Author: Shane Sullivan

There was a period around 2011 when the Crusaders were our bunnies but no more. For a few years it’s been one way traffic for the Crusaders and the Reds have been barely a speed hump. And today should be no different. Which leaves me in a great place where I can just simple enjoy the rugby and not worry about a win. Unless we’re in with a sniff and then I’m stuffed. The Match Things went pretty much to script in the first ten minutes. Campbell Magnay coughed up the ball from the kick off and the Crusaders switched…

Good news drop bear fans. We’re a chance of winning this game against the Cheetahs. The Reds sit just one position below their 13 position and are just four points behind them. But it’s going to take another step up from the Reds. The Cheetahs play an exciting brand of rugby and they score a lot of tries. About twice as many as the Reds do, but they also let in a lot of tries. So what do the Reds need to do to win this? The Cheetahs haven’t named their team yet but I’m going to have a crack…

In their second week in South Africa the reds head to Newlands in Cape Town to take on one of the toughest assignments in Super rugby. The Stormers at home! They’re smarting from a defeat to the Cheetahs. The Reds were done by the Bulls at altitude. Two teams with a point to prove, one team with points on the board and the other team is the Reds. The Match The first half was played at a cracking pace with both sides looking to run the ball. The Reds scored first from a ruck penalty but it was the Stormers…

The Stormers sit in second place on the super Rugby ladder while, to their credit, the improving Reds sit in fourteenth. But that improvement doesn’t make the task that awaits them this weekend look any easier. Sure the Reds lineout and scrum stats are better than the Stormers but in almost every other metric the Stormers lead. The Stormers score more points, let less in, kick goals at a higher percentage, make more clean breaks, beat more defenders, kick more from hand, make more tackles, have a higher tackle conversion rate, concede less yellow cards, create more turnovers and concede…

Last week the Reds had their best game of rugby since… well it’s a long time okay. This week they have taken the long flight to South Africa and are facing the 4-5 Bulls at Altitude. Every Reds supporter is hoping ‘the boys’ can keep their momentum going but the Bulls are never easy beats at home. The Match The Bulls started the game at 100 miles an hour. Pressuring the Reds defence but the Reds scrambled well to keep the home team out. When the Reds got their first opportunity in the Bulls half they took it. They ran…

1. Worst Try – No Try decision… Wait for it… EVER! So I’m watching my recording of the Stormers doing a good job of taking on the Brumbies and beating them when Stormers winger Dillyn Leyds scoots up the right wing and dives over in the corner. My first thought was ‘he’s dropped that!’ I’d learnt from a TMO last round that you have to look at these things in ‘real time’ or they can look worse than they really are. So… I looked. Nup dropped it. So I fast forwarded because it was obviously a no try. And… Why…

Here it is – the G&GR writers’ Super Rugby team of the week for round 5. The Brumbies, Waratahs and the Rebels had wins whilst the Reds and Force lost but who made the team of the week? [one_third last=”no”] 1. Allan Alaalatoa The Brumbies scrum started a little slowly but the finished on top. As they did everywhere else. Allan was a big part of that. [/one_third] [one_third last=”no”] 2. Stephen Moore One of the old men of Australian rugby was at the top of his game. The lineout move for Pococks try was a thing of beauty. [/one_third] [one_third…

After the wash out and shillacking by the Crusadists I gave the Reds a pass despite the score. Tonight against the brumbies I’m hoping for better weather and hoping to see a few things on the feild. Defence. I’m hoping to see a more energetic defencive line. The almost placid line the Reds have run for a few years allows teams to eat up metres for a minimum of effort. I want to se a defensive line moving to cut space and time. Attack. STRUCTURE! something that we can look at and say ‘that’s the reds!’ and say it in…

Before this game the Reds writers got together and decided that instead of writing a full on review of the game we’d just answer these two questions. Learnings from this game for the season ahead (just one or perhaps two things that you got from this season that may impact the Reds Super Season. i.e. The scrum will still be a weapon, our defensive work is still shit etc. Who caught the eye. Just a player (experienced or otherwise) that impressed you in the game. Here are my thoughts; I went to the trial between the Reds and the…

Rugby World Cup 2015 Match 26: Wallabies starting XV to play England at Twickenham, London Saturday, October 3, 8:00pm local time (6:00am Sunday AEDT) 1. Scott Sio (12 Tests) 2. Stephen Moore (c) (97 Tests) 3. Sekope Kepu (58 Tests) 4. Kane Douglas (18 Tests) 5. Rob Simmons (55 Tests) 6. Scott Fardy (25 Tests) 7. Michael Hooper (vc) (47 Tests) 8. David Pocock (51 Tests) 9. Will Genia (61 Tests) 10. Bernard Foley (22 Tests) 11. Rob Horne (28 Tests) 12. Matt Giteau (97 Tests) 13. Tevita Kuridrani (26 Tests) 14. Adam Ashley-Cooper (vc) (109 Tests) 15. Israel Folau (34 Tests) Finishers: 16.…

City make the trip up the range to Toowoomba to take on Queensland country in what many consider their Heartland. City are undefeated this season but Country will grow a leg with a decent crowd behind them. The Match It only took three minutes for the country side to cross for the first try. Country fed a scrum ten metres out from the City try line. The city scrum marched forward but Radike Samo produced one of his famous one handed pickups and snuck down the blind side of the scrum. City’s backrow didn’t react and Junior Loloifi was left…

The Wallabies return to a ground where their record is terrible against the opposition who troubles them like no one else. Can Australia beat the odds or will New Zealand continue their Bledisloe dominance. The Match The first quarter of the game was hard but quiet as two strong teams felt each other out. Australia probably had the better of the play despite the 3-3 score. But right on the 20 minute mark New Zealand turned over Wallaby ball in a tackle and Dan Carter used the quick ball, broke the Australian line and put Dane Coles through to run…

Let’s look at the scrums from Saturday’s test match in Mendoza. The general consensus is we struggled for most of the game but came back in the final quarter. But the only way to be sure is to look at the scrums one at a time. Scrum 1 Feed – Australia Won by – Australia Completed – Yes The surface at Mendoza was a problem from the very first scrum. This scrum was on its third reset before we got one kind of completed. The first two reset were because of foot slippage from the Pumas tighthead and at first…

Let’s face it we have a wee bit of trouble beating Argentina. In fact last game we didn’t! That defeat handed the South Americans their first win in the Rugby Championship. EVER! Adding to a mild sense of foreboding is the average one try difference in the scores in our last six matches. The Wallabies have tightened up the ruck area by adding Ben McCalman and David Pocock to the back row and would be hoping to improve their scrum by adding the worlds best pencil legged tighthead prop in Greg Holmes. The fact that Holmes is a far less…

The Highlanders hosted the Chiefs in sudden death rugby at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Who ever losses will probably call their season a disappointment. All I know is it will be played at a million miles an hour. The Match The game started with a controversial no try to the Patrick Osborne for the Highlanders. The TMO saw a foot on the line that no one else… on the planet… could see. That didn’t stop either team running everything from everywhere. After the first quarter of the game the Highlanders had probably had the better of the play. The…

Super Rugby Teams Round 18 2015 BYE:

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The Reds managed 30 minutes of amazing rugby a week ago. Can they build on that base or was it a beautiful mirage? The Sharks have had nearly as bad a season as the Reds but the luck hasn’t fallen their way. This looks like a crucial match for both teams. The Sharks look to take a win away from the Australasian tour and the Reds trying to earn back respect. The Match The game started slowly as the Reds spent most of the first five minutes in the Sharks half. They had two good opportunities to score but knocked…

Super Rugby Teams Round 15 2015 BYE: