Author: Reg Roberts

The draw for this year’s National Rugby Championship (NRC) has been released and, as we enter the competition’s fifth year, there have been a few tweaks on the previous year. The Changes: Sydney-Centric: As previously announced, the NSWRU have cut the number of NSW based teams in the NRC down to just two. What it means is that none of the original Sydney NRC teams now exist as the Greater Sydney Rams (formerly known as the Western Sydney Rams) and the Sydney Rays (formerly known as the North Harbour Rays) have gone the way of the Sydney Rays.  The NSW Country Eagles…

Super Rugby is back. Whether you like it or night. Personally I am reinvigorated for rugby after a wonderful June test window. However I know not everyone is.  The first game after the break should be one that gets the fans’ attention back with a snap. Unfortunately the battle between the bottom placed kiwi team and the bottom placed Aussie will only really interest fans from Auckland or Queensland. At best. Form Form could be arguably irrelevant considering the three or so week break between games. Well, both teams will be hoping as much because they’ve both been pretty average…

This morning the NRL and Tourism and Events Queensland have announced the inaugural “Magic Round” for 2019. What this means is that for one round next year, every single NRL game will be played at Suncorp Stadium. That’s a double header on the Friday night, a triple header on the Saturday and another triple header on the Sunday. The relevance for Green and Gold Rugby readers? The announced weekend for this endeavour is the weekend of Friday 17 May. When the Super Rugby draw was released earlier this week it listed the biggest match of the season, the derby against…

With the Wallabies in somewhat uncharted territory of having been impressive in their first game of the domestic series, they entered match 2 with a rare opportunity to run with the same team as the previous week. The Irish, however, made plenty of changes. Some through injury, some through form but most by the seemingly planned return of rest stars. With another week of preparation for both teams how would this crucial Melbourne encounter play out? The Match The first half With tries so hard to come by last week in Brisbane, fans were in a somewhat state of shock…

In case you hadn’t noticed rugby in Australia is going through a pretty rough trot at the moment.  It makes it tough for even the most ardent of fans to stay positive.  I know personally I have too easily fallen into the ‘negative Nelly’ trap. And it is easy. It’s easy just to furrow the brow and just ‘bah humbug’ everything – hell, I’ve seen people criticising Rugby Australia signing a Test Match sponsor for the first time in about five years. So I am going to make an effort to spin this around. When the other code is promoting…

If you follow social media then it sure looked like the Reds blast enjoyed their time in Tokyo last week. Acknowledging you don’t see the team training sessions on these Instagram stories etc, but coming off the bye it seems as though the players soaked up the fun in one of the world’s great cities. The fun stopped abruptly come Saturday afternoon when their match against the Sunwolves commenced.  Coach Brad Thorn suggested he knew early on that the team was off kilter and you don’t need the experience of any of his mentors, Wayne Bennet or Robbie Deans, to…

Change is afoot for the Queensland Reds this weekend with the organisation mixing things up big time in the hope of (1) re-engaging their fan base and (2) pulling off a win*. Firstly, it’s the Reds sole afternoon game of the season which theoretically makes it more family-friendly. Just as long as those families aren’t attending other rugby such as AIC Schools 1st XV matches. Secondly, and as an extension of the above, the match will celebrate the “Rugby Family Round” which aims to celebrate the grassroots of the sport. As a gesture of this recognition the Reds players will be…

The new you-beaut national women’s rugby comp kicks off this weekend in another positive step in the continued growth of the women’s game in Australia. Hot on the heels of the AON National University 7s last year, Rugby Australia have formalised a more structured national XVs comp giving the traditional format of the game it’s lacked for many years. As the National 7s Series helped boost the performance of the Australian 7s team, it is hoped that Super W will do the same for the Wallaroos. While this year’s competition will be amateur, there are positive signs as Buildcorp, Smartgroup…

After months of rumours and hearsay, the Western Force have made a bold claim on their future with the release of a 2018 fixture list and an initial training squad.  It’s not quite the Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship just yet, but the self-titled “World Series Rugby” (WSR) is most definitely the launching pad. Andrew Forrest was joined by Wallaby legend, Michael Lynagh, at the announcement in Perth the Force with Lynagh said to be a key man in opening up rugby doors within World Rugby, broadcasting and corporates.  Former Force captain Matt Hodgson remains involved too as the Head of Elite…

So it’s now three days since the Sydney 7s wrapped up with Gold Medals to both the Aussie Men and Women’s teams.  It was a remarkable series of performances by both of our teams that has me still buzzing days later. As the unofficial opening of the Australian Rugby season this year I thought it apt to pause and reflect on some of the key takeaways of the tournament. Killer D ‘They’ say that defence is 90% attitude, 10% technique. This weekend gone goes a fair way to proving that statement. Hot on the highs of their Rio Olympic Gold,…

The Aussies are undefeated in the Sydney 7s but face our arch rivals, New Zealand in a couple of crucial games today. The Women are yet to concede a point and will play the kiwis in the Gold Medal Game at 2:37pm (AEDT) and will have to be on top of their game to record a win. The Men take on the kiwis in a Quarter Final at 12:12pm (AEDT) having come through their preliminary rounds undefeated. There were some awesome performances on the field by the Aussies from both teams however two particular standouts were Emma Tonegato’s stunning try…

As we arrive in the early days of 2018 Australian Rugby fans are no doubt keen to see the back of 2017 and speaketh of it nevermore. What with the dire Super Rugby performances, the Force debacle and some mixed Wallaby performances (even the wins) and Aussie rugby fans had a whole lot of yuk to deal with. But, there were still some enough glimmers of gold (in gold) to perhaps provide us a slither of hope and once again and, for the ninth successive year the fans at Green and Gold Rugby have come together to determine our annual…

Considering it is the off-season there has been a hell of a lot going on in Australian Rugby this last 24 hours.  And for those looking for rugby to move away from its traditional ‘old boys’ ties, those changes have been significant for their female focus. Rugby Australia seems to be making a concerted effort to raise the profile of women’s rugby with some significant announcements of late. Leadership: Firstly we had the announcement of Raelene Castle as the new Chief Executive Officer of Rugby Australia. The former head of NZ Netball and the Canterbury Bulldogs is clearly an appointment…

The Queensland Reds have announced their squad for the 2018 Super Rugby season with a number of new faces in both the playing personal as well as the coaching team. There are no massive big name signings from other teams, with Force signings noticeably absent. An apparent focus on building from within, perhaps due to limited finances but also in recognition of the promise available.  Given their success in the NRC this year, there is a significant representation from the winning Queensland Country team. In total there are 36 players named, with Queensland Rugby keeping the window open to add…

Queensland Reds hooker Stephen Moore announced overnight that, not only would this weekend’s test against Scotland be is final game for Australia (assuming he is selected), but it would also be his final game of rugby full stop. His original decision to play on for the Reds in Super Rugby has been overturned and the impact is quite significant – for a couple of reasons. First of all, it almost forced me to use this headline. Look, it’s poor taste, potentially offensive, most definitely low brow, but still…I’m a little happy with it. Secondly, and I guess more importantly, it…

Alas, the time has come for us to bid farewell to another NRC season.  While in previous years I’ve felt I have been one of only a few to be waving goodbye to this comp around now, this year it feels a little different. It feels as though more people have woken to this rugby. It feels like there are more people, not only just aware of the rugby, but who have fully bought into it. And good for them in doing so because it has been a belter of a season. While the ratings nor crowds seem to be…

So the 2017 NRC season will finish the way it started as Queensland Country make their way to Canberra for a clash with the Vikings.  Way back then the Vikings came out on top (match report here) in a tight one and they continued on to finish the season on top as well, claiming the Minor Premiership with a last round win over the Greater Sydney Rams. Meanwhile Queensland Country would use that loss as inspiration to go on an undefeated run right up until the last round where an after the siren loss to the Perth Spirit saw them…

Well that week was just ridiculous. And this time I don’t mean the scheduling of that Barbarians match. It was an amazing last round of the NRC#4 – a round deserving of having its best players available (let it go Reg…). As it was the Eagles took it to the limit with Brisbane City that basically knocked the two time Premiers (Brisbane) out of contention and gave the 6th placed Perth Spirit the slightest hope. Next the Rays knocked off the Drua in Fiji ruling out any chance of a finals match in the islands. With the Rams unable to…

Background: The Wallabies play Japan in Japan almost two years to the day from when the Rugby World Cup Final will be being played in the same venue. As much as we’d like to think this may be a wonderful bit of ‘good for the global game’ decision making, it is far more likely to be a simple 2019 reconnaissance mission. The match will be an opportunity to build on the positives the gained from their defeat of New Zealand in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago (ignoring some of the negatives of the late win over the Barbarians last…

After one of the most dramatic rounds of NRC in Round 8 we now run the risk of having one of the most underwhelming. From my count we had three upsets in the first three games last weekend all of which were played on the Saturday.  Queensland Country secured a home final when they became the first team to defeat the Drua in Fiji. Brisbane City were unable to back up the performance of their state-mates as the Rams produced a memorable 2nd half at Ballymore to claim a wonderful win. Next up the Sydney Rays became the first team…