Author: Reg Roberts

It has been a massive week for Australian Rugby and what better place to take some time out and chat about it all than in our next Green and Gold Rugby Podcast. Before we get stuck into the current news, we kick off with another Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcast with an undoubted legend of Australian Rugby, and indeed the Rugby World Cup itself. He started his career as a rookie lock forward in his first season of test rugby by being a part of the 1991 RWC winning Wallabies. Eight years later he was now the captain of the Wallabies…

On the face of it this should be one of those games that flies under the radar, or rather the blip is noted and ignored due to a lack of perceived significance. After all the Chiefs are sitting in fifth spot on the ladder, reasonably comfortably in finals position. The Reds, meanwhile, are down the other end of the table having just seemingly avoided any potential wooden spoon concerns.  However not all is as it seems and Super Rugby is renowned for throwing up any number of little variances that can derail any locomotive of expectation. And I can feel the rumblings. Whether…

Episode 178 of the Green and Gold Rugby Podcast, sees us continue in our highly popular Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcasts. Following hot on the heels of Simon Poidevin last week, this week we focus on the Number 8 position. When it came for looking for a guest for this episode, the choice was easy. How could you go past the great man, Toutai Kefu? Kefu who made his Wallaby debut during one of the lowest points in Australian Rugby but who would go on to feature in so many of our most significant moments. None moreso than that 1999 Rugby…

Episode 177 of the Green and Gold Rugby podcast brings you the next in our series of Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcasts. The special guest on this week’s show is arguably the most passionate man ever to pull on a Wallaby jersey – 1991 Rugby World Cup flanker, Simon Poidevin. The passion Poido had (and still has) for the Wallabies is dripping from the podcast this week as he takes us on a journey from the disappointment that was the 1987 Rugby World Cup, through two retirements to a Rugby World Cup victory at Twickenham in his last ever test match for…

The scuttlebutt is growing increasingly stronger that Quade Cooper has signed, or is about to sign, a two year deal with the World XV, sorry, Toulon. Knowing something is about to happen doesn’t make the suffering any less. Look, we all knew it was probable. We’ve been expecting a signing for a few years. But Quade’s move to France is still a massive kick in the guts, admittedly more to Reds fans perhaps than the wider Australian Rugby fan. Quade remains one of the few players I have seen in the game that left me dumbstruck with what he was able to…

So here we arrive at another Green and Gold Rugby podcast, Episode 176 as it stands. More significantly it is the next in our series of Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcasts featuring Wallaby World Champions and tonight we have the man who you could say started it all. The image of Nick Farr-Jones holding aloft William Web-Ellis, having received it on the steps of Twickenham back in 1991, is such an iconic image in Australian Rugby. It would not be a Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcast series without a chance to chat with the man who first held aloft the World…

The ARU are planning their five-year strategic plan for 2016-2020. You only need to read the comments on our articles or throughout our forum to know that there is a great deal of disgruntlement towards the ARU and what they are doing for and to rugby in Australia. Well this would seem one way you can get your opinions across. Apparently the survey will take about ten minutes and will be open until 5 June, so don’t put it off – do it today! As ARU CEO says: “We know we have a passionate and enthusiastic fan base full of…

Green and Gold Rugby returns with the next in our Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcasts with Wallaby World Champions as our special guests. The Wallabies’ all time leading point scorer, Michael Lynagh, is our very special guest on the show this week, joining us over the dodgy skype to London mobile waves that become evident at times in the interview. Still it is an extremely worthwhile lesson from one of the iconic figures in Australia’s RWC history. Noddy takes us through some of the learnings from that inaugural RWC way back in 1987 before we focus more on the success…

Hot on the heels of the appointment of John “Knuckles” Connolly until the end of next year as a “Coaching Consultant”, the Queensland Reds have today released three significant announcements to their future high performance program. Nick Stiles – Senior Assistant Coach View image | gettyimages.com With the set piece being one of the more positive aspects of the Reds 2015 season, Nick Stiles has been signed for three-years into the position as Senior Assistant Coach. Following on from his trophy winning performance as Head Coach of Brisbane City in the NRC, Stiles’s reputation is one of seemingly few that have increased…

We’re getting the band back together and we’re on a mission from Gagger.  The focus of this rugby podcast is back pretty much solely on Super Rugby this week as we inch our way closer to finals footy. Plenty to chat about from Round 12 of Super Rugby which saw the Tahs, Rebels and the Reds the only Aussie teams to not lose this weekend. How they all shape up in Round 13 however is the big question – and one we will answer for you. The Rugby World Cup remains in the back of our mind, and in the…

Sunday afternoon rugby is back in Brisbane as the Reds host the Hurricanes at Suncorp Stadium in the final match of the ANZAC Round of Super Rugby. There is no denying it will be a wonderful occasion for rugby, but can the Reds produce the goods and an upset win? The Form It is difficult to argue that the form guide is not against the Reds here, unless you subscribe solely to the doctrine of a team only being as good as their last game. And even then you’d struggle. Despite their last round loss (their first of the season) to…

On this week’s show we have another fantastic Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcast as we continue in our run of Wallaby legends interviews. Joining us for this week’s episode, as we cast our eye towards the centre position, is the one and only Daniel Herbert. Dan played 67 tests for the Wallabies and was the rock in the middle of a brilliant backline in that 1999 Rugby World Cup victory. Herbie provides us some wonderful insight into the success that was that Wallaby team of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, before looking forward towards this year’s Rugby World Cup…

On Episode 172 this week we have another very special Rugby World Cup 2015 Podcast. Following on from the first in our RWC Legends Series with Matt Burke, joining us this week is 1991 World Cup winning winger, Bob Egerton. Bob tells us about his absolutely amazing Wallaby career that began in July of 1991 and finished four months later with a Rugby World Cup Champions medal. One of the unsung heroes of that amazing Wallaby team, Bob talks us through his memorable try against John Kirwin and the All Blacks in Sydney (see below clip. If you have 20 minutes, watch the whole…

We’ve got Rugby World Cup 2015 fever here at Green and Gold Rugby and with less than six months to go until the tournament kicks off, it’s time to start looking ahead. In the first of our 2015 Rugby World Cup Podcast Legends Series we have 1999 World Cup winning fullback Matthew Burke on the show. Burke looks back at the 99 World Cup and how the Wallabies won William Web Ellis before looking forward to this year’s tournament and provides his thoughts as to whether we can do it again. Dave Jefferson (aka Cyclopath) then joins us for the…

Frankly, who the hell knows what we can expect from this game? Looking at the teams’ respective positions on the table, you’d think we can’t expect too much from it to challenge the type of rugby we saw in the last round of the 6 Nations. But is there any glimmer of hope for this Suncorp Stadium match up? At least for the Queensland fans?  The Form When considering this game from a purely ‘form’ perspective, there’s not much to get excited about. The Reds are sitting at the bottom of their pool (second last overall) whilst the Lions are equal last in…

The first round of the BLK Queensland Premier Club Rugby saw wins by Sunnybank over Souths, UQ over Bond, Easts over Norths and Brothers over Wests. Expect plenty of great action around the grounds this weekend, and here’s 5 more things to keep an eye out for.  1. Super X. Theres plenty of chance to see some former Super Rugby players running around still in the club competition. Kimani Sitauti at outside centre for GPS against Easts was a former Melbourne Rebel and ACT Brumby. Vitori Buatava (pictured  below), a Fijian international who played for the Force, is at scrumhalf for Bond University…

This will be the first of a (hopefully) weekly little article, with the aim of bringing you the top five reasons to get out to see some Brisbane Premier Club rugby this weekend. The season kicks off this Saturday so let’s jump straight to it.   1. Feel the intimacy Don’t get me wrong. I love a Reds match at Suncorp Stadium. The big screens. The door-to-door public transport. The music. But there’s nothing quite like suburban footy, even at the Premier level. Get over the fact that, unless you have your own secret spot, the challenge of finding a park near the…

Did you know that today was International Woman’s Day? For many I expect it will be just another Friday with the focus on the battles of the rugby field this weekend. With the junior and senior club rugby season commencing, and with the Super Rugby season steaming ahead, it’s a tough call to draw us blokes away from the action that will happen on the pitch this weekend. But it seems a battle women are quite familiar with facing – that of drawing attention to their own capabilities. It’s a shame we even need a day like this and as much as I’d…

For just the second match of the season, the lead up to the Reds v Force match at Suncorp Stadium drew an incredible amount of public and media attention. As Cyclone Marcia focussed in on South East Queensland the actual liklihood of the game going on was questioned.  Then there was the other storm around the developing Karmichael Hunt situation.  As it turned out, the game would go ahead without Hunt. For the Force it was an opportunity to leap to the top of the Australian conference as the only undefeated team. Having had the wood over the Reds for the last couple of…

We’ve entered week two of the Super Rugby season and, wow, wasn’t week one a spin out? Every away team won – except for the Reds who went down big time to the Brumbies. On the latest G&GR podcast we have a chat to Reds prop Ben Daley about what happened in Canberra  and how they can turn it around this weekend against the Force. Daley also talks us through his brilliant initiative of “Be Great, Do Good” in which he will support a different charity every game, with their own uniquely branded head gear. For Ben its about playing…