Author: Mst

With the Wallabies announcement imminent, today we take a look at the back rowers and who might make the squad. We also try and take focus off how poorly things are being handled by the powers that be, by grading the teams, finding some good in amongst the bad and ugly, checking in on our Aussies abroad who are playing in finals over in Europe and get stuck into some stats. Report Card Reds D-: Discipline. Do I need to say it again? According to the Courier Mail “Top referee Rohan Hoffmann has been a conspicuous on-field extra at Reds…

This week we grade our teams, pick apart the good, bad and ugly from the weekend, take a quick trip over to Europe, play another round of Reflotto and make ourselves feel a little better about Aussie rugby. Report Card Force F: As much as I hate to say it, the Force failed this week. Whether it was due to a long trip to South Africa and Argentina or just lack of basic skills, they were terrible. Unable to hold onto the ball, the last play of the match sums it up when the ball went straight from the hands…

Hello again and welcome to the Tuesday Top 5. By now you know the drill, team grades, good, bad etc plus some items that caught our interest. This week its players doing things that might be a little outside of their job description, the Kings and Aussie coaches. Report Card Brumbies D-: The Brumbies are really being shown up for their lack of attack. While their defence is fairly solid, it doesn’t mean anything if they can’t get points on the board. While they seemed to be in the game, they never really looked like they were going to take hold…

After another … ahem … disappointing weekend for Australian teams, here is our weekly dose of the Tuesday Top 5. This week we do the usual grading based on performance and results, look at the good, bad and ugly bits of the weekend, listen to Phil Kearns’ and Rod Kafer’s words of wisdom and look at those that just didn’t give up. Report Card Rebels E: They just aren’t getting any better. Mafi was a standout but every other player across the park was outplayed by a long way. To be fair, they were kind of in it until half…

Yep, it’s Tuesday again (geez it comes around quick, doesn’t it?) and that means it’s Top 5 time! This week we grade our teams, consider some of our Wallaby “stars”,  talk reffing and laws, look at teams who are flying past us and grit our teeth for the Good, Bad and Ugly. Report Card Waratahs C+ They got the win against the old foes, but it wasn’t really convincing, relying on a huge penalty count against the reds to kick their way to victory. They did enough to get the win though, and in this tight race between the Aussie…

This week in the Top 5 we cast an eye over the teams performances, get in some good, bad and ugly, talk yellow cards and high tackles and get a little … well distracted. Report Card Brumbies D: The Brumbies had a purple patch late in the first half where they piled on 21 points in around 10 minutes. They stifled the Canes attack, denying them any ball and they threw it around like mad. During this period, they looked like a champion team. Unfortunately, this was the only period of the match where they were competitive. Lack of possession…

Welcome to our post Easter Tuesday Top 5. This week, in our sugar induced state we grade our teams on their performances, sneak a look at the Singapore 7’s get angry with the Good, Bad and Ugly, take on MMA in Rugby v UFC and wonder … is it all really as terrible as we are being told? Report card Reds A-: The reds were back to their attacking best against the Kings, shaking off last week’s drubbing to put on an outstanding attacking display. Kerevi was staring to look dangerous again, the Kings had more trouble containing him than recent…

After what has surely been a low point for Rugby in this country, this week’s Top 5 will look at some much more positive things from the weekend. We give out our grades, evaluate some of the recruitment that went on before this season, briefly glance at the bad stuff and feature some great rugby. Report Card Waratahs C+ A terrible start and a good finish. Where have we heard that before? The Waratahs could be truly dangerous if they play the way they have in the 2nd half of matches for the whole game. I really wanted to give…

Welcome to the Tuesday Top 5! Wow, what a bummer of a weekend for Aussie Teams. The Report Card might not be very nice this week. Lots of Bad and Ugly, but we still found some Good. Plus we look at a few things that are having a big impact, not only on the way the game is being played and officiated, but also how it is being viewed by fans. Report Card Sigh. I’m not really enjoying writing this one this week. I kind of want to give the Brumbies an A for being the only team not to…

This week in the Top 5 we delve into some stats, hand out our grades, recap the Good, Bad and Ugly from round 5 and look at some real clangers plus the lighter side of the game. Let compare the apples So with the dust settling over round 5 and only one Australian team flying the flag it’s hard not to wonder what’s going on with our teams. Last week I posed the question if it was a player issue or a coaching issue and looking at the stats its painting an interesting picture. Based on what I am reading…

After another weekend of rugby, it’s time for this week’s top 5! This week we hand out our grades, look at what might be going wrong with the Australian teams, re-live the good, bad and ugly from the weekend, think about skills development and hop quickly up to the Northern Hemisphere. Report Card Rebels C+ C’mon, who among us was expecting a cricket score here? This was a tough one to grade. By their own standards from the past 2 matches , the Rebels deserve an A+, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially when the…

The final round of the 6 Nations had it all. Nail biters, underdog victories, insanely long matches and good, hard rugby. Despite the Championship already going to England, this round had no less interest. There were final standings on the line and records to beat. The first match gave us a result we were expecting, Italy have not performed well this year and that poor run continued into their final match. The second match was a thrilling 100 minute long affair, while the final match of this year’s competition was all we had hoped for. Embed from Getty Images Scotland…

Happy Tuesday everyone! This week in the Tuesday Top 5 we hand out our usual report card, have a laugh with (at?) Fox Sports Rugby, sum up what’s happened in the first 3 rounds, take a look at the good, bad and ugly from the weekend’s action and do a little bit of analysis into 2 local derbies. Report Card Brumbies B- Not entirely convincing but did enough to get the win. They really dominated the set piece with a solid scrum and damaging maul. Patchy in defence but they protected their line relatively well. Scrappy attack and too many…

Photo Credit – “Delphy” In this edition of the Tuesday Top 5 we see which teams made the grade, delve into the disappointing results from round 2 and ask a bunch of questions, offer up our selection of the good, bad and ugly from the weekend, look at more refereeing decisions and have a laugh at one of the strangest yellow cards ever. Enjoy! Report Card Reds: C. This week the Reds seemed to regress a little towards last season. Their kicking in play was poor, and the big names were all but anonymous. The further the match went one, particularly once…

Welcome to this weeks instalment of the Top 5! This week its all about the Super Rugby. How did your team rate? How did the referees go? And generally what did we think about it all? Super Rugby … The Return So was it all we had hoped? How did round 1 of the 2017 Super Rugby season fare, did it live up to expectations or fall somewhat short? What are some of the talking points? The Sunwolves match was pretty much as expected, an absolute whipping. But I must say, I think the Japanese side has got the best…

This round of the 6 Nations has come with cries of “Italy made the game a farce”, “They need to re-write the laws” and best of all from good old Eddie “That’s not Rugby!” From the same game, one of the best lines from a referee … ever! The other two matches may have lacked the theatrics of England v Italy, however Scotland beating Wales was probably a little unexpected as they had failed to do so in the past 10 years. Embed from Getty Images Tommy Seymour scores Scotland’s first try Scotland 29 – Wales 13 By MST Both…

This week the Top 5 delves into the new TMO protocols, looks at the fun side of Japanese Rugby, catches up briefly with one the the Brumbies faves, is impressed by Gibson and glances at the opening weekend of Super Rugby. JAPAN TOP LEAGUE ALL STARS On Saturday the Sunwolves played their only preseason match against the Japanese Top League All Stars. While reports of the match don’t sound like it was enthralling viewing (lots of errors, scrappy play), the All Stars wore one of the BEST jerseys I have ever seen. 2月18日の、トップリーグオールスターズのジャージーデザインも発表になりました！#DreamMatch2017 #sunwolves #TLAllstars #rugbyjphttps://t.co/BiB8vClVF9 pic.twitter.com/39ClAKa5WO — JapanRugby TopLeague…

A new year, a new slogan. Last year the Sunwolves went all out to “Break the Line”. This year they are encouraging fans to “Rise as One” The Sunwolves go into the 2017 Super Rugby season looking to improve on their 1 win and 1 draw from last season. With a tougher draw than last year having to play the Kiwi teams, it will be an even bigger ask this year to improve their record. The Squad The Sunwolves have named a larger squad than last year, with 51 players on the roster compared to 42 last year. Of those…

So it’s just about here. Just over one week to go and it’s time for all GAGRs to start doing their pre-season prep. It’s been a long wait, but over the last few weeks we have had a glimpse of 2017 mixed in with some 10’s. But are you ready? Are you prepared? Yeah -nah, you’re not. Now first up game times. THURSDAY NIGHT people! Yes, the 2017 Vodafone Super Rugby season kicks off on a Thursday night; the 23rd of February. So, if you haven’t got a plan in place you need to get it sorted pronto. Now, here…

This week we take a look at more injury problems for the Brumbies, the young Waratahs making an impact, throw a few punches at the Reds, look globally and re-visit the Women’s 7’s from Sydney. Another one bites the dust Another trial match and another serious injury blow for the Brumbies. This time it was import scrum half Tomas Cubelli who received a potentially season ending (before it has even begun) knee injury. 38 minutes into the match against the Waratahs in Mudgee, Cubelli was injured in a tackle which appeared to nearly bend him in half backwards while he…