1 September 2025
Good Morning GAGRs and welcome to Monday’s news with RAWF. I’m filling in for Bris today who is unavailable due to a prior commitment. We tried to tell him that he could buy tickets to the Rick Astley concert online, but he insisted on doing it old school and lining up in person, saying that you never know your luck, Rick might actually be there selling the tickets.
Now back to the rugby
There was a lot of rugby on over the weekend, including the second round of pool matches at the Women’s world cup, club rugby finals, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
Wallaroos stalemate in York
First off, a look at the Wallaroos match against the USA at the World Cup. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the game, I recommend it, given the wet conditions, it was a high scoring match, and both sides will feel like they could have won it, with the end result being a 31-31 draw.
The match was played in wet conditions in York, and both teams brought a knock out final intensity to the contest. Australia had the early advantage after the USA conceded an offside penalty and the Wallaroos capitalised through Desiree Miller in the 7th minute. The chance was well taken by the Aussies, the forwards created space and after gaining advantage, they went wide with Halse throwing the last pass to Miller who beat the tackler (gee she can fend) and went over to score. An excellent conversion from Wood and its 7-0.
The American seemed to have all of the territory and possession for the next 25 minutes however a combination of resolute Wallaroos defence and handling errors by the USA meant that it took until the 27th minute for the Eagles to open their scoring with a try. Iloina Maher was a standout in this period of play with two key turnovers allowing the USA to wrest back the momentum whenever the Wallaroos had the ball. There was also some good fortune for the Aussies, the ball fell off the kicking tee and there wasn’t enough time to take the conversion properly, so the score stayed at 7-5 to Australia.
Australia were the next to score, in the 38th minute, with Halse diving over under the posts after a great break by Piper Duck and some good play by the forwards. Sam Wood knocked it over from in front, and Australia went into the sheds 14-5 up at half time.
Overall, the USA seemed to have the better of territory and possession in the first half, but the Wallaroos took their chances, including in the championship minutes, and had the lead.
Second half
The USA started better in the second half and the Wallaroos discipline went missing, gifting repeat penalties to the American’s who marched downfield and scored in the 44th minute to reduce the deficit to 4 points (14-10 Wallaroos).
The USA continued to dominate and scored again in the 50th minute to take a 17-14 lead. It was efficient rugby by the USA, taking advantage of penalties to set up an unstoppable rolling maul and this time the conversion was successful.
The Wallaroos weren’t going to go away though and almost straight from the kick off Tuinakauvadra secured a rare turnover penalty for the Aussies, and after the forwards mauled it close, the backs spun it out to Miller who powered over for her second (and fifth at this world cup). The conversion was wide and its 19-17 Wallaroos.
When the Wallaroos scored next just 4 minutes later (at 58 minutes) through Halse to go 26-17 up, it started to feel like the Wallaroos might be able to take the game away from the USA, but the Americans had other plans.
The Eagles dominated possession for the next 15 minutes and it took moments of brilliance from the Wallaroos to repel multiple USA attacks before ultimately the Eagles powered over from another rolling maul (Freda Tafuna scored a double) and with the conversion successful, the Wallaroos were still in the front 26-24 with 67 minutes played.
As you would expect in such a tight game, the American kept the pressure on and hit the front for the second time in the 71st minute through their try scoring lock Jarrell Searcy, who picked up from the base of the ruck (quick ball) and raced over to score under the posts. All of a sudden it is 31-26 to the USA and Australia has to find a way back into the game.
Some scrappy play from the Americans on a clearing kick does just that, with the Aussies awarded a penalty for either a tackle off the ball, or the Americans not retreating from the kick. Either way, the result was an opportunity for the Aussies, and Eva Karpani took it, driving over from close range to level the score at 31-31. Sam Wood had a chance to put the Wallaroos in front but the conversion went left of the posts and it was all tied up with 5 to play.
Both teams had chances to apply pressure and win the game. The USA were awarded a scrum penalty that surprised the commentators, but Kaitlan Leaney fought her way through the maul and forced the turn over. The Wallaroos broke out from the ensuing scrum, and it looked like Miller was in the clear, but the cover was good and the ball ended up on the deck to be scrambled back by Australia for one last play by Halse. In the end, the USA cleaned up the kick through by halse, put the ball into touch, and the teams shared the points with a 31 all draw.
What did we learn
Discipline – The Wallaroos discipline wasn’t good enough in the second half and invited the Americans back into the game. They will need to improve on this against England.
Maher the star – Ilona Maher won three turnovers to stifle the Aussie attack and made good metres with the ball in hand to get the Americans on the front foot.
The Kid is also a star – They call her the Kid on coverage, but Cailtyn Halse is a genuine star at just 18 years of age. The Aussie fullback has great vision, pace, power in contact, and a killer pass.
Goal kicking – both sides will be ruing missed opportunities from the kicking tee. The American’s had the ball fall off the tee, and one hit both posts before bouncing back into the field of play. Sam Wood missed a kickable conversion after the last try. Both kickers were generally good and this is one area where the game is much stronger than the last world cup.
Engine Room – The Wallaroos pack were very good, with Piper Duck making 26 tackles, Michaela Leonard 25 tackles, and Kaitlan Leaney 23 tackles to go with an outstanding effort to shut down the USAs rolling maul with a few minutes left.
Pool A standings
So, after two rounds, England are clearly the dominant team in Pool A and have booked their place in the quarter finals. The Aussies face England next, and the USA will take on Samoa. As optimistic as we can be about the Wallaroos, it’s likely to come down to points differential, and at least in that respect the Wallaroos have some control of their destiny. They need to really aim up next week against the Red Roses, and compete like never before. If they don’t beat England, then any sort of bonus point (4 tries, losing by less than 7) will see them take second spot and progress to the quarter finals.
World cup standings
Looking at the other pools, it seems pretty clear cut in Pool B after two rounds, and Canada will meet Scotland next week to decide the placings. Canada laid down a marker with a 42-0 demolition of Wales, and will be keen on staying unbeaten and topping their pool.
Pool C looks like it will go the way of the favourites, and you would expect New Zealand and Ireland to go through.
Pool D is expected to be closer, and it will be interesting to see how South Africa go against Italy and France.
Brisbane Club Rugby
StoreLocal Founders Cup Grand Final.
Bond Uni made it four titles in a row in the Womens final on Saturday afternoon. They had their work cut out for them though, with Easts getting off to a flyer, scoring in the 5th minute, 24th minute, and just before the break to take a 19-5 half time lead.
Bond Uni had the better of the second half though, outscoring Easts by 27 points to 10, to secure a 32-29 victory. Replacement flyhalf Zara Colless was key for Bond, scoring a try, two conversions, and a penalty on the way to securing the Cheyenne Campbell Medal as best on ground. Congrats to Bond, and Zara, and well played to Easts.
Hospital Cup Grand Final – First Grade.
There were six regular Reds players in the starting line ups for the Hospital Cup Grand first grade final which was played in perfect conditions at Ballymore. In terms of Wallabies, Josh Canham played for Bond, and Josh Flook was on the field for Brothers.
Lachie Grey has written a great summary of the Mens final here. Brothers looked to have the game won, but Bond Uni scored a fantastic try to go ahead with 5 minutes to go and held on to take the victory 27-25. It is Bond’s first victory in the current QPR format, and they denied Brothers their three-peat. The Bull Sharks had to do it the hard way, finishing the regular season in fourth place, and winning nine games in a row. Congrats to Bond Uni and their coach Mick Heenan who is now 7 from 10 in Grand Final appearances. Bond Uni Captain Tyler Campbell took home the Tony Shaw Medal for best on ground.
Brothers certainly were the dominant club this year, featuring in eight grand finals across the grades, ultimateky taking home four trophies..
Results from the Grand Finals
6th Grade – Wests 10 defeated Brothers 7
5th Grade – Sunnybank defeated Brothers 12
4th Grade – Brothers 29 defeated Sunnybank 26
3rd Grade – Wests 33 v Brothers 33, with Wests winning as the Minor Premiers
Colts 3 – Brothers 24 defeated GPS 8
Colts 2 – Brothers 19 defeated Easts 17
Colts 1 – Wests 31 defeated Easts 22
2nd Grade – Brothers 41 defeated Bond Uni 17.
From us here at GAGR, congrats to everyone who made the final weekend and played a part in a great season.
And of course, congratulations and thank you to all of the players, coaches, club members, club organisers, volunteers, grounds keepers, and supporters for making community rugby great. We wouldn’t have super rugby teams and the Wallabies / Wallaroos if we didn’t have club rugby.
Pacific Nations Cup
There were two games in the Pacific Nations Cup over the weekend:
- Fiji hosted Tonga in Suva and ran out winners 32-10
- Japan hosted Canada in Sendai, winning convincingly 57-15.
The tournament has an interesting pool structure, with two pools of three teams. Fiji top pool A ahead of Tonga and Samoa, and Japan top Pool B ahead of Canada and the USA. Each team plays the other two teams in their pool, with the final pool games next week and finals matches starting on Monday 15 September in Colorado.
You really would expect to see Fiji and Japan at the top of each pool and meeting in the final. If they do, I’m tipping Fiji to get the win, if for no other reason than Eddie Jones coaches Japan, but also because of the way they play.
That’s a wrap
That’s a wrap for Monday, hope you have a good start to the week, and look forward to seeing the chat in the comments.
I reckon today’s off rugby topics could include the history of bitcoin and other electronic currencies, or maybe peoples favourites types of sausages to eat with beer. For the latter mine is Bratwurst from Nurnberg, washed down with Weissbier.
Cheers
RAWF
