Author: Skip

So, that’s the Rugby Championship done and dusted and we’ve a few weeks off before the spring tour gets underway, so let’s take a look at what we’ve learned. The Real Deal If we take a longer look at how the wallabies have progressed since the start of last year, it’s fair to say they’ve made real progress. The team started the season ranked 7 in the world, coming off 2020 with a couple of beltings by NZ, a close win plus two dour draws with Argentina that left us bottom on points difference of TRC table. Two thirds of…

Firstly, sorry for being late with this one. Now that I’ve have had my two vaccines against the global hoax, my employer decided to send me on a tour of the arse end of nowhere complete with non existent wifi, crap roads and barely drinkable tap water. No, it wasn’t New Zealand. Anyway, on with the show. Well, how does two on the bounce feel? Pretty good, especially given the opposition was the reigning world champions. So, let’s dive in and, for once, have a mostly feel good article. The Rennie Effect I debated what to call this one. Have…

Well, winning sure does feel better than losing, especially against quality opposition. So, unlike the last time out, we actually appear to have learned a few things and here are the things I got. Please stick your own in the comments. Quade Cooper Well, we sure learned something about him. Actually, to me, we were just reminded about him, namely that he is an eminently coachable player. The earliest expression of this that I recall was ten years ago when the Reds went to SA and beat the Stormers by kicking the leather off the ball to ensure field position…

Well, that wasn’t a lot of fun was it? I wasn’t sure how to write this and what I could say. I mean, honestly, did we really learn anything? So, thanks to the wit who operates the site’s twitter account, here are 5 things we should have learned before Bledisloe 2 3. The referee and Craig Joubert Mental Demons Winning at test level requires the ability to execute when it matters. One of McCaw’s greatest legacies is that when he took over as captain of NZ they had a reputation for choking when it mattered at World Cups but when…

Well, that wasn’t a lot of fun was it? I wasn’t sure how to write this and what I could say. I mean, honestly, did we really learn anything? So, thanks to the wit who operates the site’s twitter account, here are 5 things we should have learned before Bledisloe 2. Mental Demons Winning at test level requires the ability to execute when it matters. One of McCaw’s greatest legacies is that when he took over as captain of NZ they had a reputation for choking when it mattered at World Cups but when he left they thrived under pressure. …

I’ve decided that this site needs to reclaim this headline from the corporates over at RA who’ve taken to running their own version for the last little while, so with that, let’s dissect the week that was and pick through things to find a few points with discussing. Bledisloe One – Signs of Progress? I had the familiar old sinking feeling watching this game that we were on our way to copping a 45 point hiding and with the score at 33-8 it really felt that way. Sure, we’d given it a good rip in parts but there were some glaring…

So the Rugby Championship will soon be upon us and we will get to see how Dave Rennie’s Wallabies stack up against the New Zealanders and the rest. There’s also a few sub plots like how the Springboks will fare now the world champions can travel and whether Argentina can kick on from beating the All Blacks once as well as remaining undefeated against Australia. So, what do we hope to learn from the competition? Well, as a kind of high-level, completely undetailed preview (an excuse for “others know more than me”) I humbly submit the following, in no particular…

If you’ve been stuck in quarantine (and let’s face it, you should be) and you’ve a craving for a game cos the rugby’s all been cancelled, well, we’ve got you covered.  Below is selection of must-see games from YouTube to survive the isolation.  So, without further ado, here is what I came up with on my own and with the help of a twitter appeal. First up, the second Bledisloe in 1998 over in NZ.  The Wallabies dominated this game scoring 4 tries to be 27-9 up with 7 minutes left before a few late scores from NZ made the…

Whatever you say about Super Rugby conference system, it has pretty much failed to please anyone.  The Kiwis especially hate it as they feel their side’s chances of getting the home finals they deserve are dented by teams from weaker conferences getting home semis when they have far poorer results.  Crowds don’t seem to like it as attendance has declined and a total of 4 teams (a 22% failure rate) have left the competition with a fifth (the moondogs) having a questionable future. With this season being the last using the conference system, I thought it would be interesting argue that…

News broke this week that Waratahs and Wallabies back Kurtley Beale will play for UK outfit Wasps from the start of the 2016/7 season. Rumours of the deal had been circulating for some weeks but confirmation came Friday with the deal reportedly making Kurtley the highest paid player in the English Premiership. Beale will be paid £700,000 a year ($1.4 million) by Wasps, $400,000 a year more than Sam Burgess was paid during his time at Bath. Under the so-called “Giteau Law” Beale will still be eligible to play for the Wallabies as an overseas player and it seems…

A quick and somewhat dirty analysis of the recently released Reds 2015 financials reveals a serious situation. Yesterday GAGR’s facebook page posted a set of figures which revealed a disturbing financial situation north of the Tweed.  The Reds have gone from a modest $350,000 profit in ten months of 2014 to an alarming $2.1 million loss in one year (the Reds only supplied 10 months of 2014 in the report). The bad To make the figures slightly easier for me to interpret, I spent a few minutes on excel typing the figures in and then subtracting 2015 from the ten months…

How good was that? Pretty good but when you stop to think about it, many of us who’ve watched the Wallabies play since the world cup draw was made have thought, more often than not after a game, “The poms will still scrum us off the park”. So, now we’re all basking in the victory and in keeping with theme of having as many patented GAGR top 5 lists as we can, park your peepers on my selections for the “Top 5 Greatest Wallaby Away Wins of All Time”.  (To be updated 31 October 2015 – Ed.) Number 5. December 8 1984.  Going back…

The Reds host the side that gave them a thumping in Round 1, the conference leading Brumbies. Last Week In what was possibly the worst Reds performance since they last put in a performance like that, the Reds barely fired a shot against their great rivals from NSW.  Richard Graham’s smart arsery flopped and the team were without cohesion and, worse, mongrel.  Had the Tahs not also been coping with a dose of the yips, they might have been given a worse hiding than the Brumbies gave them a few weeks back. By contrast, the Brumbies roll into town off…

What did we learn from this past week’s action? 1 The Reds & The Force took a step back. Well, maybe the Reds marked time a bit but the Force certainly won’t be pleased. The boys from out west were second by a margin in most areas but will be especially dirty at their lack of bite in the tackle and general mongrel, an area where they usually do well.   To be fair, they were always going to be under the pump against an in form side with All Blacks right the way through it.  That said, they won’t…

The Reds head over the ditch for a tricky assignment against the Highlanders in Dunedin in what should be a highly entertaining match between two sides who can play great running rugby. Last Week The Reds had a horror week going into round two. They found themselves in the news for two of the worst reasons, a bad loss and then a star recruit being involved in a serious criminal case. They did really well to bounce back and win against a tough Force outfit.  They will have been very pleased with the way the scrum went and would have been…

What did this past weekend’s Super Rugby round 2 action teach us?

The Force roll into town fresh from knocking off the defending champs in Sydney to play a Reds team smarting after being given a lesson by the Brumbies. Late news – Due to the rain and other severe weather in and around Brisbane, this game is in some doubt of going ahead. A decision on whether it goes ahead will be made on Saturday at 8am Brisbane time. – Ed. Last Week Like the last time I wrote a preview for the Reds, they are coming off another shocker. This time though, instead of being fined for giving the refs a…

It’s time to take a look at the annual financial performance of the ARU.  Most of us know things are not rosy (as Green and Gold Rugby reported last year here) and it’s a major focus of the new CEO to fix things. So let’s see how the situation is. Financial It’s well known that the Lions tour saved the ARU’s financial bacon and without that windfall, things would’ve got pretty ugly.  Last year, they were in overall deficit by $2.75 million.  What’s worse was the state of the 2012 current acid test figures (acid test is current assets / current liabilities where…

The highflying highlanders are in Suncorp to take on the bottom placed Reds on Friday night. Last Week The Reds come off the bye having, one hopes, spent a lot time having a darn good look at themselves after copping a fair old hiding by the Crusaders at home and then losing their unbeaten record to the Rebels which cost them Quade for the rest of the season, Ed O’Donaghue a red card and Kev Horwill $2500 for giving it both barrels in the post match interview. The Highlanders went up against Sir Ruchie’s boys last week and lost the…

Both teams at the wrong end of the table looking to snap losing streaks meet at Suncorp this Saturday.  Last Week After starting really well and going into the sheds for oranges leading the Crusaders, the wheels fell totally off the bandwagon and the Reds shipped a hatful of tries to end up losing 29-57. It was a shocking 2nd half performance littered with amateur errors, tactical naivety and a lack of the required intensity. The Crusaders are a darn good side but the Reds just made easy for them to score soft tries. The Rebels, while also on the…