Happy Monday G&GRs, and what a fabulous Monday it is. The Waratahs are firmly ensconced on the bottom of the ladder and unable to make the finals. It is good for rugby. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Anyway enough of kicking the Tahs while they’re down, let’s get serious.
With only two of the Australian teams getting up this weekend (and the Brumbies were bloody lucky just quietly between us G&GRs), things are starting to get tight, and the finals are inbound. So are the teams going for top-of-the-table positions to get a home final, or saving their boys and trying to be fresh to fight from where they are on the ladder? Who knows. But let’s pull that one apart.
Let’s get into the rugby. It was an interesting round, with teams trying to assert themselves for the finals. So let’s have a look at Round Thirteen, then look at the SRP ladder, and big congratulations to one of our favourites. So grab a big cup of☕, and let’s look at rugby, G&GR style, and no, Yowie, there’s no scope for Gangnam style jokes there!
As always this is a fan-run site and any contribution is welcome, feel free to reach out to me at bris@greenandgoldrugby.com.au be it with an article an idea, or an opinion piece. There’s also a ‘Submit a Story’ option. So feel free to have a crack as the more the merrier.
Super Rugby Pacific 2024 – Round 13
Wellington Hurricanes 32 defeated Moana Pasifika 24
KARL’s beloved Canes have fought their way back to the top of the table with a harder-than-expected victory over Tana Umaga’s Moana Pasifika 32-24 in a match that would’ve had Nutta salivating as it was a Piggies Paradise. The Canes rested a swag of players for this game and it almost came back to bite them on the arse, being pressured up front and hammered in scrums. The thing that really saved them was their bench.
The game was played at a breakneck pace with Moana driving the tempo, and piggies were bagging meat pies left right, and centre, with three props and a hooker scoring, unlike their chances in the pub after the game. The Canes started the game strongly, and led the whole way through the game, but were never able to break free of the MPs. Going into the shed for oranges the Canes were up 19-12. The MPs came out firing after halftime, inspired by a Tana Umaga rocket, scoring first after the break to close the gap to two points.
But the Canes went to their bench and steadied the ship, managing to hold out the Pasifika boys. It was a gamble that paid off for the Canes, but coach Laidlaw may have regretted his decision there for a while.
Waikato Chiefs 26 defeated Melbourne Rebels 23
Speaking of teams that may’ve shat themselves this round, that would definitely include the Chiefs in their 26-23 just snuck home victory over the Rebs in Melbourne on Friday night. The Rebs’ intent was shown from the start, coming out of the blocks at a blistering pace and snatching an early lead.
The Chiefs finally woke up and got themselves back in the game, to step out to a 12-point lead. But the Rebs not to be outdone were rallied by the home crowd and and got back into the game. Reb Lachie Anderson managed to grab two meat pies to get the scores back to level with less than 10 to go on the clock.
But it was the boot of that smiling assassin, DMac, who slotted a penalty to give the Chiefs the lead with 3 minutes to go and held out until the hooter. The Rebels are still a chance to make the finals despite this loss, but have a really hard homeward run.
Wallaby Watch – Carter Gordon, Lachie Anderson and Filipo Daugunu really stood out for the Rebels. Especially Gordon who seemed a different player without the kicking responsibilities.
Fiji Drua 28 defeated Queensland Reds 19
The Reds didn’t just crap themselves, they totally shat the bed in a real John Denver type rocks and diamonds performance in their 28-19 loss to the Fiji Drua in Suva on Saturday afternoon. All teams now realise that Fiji are a fundamentally different team when they play at home. The crowd lifts them and they seem to have 20 players on the field.
The Reds had a shocking start, scrappy and error-ridden. This allowed Fiji to blitz off to a 12-0 lead before the clock had even hit the 8-minute mark. The Reds had just started to pull their finger out when Reds’ perennial whipping boy Suliasi Vunivalu was handed a big slice of cheddar cheese 🧀 for a brain-snapping moment of a deliberate trip. Down a player, and to be honest, it is not like Suliasi contributes a lot, the Reds went on the attack when Lawson Creighton nailed a beautiful cross-field kick that was gathered by debutant Floyd Aubrey, diving over for a nice 5-pointer.
The Reds, now back to 15 players, remained on the attack this time through Creighton, who sold a beautiful dummy and bypassed a number of defenders to nab himself a great meat pie to bring the score to 15-14. Rapidly approaching oranges the Fijians got themselves a penalty and Valetini (not Sideshow Bob) grabbed the tee and slotted a 53-metre penalty to go to the sheds at 18-14.
But not to be outdone by his stupidity in the first half, Suliasi Vunivalu in defence again went to trip another Fijian earning himself a second serve of 🧀, which was promptly upgraded to a 🍷 in a two-for-one sale. Fark Me! This left the Reds with only 14 for twenty minutes, and now down a player, the inevitable try that followed left the Reds with a 25-14 deficit in really humid conditions that were sapping the Reds strength and reducing their chances of grabbing victory.
The Reds tried to stay in the game, closing the score to 25-19, but 30 minutes of playing with 14 men in Fijian conditions hurt them badly. Fiji was able to maintain control and slot another penalty to close out the game.
The Reds and Les Kiss gambled with this game, probably under the presumption that they were probably going to lose in Fiji anyway, as all but one Super Rugby team have this season. They rested a number of their key starters, probably wanting to save them some game time as we push close to the finals. But this game was ripe for the taking and they let themselves down. Suliasi Vunivalu has to either go back to gaol ball or club rugby until he can demonstrate he knows enough about the game to play. His slot in the Reds is not warranted.
Wallaby Watch – Lawson Creighton, Tate McDermott, Seru Uru, and James O’Connor had good games in what was a poor performance for the Reds.
ACT Brumbies 31 defeated Canterbury Crusaders 24
The Puppy Killers have snuck home with a 31-24 win in what has to be their luckiest victory to date, as it wasn’t a convincing performance by the Australian conference’s strongest team. The Brumbies initially defended well, but what should be scaring the crap out of Bernie Larkham is the Brumbies ability to switch off for periods of the game.
The first half was a reasonably strong performance by the home side, with Lolo controlling the game well with the Ponies up by two tries in the opening 20 minutes. It remained a Brumbies game for the rest of the first half. Coming out from oranges, still up by 10 points, this is where things changed. At this point, things started to go awry for the Brumbies. Noah Hotham scored a try with just 10 minutes to go, and then a late penalty kick from the 55-metre mark by Fihaki, which to be honest could have been nailed from 60+. This, and a serve of 🧀 for Tamati Tua for a high shot on Jone Rova really had the Dark ones on a roll.
The Crusaders motivated, and back in the game, pushed the Brumbies hard. The scores were level at 24-24 with 5 minutes on the clock and looking like the Brumbies were going to shit the bed. But luck, and by luck I mean serious luck was on the Brumbies side. The Ponies were on the attack down the right-hand side of the paddock when Tom Wright threw a forward pass. And not just a little bit forward but a mile forward. The touchy, Gus and the TMO stayed schtum, and play continued. But even one-eyed Brumby commentator Goog Harrison was amazed that it wasn’t called. The game ended in a bit of farce with the Crusaders conceding a penalty try to give the Ponies the match.
The Brumbies were great in patches and terrible in others. With whole periods of the second half where they took their foot off the gas and let the Saders muscle them out of control. If that forward pass was called, it would’ve been golden point or, possibly, a Saders win.
Wallaby Watch – Tom Wright, Andy Muirhead, and Lolo had good games. Jimmy Slips had a shocker for once.
Auckland Blues 47 defeated Otago Highlanders 13
The lads from Auckland have consolidated their ladder lead with a convincing win over the Clan on Saturday evening. In the North v South clash, the Blues 47-13 flogging of the Highlanders really demonstrated where both teams stood in 2024. Despite suffering some late changes and resting some players, the Blues were commanding in their performance.
Kurt Ekland for the Blues was dominant scoring two of the Blue’s tries, enabling the Blues to hold a steady but not amazing 21-13 lead at oranges. But, after they came out of the shed the Blues really turned it on, and their forward pack attained total dominance. The Blues through Kade Banks bagged a beautiful try and that opened the floodgates for the Blues to take control of the game and close it out comfortably.
Western Force 27 defeated NSW Waratahs 7
The Twiggy Forrest All-Stars have given the hapless Tahs a spanking of epic proportions in their 27-7 victory in Perth on Saturday night. The injury-plagued Waratahs got off to a good start getting up 7-0 in the early stages of the match, but that’d be the last time they bothered the scorer for the night, with the Force slamming down 27 unanswered points to end the Tahs chance of reaching the finals and cementing them to the bottom of the SRP ladder.
In Waratahs skipper’s Jake Gordon’s 100th Super Rugby game, the Tahs through Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch crossed for a really nice try. But after that, the wheels fell off. The Force then went on to pile up 20 unanswered points for the half, with their pack very dominant, especially at scrum time. Kuenzle banged down a nice try, closely followed by Donaldson in the 20th minute.
The Tahs night got worse when Brad Amituanai was given some 🧀, making the Force’s job easier, allowing Reed Prinsep to score shortly thereafter. And from there it was just time ’til the Force closed out the game, making the Tahs look as average as they were.
Wallaby Watch – Donaldson, Rodda, Kuenzle and Harry Hoopert had a strong performance. Gordon’s 100th was not a game that he’ll remember with fondness.
Congratulations to Angus Gardner
While we give the refs a fair serve on G&GR, I must pass on my and G&GR’s sincerest congratulations to Angus Gardner on drawing level with Jaco Peyper’s record for the most Super Rugby games as a whistle-blower. Racking up his 114th game as a referee, Angus will go on to beat the record next week.
Angus is by far the best of the Aussie pea blowers, and I hope that this achievement is just the start, and that he goes on to set a record that those who follow will find hard to beat. Bravo!
Super Rugby Pacific 2024 – Round 12 – The Ladder
The ladder has started to lock itself in with the Blues taking the top spot and the Tahs the bottom. The Force are catching up on the Drua to make the finals. The top four are pretty much locked in, along with 5th and 6th, but the 7th and 8th positions are still really up for grabs.
The Crusaders have crawled their way off the bottom, but their chances of making the finals have probably dissipated. The Tahs and the MPs are pretty much shot on the bottom of the ladder.
Anyway, enough of this old man rambling on. Over to you G&GRs, have at it.
