Friday’s Rugby News sees the Tahs squad named for the semi-final, club corner, the Wallabies trial game at Lierchardt Oval and a big achievement for Angus Gardner.
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The Final Countdown
Yes, ladies and gents, it’s the final countdown! (Ba Ba Ba Bum! Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba! Ba Ba Ba Bum! Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Bum!) Absolute jam of a song, get on that stuff.
With the semis approaching, the Waratahs are flying the Aussie flag as they heading over to Johannesburg to face the Lions.
A lot of history is potentially on the line with this one.
The Tahs have never won a finals match away from home, while the Lions will look to become the first South African side (and fourth side after the Blues, Brumbies and Crusaders) in Super Rugby history to appear in three consecutive grand finals.
Add to that, Bernard Foley needs eight points to pass Matt Burke (959) to have the most Super Rugby points in Waratah history, while Taqele Naiyaravoro needs just one more try to set new single season record of 16 tries, which would see him pass currently joint holders Joe Roff (1997), Rico Gear (2005), Ngani Laumape (2017) and Ben Lam (2018).
There’s a lot of cool stats provided by Fox, but one big one sticks out: that the Lions have won five of their six finals matches at Ellis Park. It is a hard place to win, particularly since the last time these two sides played the Tahs were held scoreless at home.
Daryl Gibson has only made one change to his starting lineup, with Tolu Latu coming in to start at hooker and Damien Fitzpatrick being moved to the bench.
The Bookies are seeing the Tahs as a team that will be exiting this week, but Nick Phipps made it clear that the lads are in good spirits at the moment, and that despite the travel, everything is off the table once the eighty minutes starts.
“I don’t really know why there’s always talk about travel being a massive factor,” Phipps said to Fox Sports.
“Every single person in the squad’s travelled before and we’re all complete professionals, we’ve got the best doctors and strength and conditioning in the country helping us out.
“It’s no big issue — everyone’s in great spirits, people are ready to go.
“Over the last five years we’ve changed the way we like to play and we like to play quick, fast, unrelenting footy.
“So I don’t think we’re going to come to a semifinal and change the way we play now.
“We’re not going to die wondering and we’re going to play to the best of our ability.”
Waratahs Squad: Israel Folau, Alex Newsome, Curtis Rona, Kurtley Beale, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Bernard Foley (c), Nick Phipps, Michael Wells, Will Miller, Ned Hanigan, Rob Simmons, Jed Holloway, Sekope Kepu, Tolu Latu, Tom Robertson. Reserves: Damien Fitzpatrick, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Paddy Ryan, Tom Staniforth, Brad Wilkin, Jake Gordon, Bryce Hegarty, Cam Clark.
My heart does want to say Waratahs. They played some good footy last week and turned the Highlanders inside out in that second half. But I reckon the Lions will look at that performance against the Brumbies and see an opportunity to wear them down. If there is anywhere the Lions are most dangerous, it’s at home. Lions by 5.
The other match of the round sees a thriller between the Crusaders and the Hurricanes in Christchurch. This has got the makings of a classic. With Beauden Barrett returning to form, the Canes backline looks set to regain that attacking edge.
But this Crusaders side are absolute filth, in all the right ways. Add to that, they’re playing good footy. And they’re at home. Crusaders by 10.
In other Super Rugby news, there are reports out of the national capital that Christian Lealiifano is set to re-sign a new deal with the Brumbies, following a brief stint over the Aussie summer in Japan. You go lad.
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Club Corner
Well, what have we got here? Club corner once again, that’s what! We’re hitting the business end of club rugby, so let’s dive in!
Starting this weekend down in the nation’s capital, the John I Dent Cup saw an exciting penultimate round. Round Sixteen saw Gunghalin hammer Easts 16-48, Royals knocked over a determined Queanbeyan 28-24, and Uni-Norths all but secured third place on the ladder with a away 12-40 win over Wests.
The last regular round sees an exciting dash for the final semi-final spot. Tuggeranong, Royals and Uni-Norths are guaranteed finishing in 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. However, Queanbeyan currently hold on to fourth spot by one point, and they have the bye this weekend. Gunghalin currently sit in fifth, and a win this weekend will see them steal that last spot.
Round Seventeen Fixtures:
Easts v Tuggeranong
Gungahlin v Uni-Norths
Wests v Royals
Queanbeyan have the bye.
Up in Brisbane, the penultimate round of the Hospital Challenge Cup also saw some thrilling matches last weekend, with University of Queensland smashing GPS 54-17, Brothers going down to Norths at home 31-40, Easts pummelled Wests 67-19 and Souths won at Sunnybank, 24-52.
With the results of the weekend gone, the four teams are now locked in for the finals heading into this weekend, with a six point gap separating 4th and 5th. However, while University of Queensland is guaranteed first place, there is only one point the separates GPS, Easts and Souths, so there is still plenty to play for.
Round Eighteen Fixtures:
Souths v University of Queensland
GPS v Easts
Norths v Bond University
Wests v Brothers
Sunnybank has the bye. And with them out of the race, this weekend they can sit back and have a few cold ones.
Lastly, it was also the penultimate round down south in Melbourne, with Round Thirteen of the BLK Dewar Shield serving up some demolitions. Endeavour Hills were hammered 12-70 at home by Box Hill, Melbourne grabbed a bonus point 60-19 win over Moorabbin, Melboune Uni went down 17-33 over a fast-finishing Harlequins, and Power House knocked over Footscray 33-22.
Much like in Canberra, 1st, 2nd and 3rd are pretty much locked in by Melbourne, Harlequins and Moorabbin, respectively. However, Power House hold a precarious lead in 4th over Box Hill, with them only being separated by points differential.
Round Fourteen Fixtures:
Footscray v Melbourne
Harlequins v Endeavour Hills
Moorabbin v Box Hill
Power House v Melbourne Uni
Away from penultimate rounds, round fifteen of the Intrust Super Shute Shield saw the Rats take down Randwick 23-32, Northern Suburbs defeated Southern Districts 21-18, the Woodies hammered Gordon 73-10, Parramatta went down 24-43 to Eastern Suburbs, and Manly defeated West Harbour 23-14.
Round Sixteen Fixtures:
Gordon v Manly
West Harbour v Northern Suburbs
Southern Districts v Sydney University
Warringah v Eastwood
Eastern Suburbs v Randwick
Over in South Australia, Round Eleven of the Coopers Premier Grade saw Old Collegians go down 29-34 to Onkaparinga, Woodville go down 21-24 to Souths Suburbs, and Burnside defeat Brighton 43-33.
Round Twelve Fixtures:
Onkaparinga v Souths Suburbs
Old Collegians v Burnside
Brighton v Woodville
And lastly, we arrive in WA for the Fortescue Metals Group Premier Grade. The top six played their first round in the Premiership Division last week with Wests Scarborough and Kalamunda drawing 33-33, Nedlands defeating Cottlesloe 24-13, and Joondalup going down at home to Associates 12-27.
With this win, Nedlands grab a four point lead at the top of the table, a lead they could potentially extend with a big win this weekend over Kalamunda. With two rounds to go after that, every point counts here.
Premiership Division Round Sixteen Fixtures:
Kalamunda v Nedlands
Cottesloe v Joondalup
Wests Scarborough v Associates
Here endeth this weeks edition of club corner. Now you have been blessed, please head out and support your clubs with a cold beer, mates and plenty of banter.
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Larking around Leichardt..
As mentioned in Reg’s article yesterday, the Wallabies, as part of their Bledisloe Cup preparation, will play a full contact trial match at Leichardt Oval, on next Friday (3 August) night from 6:45pm.
The match will be streamed from rugby.com.au. and admittance is free. There won’t be any Tahs that will play though regardless of the result in Johannesburg, with the teams instead being a “Michael Cheika Select” outfit up against a best of Super Rugby squad.
And the best part? There’s no TMO.
While it will be free entry, a gold coin donation for the Australian Rugby Foundation is encouraged, and all proceeds will be going to grassroots rugby.
“It’s not just about the contact, because you can get all that in training. But just the little things. The pressure in front of a crowd, the referee telling you what to do, the dressing room build up, all those things. The mental side of footy,” Cheika said.
“We need the footy.”
The Super Rugby squad will be co-coached by Australian 7s coaches John Manenti and Tim Walsh, with further support by Kevin Foote of the Rebels.
Check out Reg’s predictions for the two squads here. And yes, in what’s becoming a foregone conclusion, we didn’t even consider Quade Cooper for that invitational squad either.
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Onya Gus!
Angus Gardner has emerged as one of Australia’s most exciting and proficient referees in the last few years, having ref’d 15 Test matches, including the All Blacks – Springboks last year and the Ireland – England match this year that finished the Six Nations.
Gardner has been having a solid year with the whistle, which was capped off with a solid refereeing performance last week in the Tahs – Highlanders match (legit, it’s one of the few times in the comments on Facebook that I’ve seen people actually praise a ref for their performance).
And, according to Iain Payten over at Rugby.com.au, the fact that Gardner hasn’t been selected for a match this week is indicative of one thing: that he is set to host his first ever Super Rugby Grand Final.
The article points out at the whistleblower slated to do the final often is given the week off beforehand, and with South African Jaco Peyper reffing the Crusaders – Hurricanes match and Kiwi Glen Jackson managing the Lions-Tahs match, the only other real option for the grand final is Gardner.
Should Gardner be selected, he’ll be the first Aussie to ref the Super Rugby final since Wayne Erickson in 1996.
It would be a solid way to cap off a good year for the young ref, even in spite of the red-carding of Frenchman Benjamin Fall during the All Blacks – France Series which World Rugby called out as being the wrong call.
But even then, it does say something about the job you’re doing when Rugby Australia and All Blacks coach Steve Hansen stands up for you after that.
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