Author: Nick Wasiliev

Friday Rugby News has Rob Clarke calling it quits, more bloody silence, nervous Kiwis and plenty of welcome returns. Clarke Calls it Quits For months we’ve heard next to nothing from the ARU, with talk about decisions behind the closed doors of the HQ in St Leonards, and whisperings and apparent disagreements running rife in the media. So, if there was any indication of what actually is happening, then yesterday we may have got a glimpse of it: the chief operating officer Rob Clarke officially tendered his resignation. Touted as the next in line after Bill Pulver is sacked resigns, Clarke’s removal couldn’t…

Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh chew the fat on all the latest in Aussie rugby, and in light of the most recent match between the Reds and Waratahs (and other Super Rugby results this week), some ranting was well overdue. WARNING – Mild language 1. Were the Queensland Reds robbed? 2. Which is the better race in the Australian conference currently: the race for first or the race for last? 3. If a Super Rugby team is cut, should the foreign player policy be cut as well? 4. What is the most damning statistic in Australian rugby at the moment?…

Sorry Reg, look away now. In front of 18,781 fans at Suncorp Stadium, the Waratahs have managed their seventh win in a row against the Queensland Reds, downing them 26-29  in a fiery encounter that actually, for once, truly lived up to the hype.  I hear the angry online rugby supporters circling… But I’m going to be honest here, coming from a neutral perspective: I really enjoyed this match. Both sides have had tough, tough seasons so far. The players confidence is absolutely shot. The fans are angry. So what did they do? They brought it back to one of…

Friday rugby news has Pek Cowan commenting on the Force situation, Changes to the Lions Tour format, rumblings about the All Blacks squad for the Lions, and the Waratahs falling on desperate times. Pek Comments Pek Cowan has come out in support of his teammates, saying that they are focusing on trying to play as best they can for their fans and that the ARU situation is “out of our control.” His comments come just after the ARU declined two invitations to attend a meeting with RugbyWA. It is understood that the Western Force, through it’s ‘Own the Force’ campaign, is close to closing…

Rugby Reg, Hugh and Matt are back to chin wag on the latest topics in Aussie rugby, from Super Rugby to Wallaby selection to the Lions tour. The Five Burning Questions: 1. How many matches will the British & Irish Lions win on the New Zealand tour? 2. Where to now for the Waratahs? 3. Was the improved performances by the Force and Rebels a sign of better things to come? 4. Who’s going to play Hooker for the Wallabies in 2017? 5. Will the Aussie Womens Sevens team be able to bounce back and defend their title?

The Western Force have gone down in a nail-biting affair against the Chiefs in front of 14,000 strong crowd on a hot evening in Perth to remind all of Super Rugby (and especially some people who will not be named on the East Coast), that rugby is very much alive and well in the West, and that Aussies can ACTUALLY PLAY RUGBY.  Australian rugby had been, to put it at it’s mildest, god awful in Round 9. However, as they have for most rounds this year, the Force made a great game of it against their much more fancied opponents.…

Friday Rugby News has Steve Hansen playing mind games, Cheika having a succession plan, a PRO12 solution for South Africa and  a legend of French rugby retiring. “Gat” and Mouse games begin All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen has started up the mind games, after Warren Gatland announced his squad for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. In an interview with TVNZ, Hansen heaped plenty of praise on the selections, stating “”It’s going to be a very good side that come with a lot of expectation.” “It’ll be interesting to see how they cope with that… People expect…

Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh return once again to talk about all things rugby, covering the big topics from all things Super Rugby to Aussie Sevens to Wallaby selection. They were joined this week by former Wallaby Ben Darwin to talk about the effects of cutting teams, player cohesion, and how that affects the recent record of the Wallabies. The Five Burning Questions: 1. How will reducing the numbers of teams affect Wallaby performances? 2. It is right to exclude the Brumbies from consideration on being cut? 3. What was the bigger statement made by the Melbourne Rebels last week, the win or…

Friday rugby news has Cheika confident in downsizing, Cross suggesting a Super Rugby deathmatch, big names back for the Queensland Reds (again), and the Aussie Sevens team plans for Singapore. Come on Cheika! Wallabies coach Michael Cheika may have brought himself into the firing line of an already fuming rugby public, when he announced that  he was confident that the demise of an Australian Super Rugby team will not result in a flood of talent being lost overseas. With people and players concerned about whether a team being cut will trigger a tsunmai of player movements, Cheika made it clear that ““No-one’s going…

Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh are back once again, and with such a turbulent week on the Super Rugby front, have plenty to talk about. They were joined this week by the first ever player to be signed by the Western Force, and former Wallaby, Brendan Cannon, to talk about the impacts of cutting a team, and his opinion on the ARU’s handling of the restructuring process. WARNING – may contain a couple of Sugar Honey Ice Teas. The Five Burning Questions: What is Canno’s opinion of the ARU’s handling of the Super Rugby restructuring? What will be the impacts of…

In what has been a very turbulent year so far for Super Rugby, the long-awaited answer to the restructuring of the competition has been released yesterday by SANZAAR. Now everyone will have their own opinion on this decision, and Green and Gold Rugby always get lots of comments, messages and opinions about this. Many of us here often have many differing opinions ourselves on the game, so I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on this. Let me tell you what I think. I think the decision to cut either the Western Force or the Melbourne Rebels from Super…

Friday rugby news has: The OwnTheForce campaign officially up and running, Skelton getting savaged across the ditch, The ARU getting savaged by Bob Dwyer, and a very familiar face returning for the Blues. OwnTheForce shares officially available After announcing their prospectus on the 29th March, the Western Force have officially made their shares available to the public for people to buy. After getting over 4600 pledges with their OwnTheForce campaign, fans can now officially buy shares in the club. The official statement  says: “We are delighted to announce that from today, the offer to buy shares in the Western Force Owners is live. “Now is…

Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh are back once again, talking about all the latest in Australian rugby. They were joined this week by guest speaker David Begg, President of the Sydney Rugby Union, to talk Intrust Super Shute Shield and provide his perspective on the state of Australian rugby. The five burning questions: 1. What are David Begg’s hopes for the Intrust Super Shute Shield in 2017? 2. What is David Begg’s perspective on where Australian rugby is currently heading? 3. Does RUPA’s ‘Stronger as Five’ Partition argue a good case for retaining five teams? 4. Where to now for…

God damn it! As an Aussie fan, is that hard to ask for good-old fashioned running rugby?! Well, while our teams are certainly lacking, this week (like last week) sees the Kiwis and Argentinians leading the way once again with exciting rugby, with South Africa not too far behind.  Hurricanes 41-15 Highlanders This had ‘cracking match’ written all over it. The Hurricanes had been brought back down to Earth last week. The Highlanders had got their first win last week. It was all set. And running rugby it delivered in spades! In front of a boisterous crowd of 17,000 people,…

In the penultimate week of the Six Nations, we have the English smashing records (and the Scottish) and claiming the championship a week early, the French smashing the Italians in Rome, and the Welsh winning a cracking arm wrestle against the Irish with a score line that  made it look like a smashing. And, while the winner of the tournament is all wrapped up, the stage has been set for even more records to tumble next week… Embed from Getty Images Rhys Webb passes the ball WALES 22 – IRELAND 9 By Nick Wasiliev The Irish came into this match as the…

The Six Nations are back and served us some interesting bending of the rules, some angry coaches, some ruined campaigns, and a compelling setup for the final two weeks.  Those Cheeky Italians Where else to begin but the match that everyone is talking about. Eddie Jones had talked post-match about how he expected the Italians had planned something, but little did he think it would be this. The Italians cheekily exploited a rule in the rule book outlined here: 16.5 (c) Players joining or rejoining the ruck. A player joining a ruck must do so from behind the foot…

Kicking off our previews of the Kiwi conferences, it seems appropriate to start with last years winners, the Hurricanes. The men in black and gold will be aiming to become the fifth team in Super Rugby history (and fourth Kiwi team), to win back-to-back championships. The Hurricanes hail out of New Zealand’s beautiful capital, Windy Wellington. Until last year’s grand final, the Hurricanes had the rather depressing honour of being the only Kiwi team that had never won a Super Rugby title. But, last year on a rainy night in at the Cake Tin, they took down fellow foundation battlers,…

This week we look at all things Brisbane Tens, as well as a quick round up of the Aussie preseason matches. AUSSIES STRUGGLED IN ‘RUGBY HEAVEN’ Well, it was indeed a tournament to savour at the Brisbane Tens this weekend, with some electric rugby being served up to the rugby punters over two stinking hot days. For the fans, it was a chance to see a new exciting brand of rugby, while for the players and coaches (especially from the Australian and New Zealand franchises), it served as a handy hit out to blow away many of the…

So, here comes the fun part  – the culmination of my special look at the structure of Super Rugby. The current system is complicated, demanding on players, and an unattractive product. So what is a viable option? Well, a good place to start is looking at the other options that have been proposed. The most notable was this video released in 2014 (when the current restructuring was announced) by FutureOfSuperRugby.com, a group based in New Zealand. This is located in the link below: Now, obviously there are several issues with this video, mostly notably the idea that the Kings…

Part II (Proposed Idea put forward by SANZAAR) Following from my article yesterday we come to the complicated bit. Many fans have talked about numerous ideas, from reverting back to the round robin nature of Super 14, to returning to the three conference structure with more derby matches, to cutting South Africa out of the competition entirely, to taking the format back to Super 12. SANZAAR are planning to meet in February of this year before the start of the season to determine changes to the format, with most of the talks focused on recommendations made by consultants group Accenture,…