Author: Mst

Yep, that’s right. Two weeks in a row and the season hasn’t even started yet!! This week we take a quick look overseas at the comings and goings … well mostly goings … look at the first of the warm up matches and make sure we don’t upset Mourad. The first hit outs … Super Rugby got a step closer as two of the Australian teams played warm up matches last weekend. The Brumbies played an Aussie Barbarians side made up of players from the NRC and the Force took on the Spirit, sort of. The Brumbies looked good ……

Aaaaaaand we’re back! While all the rugby journo’s are still off sipping their cocktails from their pool side banana lounges, we thought we’d shake off the rust and get back in the game ahead of the pack. So here it is … the Top 5 Aussies Abroad Captain Quirk Rugby news about one of our own from Japan, Ed Quirk has been named as captain of the Sunwolves, sharing the job with Harumichi Tatekawa. Quirk had an outstanding season last year after making the jump from the Reds to the Sunwolves and is now looking forward to leading the pack…

South Africa went into this match desperate to end their Spring tour on a positive after suffering their first ever loss to Italy last weekend, coach Coetzee making seven changes to the side and running with a very inexperienced backline. Wales still had something to prove after disappointing performances in their previous matches. First half The Springboks were the first to get on the score board after Wales were penalised for collapsing in the scrum in the 6th minute. Elton Jantjies slotted the penalty to take an early lead. However it only took Wales 5 minutes to join them on…

England continued their run of dispensing with Southern hemisphere sides with a comfortable win against the Springboks. First Half In wet conditions the game opened with a kicking duel with neither team showing a willingness to keep ball in hand due to the conditions. England’s ill-discipline led to the open score for the Springboks with a Pat Lambie penalty from 45 meters out getting the Boks on the score board. The Boks continued to benefit from England ill-discipline finding themselves on attack once again in the English half. The Boks having continued to regress back to their old fashion forwards, set…

The Wallaroos have gone down 29-3 to the Black ferns in their 2nd match playing for the Laurie O’Reilly Cup. The Aussie girls showed a lot of improvement from their previous game, not allowing the Black Ferns the space they had in their last outing. Captain Ash Hewson led from the front with a strong game. On the game, assistant coach Scott Allen said, “Good to see the girls step up yesterday. Black Ferns are a very good team and we think the score yesterday is reflective of where we are, whereas the score on Saturday was not.” The game…

This week the Top 5 looks at some promising signs for the Wallabies, takes aim at the circus that is Australian Rugby right now and looks back on a successful NRC grand final. Positive signs for the Wallabies So what do the stats from Game 3 show? Well they actually paint a very interesting picture. Compared to games 1 and 2 they show a Wallabies team that has vastly improved. More running, less kicking, more offloading, line breaks and defenders beaten. Interestingly we didn’t come close to the number of turnovers won – a result of Pocock coming off the…

The Black Ferns have put on a masterful display, scoring 11 tries to nil in a 67-3 win over the Wallaroos at Eden Park yesterday. The Wallaroos went into the match as definite underdogs after playing a mid-week match against the Storm and with 12 uncapped players making their debut. They fought bravely but it was always going to be a tough ask facing a much more experienced team in the Black Ferns. One thing that was very evident during this match was that the Black Ferns had a clear advantage having had a lot more time together. Even though…

In this weeks Tuesday Top 5 we have a quick look at the Rugby Championship now the dust has settled, Rookies making an impact, a look at this weeks NRC games, Pacific Pride drawing good crowds and the season drawing to a close. The Rugby Championship 2016 So with the final round now complete and the All Blacks securing the silverware let have a look now the dust has settled: What do the stats say? All Blacks: Unsurprisingly the All Blacks topped most of the stats, with a few perhaps surprising exceptions. They completely blew the other teams away with…

Welcome to this week’s Tuesdays Top 5 with Scott Sio scoring his maiden try, Aussie rugby seeking gardening advice, we ask the question what makes a fruit loop a fruit loop, and some brilliant NRC games as usual. The Wallabies Well that’s another one in the records book and as usual the less said the better. It’s sad times when the “discussion” post-game ends up being a repeat of the pre-game discussion. But glass half full and all that, (we will get to the psychology further on); Scott Sio managed to bag his maiden test try and the only try…

This week’s Tuesday Top 5 has a Wallaby continuing their winning ways, more Aussie rugby gold in Rio, another step forward for women referees and last weekend’s NRC. The Wallabies win again! The Wallabies achieved their second win in the Rugby Championship against an error ridden Pumas. Capitalising off early Pumas errors, the Wallabies put on an improved performance building of the win the week before. Having a look at the stats there are some really interesting differences which highlighted the lack of accuracy of the Pumas, how costly the turnovers were and how poor defence allowed the Wallabies to…

This week’s Tuesday Top 5 has a Wallaby win, asks if the glass is half full or half empty, and we have the Pumas getting even more dangerous and the weekends NRC. The Wallabies win! Glass half full. It has been a long time coming but the Wallabies finally got their act together to get the win. It was interesting to see the evolution of the game style and the correction of some of the ongoing issues that have plagued the Wallabies through the first 2 games. Having a look at the stats there are some really interesting differences. The…

It’s Top 5 time again and this week the anti-depressants are free! We have NRC featuring skills (yes – we do!!!) and tries (lots of them) and keep dusting off after being bombed with fertiliser by the Wallabies. The Wallabies – oh dear … I for one am sick of the hyperbole and the constant stream of excrement that is coming from the Wallabies. ENOUGH! Please, can we have one game, just one without hearing the obsessive and insanely repetitive “physicality” centric idiocy? If there is a rugby god; PLEASE, just once can the Wallabies be focused on SKILLS and…

Really; who didn’t see that coming? So is it hyperbole or denial? “Wallabies are too unfit for my style of play”; “There’s a few key issues we really need to get our head around and improve before we play New Zealand”; “The defence can easily be fixed”; “We need to be honest”; “I believe we can beat these guys any week”. Groundhog Day! Back in July at the conclusion of Super Rugby round 16, I pulled you to one side and we had a brutal but honest talk about your … ahem … “performance”. Remember this: It seemed like a…

The Springboks left it until the last 10 minutes to secure a win against the Pumas in Nelspruit overnight, scoring two late tries to break the hearts of the Pumas and their fans, who surely felt they were headed for an unlikely away win in their opening Rugby Championship match. Embed from Getty Images First Half It was South Africa who opened the scoring, after missing an early penalty shot Elton Jantjies broke through the defence before Johan Goosen also found a gap and delivered the ball to Ruan Combrinck who crossed for the first try 7 minutes in. Jantjies…

In a few hour the questions we have pondered, the plans we have considered, the options we have discussed, dissected and discussed again; finally we will have the answers. Or will we? Bring on kick off of game one of Bledisloe 2016 and the opening of the Rugby Championship! To add to the spice of the occasion we have espionage! (I know – a plot twist!!) But that’s for after the game. To the on field stuff. So let cut to the chase here and get in to the weeds. Opta facts tell us the following: • The Wallabies have…

Argentina are looking to repeat their away victory against South Africa in last year’s Rugby Championship by making the Springboks their first prey in their 2016 Rugby Championship campaign. The Springboks will be looking to score a confidence building win at home under the new regime of Allister Coetzee and ensure they get the maximum points out of the game that may be critical in the race for the Championship. Argentina The Pumas and Argentine rugby have had a mixed 2016 with disappointing results during the June test window against an under strength France and an inaugural Super Rugby season…

It is with great sadness that the Brumbies inform fans that following a brief illness, investigations have indicated that Christian Lealiifano has been diagnosed with Leukaemia and is currently in hospital for further management. Brumbies interim Chief Executive, Phil Thomson, said it was too early at this stage to comment much further. “At the moment it’s just a matter of ensuring Christian receives the best care and support he can at this time,” Thomson said. “He is one of the most respected players within this group and this news has come as a huge shock to all of our players,…

Well, that’s all folks! The season is done; the Brumbies at least made the finals but were knocked out in the first round. So where does that leave us? Our very good Kiwi (faux) friend Dismal Pillock had graciously facilitated the delivery of the below certificate to Aussie Rugby. Sad, as it seems deserved and just when you think that it can’t get worse than the Kiwis giving us more stick, nek minute, I am hearing reports that the SARU have put theirs in the mail after the Lions made the last four. Based on points, the Brumbies were 7th…

At a cold, windy and damp graveyard the Waratahs went into the game needing to come away with as many points as possible to put the pressure on the Brumbies and give themselves a chance at finals footy. The First Half Both teams took their time settling into the game. For the first 10 minute both teams tried to get on the front foot but made errors and turned the ball over. The first real chance came for the Blues at the 10 minute mark afters stealing a Waratahs defensive line out 10 meters out, but they knocked on. The…

It’s time! Now or never, do or die; however you want to put it on Friday night the Waratahs are visiting the graveyard and unless they can dance on the graves of past Aussie teams their season will come to an abrupt end. The result of this game will set the marker for what the Brumbies will need to match or better to push the Tahs out of the finals race. The Waratahs destiny is very much in their hands, a bonus point win will put immense pressure on the Brumbies to match the result. Embed from Getty Images THE…