Author: Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Voted most valuable member of the G&GR Forum since records began - Ed.
The BMW Australia U20s beat the NSW Country Cockatoos convincing 66-0 last night at Chatswood Oval in their last warmup match before they head to Manchester for the World Rugby U20s Championship next month. They won a game and lost one against New Zealand in the Oceania U20s earlier in the month and beat a scratch Australian Barbarians side last Tuesday 45-20. The Cockatoos were chosen after playing in the Country Championships in Armidale and attending a training camp for 34 players in Sydney last weekend. But the Aussie U20s had been together a month, and before that were…
The BMW Australian Under 20s beat an Australian Barbarians side at Chatswood Oval 45-20 last night in their first of two warm-up matches. The touring party for the World Rugby Under 20s in Manchester in June was named after two games against the NZ Under 20s earlier in the month, but the coaches took the opportunity to assess eight shadow players at Chatswood and to reserve some of their stronger players for the second warm-up match next Saturday, The Barbarians fielded senior players from NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, and performed admirably given that they met for the first…
The BMW Australia Under 20s squad is gearing up for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Manchester starting on 7th June. The squad is now in camp at Narrabeen in Sydney, and preparing for two warm-up games against senior players from an Australian Barbarians side tomorrow, and against a NSW Country team next Saturday. Both matches will be played at Chatswood Oval. The Under 20’s, chock-full of Queenslanders after their dominance in the national Under 20s tournament, had lost their first game against the NZ Under 20s at Bond University earlier in the month, but won the second.…
The GPS First XV competition started its third round yesterday with King’s and Riverview unbeaten. and Joeys and Scots with one win, but not wanting to fall further behind the leaders. Meantime Newington and Shore were desperate for their first competition win of the season. The away team had won five of the six matches matches in the first two rounds—would that prevail for Round 3? Scots v Newington by “Crackerjack” With Season silverware aspirations already on the line, Scots hosted Newington on a fine dry track at Bellevue Hill. First half It was a tense, physical opening, both…
The match of the day was between unbeaten teams Knox and Waverley at Warrawee; but Cranbook and Trinity with one win each wanted to keep in touch, and win-less Barker and Aloys were itching to break their duck. Cranbrook v Barker by “Snort” Cranbrook produced its best performance of the season to defeat Barker 36-15 at Rose Bay. The home side was polished, committed and confident whereas Barker’s young side was courageous but short on both size and skill. First half All afternoon, Cranbrook 11 Darcy Searl tormented Barker by raking long kicks behind the defensive line. On his…
A perfect afternoon for rugby greeted the teams in Sydney for the second round of the GPS 1st XV competition. It was also the first round of the official Third XV Championship which involved First XV teams from The Armidale School, Sydney Boys’ High School and Sydney Grammar School – plus the Thirds from the other six teams. See below for a brief report on the Thirds. Kings v Scots by “Azzuri” A beautiful balmy day greeted the assembled throng out at North Parramatta on Saturday for what was to be a cracking afternoon of Rugby across all age…
Round 2 of the CAS season started on a balmy autumn day in Sydney. Aloys, Barker and Cranbrook, who all lost last week, wanted to get into the winner’s circle. Knox v Barker by “Elfster” Games between Knox and Barker are always well attended and spirited events, and this was the case on a hazy, warm May Saturday. However the game was marked by a serious injury to Knox prop Max Cutrone, which unfortunately took the gloss off the affair. First half Barker kicked off to a Knox side that responded with purpose and speed. Knox kept the…
The Bulls won’t be worried about playing in Sydney. They may have lost the last game at Allianz Stadium but they won the previous three here as part of eight wins on the trot against the Waratahs. The Form The Waratahs have won three Super Rugbty games in a row with their best win a nail-biter in Cape Town, but they bungled a dog of a second half against the young Cheetahs last Saturday. The result was never in doubt but they forsook a bonus point win with their erratic play after the break. Maybe the flight east from the…
The CAS season started yesterday, Everybody had trials and tried out new players but form guides didn’t matter now as the boys went head-to-head. Barker v Trinity by “oldandslow” Visiting Barker is a bit like a trip to the high veldt these days. You’re sure to encounter a well-drilled, committed rugby team and plenty of South African accents cheering them on. On a smoky day in Sydney, Trinity’s 1st XV watched on as their seconds were demolished 31-8, five tries to one, by a Barker 2nd XV that played most of the second half with 14 boys but…
Round 1 of the NSW GPS started on Saturday—all the trials and previews were over and on a smoky day in Sydney it was time for the real stuff. Joeys v Riverview by “Armchair Selector” The traditional rugby battle of the Catholics, Marist brothers v Jesuits, continued at Hunters Hill in the opening round of the 2016 NSW GPS competition. First half A positive start by Joeys saw them decline three penalty shots at goal in the first three minutes. Whilst Joeys benefited from early possession, it was an outstanding try-saving tackle by Joeys #6 Feltis…
The New Zealand Under 20’s beat the Aussies 30-10 in the Oceania Rugby U20s Championship at Bond University last night. The Kiwis had the edge in nearly all aspects of rugby except the set pieces, but were able to finish the stronger thanks, in part, to an Aussie yellow card near the hour mark. First half The Aussies had a poor start when they couldn’t handle scrappy scrum ball and infringed to retain it. This gave Kiwi Super-boot 12 Jordie Barrett a chance to kick his first goal. It was clear early that New Zealand would boss the breakdown for…
There were several trials between Sydney school teams from different associations yesterday, including some between GPS and CAS teams. They were their last trials before they started their respective competitions next Saturday. The CAS has started their season earlier in recent times but the GPS moved their 2016 Athletic season until later in the year and this allowed the two main NSW rugby associations to bring their rugby seasons into synch. “Armchair Selector” and “former flanker” report on two of the trial games. Knox v Joeys by “Armchair Selector” The best team in the CAS recently, hosted the…
The European Rugby Champions Cup finalists were decided on the weekend—Saracens and Racing 92 will appear in the final in Lyon on Saturday 15 May. England were embarrassed in the World Cup but their national team made a recovery in Six Nations and their club teams continued the rise in the European Rugby Champions Cup. England had five of the eight teams in the quarter-finals and three of the four teams in the semi-finals. Could they get two in the final? Embed from Getty Images Jimmy Gopperth – dithered with a kick and got charged down Saracens 24 – Wasps…
England won the HSBC Women’s Sevens Series for the first time in over three years when they beat New Zealand in the final, easily as it turned out, having beaten Australia in the quarter-final earlier. Australia had won the three Series tournaments to date but Coach Tim Walsh was looking at a bigger event in Rio in August and rested three of his top players, Charlotte Caslick, Alicia Quirk and Emma Tonegato. Caslick and Tonegato were the Player of the Final and the Player of the Tournament in Atlanta, respectively, and their absence was telling. It was a bold step…
Embed from Getty Images A popular win – Kenya wins Singapore Sevens Kenya played all over Fiji and won their first-ever Cup title in an exciting Singapore Sevens of drama and upsets. Despite being held to a draw by Scotland and losing to South Africa in the Pool games, they squeaked through to the Cup finals, and knocked over France in the quarters, beat Argentina in a tight semi-final, and whacked Fiji in the final to win the Cup. Some of the top four Sevens nations lost a Pool game also. New Zealand got smashed by France 0-24, Australia…
Embed from Getty Images The Aussie Women’s Sevens team won their third Series Cup in a row (out of three) when they beat New Zealand 24-19 in the Atlanta final. Pool games It didn’t look like their streak would continue on Day 1 because they were shocked going down 7-21 to England in their first loss of any game in the Series this season. Emillee Cherry scored to tie the match at five minutes, but England were superb in scoring two converted tries in the last nine to win easily. Later Australia put minnows Colombia away 34-0, with Emma…
There were a few things we found out in Round 6 of Super Rugby and in other games last weekend. This week the Tuesday Top 5 covers a new star of our game, Kiwi worry, rugby asses, the theatre, black-washing and report cards. McKenzie will be an All Black this year Fullback Damian McKenzie had a Super Rugby game studded with brilliances in Canberra against the Brumbies as he did against the Force, in Hamilton last week. He has scored in all six games this season and is threatening to tie the record of seven which Chris Latham holds. Damian…
The Aussie Women’s Sevens team is in cracking form after winning the only two tournaments of the 2015-16 HSBC World Sevens Series to date. It makes them the bookies’ slight favourites to take the gold medal in Rio. Women’s Sevens is one of the world’s fastest-growing team sports and as everybody knows: Rio will host the first rugby Sevens’ events in Olympic history. It took too long for the blazers of the old International Rugby Board [IRB] to give the women respect. The Hong Kong Sevens took the initiative in 1997 when they added a women’s tournament to the mens’…
The Australian Thunderbolts are building nicely towards Rio. They started slowly this season. Their first three tournaments of the 2015-16 HSBC World Sevens Series were disappointing, but they made up for it in the last three. They got to the final in Sydney and Las Vegas in consecutive stages, for the first time in six years. Then they had a great result getting third in Vancouver with a green squad—only five of the twelve had more than five caps !! No, the Aussie Men’s Sevens haven’t won any of the six events, but it is encouraging that they were able…
The final day of RBS 6 Nations was all about whether or not England would win the Grand Slam in Paris. But in Cardiff, Wales would be after a comfortable win at home against Scotland who had a scant 6-day turnaround—and nothing but a thrashing of Italy would be acceptable in Dublin. “Bardon” and I report on the games. Embed from Getty Images George North – his signature try was a highlight Wales 67 – Italy 14 by Lee Grant Wales scored nine tries to two in a one-sided contest that you would not see south of the equator in…