Author: Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Voted most valuable member of the G&GR Forum since records began - Ed.
Gen Blue, NSW’s team of emerging players, defeated the Samoa A side 17-14 at the TG Millner field on Friday to take its record to 2-0 in the Pacific Rugby Cup. It was a close-run thing: Gen Blue were up 17-9 with 20 minutes to go but the visitors came back in the 4th quarter and could have snatched a draw, or even a victory, but three difficult penalty goal attempts in the last ten minutes, could not raise the flags. First half Both teams played at top pace and wanted to use the ball, but the wet ground made…
The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup started on Friday in Perth when the Force A team beat the Reds A team 29-23. In the second match Gen Blue (the NSW team) defeated ACT A 23-17 in a curtain-raiser to the NSW Waratahs v. Western Force Super Rugby game in Sydney on Sunday. These four Australian teams are comprised of the reserve players for their Super Rugby teams plus others who have been training with them without a contract. The Aussie sides will play in a two-pool competition against teams from Fiji (the current champions), Samoa, Tonga, Japan and Argentina. The overseas…
The NSW Waratahs beat the Highlanders 19-16 at Hunter Stadium tonight in the final trial for both teams prior to their first games in the 2014 Super Rugby competition. A bit of light drizzle in the second half made the ball slippery for both teams and neither side took all their chances. In the first half the Waratahs didn’t need the ball wet to drop it because they were doing it all the time—either the pass was not on or the player was not expecting it, or whatever—it was bad rugby. The Waratahs started what appeared to be a full-strength…
The Waratahs were too good in their trial game against the Blues tonight at Allianz Stadium and put on some stunning movements and tries to win 33-12. Like all Super Rugby trials the game was played in quarters and the Tahs “won” all but the third. The appearance of rugby league convert Benji Marshall was supposed to be a feature of the game but he made no impact on it when he played the first half of the trial. It’s early days for Benji, however you could not help but notice how Chris Noakes snapped the Blues backline into life…
The Waratahs had one of their last hit outs today at Moore Park before the road trip to Albury on Tuesday to play the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday, February 1. and everybody knew that starting spots for the season were “up for grabs.” This was particularly so in the backline, and Waratahs’ fans have been intrigued about who is going to play where. Kurtley Beale or Israel Folau at fullback—or why not play Izzy at outside centre, wouldn’t he be fantastic there? That’s a common remark but assistant coach Daryl Gibson put the kibosh on that today when he said:…
The last new tournament in 2014 will be a third-tier National Rugby Competition, involving eight or ten teams. It will slot in between second-tier Super Rugby and fourth-tier club rugby. People having been waiting for this for seven years, since the demise of the Australian Rugby Competition [ARC] in 2007. Not everybody thinks this competition is necessary but most do, including nearly all of the players. Official details of the National Rugby Competition [NRC] available to date can be seen in the Australian Rugby Union [ARU] media release and the Part I and Part II question and answer sessions with…
Nobody said it today, but other things being equal and all the rugby planets aligning right and the injury Gods smiling down from on high: Green and Gold Rugby is saying that Israel Folau will be the starting fullback for the Waratahs in their first game of Super Rugby this year. This is despite Michael Cheika answering a question today about who would be the 15, Beale or Folau, by joking: I’ll give them seven and a half each, that will make 15. Seven and a half? That would mean that they would switch between openside flanker and no.8. No,…
The National Under 20 Competition is the second new tournament for 2014 and it will be a vital one for the future of Aussie rugby. The ARU has reacted to its poor results in the IRB Junior World Cup [JWC] in the last two years and will be holding a tournament to be contested by four Under 20 teams: Queensland, NSW, a combined “Southern States” team, and an invited country, Tonga. The young Aussies were hampered last year by an imperfect selection process which involved a few camps for training and assessment, and one walkover game. This was discussed in…
The first new competition of 2014 will be the Junior Gold Cup [JGC] and it will be bigger than Ben-Hur: the ARU will be coordinating 120 games over five weeks, plus finals. Good hustle ARU !! Junior Gold squads have been around for two years already, in 24 different locations in Australia. They have never had a tournament before, but now they do. Most of the teams involved in the JGC were selected in trials by the end of October and have been training since November. Starting in February 2014, 24 teams of Under 15 boys and the same number…
Wycliff Palu was back in full contact mode this morning after a couple of months of boxing training and skills work—and he is raring to go. All the Wallabies were back at training today except for Folau, Hooper and Ashley-Cooper, who have an extended break, and Cliffy was tired of sitting around. The big line-bender hasn’t played a game since the third test against the British and Irish Lions, because he has been recovering from a knee operation. His right knee was heavily strapped at training today but the cartilage repair surgery didn’t seem bother the big fella on the…
Waratahs’ head coach Michael Cheika has invited some players to join Waratahs’ training whilst the Wallabies are away. Some of them are familiar to us; others may not be household names now but they could be listed on a team sheet in Super Rugby sooner than we think. This time last year lock Will Skelton and hooker Tolo Latu were virtually unknown in Grade rugby yet they were invited to train by Cheika, and now they have full contracts. 2012 Australian Schools player David Horwitz was invited to train the day he finished his HSC last year, aged 18, just.…
Expect the Waratahs to be more physical in Super Rugby next year. They have already put in the hard yards and now they are putting in the hard hits. Everything was contact at training at Centennial Park today. The ruck work was fierce but there was a bit of science in it too, as to who should do what to whom, and when they should do it. Then there was one-on-one goal-line attacking and defending, wrestling matches, and there was even a boxing match. Waratahs’ coach Michael Cheika worked hard early last year on changing the rugby culture of the…
NZ Schools beat Gulliver’s Sports Travel Australian Schools at Knox Grammar today in the Macquarie Bank Schools Rugby Tri-Nations Series to avoid a hat-trick of annual wins for the lads in the gold jerseys; but my word: it was a close-run thing. NZ Schools flyhalf Damian McKenzie calmly slotted a sideline conversion just minutes before the end of the game to win the match New Zealand Schools 17 — Australian Schools 16 After looking at both sides against different opposition earlier it the week it was clear that these teams would be evenly matched, and so it proved. First half…
The big match on finals day was for the John Eales Shield between two undefeated Division I teams: Queensland Red and NSW Schools. Qld Red was favoured to win and they did so in the first fifteen minutes. Queensland Red 31 — NSW Schools 7 by “George Smith” Riverview; Warm 20 deg with a puff of breeze. Today Queensland Red dished out the same punishment that NSW Schools gave to their second Qld team (Qld White) yesterday. NSW were never in the hunt and struggled for everything all day. Schools started with their 19 lock (Gittoes) ,21 half Goddard),…
This was the day where the top seeds in each pool played the second seeded team. The hot windy Sydney conditions gave way to a cold front, and moisture that ranged from driving rain to drizzle. The wind was still around and although the boys sometimes threw too many long wayward passes there was some fine rugby played nevertheless. Queensland Red 36 — Brumbies 8 by “Hugh Jarse” It was 14 degrees with a stiff breeze blowing from the south that was a cold as a welcome home kiss from the mother-in-law when the referee called the Queensland Reds…
The Championship continued but the players had problems with the windy conditions on Day 2. Victoria 43 — Brumbies 5 by “The Spectator” First half The game started with some promise from the Brumbies from the kick off with a solid rolling maul gaining good meters. Just where those same forwards were for the rest of the game is the real question. The Brumbies looked a different side to the one that played so valiantly against Sydney yesterday. Brumbies didn’t start with its full 1-15 with 23 the stand in half back and 16 as hooker. The Vics looked big…
Australian Schools knew they were going to be in a hard battle. Fiji Schools had beaten Country Schools at Armidale and had an historic win over New Zealand Schools at St. Marys, but the Aussies hadn’t played a game yet. Australian Schools 31 — Fiji Schools 7 First half It couldn’t have started better for the Aussies when they got a scrum in Fiji real estate and the ball was whipped from 9. Short to 10. Deegan to 12. Moeroa, who rumbled before passing to 15. Kellaway, who scored. It was a training-type move, and hadn’t we seen that for…
The 2013 National Under 16 Championship started in extreme heat today at St. Ignatius College at Riverview. Typically, perceived stronger teams are drawn to play against weaker teams on Day 1. The results went according to the form guide but there was some inspiring resistance by losing teams and threats of comebacks. Queensland Red 57 — Victoria 24 Victoria got the first points of the tournament when they earned a penalty kick from early pressure but after 13.Perese of the Reds breached the line and went on a long run 10. Horan scored near the posts. Red 7-3 at 14…
Michael Cheika has named 16 forwards and 13 backs in the Waratahs’ Super Rugby squad for next year. One more will be added, most likely a front rower. The window for the Extended Player Squad is now open and if approval from the ARU is received to recruit young players in a Wider Training Group, the complete roster could total 46. Cheika confirmed the signing of experienced outside back Matt Carraro, an ex-Waratah but lately of Bath and Montpellier, and bustling 20 year-old Sydney University hooker, Tolu Latu. Other new players for 2014 are: Kurtley Beale (ex Melbourne Rebels), Talalelei…
Whats’ wrong with the Wallabies? They’re playing like ten kilos of crap in a five kilo bag and they stink. Not trying be heroes running the ball out of their own 22 all the time would help, and if they hold onto the ball on contact it would be better still. It’s a team game and how they play together will mean more than how they perform as individuals, but here are four face-offs that will go a long way to making the Wallabies smell like roses if they can get the upper hand in them. New Guy v. Fairly…