Search results

I probably had this view prior to the game, however the All Blacks didn't play as well as they did in their games against us. The Barrett 10/12 combo wasn't very effective and ALB had a proper Barry when he went on. They were better off without him a player down the last few minutes. Also, we...

Anyone notice that the All Blacks played England overnight? Ripper game. I'm guessing it's no coincidence that the timing of the All Blacks (almost) shitting the bed aligned with the warning for their repeated off the ball antics, no plan B for that one.

What do you think about hosting the 2027 world cup in Roma?

No I'm not suggesting it's mandatory for all NSW and Qld players to stay in their home state until they are 22, it's a way of providing an opportunity for more of them as that seems to be where we are letting ourselves down as there aren't enough opportunities. AT the end of the day it's...

I'd argue that the Country teams would be an even bigger imbalance, and there is the issue of where to base them as the travelling band concept during NRC didn't really work, not for the Eagles anyway. For NSW you'd likely be looking at Newcastle, and for Qld I assume either the Goldy or...

Do we want a third tier or not? The players have to come from somewhere for it. Again, I realised it probably wouldn't affect the number of teams at most clubs, notwithstanding that the objective is to get more people playing/staying with rugby, particularly younger ones. If the solution is...

Squad of 30 would be an average of 2-3 players from each club for the Sydney comp, call it 3 allowing for a few injuries. They aren't being removed, they are being paid to go into a better system. I thought afterwards it probably wouldn't even affect the number of teams based on that.

I reckon there are actually too many colts teams at club level anyway (from a competition administration perspective). If this meant Shute clubs only had 2-3 colts teams instead of 3-4 but a pro pathway for the best players then it can only be a positive. I'm not sure if the dynamic is the...

Just back on this Super Rugby AU concept as the 3rd tier, one of the biggest challenges for RA is to keep the younger players in the game, and the way to do that is to offer more competitive professional contracts. Take that a step further, it's the grassroots products from NSW and Qld that...

Yes, it certainly probably would fill that void, so I'll retract my suggestion. Maybe an emphasis on the up-and-comers rather than going out and out on them. I agree with the issue around fringe Wallabies, but if it's a choice between the U19s star and a 34 year old in the departure lounge...

Fair points. It's no doubt more important to get the third tier right first. However, the big gap in the pathways is after the U19's, there's literally nothing that pays unless you are Super standard, which is where I was coming from as we need to keep players in a system on our shores.

I'd take it a step further and make them U23 teams, so that it is purely a development pathway. Journeymen and those past it from a PONI perspective can ply their trade in clubland.

It makes sense. Initially just having the 4 existing franchises plus the Drua play each other twice would work, with a sole 1 v 2 grand final, and then over time add in a team from Melbourne and one more from each of NSW and Qld and therein lies a solution.

Tom is a bit distant, he may have had something to do with it but I'd say it's his actual uncle Graydon who played a bigger hand as he also played for Aurillac as his last pro gig before coming back to Aus. Talking of his cousins though, his cousin Harry (Scott's son) is one of his school peers...

We are all entitled to an opinion but rightly or wrongly the Waratahs coach(es) didn't share this one. The other key difference is that Mosese is automatically eligible for Scotland, plus his brother probably threw out a lure, whereas Angus has to stay in France for 3 years without coming back...

Yeah I'd say it's more about capping him so he can't come back here in case he does improve infinitely.

That is true but I think I read Lynagh will play the first Reds game to get match fit, and potentially either Edmed or Donaldson will drop back to Aus A along with some others.

Nor Blyth. It's probably an indication of what the actual make up of the first Australia XV team will be.

I think it's probably this, and his experience playing in the UK generally, that has him running opposed sessions against our midfielders. I'll be surprised if he gets a cap, if he does good on him. Certainly isn't worth making a song and dance about though.

At this stage he's not capped - my uneducated read on this is that he needs centre cover. I had expected Schmidt to blood Sua'ali'i into the system by playing him in the centres for the A team. I was wrong, he is instead going to blood him as an outside back in the Wallabies. It's Sua'ali'i who...