from ACT, Victoria and Western Australia. Apart from the identities of the teams, the main bone of contention seems to be about how to distribute the available players amongst those teams. There might not be a formal draft but all indications are…