Author: Reg Roberts

Still looking for our Team of the Week? Well you won’t find it here. Instead, let’s look at some of the top performers (and otherwise) from the latest round of Super Rugby and see how we’re shaping up for the Wallaby season. PLAYER OF THE ROUND: Joe Tomane (Brumbies) With Drew Mitchell and Adam Ashley-Cooper the incumbent Wallaby wingers and uncertainty, amongst the punters at least, as to their availability for test selection this year, Tomane’s continued exceptional form is a cause of excitement for Wallaby fans. Whilst there remains rumours as to whether Joe will really depart our shores later this year,…

I believe it is now compulsory to refer to my beloved Queensland rugby team as the “Resurgent Reds” following their breakthrough win over the Super Rugby Champions, the Highlanders, last weekend. That seems to be the trend in most match previews I’ve read this week and, hey, who am I to break with tradition? However much these midnight encounters in South Africa often fall into the old ‘out of sight, out of mind’ category, speaking from a Reds’ perspective, this game has meaning. The win over the Highlanders won back a lot of fans (and rewarded many that never left)…

Super Rugby ‘Teams of the Week’ are so passé. So let’s cut through the crap and take a look at the individuals who are stepping up for the sake of the national team and those who, perhaps, need to lift their game. Player of the Round: Liam Gill (Reds) We know where Gill sits in the Wallaby pecking. We know it, but it doesn’t make it any easier to fathom. How a guy this dominant, so impactful through a game, can be not greater than fourth choice for the national team, just makes my head hurt. The guy just oozes test…

If the Reds fans entered this match with any sort of confidence it was firmly on their team’s success rate against the Highlanders over recent years, rather than form on the board in 2016.  The Reds have won six of the last eight encounters against the Highlanders, but their inability to win a single game in this season curtailed any potential confidence. Despite some key players missing the match through injury, the high flying ‘landers were deserved favorites with many tipping an end to the recent Reds run of close losses. The Match The Reds produced arguably the best rugby…

It seems hard to argue against the growing tide that is developing in support of the Rugby 7s. Looking at Australia in isolation, Sevens is firming its foothold within the sporting landscape.  The re-introduction of rugby  into the Olympic Games, via the shortened version of the game, this August in Rio has certainly assisted in building momentum. The success of our women’s program (currently World Series leaders and Olympic gold medal favorites heading into this weekend’s tournament in Atlanta) and even the men (with former coach Michael O’Connor tipping them as potential gold medal winners in Brazil) has resulted in the…

The Reds and Blues have featured in some epic encounters through Super Rugby history and fans will be hoping for another this Saturday night in Brisbane. The match is vital to both teams ensuring they remain in touch within their respective conferences.  Whilst the Reds are batting 0 and 3 so far this season, the Blues are only marginally better off having won only their opening match against the Highlanders. The Reds came close to their first win last week, fighting back from a 16 point deficit against the Rebels to finish within an un-attempted drop goal of victory.  It’s…

The 2015 BLK Queensland Premier Rugby champions Souths Magpies will host 2015 Shute Shield Premiers Eastwood at Chipsy Wood Oval this Saturday, 27 February, to contest the Australian Club Championship. Souths head into the match with a number of new faces in the team from the squad that ran out at Ballymore for the Grand Final in 2015, however they will be bolstered by players with National Rugby Championship (NRC) experience in Brisbane City squad members Alex Casey, Andrew Muirhead and Mika Tela, as well as Bond University Queensland Country halfback Scott Malolua. Eastwood will field their own NRC representatives,…

2015 was a massive year for Australian Rugby. Probably the biggest since the creation of Green and Gold Rugby. Certainly it was the Wallabies’ most succesful year. Coach Michael Cheika had them pumped and firing which saw a number of wonderful team performances against the likes of the All Blacks, England and Wales.  But there were plenty of exceptional individual performers as well and the readers of GAGR were paying close attention. Every test. For the seventh successive year, the readers of Green and Gold Rugby have banded together to determine our GAGR Wallaby Player of the Year. In what must…

Tis the season for new jersey releases it would seem and the Queensland Reds are the latest team to launch a new look for next year’s Super Rugby season. Whereas the Brumbies’ launch was all about tradition and heritage, the Reds have opted for a more cutting edge approach to their jersey, typified by the television commercial their in-house content team has produced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5DNZNKBjrI&feature=youtu.be Regardless of their on-field performances, there’s never been any doubt raised over the quality of the digital work being produced in house at the QRU and this ad is just another example. As for the jersey itself?…

The Australian men’s 7s team has officially qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games following their win in the Oceania Olympic Qualifier Final in Auckland this weekend. On the back of a dynamic Pama Fou first half performance, Australia defeated Tonga in the final 50 to 0 to book their Rio spot alongside the Aussie Women’s team who qualified earlier this year in Amsterdam. Australia cruised through Saturday’s preliminary rounds with big wins over Nauru (62-0), the Cook Islands (48-7) and Tonga (49-0), and backed it up with an equally dominant Sunday performance. In the quarter final the Aussies were far too superior…

The Buildcorp NRC for season 2015 has been run and won with Brisbane City defeated the Canberra Vikings to win their second successive premiership title. There has been some wonderful talent on show this year which has made it tough to pick the regular Team of the Week for each round. Well that level of difficulty got turned up to 11 when I sat down to pick the Team of the Year. Bravely I struggled through and came up with the below 15 and a coach. These teams always are the subject of discussion and disagreement, so let me know…

The RWC Final has been played and won by the New Zealand All Blacks but our Wallabies are to be held high for their performances over their RWC campaign. Our latest, and last podcast for the year, looks at the final in detail and remembers the tournament as a whole. It’s been a long, hard road for both the Wallabies and we here at GAGR, but it’s been worth it. We’ve cranked out 12 of these RWC specials in less than a month, plus the RWC Legends Series, in an effort that we are pretty sure makes us more deserving…

We thought we’d mix things up for this NRC Grand Final Preview between the Canberra Vikings and Brisbane City. Ordinarily either I or Steve Lenthall would do the preview and it would obviously be tainted towards either of our respective teams. Given this is a game that is too bloody tight to call, we’ve pulled the old switcheroo as you will see below. The Case for Brisbane City (by Mr Canberra Rugby himself – Steve Lenthall) Season so far:  Brisbane City have swept all before them this season having heard their victory song after every game and have held the Horan/Little…

I stand before you…no…sit before you???  No. Type before you? Yes, I type before you a man who has had to serve myself a big old slice of humble pie. Call this my search of absolution if you will. I have sat in a room of mirrors and taken a good long look at myself. I’ve made mistakes and said some wrongs. I allowed parochial passion to get in the way unerring support. And it’s time to man up and right the wrongs. I don’t want this to sound like me jumping back on the band wagon, because I’ve always…

The Wallabies are off to the RWC Final after their 29-15 win over Argentina in the semi final this weekend. Naturally we spend a fair bit of time talking through the match – the big plays and the big players. We also take a look at the other semi-final between the All Blacks and the Springboks and review the NRC Semi Finals won by the Canberra Vikings and Brisbane City. All Rugby all the time! A reminder to get behind the Wallabies and “Show your gold”. Get the Wallaby flags or posters out and get them outside and visible, then…

Australia are the second team through to the RWC Grand Final next weekend to take on the All Blacks following their 29-15 win over the Pumas at Twickenham. In a mixed performance, the Wallabies held on despite pressure at the scrum and a penalty count against them of 12-6. In the end it was a win highlighted by three wonderful tries by Adam Ashley-Cooper who joins Jonah Lomu as the only player to score a hat trick of tries in a RWC Semi-Final. The Match The match kicked off at a fierce pace with both teams playing at an intensity you’d expect…

Brisbane City are through to their second consecutive NRC Grand Final after combating both a determined Sydney Stars who at one stage looked set to deal the minor premiers their first loss of the season. Brisbane’s 47-32 victory will see them host the Buildcorp NRC Grand Final against the Canberra Vikings next Saturday afternoon at 3pm (local time). The 1st Half Despite entering the match as raging hot underdogs having scrapped into the finals and being humiliated when the two teams previously met, it was clear from the kick off that the Stars were up for the clash. After holding on…

On the face of it the top placed Brisbane City and the second placed Canberra Vikings are both probably un-backable favourites. But, hey, so was the Melbourne Rising this time last year when their undefeated season came crashing down when the Perth Spirit crossed the country to upset them own their own turf. Let’s not forget too that Brisbane finished third last season and had to win on the road, in Gosford over the NSW Country Eagles, to secure their way to the inaugural NRC Premiership. Brisbane City (1st) v Sydney Stars (4th) Saturday 24 October at Ballymore (Brisbane). Kick off…

Topics covered on the latest RWC Podcast include: Scotland whinging The Puma challenge Wallaby injuries Why we’ll win Boks v Blacks French embarrassments RWC tournament success NRC Semi Finals So puh-lenty of rugby chat in this one. Get amongst it.

It’s semi-final season as both the Rugby World Cup and the National Rugby Championship reach their final four teams this weekend. Whilst most of the focus is up north as the All Blacks take on the Springboks and the Wallabies are up against the Pumas, don’t write off the NRC semi-finals as a lessor feast.  Consider, if you will, that last year’s Grand Final was played out between the teams finishing third and fourth, so who knows how this year’s finals series will play out? Canberra Vikings (2nd) Melbourne Rising (3rd) Friday 23 October at Viking Park (Canberra) Kick off 7:30pm…