Happy Hump Day, fellow G&GRs. Another few hours of reminiscing about last week before we get to the midway point and change our focus to the upcoming games. How will our team fare and will any of the Australian teams get past the quarter finals? Personally, I think the Brumbies will and while the Reds are in with a good chance both they and the Chiefs need a few things to go their way for either to win. What will be very interesting in the next few months is the review of the Crusaders and what changes they need to make if they want to get back to their glory days.
Referee Corner
A couple of incidents this weekend that are worth looking at. The first one, from the first game, is the swinging arm from Moody that went to a YC and stayed that way on review. This one actually surprised me a bit. From what I could see of the incident at the time there didn’t appear to be any mitigation and Moody swinging his arm with no intent to wrap was going to end up out of the game with an upgrade to red. However, the reviewer at the game stated that Lotu Inisi dropped as Moody went to tackle him which caused the head contact. This wasn’t clear for me watching the game and will only add to the conspiracy theorists who believe that there’s something in World Rugby that means NZ players get looked at differently from any other team.
The second incident I’d like to discuss was in the Rebels v Drua game where our favourite Fijian, Frank Lomani, had a mixed game with a YC that gave a penalty try to the Rebels, scored a try for the Drua and then had a clash with Rob Leota that some were claiming should’ve been a card as well. Poor old Frank has a bit of a checkered history this year. The last time these two teams clashed he ended up with a red card after an elbow strike against Josh Carnham. Now while this was a dumb act that deserved the RC, I do have a little bit of sympathy and know that in my day if a player was taking me out well past the ruck like that then I would probably have done at least the same – only in those days I would’ve got away with it. The first incident this week was when the Drua were defending the line against a Rebels scrum. The Drua scrum fell apart a bit and the Rebels scrum went over. However, the Rebels couldn’t control the ball and it bounced out and back into the playing area. Lomani was standing offside and kicked the ball away so the Rebels couldn’t pick it up and score. A fair call and 100% correct. He was well offside and needed to move back onside before playing the ball. In the second incident the Rebels won a ball from a lineout and Rob Leota took it forward into contact. The Drua hooker, Ikanivere went into tackle Leota and while not being able to he made Leota fall just as Lomani was moving in to tackle him as well. As Leota fell his head made contact with Lomani in what looked like a pretty ugly incident. However, and despite some grumbles from some people, the incident was ruled as not foul play and just a “rugby” incident.
I’m absolutely fine with this call. Lomani was bent at the waist and with bent knees going in for a low tackle. Rob Leota wasn’t tackled by Ikanivere; however, the contact did make him lose his footing and fall into Lomani. The actual contact was Rob Leota’s head hitting Lomani’s hip as he fell and so despite looking pretty nasty there was no foul play, and the referee restarted the play with a scrum to the Rebels as they were in possession when the incident occurred.
Australian Team of the Week
Reported here by Nathan Williamson in rugby.com.au is a slightly different TotW from the one Nutta put up yesterday. The positions,1. Harry Vella and where Nutta has a difference are below.
- Harry Vella (Alex Hodgman) – Called in to replace Schoupp, he had a strong game
- Matt Faessler – Nailed the throws to the lineout (meat and potatoes before gravy)
- Taniela Tupou (Allan Alaalatoa) – Made a huge impact in the scrums and won penalties and free kicks with his power
- Nick Frost (Jed Holloway) – Dominated the lineout and just plays well. But was at 5 not 4
- Jed Holloway (Izack Rodda) – Made a statement in his final game of the year
- Liam Wright – Fills the role well and stepped up in defence to prevent a Tahs win
- Fraser McReight – One of the best 7s in world rugby and getting better with every game
- Rob Valetini – Peaking at the right time
- Tate McDermott (Ryan Lonergan) – Just played well
- Jack Bowen (Noah Lolesio) – Was sensational and a star in the making
- Ronan Leahy (Corey Toole) – A player to watch at next month’s U20 champs
- David Feliuai (Hunter Paisami)– Nutta only looks at the 5 Australian teams and doesn’t include the Drua
- Josh Flook – Read the game well and made space for his outside backs
- Andrew Kellaway (Dylan Pietsch) – Plays smart rugby and makes a difference regardless of his number
- Tom Wright – Continues to deliver
An interesting pick and I must admit I admire people willing to open themselves up to the crowd by putting out a TotW as there’s always people upset that their favourites didn’t make it. TBH I think both teams are good with the only two I question being Bowen and Leahy from Nathan. Both played well but I think Nutta’s picks were more consistent in their game. The great thing though is that there is some consistency coming through and a lot of the younger and less established players are putting their hands up. That can only be good for rugby going forward.
MCG’s RWC2027 final dream in doubt over Melbourne Rebels shutdown in Super Rugby
Reported here by Fox Rugby, the MCG’s hopes of hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup final, and Victoria’s chances of hosting other major rugby events are in severe doubt, over the shutdown of the Melbourne Rebels with the state questioning its future hosting the sport. There are three stadiums with a capacity of 60,000 in the running to host the final – the MCG, Accor Stadium in Sydney and Optus Stadium in Perth – and top Victorian figures have been working towards landing the event for several years.
Victorian Sports Minister Steve Dimopoulos said on Thursday “The Victorian government is extremely disappointed that Rugby Australia has decided not to support the Melbourne Rebels following the team’s 2024 season, after we made it clear that we expected them to commit to a team at the elite level of the sport in Victoria,”
Of course Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh and chairman Daniel Herbert insisted on Thursday Victoria was still in the mix for major international matches including the World Cup final. “We’re very committed to working with Visit Victoria (and) the Victorian government; international rugby has been very successful in Australia for a long, long time. And we’re confident it will continue to be that way,” Waugh said.
The ongoing talks and discussion around this are going to be interesting. While the Victorian Government will play the “hurt” game and try and link the RWC final, and other games such as the Lions tour with the Rebels, that doesn’t hold water. The reason that Perth, Sydney and Melbourne are in a competition for the big games has got absolutely nothing to do with the Super franchises in each city, it is all about the millions and millions of dollars holding such an event will bring into the city. The huge crowds all wanting accommodation, food, drink and other entertainment while in that city will be by far more of a consideration than anything to do with Super Rugby.
The support for the Rebels hasn’t been great ever since they were formed and none of that lack of support affected the big games such as the Bledisloe matches held there. Nice of the Victorian government to suddenly wake up to a rugby team in their state, but for me it’s all smoke and mirrors.
