Author: Zeno
Today’s rugby news: it’s the Lions Squad
Wednesday’s rugby news includes the latest on the George Smith loan affair.
In today’s rugby news: Brumbies, Lions, Boks, Fox.
In today’s rugby news: the new Wallabies jersey revealed, and Pat McCabe returns from last year’s broken neck.
Thursday’s news: Higgers helms Rebels, Link linked to Ireland, Welsh heading to Oz, Kiwis flocking to Japan.
You know how it goes — some blokes can’t handle success, can’t handle their grog, can’t handle themselves in public. Case in point: CSU Rugby’s Charlie Nordfeldt. (Beware: frequent coarse language and sub-adult themes.) [youtube id=”XPNn8WE7ElY” width=”600″ height=”350″]
Sam’s back. Kiwis, assume the ‘brace’ position… (That includes you, Robbie.) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lyXIkNUZKY[/youtube]
Tonight’s Test match at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane decides the Castrol Edge Tri Nations championship for 2011. The Wallabies go into this game hoping to take the title for the first time since 2001. But it’s hard to avoid the feeling that there are more important things than the shiny TN trophy on the table. It hasn’t been a vintage year for the competition. Bookended by the SupeRugby finals and the coming World Cup, it hasn’t been contended as fiercely as in past years. South Africa sent a second-string squad to play the first two matches, and New Zealand followed…
Sam Ikin’s latest diatribe is online. It’s guaranteed to be underpants-free and the level of violence is entirely appropriate for the timeslot. Click to watch: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFzT2GiNpFg[/youtube]
The 30-man All Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup was announced today. The roster contains eight players who were in the 2003 squad and nine from 2007’s, while some of the other names have been on the Test rugby scene for a few years but have never quite seemed to make their black jerseys all their own. It’s not an entirely dissimilar situation to the one New Zealand faced in 2007, when Graham Henry’s selection policy kept his team from gelling properly in the lead-up to the Cup. To illustrate the syndrome, I had to make surprisingly few changes to…
In about 24 hours’ time the 30-man Wallabies squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup tournament will be announced. As I write this, coach Robbie ‘Dingo’ Deans is holed up in a hotel room in Durban, thrashing out his options with the aid of a corkboard and drawing pins, yellow writing pads, a packet of textas, a box of little Lego men, a carton of Dunhills and a litre of Johnnie Walker Black, with only a copy of Bret Harris’s Rocky Elsom: Leader of the Wallabies for company and inspiration. Not bloody likely. Dingo’s invariable daily routine includes a dip in the…
Just a quick post. Carrying on its good work last week with the first Bledisloe Cup Test match, the Nine Network will broadcast tonight’s Tri Nations match from Durban live across the country on free-to-air channels. Stay up to watch or set the recorder as you prefer — but take note, this broadcast is not necessarily on the same channel as last week’s. In most areas it will go out on Channel 9, not 90 (GEM). Check the Freeview TV Guide to make sure you don’t miss it.
Another round, another week closer to the finals. In Brisbane, Brothers, Easts and University are jostling for the minor premiership; in Sydney Eastwood sit immovable atop the table while Sydney Uni’s challenge gains irresistible momentum; in Canberra, Wests, Tuggeranong and Gungahlin are booked for the play-offs. Just for the record, I tipped the winner in 13 of the 14 matches played last Saturday. Queensland Premier Rugby Round 14 Results: GPS 13 def. Sunshine Coast 6 Norths 29 def. Wests 26 Brothers 47 def. Gold Coast 6 University 39 def. Sunnybank 18 Easts 22 def. Souths 0 Report unavailable. Ladder:…
Counting this week there are five rounds of home-and-away left to play in the Brisbane comp, five in Sydney and just three in Canberra. Sydney’s finals series has room for six teams but the others admit just four. It’s getting serious. Queensland Premier Rugby Round 13 Results: Norths 31 def. Easts 20 Brothers 24 def. University 22 Sunshine Coast 34 def. Souths 22 Gold Coast 40 def. Wests 34 GPS 37 def. Sunnybank 36 Reports say that the Eagles–Tigers match was an ugly one, with the Tigers’ structures broken by injuries and the Eagles overpowering them in…
A couple of weeks ago we ran an article about the Rebel Army’s campaign to get Wallabies Test matches shown live on free-to-air television in traditionally non-rugby markets. Now, in a surprising and pleasing breakthrough, the Nine Network has rolled over like an eager-to-please puppy and will be showing this Saturday’s first Bledisloe Cup Test match right across the country. That’s right: rugby fans in all cities and regional areas will be able to watch the Wallabies play live — from 5:30PM in the eastern states, 5:00PM in South Oz and Darwin, and 3:30PM in the west. As far as…
Hi gang. Here are the details of tomorrow’s matches — plus last round’s results and the comp ladders — so you can stay abreast of the who, where and when of your city’s premier club rugby smorgasbord. The Friday workload is getting away from me so I’m putting the important stuff up on the blog now, and I’ll be back this evening (or first thing tomorrow, at a pinch) to add my ill-informed, highly questionable comments and prognostications. UPDATE: supplementary bullshit has now been loaded. Queensland Premier Rugby Round 12 Results: Brothers 31 def. GPS 24 Norths 39 def…
This feels like a funny start to the Test season. The Super finals kept us occupied to the death, and then suddenly the Wallabies were going into camp. There’s been none of the usual tours from northern hemisphere teams, just a one-off Test match with Samoa that delivered a brutal wake-up call. Now, not even a full week later, we’re about to start the Tri Nations series. Usually this tournament (and the embedded contest for the Bledisloe Cup) is the peak of the rugby year. But it just feels like the Tri Nations has slipped down everyone’s priority list in…
Sydney prepares for a round of mud wrestling, while Canberra takes a break and the Brisbane comp picks up the pieces after one of the worst weeks anyone can remember. Queensland Premier Rugby Round 11 Results: Easts 27 def. Gold Coast 15 GPS v. University: match abandoned, declared nil-all draw Sunnybank 33 def. Norths 16 Brothers 52 def. Souths 21 The emergency at Yoku Road and its tragic denoument overshadowed the other Round 11 matches, but the results count in the competition. The Breakers took it up to the Tigers early in each half but as they do…
SupeRugby is over for the year, the Test season is about to start, but club rugby endures week in and week out. The September finals are within sight but there’s a lot of footy, beer and sausages to be dealt with before then. Queensland Premier Rugby Round 11 Fixtures: Team lists I confess I’ve taken my eye off the Hospital Cup comp in recent weeks, what with the Reds n’ all, so I’m not sure who’s doing well. Other than the Dragons that is, and the still-dominant Tigers. The GPS–University game shapes up as a good contest with implications for…
In dispatching the Stormers from the finals last weekend, the Crusaders relied on Dan Carter’s kicking tee rather than pressing for territory and tries. Carter kicked five penalty goals from seven attempts and was taking shots from beyond halfway. What does this mean for the Reds? Come Saturday, will they be vulnerable to being pushed out of the game three points at a time? Before we look at the Reds’ susceptibility, let’s review how the Crusaders see penalties tactically. They have two approaches to the laws of the game, one for each half of the field. In their opponents’ half…