Author: Roscoe Tims

The bad news: the Melbourne Rebel’s defence in 2011 was abysmal. The good news: they’ve now got a ‘defence doctor’ on board to fix it. I was going to say ‘tackle doctor’ but good defence is more than just about tackling. More of that later. Abysmal might be a tad emotive but on all counts probably applicable. Unfortunately, all the players get tarred with the same brush but happily there is the odd exception, in this case Jarrod Saffy, Rebel’s no. 6. He’s excused because he topped the Super Rugby tackle count with 220. That’s about 15 tackles per match.…

My word, that is the million dollar question? At this point in time 20,000 signed-up Queensland Reds season ticket-holders will be seeking the same answer. The QRU’s anticipated target is about 30,000. Now that will be a very large mass of expectation. On the playing front hopes will be very high that there’ll be a repeat of 2011. Maybe even too high? Typically, in Australia we become overconfident after a few wins and frequently get taught a lesson or two in humility, especially from our cousins over the ditch. In fact, I can think of an example from just last week… I…

The story goes that a good big man will always beat a good little man. Not so when it comes to the diminutive winger from Swansea, Shakin’ Shane Williams. Wales have a habit of producing outstanding fleet-footed wingers every decade or so like Ken Jones from the Fifties, Gerald Davies the Sixties, J.J. Williams, Ieuan Evans and so forth, most of whom were on the smallish side. George North is probably going to be the next one although he’s a brute of a boy… Yesterday’s Welsh test was all about Shakin’ Shane (some of his fans call him ‘ickle’ which…

The Wallabies comprehensively trounced the Barbarians this morning 60-11 in an entertaining but one-sided contest. Maybe contest isn’t quite the word. After the point of no return had been met early in the second half the Wallabies threw caution to the wind, running amok from all points of the compass. Perhaps the Baa-Baas had spent the week at The Mangy Dog in Shepherd’s Bush, such was their disorganisation? There was an expectation that they’d make a contest of it and achieve three in a row against another Southern Hemisphere side (All Blacks 2009, Springboks 2010). But that didn’t take into…

The Wallabies Spring Tour squad has been announced. It includes two new players in Ben Tapuai and Ben Lucas, and sees the return of Pek Cowan and Dave Dennis (yet to be capped). Name                             Position                                       Super Team                 Age                         Caps Ben Alexander Prop Brumbies 26 35 Adam Ashley-Cooper Fullback-Wing-Outside Centre NSW Waratahs 27 63 Berrick Barnes Flyhalf/Inside Centre NSW Waratahs 25 36 Pekahou Cowan Prop Western Force 25 4 Dave Dennis Loose Forward NSW Waratahs 25 Uncapped Anthony Faingaa Inside Centre Queensland Reds 24 12 Will Genia Halfback Queensland Reds 23 33 Scott Higginbotham Loose forward Queensland Reds 25 10 Matt Hodgson Loose forward…

Can anyone tell me what’s the point in going on a Spring Tour to the Northern Hemisphere directly after a RWC? Is anyone else doing it? Nup. Why not? Because the players are either injured or generally rooted after continuous rugby since February or so. You mean it’s one for the money, two for the show? It’s recovery time, as in recovering potential lost earnings for the ARU during a RWC year. The players need recovery too. I’m not imagining they’ll be too chuffed about this tour. You’d think the motivation levels might be situated a shade north of Noosa?…

Following our RWC ejection in the semi-final against the All Blacks there have been strident calls by many for our national coach to be given the push. Not only the coach but his assistants and the CEO, John O’Neill. ‘Let’s wipe the slate clean after this debacle and put Deans and his coaching regime out to pasture’. A withdrawal in belief… In fact, from what I hear around the traps it’s all a vast conspiracy by the St Leonards Hill Mob. They have (that is, the bad guys) conspired to keep the new Australian rugby Messiah, Le Link (‘The Chosen One’),…

I had my doubts as to whether the Wallabies would be motivated enough to give their all to win third place at the RWC. But those concerns were erased tonight after they defeated Wales 21–18 in a brutal war of attrition that showed plenty of character from a team down on its luck. The Wallabies’ injury toll in this match was horrendous. There were no ‘substitutes’ from the bench tonight — all seven were replacements as a result of injury. Most important, it looks like Quade Cooper might be out with an ACL injury for up to six months. He…

The gulf between the no. 1 and no. 2 sides in the world is as wide as ever as the All Blacks comprehensively outplayed the Wallabies 20-6 in tonight’s RWC semi final. The natural order of things has been askew of late, with the ABs not winning the Tri Nations Trophy, or a NZ team the Super Rugby Championship this year. But that was just a facade — a faux gold medal to the Australian winners because in reality the only free cheese is in the mousetrap. And weren’t we suckered in…. We were actually beginning to think that we’d be…

In a match-deciding choice, referee Alain Rolland sent off Welsh skipper and no. 7 Sam Warburton for a spear tackle in the first half. He essentially decided who would be promoted to the RWC final. The French won the match 9–8 but were outplayed by a 14-man Welsh outfit that rose to the occasion magnificently, just failing by a whisker to progress. It would have been poetic justice had the Boyos won but on this occasion Dylan Thomas’s spirit wasn’t quite enough. There were eerie similarities between the French win tonight and the Wallabies’ defeat of the Springboks last weekend.…

It was Barack Obama’s catch-cry in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election and it sure galvanised his supporters at the time. ‘Yes We Can’ should be the Wallabies’ mantra leading into Sunday’s Semi Final match-up with the All Blacks. That’s because last weekend the Wallabies showed they possessed the mental toughness to overcome serious odds, and they surely were stacked against them in the Quarter Final. The pressure of overwhelming possession and territory was telling but the will to defend to the death in this case took precedence. Really, if anyone has a chance of tipping the ABs out of the…

How on earth did we win that? Whoever said that you need possession and territory to win games wasn’t at today’s Wallabies versus Springboks Quarter Final. How can you win a game by playing only 25 per cent of the match in the opposition’s territory? In the greatest escape since… The Great Escape… the Wallabies conjured up a way of winning by 11–9  and it was mainly built on the back of an outstanding defensive effort. The Bokke just bashed away all game but were repulsed by a Wallaby side intent on not letting anything or anyone through. It was…

Now what about that then? From the bidet to the Semi-Final. Seemingly down and out against Tonga last week, the French have pulled one out of the hat by downing England 19–12 in a commanding performance. Sacré bleu, talk about highs and lows! This is the result that every Australian would have been secretly (and not so secretly) pining for. Isn’t it always great to see the Poms bite the dust but especially so against their arch enemy, ‘the hated Frog’. Brian Moore would be spewing. You’ll read a column in the London Daily Tele in a day or two…

To be or not to be: that is the question. To live or to die? Shakespeare must have been thinking about Meat Loaf at ‘The G’ the other night when he wrote that. It’s certainly what either Robbie Deans or Peter de Villiers will be pondering about on the plane back to Oz or South Africa on Monday. You live and die by your selections and both coaches have made some unpopular choices that have resonated negatively with their fans. If Robbie Deans was trying to win friends and influence people then he has failed abysmally. Fair enough, his job…

The Wallabies team to play the Springboks in Sunday’s RWC Quarter Final has been announced and there are no real surprises.  Australia: Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Radike Samo, Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, James Horwill, Dan Vickerman, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu. Reserves: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Nathan Sharpe, Ben McCalman, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes, Anthony Faingaa. Of note: McCabe at no. 12 instead of Barnes, four/three split on the bench with Faingaa added, Sharpe into the reserves for Simmons, Higginbotham dropped, McCalman not Hodgson the no. 7 backup. South Africa: Patrick Lambie,…

It was hardly Balaclava but at the battle of Trafalgar (Park) in Nelson yesterday the Russians gave a better than expected account of themselves. However, they failed to turn back the green and gold cavalry, who splintered them time and again in the first half to lead 47–5 at the break. The Ruskies seemed to be overawed early on with the Wallabies playing one-touch footy, which bamboozled the Russian defences. Too fast, too slick and too skilled. In the second half they regrouped with their big guns firing and put 17 points down the Wallaby flanks. Dragooned into action, Australia…

There will be a perfect shitstorm in Australian rugby circles if the Wallabies are bundled out of next week’s RWC Quarter Finals. The knives will be out for Deans and co. big-time. Luckily for him, he was re-signed by the ARU last month for a further two years. So regardless of whether it’s a loss or not I guess he’ll still be around. The ARU Board said he was the best man for the job, had reshaped the personnel and changed the culture of the Wallabies. Does ‘changed the culture’ mean we’re winning more often now? I know it’s being…

The Wallabies gave the American Eagles an expected thumping at Wellington’s Cake Tin last night. It was not so much the fact that we chalked up a handsome 67–5 win over a second-string Septic selection, but the high price we paid in achieving that result. At this stage it looks like the Wallabies may have permanently lost at least two centres (Horne and McCabe), and a group of other players are now on the ever-lengthening injured list (Ant Faingaa — concussion, Palu — hamstring, KB — groin strain). Today, the 30-man squad has 19 fit players. The big question on everyone’s lips…

There’s no getting around it, the soft underbelly of Australian forward play was again exposed on Saturday night. How many times now over the past few years have we had to suffer these feelings of inadequacy as our set piece fails? How often do we actually win the physical battle? Where has our intensity gone when we have to perform on the big stage? A Tri Nations trophy win — weren’t we becoming more mature and playing with consistency? Or was this Tri Nations victory a mirage with a weakened competition, an underdone Springboks side and a jet-lagged All Blacks…

The Russian Bears focus will be on Game 1 against the US Eagles this Thursday as they look to chalk up a possible win in their Rugby World Cup debut. Let’s face it, the Russia v. US ‘Cold War’ clash is their only realistic opportunity of winning a match at this tournament. They’re not going to defeat the Wallabies, Ireland or the Azzurri unless there’s a boilover of bolshoi proportions. The Russian squad contains a core group of professional (and semi-professional) players like winger Vasily Artemiev, who has just signed for Northampton Saints, lock Andrei Ostrikov (Sale Sharks), No 8…