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Wright also expected to re-sign:

He's probably going to be considered a local player: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/rugby-union/the-selection-loophole-that-could-help-james-o-connor-stage-an-incredible-wallabies-comeback-20250420-p5lszk.html

I haven't had a chance to watch this yet but it seems like it's really going to confirm my opinion from last week that the 2025 Hurricanes are a deeply unserious team incapable of closing out games that have been served up to them on a platter.

As in the South Africans brought in racial quotas to overcome deep seated discrimination holding black/coloured players back. That's the nearest parallel I can see for these proposed regulations for Japan, so do they have the same problem to solve with them? I don't really think they do, which...

Porecki is apparently due back after the bye, though I'd take that with a grain of salt. I don't think there has been anything specific on Vailanu.

I get that angle and the need to boost local talent to get buy in, but you can't just invent it out of thin air, you have to invest in the pathways and bring them up through the system. I'm not sure this will particularly help things there either - because of the on field requirements I think...

There could be some pretty significant changes coming to the Japanese player market: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/the-japanese-blood-plan-that-could-drastically-change-rugby-s-player-market-20250418-p5lsov.html Article talks about a requirement of 8 players of "Japanese blood" in...

How he looks when he starts doesn't really matter, the role they'd want O'Connor in is the one he's excelling in for the Crusaders - a super reliable bench finisher (playing 20-30 minutes, he hasn't played less than 20 this season) who offers really good coverage across the backline. Beyond that...

Not until 27/08/2026. He's not going to turn down a wallabies jersey in the interim to make that happen, at least not one against the Lions.

Yeah, it seems pretty clear the chaos under Eddie is and has factored into a lot of players decision making. At the very least it's really brought home the fact that it's a short career and you're subject to the whims of coaches with an ever present risk of injury, so why not take the simple...

Amatauanai and Goddard are fine as prospects but they aren't going to offer you anymore than Botha and Amone. Michael Ala'alatoa would be great, but he's got another year left on his deal with Clermont. If the Tahs were certain of getting him for 2027 they might bite the bullet and wait it out...

ABC coverage has been pretty good across the board lately, they've got plenty of journalists putting the effort in and even had Phil Waugh on offsiders recently.

he was listed as round 13 last week, but before then just 'long-term'.

The Alo-Emiles are both contracted with Stade through to 2028

Barrett is a loose head prop and still working his way into super rugby. With Bell, Lambert and Kailea all fit and available there hasn't been much reason to call him in. I guess they could look at shifting him across to tight head next year, but I think that would take even longer than Lambert...

Goddard and Langi are both good prospects, but neither will be ready for a starting gig (or any further advanced than Botha and Amone) next year. I'm not saying the tahs need a world class tight head, just that they need a reliable super rugby standard one, and of all the open positions they...

I can't see JTA (Jeffery Toomaga-Allen) moving at this point - he's 35 with a young family setup in Brisbane and well integrated into the community. I think it's an even chance he retires next year, but the Reds will try and get him to play on for another year or so to bring De Lutiis and King through. It's not...

The big issue for tahs is tight head (assuming Tupou goes). It doesn't look like either of Botha or Amone are any better than a bench option right now (Amone has good potential though), and most of the local options are pretty well locked up. Near as I can tell Feao Fotuaika is the only one in...

I don't have an issue with the process (and don't necessarily think they got this one wrong), but it's very opaque at the moment, particularly to the average fan. A big part of that is on the commentary teams not fully understanding or explaining it, but it also comes back to the competition...