Author: Nick Hartman

Blake and James are back to talk all things rugby – Rebels, Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs, Semesi Masarewa, Curtis Rona and him (not Him, the other one). Support the pod by tweeting #JaguaresShirt to their Twitter, which is twitter.com/rugby_podcast WARNING – contains swearing and excessive use of the word bigot https://soundcloud.com/green-and-gold-rugby/rugby-report-card-80-back-from-the-abyss

All three boys are back after a week off. Ready to unpack all things Super Rugby at the half yearly mark.

On Friday I recorded a podcast with Rich Freeman, a British rugby writer living in Japan, for the the Dropped Kick-Off pod. It was just me, Nick W was off at the Nickelback or Boyzone concert or something. During the chat, I asked Rich about the Sunwolves, their past, present and future, the upcoming World Cup, and for a few tips about what to do and where to go in Japan. However, technology got in the way and now I’ve lost the recording. So in place of the podcast, there’s this article. Hopefully it makes up for it. If not,…

The three lads are back together. They discuss all things Super Rugby and things get a little off track.

Monday’s Rugby News has Folau wanting more bombs, a rugby version of league’s 40-20 maybe, Dave Rennie speculation and Castle chats World Rugby & Sunwolves [one_half last=”no”] Folau 4 Foley After catching the Waratahs to a decisive lead, with a spectacular up-and-under try, on Saturday night, Israel Folau has asked for more kicks to be kicked his way. “It’s something that I’d like to see more of because I’m confident in my ability to try and get up and contest for the ball,” Folau said, according to the SMH. “It was always a tactic of ours as a team. We trained…

Just Blake and James this week. The boys review the Six Nations and talk all things Super Rugby, Mystery Men and Dick’s whereabouts. https://soundcloud.com/green-and-gold-rugby/rugby-report-card-77-dapto-dogs Mystery Men trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKmHBFgIoX0

Blake, James and Richard are back together to talk all things super rugby and six nations. James also has the privilege of having a chat with Rebels star Richard Hardwick

Thursday’s Rugby News has changes for the Brumbies, changes for the Waratahs, Mafi’s return maybe and a new women’s 7 series. [one_half last=”no”] Poey Not Going David Pocock and Michael Alaalatoa have been ruled out of this Saturday’s clash with the Waratahs. Alaalatoa has been ruled out with a wrist issue, while Pocock’s calf, neck and (probably) organs all need a rest from being pummelled. Pocock has already missed one game this year, sitting out the Chiefs one, and it is thought that both players will miss 1 to 2 weeks. Brumbies coach Dan McKellar is confident that the easily…

The boys are back together again to discuss the year that was. What grade will the Wallabies receive?

The Wallabies won and the All Blacks lost. Usually it’d be quite a good weekend for a Wallabies supporter, but that Italian match didn’t raise any spirits. Of course GAGR’s covered it, in much detail. Here’s the match report written by Steve, here’s the Italian view, and here’s Tuesday’s Top 5. Oh, and Matt and Jamie got together and did a podcast on the topic – But this column is not really about the Wallabies – or any weird backlines – it’s about all the other games going on in November. Without further ado: Games Last Weekend Ireland 16 New Zealand…

Blake and James break down Ireland’s victory over the All Blacks, discuss how the Wallabies are tracking on the European tour and take some questions from the great unwashed

Last weekend’s round of November internationals was an amazing showcase of rugby and the Wales-Wallabies game. If you knew anyone doubting the spectacle of test match rugby, you’d sit them down, give them a beer, and instruct them to watch all the games except one. Let’s have a quick recap of the best moments of last weekend (minus the Wallabies, covered here (match report)  here (tuesday top 5) and here (Cheika & Postecoglou)) and then look forward to this weekend’s action. What Happened Last Week Lawes of the Game – England 15 New Zealand 16 As you can see by the score, England…

It’s November, the time for some midnight Wallaby action. How will they think of ways to waste our time with needless red cards this year? Answers on a postcard please. This November I think I’m going to hedge my bets and come at this 3-5 week international break as a neutral. And by that, I mean I’ll keep up to date on all the other games happening, between teams you only see at the World Cup – and some you haven’t heard of. I genuinely enjoy this time of year; it’s interesting for me to see the results and some…

Blake and Jim go through the last test for the season and preview the spring tour and Romania v Kenya game, along with a lot of other banter.

James is back from jail and joins Richard (no Blake)to discuss this weekends action.

Blake and Richard – still no Jim – discuss the second round of The Rugby Championship, including who are the incumbents, the links between Jim and Nathan Grey, and how stupid everything is.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal the world witnessed the first ever perfect 10 by Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci. In game 2 of the 2018 Bledisloe Cup series in Auckland we may have seen rugby’s version of “The Perfect 10” with Beauden Barrett’s outstanding individual effort. The “World Player of the Year’ in 2016 & 2017 may also be on track to win the award for a third straight time in 2018. Here’s a reminder of the qualities Barrett displayed on Saturday… The Bullet Barrett scored his first try running a beautiful hard line off Aaron Smith 7 phases…

SEASON OVERVIEW By that’s_gold In the closest comp in years, the 2018 AAGPS 1st XV Premiership was jointly won by The Kings School and St Josephs College. In this season review, a bunch of regular writers put each school’s performance under the microscope. Also, in a GAGR first, guest writer “Joker” signs off for 2018 with his assessment of how the GPS kitchens plated up this year and the lay of the land in the different tribal empires. Coming soon, we will publish the Special Awards with the GAGR 2018 GPS Team of the Year, Player of the Year and…

Blake and Richard attempt to dissect the first round of the Rugby Championship, Israel Folau’s ankle, and Blake and Jim’s return to rugby. The boys promise they’ll back on Sunday.

Newington vs Shore It was a windswept afternoon which greeted the teams for the final game of the GPS season. Newington fresh from a win over eventual joint premiers Kings against a winless but always hard to beat Shore team. A smallish crowd had just seen a solid win by Newington seconds and a convincing win by the Newington 16As. 1st Half Running into a strong wind, Newington took the ball into attack, and the always dangerous Koula broke the defence, but tripped with the tryline in sight before Della Marta secured the ball to dive over for the opening…