Author: Reg Roberts

Last weekend pretty much went to plan with just the one upset when Brisbane City got the best of their QLD Country rivals (hey, but I picked it!).  It does mean a fair bit of a shake up of the ladder with QLD Country and the Western Force basically swapping positions. Despite their being just two rounds to go I’m not convinced all is settled for the top four. In fact I reckon it’s only the Drua who are sure things for the finals, but mathematically even that is no sure thing. There are lots of ifs and buts that…

Another NRC game that had the potential to impacted by rain as the Wests Rugby Union club hosted the Andy Purcell Cup battle between Brisbane City and QLD Country. First Half: Brisbane City had all the territory and possession early thanks to repeat penalties. When they opted for a scrum and Quade Cooper wrapped around Tautalatasi Tasi there was space outside for Jaye Thompson to basically fall over the try line but he dropped it cold. The early scrum battle was monumental early on as Queensland Country stepped it up a gear from previous weeks as they’d struggled at the…

A big day of activities planned by Fiji Rugby, culminating in the NRC match between their top the table Drua and the NSW Country Eagles, was somewhat curtailed by a tropical down fall prior to the game.  Would the wet weather stymie the Fijain flair we’ve come to expect from this Drua outfit, giving the Eagles an unlikely advantage on the back of their Waratah-ladden forward pack and astute halves? No. The answer was very much no. First Half: Fear of the wet weather making the ball slippery were almost immediately nullified as Fiji were across the line almost immediately.…

The bullet express preliminary season is just three rounds away from completion. So while we can sit back and marvel of the exceptional round of rugby that was last round, there’s no time for complacency as teams jockey for finals positioning. The four Round 4 games were wonderful events in their own right, but perhaps more so for the impact on the ladder.  Fiji’s come from behind win and QLD Country’s come from in front loss mean they now share top spot on the latter, although with the Drua having a slightly better for and against. The Force and Vikings…

Well that certainly was a cracking weekend of rugby.  Four bloody close games, come from behind victories in each, superb tries, monstor hits, scruammaging battles – what more could you want? One thing the quality of the games did do was make selection for the Team of the Week so much tougher. Thanks to the inevitable thrashing or two, I was usually able to eliminate at least one team a round from selection consideration. But this week! This week that was no chance. There were contenders from all teams across the weekend and that made this a very tough task. …

Now that the NSW based teams have caught up to the rest of the competition, having completed Round 1 by playing each other on Wednesday night, we can now get a good understanding of ladder.  After a full three rounds I think we can see the best four teams of the competition sitting nicely in finals position. I do think the Rising can still make a strong run home, if they can put up with all of their travel. Similarly, Brisbane City have the talent, and shouldn’t have much Wallaby disruption,  to finish with a wet sale and push for…

It’s a bit of a running theme over on the GAGR Forum, or even on the comments section of the main page, for someone to suggest “too many Tahs” whenever a team is announced or even suggested. Well, that aint gonna happen this week (well, it probably will be it will be completely tongue in cheek). Such was the dire performances of the two NSW teams in Round 3 of the NRC that I couldn’t bring myself to consider any of them in this Team of the Week. Accordingly removing a couple of teams-worth of players from consideration didn’t necessarily…

The rugby public was veritably frothing following the epic occasion that was the Springboks defeat of the All Blacks in Wellington. Would the Argies and Wallabies be able to reproduce a match of similar quality? Would there be anyone actually be at the stadium to watch it? We could only wait to find out. FIRST HALF: Argentina got on the board early when they opted to take a shot for goal from 52m out.  Fullback Emiliano Boffelli went BOFF and booted it over with distance to spare to put the Wallabies on the back step early. 0-3 Argentina. The Wallabies…

I spoke last week about the quality of matches in the NRC’s first round.  Unfortunately I don’t think I can say the same about Round 2.  There were some terrific team performances and, thankfully, one tight affair up north, but the rest were largely blow outs. Seemingly supporting the Ben Darwin theory of Cohesion, the Fiji Drua spanked Brisbane City, while the Canberra Vikings did similar to the Sydney Rays.  Out west, the Force had a big win over the NSW Country Eagles, all though the Eagles put in a bit of a charge after half time, by the Force…

With the two NSW based teams making their first NRC appearance of the season we know have full blown comp on our hands. Round 2 saw our two competition favorites flex their muscles a tad with the Drua steamrolling Brisbane City and the Western Force securing the Horan-Little Shield with an impressive win over NSW Country.  Meanwhile the Canberra Vikings bounced back from a first round loss with a comprehensive win over the Sydney Rays and QLD Country continued their winning way via a hard fought one-point victory against the Rising. Looking at the individual performances we are obviously dominated…

Michael Cheika made some significant Wallaby changes for this test match in the hope it would spark a Wallaby performance that was off the pace against an obviously high quality All Black team.  What he wouldn’t have been banking on was to lose perhaps his three most significant players in the days prior to this Springbok test.  If losing David Pocock and Israel Folau earlier in the week wasn’t bad enough, to lose Adam Coleman on the day of the game was a considerable body blow. Meanwhile the Boks had made some equally significant changes to their starting side but…

The first weekend of the 2018 iteration of NRC was a cracker. We saw the Drua turn on the pizzazz to run away from a Rising team who clung on for the first half. Then last year’s Grand Finalists put on another show in our nation’s capital with QLD Country coming away with the goods once again. And finally the Western Force made a little statement of their own with a big win against Brisbane in Brisbane, despite a healthy sprinkling of Quade magic. What to expect from Round 2? Well hopefully more of the same.  Especially the crowds with…

Round 1 of the 2018 NRC kicked off with some wonderful rugby played across the three games.  The Drua made a statement of their intentions in front of a vocal home crowd against the Rising. QLD Country and the Canberra Vikings served up another cracker in the capital with the visitors claiming the glory come full time. While the Western Force stole the show with a strong display over Brisbane City. While we still officially have one more game of the round to go (when Sydney Rays take on NSW Country in a couple of weeks’ time), we’ve come up…

Ladies and gentlemen, this is NRC number five! Before I fall down the Lou Bega chasmn, let’s get the point. The fifth iteration of the National Rugby Championship kicks off this weekend and forgive me for believing that it finally feels settled.  I know we’ve lost a NSW team, from the much maligned western suburbs, and I know it still hasn’t won the hearts and minds of the wider rugby community. However in terms of finding it’s place in the calendar, of gaining acceptance from the powers that be across the country and for proving numerous doubters wrong, I…

At a time when Australian Rugby can’t do a thing right, or at least according to the many of the rugby community, one of the most encouraging developments has come from the games’ former stars. While Stephen Hoiles and James Holbeck have re-invigorated the Classic Wallabies and are doing their best to galvanise this elite group towards giving back to the grass roots game, there is a similar group of former Queensland representatives (and a few others) doing their bit for the development of rugby. Former Reds scrumhalf Brad Free has established the C2K Rugby Academy in an effort to…

The twittersphere, facebookland, our forums (and, I’m guessing, in the real world) have been awash with ‘coach-chat’ this week on the heels of yet another comprehensive loss to the All Blacks. With Wallaby boss Michael Cheika set to coach his 50th test this weekend, arguments have raged as to whether or not his job is in question, based largely on his low win percentage (currently sitting at 51.02%). There are any number of arguments, statistics and opinions thrown around when these discussions take place. I’ve seen perspectives varying from comparisons with former coaches, the quality of the opposition and, curiously,…

As reported last week, a Wallaby trial will take place this Friday night in Sydney in preparation for the Bledisloe Cup. The team they will play against has been named and it is an intriguing mix of Super Rugby players, Western Force players, club players and exiles. James Slipper (Bond University/Queensland Reds) Anaru Rangi (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels) Sam Talakai (Box Hill/Melbourne Rebels) Blake Enever (Easts/Brumbies) Matt Philip (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels) Angus Cottrell (Power House/Melbourne Rebels) Richard Hardwick (Harlequins/Melbourne Rebels) Pat Sio (Eastwood) Moses Sorovi (Wests/Queensland Reds) Andrew Deegan (Wanneroo/Western Force) Filipo Daugunu (Wests/Queensland Reds) Duncan Paia’aua (Norths/Queensland Reds) Tom English…

With all Australian Super Rugby sides, bar the Waratahs, now knocked out of the competition and with the first Bledisloe Cup still a few weeks away, Rugby Australia has announced that a full-contact trial will be played as part of the Wallaby’s preparations. The match will take place at Leichardt Oval next Friday (3 August) night from 6:45pm.  The match will be free of charge and will also be live streamed at rugby.com.au No Waratahs will be considered for the match, regardless of the outcome of their Super Rugby Semi Final this weekend. Instead the teams will be a “Michael…

Once again the Reds season is over too early, but unexpectedly so.  But what do we make of this year of Super Rugby from a fan’s perspective? We’ve had yet another new coach, off-field dramas, upset wins, upset losses, curious selections, snubbings, rookies, ill-disciple and superb discipline. The team copped flack for their attacking shortcomings yet scored more tries in a regular season than any year since 2011.  They were flaunted as having a defensive edge yet leaked points faster than we could score them. It’s all a little confusing and I’m struggling to get my head around it. So…

Ok, so OBVIOUSLY we are all going to get behind the Waratahs as the only Australian team left in Super Rugby and OF COURSE we’ll be supporting grass roots rugby by getting out and watching some club or school footy this weekend, but keep some of that rugby watching time set aside for what promises to be some of the most fascinating rugby of the weekend – the World Cup Sevens. Sevens has never been more popular in Australia with the Rio Olympic win by our women’s team an obvious kick starter. However its presence at the last few Commonwealth…