Hey G&GRs, what a weekend of rugby that was. Each week in Super Rugby Pacific is just getting better and better, unless you’re a NZ fan 🤣🤣🤣🤣 (sorry KARL). I’m guessing everyone’s tips were as 💩 as mine with slim pickings for most this week. But to be honest, I don’t mind.; this brings the competition alive and makes for great viewing.
There was even more rugby this weekend than last, and that ain’t something to complain about. But even with a cyclone on, I couldn’t watch every game, so I’m leaving the England v Italy game and the Super W to RAWF in Tuesday’s musings.
Round 4 proved even more entertaining than the last three rounds with cracking rugby and unpredictable results. Who thought that the Fiji Drua would beat the Chiefs, the Brumbies would down the Blues in Auckland, and the MP would down the Canes? WTF?
We’ll also dive into the Six Nations and have a gander at the two games (Ireland v France and Scotland v Wales) as the England v Italy hasn’t been played at the time of writing this article.
So grab your office ergonomic chair, push the on button, Ctrl+Alt+Delete to sign in, bring up G&GR, grab a big cup of that beautiful brown stuff ☕ (and no Hoss we are not talking about the contents of your favourite German-style ‘special’ movies) and let’s do the G&GR business.
Super Rugby Pacific – Round Four
Brumbies 21 defeated Blues 20
Holy smokes Batman! Who saw that coming? I know I hoped for it, didn’t tip it, but truly hoped for it. Indeed, most of my mates who are Ponies fans, including our esteemed Nutta, didn’t tip the Ponies and yet here we are. 12 years ago was the last time the Ponies notched up a W at Eden Park.
The Blues started the game strongly and had a solid lead at oranges, leading the Ponies 20-10. This was on the back of two great tries in two minutes from Angus Ta’avao and KARL’s best mate, Rieko Ioane. If it wasn’t for Beautden Barrett’s poor kicking from the tee (missed two conversions and a penalty goal), the Blues would’ve been up 27-10.
But the Puppy Killers weren’t out of it. They stepped up in the second half and fought their way back into the game with a penalty goal from Declan Meredith and a try. But he missed the conversion leaving the Brumbies just trailing but still competitive.
With just two minutes left on the clock the Ponies managed to convince referee ‘ I try not to let Aussie teams win’ Doleman to stick his arm out and award the Brums a penalty. Come the man, come the hour, Lonergan stepped up and iced the penalty to take out the game for the Kenberrans.
But that being said, it was the Brumbies pack that earned the victory for Larkham’s men. In an interview after the game, 7 As mused “Pretty nerve-wracking, to be honest. We worked so hard throughout the whole game. The forwards knew they were in for a massive day against a quality Blues pack and the least I could do was kick it over. But we’ve also got to understand what put us in this position to win the game,” he said. “Look at our preparation and what worked for us and just continue to build on that. We’ve got a really tough game at home next Friday against the Fijian Drua so we’ve got to make sure the boys get home safe and we’ll prepare for that.”
The Brumbies season appears now to be back on track. But they have some big games coming up in the next few rounds so we’ll see if this is the start of an uptick or a flash in the pan. The Blues are now 1 win from 3, and Barrett, who looked far better at 10 than he does at 15, left the field injured. This may be a big blow for the Blues.
Fiji Drua 28 defeated Chiefs 24
Wow and wow! This game was an absolute pearler, and shows everyone that the ‘top of the table’ Chiefs are vulnerable. The Drua are a real challenge in Lautoka, not just to the middle teams but to everyone.
The heavens opened up just before kick off and it pissed down, more than it was in Brisbane with a cyclone. And it was those conditions that set the tone for the game with it being as slippery as hell, and both teams were struggling to hold onto the pill.
The visitors got off to a solid start with a try in the second minute to Samisoni Taukei’aho. The home side replied through a penalty from Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula. But the Chiefs followed that up through their Lock Jimmy Tupou barging over the line in close for a solid try. Armstrong-Ravula got himself a second penalty to bring the margin down to six points at oranges.
The rain seemed to ease up to give the players better conditions to begin the second half. The Fijians took advantage of this and through Meli Derenalagi were able to push over from in close for a try. This got the Fijians out in front at 13-12. But the lead didn’t last long with ALB crossing for a nice try at the 46 min mark.
However, Fiji weren’t giving up. In one of the slickest pieces of play I’ve seen for a while, Loganimasi had a great offload to Vuate Karawalevu who dived over and scored a banger of a try putting the Drua back in the lead. Not resting on his laurels, Loganimasi picked up a nice chip kick, then chipped and chased himself to cross the line to increase Fiji’s lead. Armstrong-Ravula then iced another penalty to put the game out of reach before Tupou Vaa’i crossed for a try to ensure the Chiefs gained a bonus point loss.
Fiji looked good throughout the game and their discipline was significantly improved over the last two weeks. The Chiefs seemed to struggle in the second half, with the conditions seeming to sap both sides’ endurance. However, this should be a good reminder to all teams that the Fijians grow another leg when they’re at home, especially in Lautoka.
Moana Pacific 40 defeated Hurricanes 31
I don’t think many people would’ve seen that one coming with the Aride Savea led Moana Pasifika giving the Hurricanes a touch up at the North Harbour Stadium in JAFA land. The victory is their first for the season after several close losses in the opening rounds.
This is a great game to watch, and I highly recommend watching the full 80 min replay if you have the time. Miracle Faiʻilagi had a blinder with a hat trick of tries. Brayden Lose opened the scoring for the Canes, but it was closely followed up with a try for MP by Faiilagi. The Canes responded with an unconverted try to Reuben Love. But after that it was all MP. They scored 28 unanswered points, making the Canes look very average indeed.
Tom Savage for the MP copped a big serve of 🧀, and even that didn’t reduce the onslaught of MP against the struggling Hurricanes. It wasn’t until the 61st minute mark (a full 40 mins after they last bothered the score eeper) that the Canes crossed the line through Lakai. MP then, through Faiilag, responded ensuring their solid lead remained intact.
The Canes rallied hard, but it was more to save their dignity, rather than changing the outcome. 5 pointers to Ngatungane Punivai and Jone Rova reduced the margin, but did little to affect the outcome with MP claiming their first win, and a comprehensive win at that.
NSW Waratahs 34 defeated Western Force 10
The perennial cellar dwellers, the NSW Tahs, have lifted themselves to second on the SRP ladder with a comprehensive victory over an out-of-sorts Western Force. The Tahs ran in six tries to two, despite losing two key players. One, in form Langi Gleeson, and the other Tahs scrum half Commissioner Gordon (who still looks like he doesn’t want to be playing SRP).
The Tahs opened strongly and form winger Max ‘I get paid more than everyone else’ Jorgensen demonstrated why he’s worth the investment by RA by scoring two tries. The first half was very much a forwards beating up other forwards affair, the teams went to the sheds battered with the Tahs leading 15-5.
Tizzano continued his good form with a try, his sixth for the season. This would’ve impressed St Joe, who was watching on from the bleachers. But little else from the Force would have; they looked out of sorts, with their only other try came from Coxon in the 81st minute, adding little respectability to the scoreline or their performance. This was after Leota, Jorgensen, Lancaster, Kalapu and Kellaway scored tries. It looked like the Force were fatigued from their first three rounds.
The Tahs will hope that this performance helps them build a platform for the tougher games to follow, including the Reds in Brisbane next week. Then there’re four Kiwi teams, the Canes, the Chiefs, the Saders and the Blues. this will be the litmus test for the Tahs.
Crusaders 43 defeated Queensland Reds 19
The boys from Canterbury returned to their winning ways, dispatching a very disjointed-looking Reds side in Christchurch on Sunday afternoon. The Dark Ones didn’t look that impressive, with lots of defensive lapses, but the Reds pushed too many passes, over-playing their hand time after time.
Cullen Grace chalked up the first try in the game with a nice little run straight through the pack, catching the Queensland defence napping. All Black, Crusader and all round good guy 🤮 Sevu Reece notched up a first-half double. Queensland in attack looked good and could, at times, score with relative ease, but their desire to push passes and go for miracle offloads was what cost them. Well that and some stupid decision making. Crusaders dynamo Will Jordan scored twice in four minutes before halftime, pushing the Saders out to a handy 29-7 lead. Big Harry Wilson scored a try just before half time, trying to lead from the front, but it wasn’t enough.
The second half saw the Reds picking up where they left off with dumb decisions and play-making. It was like the player’s minds were elsewhere, which may’ve been the case. Co-captain Tate summed it up well, “Incredibly disappointing; some really good patches out there but too many times … our own worst enemies, we have to own that but it’s not the end of the world, there’s not much in it.” McDermott said Queensland’s ball security and decision making needed to improve. “I know there’s a lot on the scoreboard, but a couple of breakaway tries are easy fixes for us,” he said. “Plenty of times we were in a good position and would chance our hand with a 50-50 offload and find ourselves back down the other end.”
Queensland will try to fly back home on Monday morning and get back to training for their all important match against arch rivals the Tahs. Coach Kiss needs to have a good look at that performance and get his players back in the right mindset, because a loss to NSW will be unacceptable.
Super Rugby Pacific 2025 – Ladder
After a weekend of upsets, and the occasional poor performance (yes Queensland Reds, I’m looking at you), the ladder has changed a fair bit. The teams from 3 to 7 are all on 9 points, with the for and against ranking them. That’s about as close as you’re going to get. And although my team lost, this type of round is great for SRP, there are no certainties and everyone’s in with a chance. Well except KARL’s Canes on the bottom of the ladder 🤣🤣🤣.
Men’s Six Nations
France 42 defeated Ireland 27
The Frogs have locked in their lead in the 6 Nations taking the Irish out for a run and giving them a good thrashing 42-27. Their second half will send a shot across the bow of all other international teams, and done without the little master Antoine Dupoint who went off with a hyper-extended knee.
Ireland were competitive and leading late in the first half, but then France stepped up a gear and bagged three tries in twelve minutes (Paul Boudehent, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Oscar Jegou) leaving the Irish heart broken and stunned. Their chances of a Grand Slam disappeared with their lead.
Both Ireland and France have had a very up and down 6 Nations, and have had games they’d rather forget. Frances were at the front end of the tournament. And this was the one for the Irish!
Scotland 35 defeated Wales 29
Scotland withheld a late game charge from the Welsh to win 35-29 at Murrayfield on early Saturday morning Australian time. Finn Russell rediscovered his form landing five from five from the kicking tee, and Blair Kinghorn and Tom Jordan both icing doubles.
Wales were shellshocked in the first half, and at oranges were behind 35-8. They managed to resurrect their game and reputations in the second half with tries from Ben Thomas, Teddy Williams and Max Llewellyn as Scotland appeared to put their cue back in the rack well before the final whistle. Scotland still has the chance to finish second, but will need to beat France in Paris in the next round, a tall order after France’s demolition of Ireland this morning.
Anyway, enough of me carrying on. Over to you G&GRs. Have at it.
