Author: Reg Roberts

Round 9 of the Buildcorp NRC, the last of the preliminary rounds, panned out pretty much as expected in terms of results with a couple of big wins for the top two teams, and then two intense tight battles for the other matches. From a player perspective the big names stood up as you’d expect at the business end of the season with some familiar faces in the team of the week, as well as a few new names. [one_third last=”no”] 1. Allan Alaalatoa  (Canberra Vikings) – 5 TOTW appearance It’s the NRC TOTW, of course it’s got to start with Alaalatoa.…

Player of the Season NSW Country Eagles flyhalf, and new Western Force signing, Jono Lance has won the Buildcorp NRC Player of the Season award as announced by the ARU today. Lance played in every game for the Eagles and was one of only four players in the tournament to score points in every match. The Player of the Year award was named after accumulating votes provided by both coaches and a Green and Gold Rugby representative after every match. Lance finished on top of the tally with Melbourne Rising flanker, Jordy Reid, in second spot followed by Ita Vaea of the…

A brilliant Bathurst and Ann Ashwood Park, hosted the NSW Country Eagles in a home match against the North Harbour Rays this Saturday afternoon. In hot conditions the players put their personal welfare on the line for the sake of the fans watching to produce a highly entertaining match with the Eagles ultimately winning 50 to 24. First Half: The Eagles gained the ascendancy early on in the first half through the hard work of their aggressive forward pack. The game plan was simple – get metres through strong runs via the likes of Tom Staniforth, Beau Robinson, Mark Baldwin and Dashville…

The Canberra Vikings took a risk in resting some of their key players in the final round match up against Queensland Country, but still managed to come away with a relatively easy victory on the Sunshine Coast. Despite having leaving out the likes of Ita Vaea and Christian Lealiifano, the Vikings barely skipped a beat as they scored a comprehensive 42-8 win. It was a scrappy encounter, which included a scoreless last quarter and plenty of dropped ball, it was the more clinical play of the Vikings that secured the victory. Whilst Queensland Country struggled to hold on to the…

And so we enter the last round of the 2015 Buildcorp NRC with plenty of permutations yet to unfold. Whilst Brisbane City and Canberra Vikings remain firmly atop the ladder, there’s plenty to play for amongst the rest of the games. Let’s take a look. QUEENSLAND COUNTRY (8TH) v CANBERRA VIKINGS (2ND) Thursday 15 October at Sunshine Coast Stadium (Sunshine Coast). Kick Off 6:30PM (Local Time) This match won’t have much (any ?) on the final ladder as Canberra are secure in 2nd spot and will host a final. There is still a chance for them to put themselves in an even better spot by winning…

Round 8 of the Buildcorp NRC saw some cracking rugby played across the country with a lot of names sticking their hand up for the prestigious GAGR Team of the Week. [one_third last=”no”] 1. Pettowa Paraka  (Brisbane City) – 1 TOTW appearance Paraka was part of a dominant Brisbane City performance that saw the reigning champions race out to a 32-5 lead with about half an hour left to go in the match. Paraka scored a try himself and then combined with fellow prop Sam Talakai to put lock Ben Hyne over in the corner. Worked hard and scrummed strongly.[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]…

Nelson Dale went along to Concord Oval to see how his Rams could cope with the inconsistent Perth Spirit. The Perth Spirit have launched themselves into a playoff position (top 4) in their final regular season match, handing the Greater Sydney Rams a convincing 63 to 39 point shellacking. Fans were thrilled with a try every 320 seconds (5.33 mins) of play, with a total of 15 five pointers being scored throughout the 80 minute encounter, the most of any National Rugby Championship (NRC) match in 2015 with only one round remaining. The Rams scored 6 tries in defeat for the second time…

GAGR’s Dave Beat went down to Pittwater Rugby park to watch his beloved Rays take on Queensland Country. Here’s his review of the NRC match. In what was billed as a psuedo State of Origin of uncontracted players, with neither team fielding a starting Super player, both teams battled it out for the first 10 minutes with plenty of ball movement and some solid hits. After repeated penalties whilst they camped on the Rays line it was Queensland Country that crossed first with Sef Faágase scoring under a pile of bodies off a rolling maul of a line out. The…

Well this is the week we’ve all been waiting for. The Grand Final rehearsal looks to be taking place at Viking Park on Saturday, but there are a couple of other games that may impact the make up of the finals as well so make sure you tune in so as not to miss out. MELBOURNE RISING (5th) V NSW COUNTRY EAGLES (4th) Thursday 8 October at Simonds Stadium (Geelong). Kick Off 7:30PM (Local Time) The finals start a couple of weeks early for these two teams who currently both sit with three wins and three losses. Whilst the Eagles sit one spot further up…

Round 7 of the NRC had a couple of lop-sided affairs, a fairly dire tv match but was wrapped up with pretty darn good encounter in the west. But with Brisbane City and Canberra Vikings continuing to roll all comers, how will this week’s TOTW look? [one_third last=”no”] 1. Allan Alaalatoa  (Canberra Vikings) – 4 TOTW appearance A Grand Slam of appearances for Alaalatoa who is loving this competition in 2015. Whilst benefitting greatly from being a part of a powerful Vikings pack, Big Al is proving an immovable object at the scrum and an almost unstoppable force around the field.[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]…

Round 6 of the Buildcorp NRC had it all. Ultimate wet weather footy, glorious sunshine, dogged defense, stunning tries, veterans starring and rookies shining. What can we expect from the week ahear? Well four simply fantastic match ups is a great start, so let’s look at them in a little more detail. GREATER SYDNEY RAMS (9TH) V NORTH HARBOUR RAYS (8TH) Thursday 1 October at Pirtek Stadium (Sydney). Kick Off 7:30PM (Local Time) Sure this may be a bottom of the table clash but it should be one of the matches of the weekend. The Rams are yet to win a game and the Rays have won just one, however both teams have showen the ability to be…

The RWC games are coming thick and fast and so are the opinions in the latest GAGR RWC Podcast. Matt’s back from a scouting trip to Fiji and joins Jamie, Will and Reg in looking at the matches played since this time last week.  And when we say we look at the matches played we spend most of our time talking about Australia’s two tests between Fiji and Uruguay and of course the epic encounter between England and Wales. Scrums may get a mention somewhere in there too and we even find time to continue our latest segment “Saying nice…

There were some absolutely cracking games of NRC rugby over the weekend. It began with an upset win by Qld Country over their NSW counterparts in the wet on Thursday night and ended with a wonderful free flowing match between the Sydney Stars and Greater Sydney Rams. Plenty of action, plenty of stars – but who stood out? Well here’s our TOTW for Round 6. [one_third last=”no”] 1. Allan Alaalatoa  (Canberra Vikings) – 3 TOTW appearance Alaalatoa is back for his third appearance in the TOTW after leading the way in his team’s 63-37 defeat of the North Harbour Rays. The Vikings…

Nelson Dale was one of many Rams supporters who headed to Leichhardt Oval to cheer on his NRC  team, and put together this great report for us.  Both the Sydney Stars and the Greater Sydney Rams started strong in front of the 2600 strong crowd, majority of which appeared to be travelling Rams supporters. It was a windy affair at Leichhardt Oval but that did nothing to slow the barrage of tries at either end of the paddock. The Stars earned a 44-32 win against the winless Rams, keeping them in touch with the undefeated competition leaders; the Canberra Vikings and Brisbane…

The Super Rugby Draw for 2016 has been released with a number of interesting match ups. The season will kick off on Friday 26 February with three of last season’s four semi-finalists meeting in an opening night extravaganza. The new Japanese team will play its historic first Super Rugby game against the Lions on Saturday afternoon February 27 in Tokyo. The Grand Final rematch will occur in week 2 when the Highlanders host the Hurricanes. Singapore to host matches between the Japanese team and the Cheetahs (Round 3), the Bulls (Round 5) and the Stormers (Round 12). The identity of the Argentinean and Japanese-based sides will be…

Australia cantered to an easy, never in doubt victory over Uruguay on Sunday evening, Australian time. So what did we learn from the Wallabies’ second RWC match of the tournament? 1) It was largely irrelevant in the greater scheme of things View image | gettyimages.com Australia got out of this game exactly what they wanted. A big win to prop up their for and against as well as a bonus point (despite Michael Cheika’s supposed ignorance of their existence). Injuries are always a concern in the RWC, as Wales and South Africa will attest, and in that front we scraped…

GAGR’s Carl Unger headed down to Rat Park to watching his Rays battle the undefeated Canberra Vikings. The NRC score-a-thons have rolled on with the Canberra Vikings taking down the North Harbour Rays 63-37. Days of overcast conditions and rain had cleared in time for junior’s day at Warringah Rugby Park (aka Rat Park) and 3,000 people were on hand to watch some Saturday afternoon footy. The last time these teams met it was a 21 all draw at Viking Park but with numerous injuries and gun players heading overseas to Europe the Rays were expected to cop a hiding…

VIBE This all important Pool B match began with a heightened level of intensity that you would expect in the new ‘Pool of Death’ and the level of physicality both teams are famous for. The Springboks, under the pump this RWC following their first up loss to Japan, proved highly clinical bordering on conservative in the first half as they played tight and absorbed a lot of Samoan pressure. A series of of first half penalties, six of which were taken as successful shots at goal by each side, was interrupted by an intercept try to South African wing JPR Pietersen…

It looks like it’s family round this weekend for the NRC, with the two Sydney games being themed as such. And why wouldn’t you take your family out to watch the NRC? Plenty of fun and activities for the kids on outside of the field and PUH-LENTY of fun and activities for the fans on the inside of the field. With all these RWC matches going on in the middle of the night, what better chance is there to get out and see some live rugby than Round 6 of the NRC. Let’s take a look at what to expect.…

With eight games gone already Jamie, Will, Hugh and Reg get together for a RWC Podcast to look at the outcomes and implications for the RWC so far. We then take a look at the next set of games and give our best guess as to how they will pan out. WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER (AEST): 11:30pm Scotland v Japan (Pool C) THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER (AEST): 1:45am Australia v Fiji (Pool A) 5:00am France v Romania (Pool D) FRIDAY 25 SEPTEMBER (AEST): 5:00am New Zealand v Namibia (Pool C) SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER (AEST): 1:45am Argentina v Georgia (Pool C) 11:30pm Italy v Canada (Pool D) SUNDAY 27…