Friday’s Rugby News sees the Wallabies and Boks naming squads and firing shots, the Battle for Andy, Uni 7s arriving in Sydney, and an important report being released in New Zealand.
[one_half last=”no”]
Firing Shots
The Boks are back in town! And they are certainly back in form!
It seems that last year that many in the Republic were believing rugby was at death’s door. There hadn’t seen a Super Rugby title in six years. The Boks had their worst international season, winning just four of 12 Tests. Many were calling for Alistair Coetzee to be shown the door.
What a difference twelve months makes.
This year, with the improved performances on the Lions, Stormers, Sharks and Kings, the Springboks have won five straight Tests for the first time in three years. Additionally, their win in Argentina was the first time since 2015 that they’ve won away from home.
However, for many in the Republic, the real test lies ahead: a measurement against the two biggest rivals. Their performances against the Wallabies and the All Blacks will be seen as the real measurement of where this side is at. They haven’t beaten the Wallabies in Australia since 2013, and haven’t beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand since 2009.
But here they are. And they are looking dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Even the Fox Sports lads admitted it.
“When things go bad and you’ve got new players coming in, you’re trying to mould a team together from different playing styles, it just takes a little bit of time,” Kafer said on Kick and Chase in reference to the Bok’s performances last year.
“Moulding those two styles together (big, bullish forwards and skilful link play between the backs) is probably what they didn’t do so well last year (but) have managed to do this year.
“They’ve got everything going.”
Head Coach Alistair Coetzee even had a cheeky dig at the Wallabies on Monday for their inability to win the test against the All Blacks in Dunedin.
“To not to have won that one, I don’t know how it slipped away in the last three minutes when you get so close to winning a Test,” Coetzee said.
“They recovered well and to put themselves in a position to win it, you should win it.”
(Mate, at least Cheika has actually beaten the All Blacks).
But, is there any hope that our lads can back up the encouraging performance in Dunedin? Certainly, many already think that, given the events that have taken place over in the West this week, the ground may in fact resemble more of a neutral venue. Many in the west are still debating about whether fans will turn out in support of the Wallabies, in protest against the Force’s culling, or not at all. The squad was named yesterday, and you can read our thoughts on it here.
A big inclusion is the selection of Jordan Uelese over Tolu Latu, and the omission of Dayne Haylett-Petty on the wing due to a disappointing season-ending injury. On the plus side, Adam Coleman is back in Wallaby colours, and will be rearing to go at the Force Field. Many had questioned Uelese’s inclusion in the squad, but Michael Cheika stuck to his guns on his decision to throw Uelese in the deep end.
“I just see so much potential in him,” Cheika said to Fox Sports.
“We are throwing him in at the deep end a little bit but it’s just rugby though and he should do what he’s been doing at training with a bit more anger.”
“It’s about delivering every week, not being content to sit back after one happy performance because blokes aren’t throwing eggs at you.”
You said it mate. It’ll be a right shit show if the Wallabies lose this one, especially after the god-awful week that Aussie rugby fans have endured.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
The Battle for Andy
It’s arguably the fiercest rivalry in the NRC, and one that is quickly becoming a popular event in the Queensland Rugby calendar. The Andy Purcell Cup will be on the line this weekend in round two when Brisbane City and Queensland Country will go head-to-head at the Noosa Dolphins RU Club on Saturday.
Just for a bit of a pump up, here’s a fun little promo that the Reds put together two years ago to commemorate the game.
This year many are expecting no different to the fiery contests from previous years. Both teams are based out of Ballymore, which means they see each other every day, leading to banter and more niggle. Brisbane City‘s Lukhan Tui made it no secret that the lads from both sides always look forward to this match.
“There has been heaps of banter, Reece Hewat has probably led the chat there,” Tui said to rugby.com.au.
“A lot of boys are getting stuck into each other and we had a bit of an edge on the country boys on Monday, considering they lost, so they’ll be up for it this weekend.
“They’re keen to rip into us.”
Harry Hockings, one of the youngest players in the Country side, also made it clear that Saturday’s match will be a fiery one.
“Reece Hewat likes to talk a bit of smack so we will see if he can back it up,” Hockings said.
“(It’s) pretty exciting to be able to represent Bowen.
“I played my first junior rugby up there so it will be good to represent them.
“There should be a bit of a crowd watching the game and hopefully we get the win for them.”
The rivalry has been well-built up by the Reds, with the fixture drawing some of the biggest crowds in the NRC. Their inaugural NRC derby match in 2014 still holds the record for the largest regular season NRC crowd, at over 5,000.
That being said, the Perth faithful came mighty close to breaking that record last weekend when the filled the hill for their match against the Rising, and with matches in Fiji coming up and a focus on bringing in the club rugby punters this year, we may see crowd numbers that might match it.
Brisbane City have held the Cup since the NRC began in 2014, and got off to a flyer with their win against the Fijian Drua last week. QLD Country went down, but seemed to have turned a corner after a hard couple of years, proving to be a real handful for the Vikings down in Canberra. Either way, it’s looking like a great match out at Noosa. Expect to see Reg there supporting City.
In other matches, the Rising will be hosting the Drua down at Harlequins Rugby Park on Saturday. This should be a cracker, not the least of which because the Rising always prove to be a tough nut to crack at home, but also because the Drua showed so much potential last week. With all Rising home games offering free entry this year, I hope the rugby faithful will turn out in droves to see these two going at each other.
The Vikings meanwhile will be hosting defending champions Perth Spirit at Viking Park on Sunday. The Vikings started off in good form last week against Queensland Country, but Perth are looking like an altogether different beast after their emotional win last week. This is gonna be a tough contest.
Finally, I myself will be down in Sydney having a few cold ones at the Rays-Rams game at Macquarie University on Sunday. Since the introduction of the Benn Robinson Bell, there has certainly been a bit more niggle between the NSW teams. Good to see the start of what will hopefully be a solid rivalry.
The Rams got off to a flyer last week down the road at TG Millner, becoming the first NSW team ever to beat NSW Country. They will be up against a tough looking Rays side, who will be hoping for big things after their encouraging season last year. Hope to run into plenty of GAGRs out there at the uni.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
Uni 7s arrives in Sydney
Coinciding with the Rays-Rams match, the second round the Aon Uni Sevens Series will be on show at Macquarie University’s playing fields this Saturday and Sunday. The first tournament down in Tassie was an absolute beauty, with University of Queensland taking home the chocolates to take the lead in the competition.
Macquarie University‘s team finished in a very respectable third place at the inaugural event, but will be looking to go further. Their program has aligned with the Sydney Rays, which looks to be an exciting prospect going forward for future editions of the tournament.
Crowd numbers in Launceston were okay, considering it is not a rugby heartland and it also was the first edition of the tournament. This weekend should be different situation, with it being linked to the NRC, and being the middle of club rugby heartland. According to Jill Scanlon at rugby.com.au, many eyes will be on the management and success of the competition this weekend, now that the fanfare is out of the way.
“All eight teams have had the opportunity to assess the others’ strengths and weaknesses while testing their own capabilities as newly formed Sevens units”, Scanlon wrote.
“With only four tournaments in the series, it will be interesting to see at what point the coaches look to play for the wins rather than perhaps utilise the full mix of players at their disposal, which includes a large number of newcomers to the sport as well as those less experienced at this level.
“The two outcomes of course are not mutually exclusive as the amount of local talent which shone in round one was impressive and this is one of the key objectives for this new initiative – to uncover the diamonds in the rough who will add to the depth of the national squad in coming years.”
However, Scanlon also made it clear that player management will not only be the focus of this weekend.
“The other key element for the second outing in this Women’s Sevens series is the crowd support,” Scanlon emphasised.
“One can argue that while the numbers were not huge in Launceston, the initial support-base was strong for a state where the development of rugby is in its infancy to a great extent and definitely overshadowed by other players in the sports market.
“Sydney however, is a completely different scenario, with this round taking place in rugby heartland.
“In a week where the ARU profile on the national stage has taken a hit, everything will be crossed that the Uni7s initiative will again prove to be the positive tonic needed on the domestic scene, shining a spotlight on the broader potential of the game of rugby.”
Launceston was an undeniable success for the competition, with the display of quality rugby evident from all sides. Even our writers were taken aback by how good it was. Check out Reg’s preview for the second round this weekend.
And above all, go Macquarie Uni!!!
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Respect and Responsibility
We finish off the news this week on a slightly more different topic: the management and conduct of players. On this topic, there has been a lot things going on in NZ over the past twenty-four hours. The code has been rocked by several controversial incidents over the last year, including Aaron Smith‘s sex scandal and the Chiefs‘ Mad Monday stripper controversy.
It was these controversies that led the NZRU to set up a ‘Respect and Responsibility’ Review last year, and the report linked to it was released yesterday afternoon in Auckland.
This has proved to be of major interest in New Zealand. The report has covered not just issues in relation to rugby, but, with the code being such an important part of New Zealand’s identity, has also been seen within the context of NZ society in general.
The report examined 36 cases of misconduct investigated by NZRU between 2013-17. The primary cause of these breaches in conduct was poor behaviour. And, in more than half of the situations alcohol played a key factor, with drugs and drug/alcohol combinations also having an impact. Many of these incidents included:
• Failure to attend meetings, judicial hearings, assembling with the team
• Lack of compliance with agreed programmes including rehabilitation, team curfew
• Drunk behaviour and associated damage
• Inappropriate sexual behaviour towards others
• Violent behaviour towards others including team members and coaches
• Instances involving alcohol and drugs
Many of the findings of the report reaffirmed the need for many of the player management programs introduced by the NZRU, but also, according to CEO Steve Tew, put a mandate on the organisation to dig deeper, such as tackling issues in New Zealand high schools that place a high value on rugby.
“Every player who comes into Super Rugby when they’re inducted gets lessons around respect, use of alcohol, relationships with women, and those sort of things you are going to come under pressure dealing with as a professional player who has money, profile and stardom,” Tew said in a press conference in Auckland yesterday.
“What the review has done has really focused us that to get to the kids early enough. We’re going to have to start while they’re at school, because what’s happening in schools rugby is that, particularly with first XV competitions which are a big part of the image of the school, these kids are getting a sense of entitlement and privilege far too early for their emotional and mental development.
“That means we’re getting young men — and they are very young — who have already got all the good stuff but probably not the tools to deal with the challenges and responsibilities that come with it.
“We’re already talking to the secondary schools organisation and that’s going to be a partnership we have to build much deeper than we have in the past.”
The review identified six key areas in which NZRU needed to focus on: inclusive leadership; developing people; nurturing wellbeing; gender equity; proactive engagement; and being accountable and independent.
“We found a culture that was ready for change,” panel chair Kathryn Beck added.
“It’s an all-culture change that’s required so that’s a big challenge. But it’s do-able, and our recommendations are designed so they’re things rugby could do that would make a difference.”
This report could prove to be extremely beneficial for appropriately examining younger player management, not just in New Zealand, but also worldwide. It could also prove to extend beyond the context of rugby into other codes as well.
[/one_half]
