Former average South African centre, Jean de Villiers, and eye gouger, Schalk Burger, have both questioned the validity of Australia’s front-row injuries in the Rugby Championship clash in Perth.
During the second Test between the two nations in the tournament, Australia saw loosehead props Angus Bell and James Slipper leave the pitch with injuries and with no other options for the propping positions, the officials had no choice but to revert to uncontested scrums.
The Springboks dominated the set-piece during the opening Rugby Championship clash in Brisbane, leading many to question whether it was a deliberate ploy from the Wallabies to nullify a strength of Rassie Erasmus’ side. After the match, Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt explained that Bell was replaced at half-time due to a cut above his eye while Slipper sustained a concussion leading to a HIA which he failed.
This is interesting coming from a country that needs constant water breaks during the pissing down rain and constant injury breaks at every stoppage.
Link here
Russell would love Lions link-up with Farrell
Having gone head-to-head with Owen Farrell over the years, Finn Russell would relish the chance to team up with the England star on the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour of Australia.
Farrell’s departure for Racing 92 means the former captain will not be eligible for international duty for the two years of his contract in Paris. However, his father, Andy, will be the Lions’ head coach and could select the playmaker for the three-Test tour down under.
Scotland skipper Russell will be hoping to add to his one Lions cap from 2021, when he struck up a friendship with Farrell. “We view the game differently so there would be a bit of a clash there, but we are good enough mates that we would get on with it,” said Russell. “We would have to find that balance between us, but he’s a brilliant player and I would love to play with him.
“I got on really well with Owen in 2021. I’d heard he was so focused and he was intense, but I didn’t see any of that at all. We have always had an interesting relationship when we have played against each other. Before, it was me against you and by the end of it, it was still me against you, but we could have a laugh while we were doing it. At the end I looked forward to playing against him, for his competitiveness, but I liked the bloke. It changed as the years have gone on.”
Russell aims for third time lucky with Lions
Russell was first called up for the Lions as an injury replacement in 2017, making one brief midweek outing in New Zealand. The 2021 tour of South Africa took place behind closed doors, with an Achilles problem keeping the fly-half out of the first two Tests.
“You see the videos from 2013 when the Lions were last in Australia, with all of the fans,” he said. “That would be a very different experience to the first and second tours I went on. The first was very much ‘you are here to do a job and get out of here’. The second one had no fans. It was great, but different. To experience it fully and go on a tour with fans, be part of it all again, that would be a complete Lions tour. It would be amazing.”
New Exeter Chiefs signing Tua needs neck surgery
Exeter Chiefs have signed centre Tamati Tua and loosehead prop Kwenzo Blose.
Tua joins from Australian Super Rugby side ACT Brumbies but the New Zealander is expected to miss the start of the new Premiership season in September as he requires surgery on a neck issue. Blose, a former South Africa Under-20 international, joins from United Rugby Championship side DHL Stormers. The pair will now try and help Exeter back to the Premiership play-offs after the Chiefs finished seventh last season for the third successive campaign.
Tua began his career with Northland in the New Zealand Championship before the Auckland Blues offered him a first taste of top-flight rugby in 2018. He moved to the Canberra-based Brumbies in 2023 and played 31 games, scoring five tries.
“People will be aware that centre is a position that we’ve had great strength in over a number of years,” director of rugby Rob Baxter told the club website., external “Through age and players moving on, that’s slowly changed in terms of experience. So it’s an area we’ve been wanting to strengthen.” Baxter added: “Unfortunately, he’s arrived with a neck issue which he picked up towards the end of last season’s campaign… and it’s likely that he’ll need an operation shortly which will require a period of rehab.”
Blose made his professional debut for Cape Town-based Western Province in 2018 before moving to DHL Stormers in 2020. Baxter said: “He promises to be an exciting, strong and very important member of our squad going forward.”
Glasgow Warriors recruit Sam Talakai from Australia
GLASGOW WARRIORS head coach Franco Smith has recruited 32-year-old Australian tight-head prop Sam Talakai ahead of the start of his team’s United Rugby Championship defence.
This latest signing reinforces the urgent need for the appointment of a Performance Director to oversee the long-term strategy and short-term management of Scottish Rugby’s resources at a time when the organisation is trying to turnaround a £10.5m loss in the last financial year and revive its faltering player development pathway.
Talakai’s arrival takes the number of tight-heads in the Warriors senior squad to five. He will compete for game-time against Scotland internationals Zander Fagerson and Murphy Walker, as well as fellow new arrivals Patrick Schickerling and Fin Richardson, while academy prospects Callum Norrie andJake Shearer will presumably look for exposure in the Arnold Clark Premiership and in Warriors’ much-heralded but as yet unseen ‘A’ team fixture schedule.
Talakai has made 100 appearances in Super Rugby for the Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels, and also spent just over three years between 2018 and 2021 playing in Japan for Suntory Sungoliath. He earned his one and only Wallabies cap as a 71st minute replacement against Wales in Cardiff in the Autumn of 2022, and has also played twice for Australia ‘A’.
“I’m really looking forward to joining the squad,” said Talakai. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about the club and the people, and the direction the club is heading played a big part. The rugby program is impressive, there’s a great squad assembled and my kids getting to experience a new culture – both as part of Glasgow Warriors and in the city of Glasgow – is the cherry on top.
“I spoke with Franco earlier in the year and he talked about the club’s vision and the direction we’re travelling as a group. It was an impressive catch-up and I’m excited to get stuck in. Since then, I’ve been in regular contact with Sione (Tuipulotu). We played together in Australia and he spoke really highly of the club, the group and the city. Those conversations, and hearing the positive things everyone has to say about the club, made the decision quite easy for me in the end. On the field, I’m someone who just goes to work and executes my core role for the team. Off the field I’m pretty chilled. My family and I will just look to settle in and connect to the community, and we’re looking forward to meeting the Warrior Nation soon.”
Smith added: “Sam is a proven performer who we believe can add to our squad this season. To play 100 matches in Super Rugby shows the consistently high levels of performance he brings, and to have someone with that experience in our squad that our young, Scottish-qualified front-rowers can learn from can only benefit both the club and Scottish rugby in the long-term. Adding Sam also allows us to manage the workload of our senior international front-rowers, across what will be a long and physical season. We look forward to welcoming him to Scotstoun and to our squad in the coming weeks.”
In a press release at the start of July, Scottish Rugby announced measures to turnaround its alarming financial position, with a redundancy programme expected to claim 35 jobs across the organisation. “Any new external recruitment has been paused during the collective consultation process, with the exception of the CEO and Performance Director roles,” said the statement. “Player recruitment for both Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors is unaffected for the forthcoming season,” it added.
Featured photo is from where I was last week. Tony Abbott was correct: an open cut coal mine would’ve been a better vista.
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