Friday’s Rugby News sees the squads for the weekend, club corner, the latest on Super Rugby’s ratings and the Super W potentially expanding.
[one_half last=”no”]
The Rugby Returns
The rugby is back as we cross over the halfway point in the Super Rugby regular season, and it’s getting to crunch time for many of the teams.
All four of the Aussie teams will be in action against overseas opposition, so without further ado, let’s begin:
The Waratahs kick off festivities on Friday night when they host the Lions, and are opting for a massive pack to push back the current Saffa conference leaders.
Tom Staniforth has been recalled to pair with Rob Simmons, while Ned Hanigan and Will Miller drop to the bench.
“We see this game being extremely physical and we wanted to have some bigger bodies in the forward pack to cater for the big South African forward pack,” Daryl Gibson said to Fox Sports.
“And also in the scrum, we see the Lions have a real strength there.”
“It’s the biggest challenge we’ve faced to date. It’s a true test.
“The Lions for the last three, four years have been building into this side — they’ve made two finals, they’ve got a real interesting way they play the game.
“A huge set piece with a lot of adventure when they have the ball, so it’s a big task for us.”
Waratahs Squad: Bryce Hegarty, Alex Newsome, Curtis Rona, Kurtley Beale, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Bernard Foley, Jake Gordon, Michael Wells, Michael Hooper (c), Ned Hanigan, Rob Simmons, Tom Staniforth, Sekope Kepu, Damien Fitzpatrick, Tom Robertson. Reserves: Hugh Roach, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Paddy Ryan, Nick Palmer, Jed Holloway, Will Miller, Nick Phipps, Lalakai Foketi.
This is going to be a fascinating clash, but I’m going with my guts on this one and backing the home side. I’d like to think that four wins on the trot indicates they’ve turned a corner, and a win this weekend against quality opposition would hopefully signify that. Tahs by 5.
Next up, the Reds return to Suncorp to try to take down the Chiefs from New Zealand, but have plenty of big names coming back at the right time.
The big one, George Smith, will be coming off the bench after making a successful return in club rugby last week. Add to that three changes to the starting side in Taniela Tupou, Angus Scott-Young and Ben Lucas, and that looks to spice things up a bit for this clash.
The match will be the 1000th Reds game in their history, and also coincidentally, their 300th Super Rugby game.
Reds Squad: Aidan Toua, Filipo Daugunu, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Samu Kerevi, Izaia Perese, Jono Lance, Ben Lucas, Caleb Timu, Liam Wright, Angus Scott-Young, Kane Douglas, Izack Rodda, Taniela Tupou, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper (C). Reserves: Alex Mafi, JP Smith, Ruan Smith, Harry Hockings, George Smith, Moses Sorovi, Hamish Stewart, Jordan Petaia
The Chiefs have been pretty average the last few weeks. So have the Reds. I don’t see the drought ending this weekend, but I’m happy to be proven wrong at this point. Chiefs by 10 or more.
Over in Pretoria, the Rebels kick off their tour campaign against a dangerous Bulls outfit, with Dave Wessels making four changes to the side that lost to the Jags last week.
Michael Ruru comes in for an injured Will Genia, while Reece Hodge returns to the backline and Angus Cottrell and Matt Phillip return to the pack.
“The Rebels have never won in South Africa, but to change that we’re going to have to play well against a very good Bulls team,” Wessels said.
“It’s exciting for guys like Michael (Ruru) and Harrison (Goddard); they have a great opportunity to impose themselves on the Super Rugby competition.
“The Bulls have played very well in the last few weeks and they’re obviously well-coached. We know that we’re going to have to be at our best.”
Rebels Squad: Dane Haylett-Petty, Jack Maddocks, Tom English, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete, Jack Debreczeni, Michael Ruru, Amanaki Mafi, Angus Cottrell, Ross Haylett-Petty, Adam Coleman (c), Matt Philip, Sam Talakai, Anaru Rangi, Tetera Faulkner. Reserves: Jordan Uelese, Fereti Sa’aga, Jermaine Ainsley, Geoff Parling, Richard Hardwick, Harrison Goddard, Billy Meakes, Sefa Naivalu.
I actually think this match will be a much closer affair than people are predicting. Still think the Rebels won’t have enough though. Bulls by 5.
And finally, the Brumbies return to Canberra to sign off the round, hosting a Jags side that came off an impressive victory over the Rebels last week.
Currently the squad hasn’t been named, so I’ll include it in the comments when it is released publicly.
Honestly, I think the Ponies have a good chance with this one. Yes, they lost against the Highlanders last week, but for sixty minutes they were right in that game, and against more inconsistent sides in the competition (let’s face, the Jags aren’t known for their consistency), a performance like that could see the home.
The other matches of the round see the Blues try to end their winless streak against kiwi sides when they play the Highlanders, the Crusaders will host the Moon Dogs in Christchurch (I can already smell the blood from here), and the Sharks will look to make amends when they host the Stormers.
The Hurricanes will have the bye.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Club Corner
Club Corner is back for another week, and this weekend finally sees the beginning of the Dewar Shield, which kicks off this weekend.
Harlequins will be the defending team for the shield, having won it four of the last five years. With the Rebels overseas, Victorian club rugby fans should get down and support their teams.
Round One Fixtures:
Endeavour Hills v Melbourne
Footscray v Harlequins
Melbourne Uni v Box Hill
Moorabbin v Power House
Next up, we head north to the John I Dent Cup in Canberra. Round two saw Gungahlin get absolutely hammered by Tuggeranong at home, 24-66, Uni-Norths went down in a thriller at home against Queanbeyan 15-24, while Wests and Easts played a 22-22 draw.
Currently, Queanbeyan holds the top of the table with Royals in second, but with their big victory this weekend the Vikings are closely behind, with Easts rounding out the top four.
Round Three Fixtures:
Uni-Norths v Tuggeranong
Wests v Queanbeyan
Royals v Gungahlin
Easts will have the bye.
Over in Brisbane, round three of the Hospital Challenge Cup saw a clear front runner emerge early in the season. The Uni derby saw University of Queensland go down in a thriller at home against Bond Uni, 19-20. Easts meanwhile defeated Brothers 39-31, Norths got pummeled at home by Souths 26-51, and Sunnybank defeated GPS 35-24 at home.
The table sees Sunnybank heading into round four with a one point lead at the top of the table, with Souths, GPS, and Uni of Queensland rounding out the top four.
Round Four Fixtures:
Wests v Norths
Sunnybank v University of Queensland
Souths v Brothers
Bond University v Easts
GPS will have the bye.
Heading down to the Sydney, the Shute Shield had an action packed second round, with a few surprise wins being thrown in the mix.
Gordon got hammered by Eastern Suburbs 0-52, the Shoreman picked up a rare win away in Manly 21-25, Eastwood beat Parramatta 12-37, Sydney Uni carved up Penrith in the west 0-97, Warringah made light work of Randwick 46-19, and West Harbour got back winning ways at home with a surprise victory over Southern Districts, 33-26.
Round Three Fixtures:
Gordon v Penrith
Northern Suburbs v Eastwood
Randwick v Eastern Suburbs (TV covered match)
Southern Districts v Manly
Sydney Uni v West Harbour
Warringah v Parramatta
Check out round three this weekend on 7mate at 3pm.
And last but certainly not least, we head over to WA. Nedlands got back to winning ways against Palmyra, winning 34-20, Wests Scarborough won a 32-27 thriller against ARKs, Cottlesloe put fifty on the Cavaliers, Kalamunda won a thriller against the Southern Lions 29-26, Joondalup prevailed by one point at home over Wanneroo, and I can’t find the results on RugbyLink or Perth Bayswater or UWA’s Facebook pages as to who won that game.
Round Three Fixtures:
Palmyra v Associates
Wests Scarborough v Nedlands
Coastal Cavaliers v Kalamunda
Southern Lions v Joondalup
Wanneroo Districts v UWA
ARKs v Perth Bayswater
Cottlesloe will have the bye.
Enjoy your club rugby this weekend folks.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
Super Up and Down
Super Rugby ratings have come in, and there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is, ratings are up. Fox has reported a four percent increase in viewership, with a three percent increase in Aussie derby games. Interestingly enough, the Waratahs-Stormers match drew the highest Aussie viewership this year, at 102,000.
Ratings have softened a bit now NRL and AFL have started up, but overall signs are more encouraging.
That leads us to the bad news, that Fox may not have enough money to guarantee rugby gets a fat cheque of broadcast money in the future, after they destroyed their piggy bank investing $1.2 billion in covering the cricket for the next six years.
Simply put, there’s now not enough money to go round.
“I think [Fox Sports] will want rugby but it’s not necessarily going to be a significant increase if there’ll be an increase at all,” GMS principal Colin Smith said to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“A whole lot of money was taken out of the system with [the cricket] deal and with massive increases in the deals for AFL and NRL, while they’ve clearly over paid for football.
“There is more downward threat for Rugby Australia than there is upward pressure. The question is how do [RA] reinvent the [Super Rugby] model to make sure it’s attractive, to bring back fans and eyeballs and therefore encourage broadcasters to pay.”
RA has reportedly brought on a guy named Michael Tange, a consultant who forged a career with sports marketing firm Repucom. He will help represent RA as they formulate a new financial plan with SANZAAR over the next twelve months.
“If Rugby Australia don’t do their homework on what Super Rugby competition is in the best interests of Australia and its broadcast partners, then they’re going to end up killing the sport,” Smith warned.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Grand Final Time
In case you didn’t forget, the Super W final is on today.
Ahead of the game today though, NSW Women’s captain Ash Hewson mentioned that, with the competition being so well received, it could be that in the future we could hopefully an expansion in the New Zealand franchise teams.
“I think obviously we’ve got the franchises over here,” she said to rugby.com.au.
“To make the competition a little bit longer, maybe playing each other twice or something like that and then obviously in the future, which I think would be really great and really beneficial to the growth of women’s rugby and the Wallaroos, would be to obviously incorporate the New Zealand teams.
“To be able to play 80 minutes of football against that calibre of team would definitely improve our game and improve our chances of developing a stronger Wallaroos squad.”
NZ Womens rugby currently has it’s own tournament, named the Farah Palmer Cup, which runs in the second half of the year.
While it may be a way off, according to Wallaroos coach Dwayne Nestor, if it was to take off it would be a game changer for international womens rugby.
“That would then start to lead the world in women’s sport, I think,” he said.
“That starts to match women’s Six Nations, so you get that sort of environment where you’ve got our teams playing the Kiwi teams.
“(It would be) fantastic for us as well. I just want our girls to play higher level rugby.
“If we can be up some of the world champs, then our girls are going to benefit from it as well.”
“I was very excited about the competition and to be part of it was something for me, personally, really special because I never thought I would be,” Hewson said.
“It’s definitely exceeded my expectations, and the support is what’s exceeded my expectations the most.
“Just to see the media getting behind it, fox sports getting behind it, and with those things will come corporate Australia, which means more sponsorships.”
The Super W final kicks off at 4:45pm at Allianz Stadium. You can also watch it on Fox Sports.
[/one_half]
