Author: Nick Wasiliev

Wednesday Rugby News sees Lealiifano returning home, big plans for the Wallaroos, the second part of the Super W squads and Gordon looking to knock off the Wallaby scrumhalf. [one_half last=”no”] Coming home to the Herd He’s back. It’s a sight that many in the Brumbies camp have been waiting for. After two long years, Christian Lealiifano will officially be starting at flyhalf for their final pre-season trial. Since being diagnosed with Leukaemia in August 2016, Lealiifano has only played one game, being a bench appearance in the Brumbies quarterfinal loss last year. However, with him making a full recovery, he has…

Tuesday’s Rugby News sees us farewell a legend of the game, redevelopment on the cards for Ballymore, squads announced for the maiden Super W season and more bad news for Beale. [one_half last=”no”] Wallaby great Sir Nicholas Shehadie passes away Aussie rugby is mourning the loss of legendary skipper Sir Nicholas Shehadie, who passed away on Sunday night, aged 92. A pivotal figure in the growth of the game in this country, Shehadie enjoyed a lengthy period wearing the Green and Gold, with over 30 tests and a hundred games for our country between 1946 and 1958. During that time, he also served…

Monday’s Rugby News sees the aftermath of the Brisbane Tens, all Super Rugby coaches on the same footing, more news on both the RA and WA front, and the latest results from the Six Nations. [one_half last=”no”] Blues, Queensland tally up at Tens I think everyone can agree that the Brisbane Tens was, once again, a real highlight of the pre-season. We had tries, big hits, and even the Honey Badger attempting to channel his inner Bob Hawke. On the results front, the end result on the Mens side was much to be expected. The New Zealand teams dominated the…

Friday’s Rugby News sees Beale out of the Brisbane Tens,  De Villiers heading to Zimbabwe, Dingo Deans having his two cents worth, and the latest Six Nations goss. [one_half last=”no”] Beale Out On the eve of the Brisbane Tens, it’s been announced that Kurtley Beale has had to withdraw from the competition due to an elbow injury. The loss is a big one for the Tahs, who will fall back on the experience of Damien Fitzpartick to lead them into the competition. It’s also frustrating for the competition’s organisers. Beale was one of the major poster boys for the event. However,…

Thursday’s Rugby News has Twiggy pushing ahead, what Quade Cooper has been up to, Barnes weighing in on the Sunwolves, and more Brisbane Tens squads. [one_half last=”no”] Twiggy puts his foot down RA boss Raelene Castle commented at the start of this week about the trip she had when she visited WA to see the many justifiably disgruntled members of the rugby community. Well, yesterday Twiggy had a say of his own: that regardless of whether RA approve of it or not, the IPRC will be going ahead in 2019. Castle mentioned that her and Twiggy had some encouraging discussions around the competition,…

Wednesday’s Rugby News see’s Coleman taking the captaincy, Thorn knuckling down, the Brumbies bringing back the glory days, and more selections for the Brisbane Tens. [one_half last=”no”] Captain Coleman The Melbourne Rebels have officially announced their captain for the 2018 season, with Wallaby and former Western Force lock Adam Coleman taking up the mantle for the franchise’s eighth season. Coleman is one of a dozen Force players who made the journey over to Melbourne to join their coach Dave Wessels. The recent history between the two clubs has been a complicated one, with both being on the chopping block as the…

Tuesday’s Rugby News sees Clark talking tens, the French in hot water, Miller settling into Tah life, and the girls cleaning up again. [one_half last=”no”] Talking Tens with Cam Clark The Brisbane Tens is set to kick off again this weekend, and the Waratahs could be in for a tough tournament with their squad missing many of their marquee players apart from tournament ambassador Kurtley Beale. But, according to Cam Clark, that doesn’t mean the men from New South Wales are taking the tournament lightly. “You obviously can’t play the game you’d like to play coming into the Super Rugby season but there’s…

The news is back, ladies and gents! Hope that all you GAGRs had a wonderful Christmas and new year, and have put the woes of 2017 behind you. I’m back from break and keen to get back into all things rugby. So, without further ado, lets begin… [one_half last=”no”] Sevens Heaven God, it’s been a good couple of weeks for our Sevens teams! Following the Mens and Womens clean sweep of the Sevens in Sydney last week, the boys have picked up a very respectable third place in Hamilton, defeating the hosts New Zealand by one point in the bronze play-off. Who…

The reviews are done, the changes have been made to the coaching structure, the players recruited and a new home found. It is against this backdrop that the NSW Waratahs are preparing for in 2018. The team’s pre-season trials are locked in, with two games against 2015 Super Rugby champions the Highlanders in Queenstown on 2 February and the Melbourne Rebels at Brookvale Oval in Sydney on 15 February, plus the Global Brisbane Tens in mid-February. But the challenge of this coming season is not lost on Head Coach Daryl Gibson, who has also taken on the role of defence…

It’s the final news day for the year. Friday’s Rugby News has concerned Fijians, some concerned Reds, and news from the guys and gals of Aussie Sevens rugby. [one_half last=”no”] Rokocoko warns Starting overseas, a major topic of discussion has begun to surface in the Top 14. On Wednesday of this week, Stade Francis players Josaia Raisuqe and Waisea Nayacalevu stood trial over a drunken brawl in a famous Paris nightspot. Raisuqe was also charged with sexual assault. The trial has highlighted many issues in regards to player conduct outside of the rugby field, but also conversely, has raised issues about Pacific Islander player treatment,…

Thursday’s Rugby News sees Kepu being handed a well-deserved ban, the Wallabies falling down the rankings, some more positive Super Rugby News and some more positive club rugby news. [one_half last=”no”] It’s a fair cop The aftermath of the Wallabies-Scotland match continues, as Sekope Kepu was handed a well deserved three week ban for his god-awful attempt of a ‘clean out’ on Hamish Watson. For his troubles, World Rugby has slapped Kepu with a three week ban. The ban will be held over into next year, meaning Kepu will miss the opening two matches of the Waratahs Super Rugby campaign against the…

With the Wallabies season finishing up last weekend, the lads came together for our final podcast of the year. Rugby Reg, Matt, Hugh and Jamie were all still traumatised from the horrifying performance they had to watch on Sunday morning, and so used this podcast as a cathartic healing process to get their feelings off their chest about the year we’ve had. Hopefully, it’ll help you too. The Five Burning Questions: 1. What the f**k happened… again? 2. Can we draw any positives from that Scotland match? 3. Is Cheika’s job on the line? 4. What was our highs and lows from the 2017 season? 5. What can we look…

Friday’s Rugby News sees the Scotland squad announced, Karmichael looking to 2019, the Waratahs on Super Rugby, and Coleman going to you-know-where. [one_half last=”no”] Late to the Party Yep, it’s almost become a habit that, just before I publish the Friday News, the Wallaby squad is dropped. So this time I planned ahead, and low and behold, Scotland release their squad first instead. Go figure. There will be four changes to the side that nearly beat the All Blacks, with Sean Maitland, Grant Gilchrist, Ryan Wilson and Simon Berghan all set to don the famous navy blue jersey. “It’s moving on – we…

Thursday’s Rugby News sees Squeak retiring, people coming to Cheik’s defence, the Brumbies picking up a major young find and Uelese setting a bar high for himself in Melbourne. [one_half last=”no”] Squeak to retire at Murrayfield In case you missed it, Australia’s second most capped Wallaby and our fifth most skippered captain, Stephen Moore, is fast-tracking his plans to retire at the end of next year, announcing that the final test of this year against Scotland will also serve as his final test match. According to the Courier Mail, Squeak had been mulling over the decision for weeks, before making…

Well, that sucked. While we weren’t able to acquire the services of the Eggchaser lads to get their insight on the England victory,  Matt, Hugh and Reg had plenty to discuss about the game itself, and where the Wallabies go from here as they head into the final match of the season against Scotland. WARNING – coarse language The Five Burning Questions: 1. What the f**k happened? 2. Who caught our eye on both teams? 3. The refereeing decisions: were they right or wrong? 4. How important is the Scotland game? 5. The Rebels signings: good or bad for Aussie rugby?

Friday’s Rugby News sees the fallout from the World Cup announcement, O’Driscoll calling for Bill to head down under, the Wallabies announcing their squad for the England test and a trio signing for the Rebels. [one_half last=”no”] France’s Fallout In what was a pretty unprecedented move, instead of going for something new and pick Ireland, or go where World Rugby wanted to go and pick South Africa, the voting parties decided to go where the money was, and picked France as the host of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The French triumphed 24 votes to South Africa’s 15 in the World Council voting process,…

Thursday’s Rugby News has us (finally) see the senate report handed down, more on the Wallaby chat, a description on the RWC selection, and the Brumbies relaunching their rugby academy. [one_half last=”no”] The Senate hands down its report (finally) Finally, after all the talk from the Senate, we finally have a report which cronicles the findings made from it’s meetings with Bill Pulver, Cameron Clyne and more. And to put it simply, there was plenty to talk about. The report highlighted eight major recommendations by which the game could be fixed, ranging from an ASIC review to new structures on player welfare. The…

We’re back to a standard hour and will be delivering you an early podcast this week. Matt and Hugh were in the chair to talk about the Wallabies-Wales match as well as the anticipated match-up against England. They were joined by Tim Cocker from The Eggchasers Podcast for all things on the Spring Tour, as well as by our producer Nick for the aftermath of the NRC final. The Five Burning Questions 1. What mark out of 10 do you give the Wallabies win over Wales? (feat. Tim) 2. Which Wallaby/Welsh player caught your eye with a strong performance? (feat. Tim) 3. Who are…

Friday’s Rugby New sees a new Wallaby squad, the latest on the home front, Ireland being upset and the Kangaroos playing the All Blacks (Yep, that’s actually not a joke). [one_half last=”no”] Hodging your bets… As the Wales match approaches, the Wallabies will be looking to build on the progress set during the Rugby Championship and the test in Japan. One part of that test, having Reece Hodge at flyhalf, could play dividends as Michael Cheika looks to increase the depth in the flyhalf position. Hodge will be starting on the wing for the match against the Scarlets, but Mick Byrne admitted to…

Thursday’s Rugby News sees Coleman chatting, some troubles in Samoa, some talk from James Tuttle and some surprisingly worried Kiwis. [one_half last=”no”] Lions are a-waitin’ With the Wallabies landing in Wales earlier this week, thoughts now turn to the upcoming competition against the men in red. And Adam Coleman believes that it will be a different side to the one the Wallabies romped last year in Cardiff, with the end result of the Lions series feeding on to some good Wales form. “They’ve spent more time playing together (because of the Lions series),” he said to rugby.com.au. “I’m not sure…