Author: Nick Wasiliev

I could make a joke about the fact that nearly half the Rebels team and the Rebels coach played for the Force, but anyway.  The Melbourne Rebels won the Battle of The Growth States, winning in super time over a spirited Western Force outfit 20-25. In what was a dogged, see-sawing clash, that saw no love lost between the sides, and they could only be separated by a last gasp try at the death to the men from Melbourne. The Force came into this game as only slight outsiders, but seemed hungry to take some revenge over Melbourne, having made it clear…

The Brumbies showcased a masterclass in depth and defence, winning 0-24 against the Western Force in Sydney last night. The match marks the first time since 2007 that the Force have been held scoreless in a game.  Going into the match, the Force were hopeful of making history, having not tasted victory over the men from the capital since 2013, a losing streak longer than against any other Australian opposition. They had been showing some outstanding form despite two close losses to the Waratahs and Reds, and some fans had felt that an upset was on hand, given the Brumbies’ recent…

Now that’s what I call a round of rugby! Following up the incredibly entertaining Reds-Force match was not going to be easy, but low and behold, the Brumbies and Tahs did it! The Brumbies claimed an incredible last gasp 23-24 victory over the Waratahs in Sydney last night, in a match that had literally everything. The reaction I’ve been seeing online from many Tahs fans has been negative: they choked, Simmons is a bad skipper, no direction, etc. You know, the usual buzzwords. You won’t be getting any of that here. This was, in my opinion, the best performance by the…

The Green and Gold Rugby Show is back for another week, with Rugby Reg, Matt Rowley and Hugh Cavill sitting down to discuss the first few weeks of Super Rugby AU, including the return of the Force. The Five Burning Questions: 1. Are you enjoying rugby being back? 2. Was Reds v Rebels that bad? 3. How’d you rate the return of the Force? 4. What’s your take on the law changes? 5. What do we look for in a commentator? See Hugh’s article in reference to question five.  Green And Gold Rugby · GAGR Podcast 323 – Cavill The Crooner

The Waratahs have claimed their first victory of the Super Rugby AU competition on a historic night that saw the Western Force (finally!) return to Super Rugby.  It was no secret over the last few years that ever since the Force had been cut from Super Rugby, there had been a great big hole in the Aussie side of the competition for many.  The sheer tenacity of the fans in the West for refusing to let their team die with this announcement was nothing short of incredible, and the success the club went on to achieve both with Global Rapid…

The footy is back, ladies and gentlemen! And with it comes the podcasts. To coincide with the return of Super Rugby AU, The Dropped Kick-Off returns for another round of Q&A, with Nick, Nathan, Jack and Dylan from the GAGR News Team answering the tough questions posed by rugby folk on the Twittersphere. The Questions: 1. Ballymore Rat – Who’s going to win Aus Super Rugby and why is it the Reds? 2. Jamie Hevia – 5 teams – is it sustainable? Both here and in NZ, purely domestic comp. as great as it is. I think not. If domestic…

Do feel it in the air? Do you smell the fresh cut grass? Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of rugby returning. And where there’s rugby, there’s the Green and Gold Rugby Show. Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh return to chat about the upcoming Super Rugby AU competition, which players they’re most looking forward to seeing, whether the recent change of events has given them hope things in Australian Rugby can turn around, and other news from the rugby world.

This is a continuing series based on a letter correspondence I had with 72-veteran Wallaby, and highest capped Brumbies player in history, Ben Alexander. In our final section of this series, we discuss a topic high on the agenda of many rugby fans, around marketing and getting people to watch the game. NW: Marketing has always been a major issue for rugby; competing with the likes of League, Soccer and AFL, not to mention many associated perceptions around the game, and who plays it. For me, there are two things we need to focus on: how the game is perceived and…

This is a continuing series based on a letter correspondence I had with 72-veteran Wallaby, and highest capped Brumbies player in history, Ben Alexander. In part three, we followed on from our discussion around rugby culture and began to ask questions around the running of the game, firstly to resolve COVID-19, and beyond. This was written just after Peter Wiggs had resigned from the RA Board. BA: I’m an absolute tragic for the Batman Trilogy, and there’s a scene in the Dark Knight between Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes that I think has some relevance to what’s going…

This is a continuing series based on a letter correspondence I had with 72-veteran Wallaby, and highest capped Brumbies player in history, Ben Alexander. In part two, we followed on from our discussion around one thing we could change about rugby, and began to discuss rugby culture in Australia. BA: I agree that “whole game alignment” is absolutely vital to the game’s future. Until everyone is rowing towards the same bright future, I fear we will never get there. A centralised system will not only help with the on-field alignment, but if done well, should reduce operating costs for all…

What fascinating times we live in. Right now, in the time of COVID-19 and social distancing, the merit and fabric of our game, it’s management and it’s support networks have been put to the test in ways we’ve never experienced before. The result has led the public unearthing of many ugly sides to our game that have bubbled under the surface for years. While we now seem to have some sort of guarantee for the future of the game with a new chairman in Hamish McLennan, Dave Rennie staying on, and a new Super Rugby competition set for a July…

Head to our Twitter page if you need to consult the GAGR hotline after this episode. Where the hell to begin? Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh finally sit down to chat about the last month of Australian rugby and, no holes barred, try to pick through where our game goes from here, if anywhere. The Three Brutally Honest Questions: 1. What’s been the single craziest thing to happen in Australian rugby in the last month? 2. Is this how it ends? 3. How can we come back? Check out Reg’s article referenced in this podcast here. 

Yep, they’ve given us another crack. The Dropped Kick-Off is back for the first time in 2020, here to talk about all the left-field and fun topics in rugby. With the game on hiatus, we decided to kick off the year with an old-fashioned Q&A, throwing it out to the Twitter-Sphere and asking for questions, thoughts, hot-takes and opinions. For our first Q&A, Nick was joined by the wizards behind our daily news bulletins, Jack O’Rourke, Nathan Williamson and Dylan Langes to give their thoughts. *WARNING: Mild Coarse Language* Topics of discussion: – Jamie Hevia/ Sydney NRC- Some people have…

Our new retro series continues yet again on the Green and Gold Rugby Show. This week, Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh sit down with to talk about the famous Hong Kong Clutch, when the Wallabies finally broke their losing record in 2010 against the All Blacks with a clutch win after the siren. The lads were lucky enough to sit down with Wallaby and Brumbies legend (and champion Finska player), Ben Alexander, and hear his thoughts on the game. Watch the full match here.

Our new retro series continues on the Green and Gold Rugby Show. This week, Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh sit down with to talk about the 2000 Wallabies victory in Wellington against the All Blacks, complete with a famous kick from John Eales to win the match. The lads were lucky enough to sit down with the Wallaby prop of that game, Fletcher Dyson, and hear his thoughts on a famous moment in Bledisloe history. Watch the full match here.

Times are tough, but when the going get’s tough, the tough return with a new series of classic podcasts analysing the greatest rugby performances of the last twenty years. Stay safe and get comfortable, the Green and Gold Rugby Show is back with a vengeance, and to kick off this new series Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh start with the 2000 Tri-Nations opener between the All Blacks and the Wallabies. Even better, they’re joined by Wallabies legend and outside-centre in that match, Dan Herbert. Get your ears warm, more podcasts are on the way. And here’s the full match on YouTube:

Yep, it’s taken a while but the Green and Gold Rugby Show is back in 2020, and this week Hugh and Rugby Reg do a deep dive on the Super Rugby teams, the TV rights, and the social media storm whipped up by the GAGR faithful that has made it all the way to SANZAAR’s front door.

While this period of time over Christmas is traditionally supposed to be the ‘off-season’, the turn of events over the last few weeks has made this period so interesting that we’ve been semi-considering getting the news boys back out or doing new podcasts.  Rugby is in a very weird place right now, with the beginning of the Rennie era upon us, a board clean out on the cards, a critical new TV deal being negotiated, and players being signed up for long-term contracts left, right and centre. With all of this change comes the latest ringing out of demands from…

The Dropped Kick-Off returns for our final episode of the year, and we’ve got a beauty to bring our rugby coverage to a close for 2019. This week, Nick was joined by Wallaby great Richard Tombs to discuss his rugby career, what rugby means to him, his transition out of the game, how the community got behind him after his spinal injury, and why rugby has a culture like no other sport. Even comes with a couple of cheeky comments about the 2016 Shute Shield Grand Final. In addition, you can check out the amazing work Tombsy is doing with his foundation, Guns Out for…

With the Springboks winning the World Cup and the 2019 season coming to a close, the Green and Gold Rugby Show returns for our final podcast of the year (pending a potential Wallaby coach announcement). Rugby Reg, Matt and Hugh sit down to review the season that was, and look ahead with optimism to what lies ahead in 2020. The Five Burning Questions: 1. What were our thoughts on the Grand Final? 2. What was our highlight of the 2019 season? 3. Who was our player of the year? 4. What was the downer of the 2019 season? 5. What are you excited for about…