Good Monday, G&GRs, and welcome to the Rugby News for this week. We’ll have a review of the matches from the weekend gone and the consequences of the results for the sides, some meanderings from club land, and Wallaby players on the move.
WALLABIES v ARGENTINA
Argentina scored in the 79th minute to defeat the Wallabies 34-31 at CommBank Stadium. In a wild finish, the hosts fought back from a ten point deficit to almost pull off a remarkable victory. It started with a try to Samu Kerevi, followed by an incredible 95 metres intercept by Mark Nawaqanitawase. In the end, there was one twist remaining as poor discipline, yet again, came back to haunt the Wallabies, with the penalty count finishing 14 against the Wobs to 10 against the Pumas (surprisingly lower than I thought it was going to be at one point!).
Yet another defeat with a small number of arguments that the loss was snatched from the jaws of victory, and, perhaps fairer, more arguments that the defeat makes sure the cracks are not papered over yet again. Indeed, I wonder if this loss forces Australia to punt the game plan that is clearly not working, that is if Eddie’s ego can stomach it.
Some shining lights from the game:
- The front row. The criticism on the other site was simply disgusting, particularly around 7As’ effort. The blokes played 70+ minutes (massive shift for an international tighthead), made 19 tackles and was a key part of a scrum that, for the most part, was legally dominant. One brain fart which knocks him down a wee bit, but not to the extent he deserves derision!
- The lineout functioned quite well, maybe because Uelese never had to throw a ball in!
- Skelton was better.
- Quade was better (still a shitty game plan to give him… but his place kicking has improved out of sight!)
- Mark Nawaqanitawase was, for the most part, immense and has surely punted Suli back from whence he came.
- Carter Gordon, for the cards he was dealt, was outstanding.
- I noted prior to the match that the stadium looked all but empty. Clearly the Range Rovers’ GPS found it hard to search for anything past the Eastern Distributor, but show up they did on a night where there was mungo ball and aerial ping-pong in what we knew would be the battle for the wooden spoon, and a team not playing well. Now, there’s a strong chance that many tickets were handed out as freebies, and it appeared half of Buenos Aires was at one end of the stadium, but credit where it’s due. If only more effort was put into rugby out that way, because despite everything, there are still (still!) people who care about the Wallabies and rugby union.
Some ‘less good’ stuff:
- Tom Wright. I’ve backed him, for the most part, this season and he did some good things. But gee he made it hard to defend him with two huge errors.
- McReight. Tackle-wise, he was right up there and wasn’t bouncing off like M Hooper was. But he’s selected for breakdown work and that was not evident this week. If he’s ineffectual there, then there’s no point selecting him at #7.
- Centres – Ikitau got pantsed early, though absolutely made up for it. Kerevi had good moments, though losing Ikitau clearly didn’t help. Still, in their first 17 minutes as a pair, I’d have hoped to have seen more. Ikitau now out for 6-8 weeks with a fractured scapula isn’t ideal either, especially for the nous he brings in defence.
The worst part:
- It’s a word that has become synonymous with the Wallabies, and not in a good way: discipline. Or, as it turns out, the complete lack of it. This isn’t purely a Wallabies problem, no sirs and ma’ams. No, this is an issue that is endemic at all levels of rugby in Australia. Dare I say, the mungo attitude towards discipline (correlating with the disrespect of referees) in this country, and the lack of ability and accountability by and from coaches and clubs, to stamp out this sort of tripe, has a direct correlation to the woes we face in pro rugby. This has been a recurring issue for a decade plus some and is clearly not improving, despite it being a word used more than the phrase, ‘I played for the boys’. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one. It’s a problem that is everyone’s to solve.
ALL BLACKS v SPRINGBOKS
Well, folks, if that first 20 odd minutes of this game wasn’t rugby perfection, irrespective of allegiance, then you certainly ought to have your cognitive function tested. It certainly was one way to take that Farging Frog out of the game! If the Kiwis are able to produce that sort of start every match, there’s likely no team, apart from perhaps France, who’ll be able to do anything about it. So perfect, even the rabid Saffas on all their social media channels kept pretty damn quiet (bliss!). Credit does go to the Bokke for clawing their way back into that match after the initial barrage. It certainly was a game of quarters. MotM for me would be Will Jordan. Once again, he’s proving both the depth of the New Zealand side and Fozzie could easily (and probably should) leave BB out of the starting side.
It may well be quite a long match at the ‘G in a fortnight. I have my tickets as I’m a glutton for punishment, but I really hope we can sort some things out in the next two weeks *sigh*.
PACIFIC FOUR TOURNAMENT
Black Ferns 39 def USA 17
Canada 45 def Australia 7
Match reports here via World Rugby
Key takeaways from the Pacific Four:
- Australia, Canada and New Zealand have qualified for the WXV1 in New Zealand later this year
- USA qualify for WXV2 to be held in South Africa later this year
- The new three-tier annual global women’s 15s competition is set to revolutionise the women’s international rugby landscape, providing for the first time a meaningful pathway for all unions and a competitive springboard towards an expanded 16 team Rugby World Cup in 2025. For more information about WXV, click here
- Congratulations to Sara Cox MBE for surpassing Clare Daniels as the most-capped female referee of all time in her 35th test. Well done, Sara!
- Discipline problems are not strictly aligned with the men’s side: two players earned a slice of cheese which severely impacted the Wallaroos ability to use the limited possession and territory they had. Sounds familiar…
WALLABIES ON THE MOVE
Wallabies Noah Lolesio and Jake Gordon have signed RWC ‘Joker’ deals with Rugby Club Toulonnais. They follow in the footsteps of Alun Wyn Jones, who has signed on for a short-term deal, too. The media release is here.
Seeing as Noah has been repeatedly shafted (for the most part, unfairly), this is an outstanding decision and one that ought to reap benefits for the Brumbies and Australian rugby. For Jake Gordon, it may well be a stint that saves his Wallaby ambitions. Crucially, both players will be match-fit and in France in the unlikely occurrence they’re needed for the Wallabies (assuming their contracts allow this).
It sure as shit beats having to sit around doing sweet FA until pre-season starts… *cough NRC cough*.
THE AUSTRALIAN RUGBY SHIELD RETURNS IN 2023
The Australian Rugby Shield is a National XVs tournament for senior men and women from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales Country (NSWC), Northern Territory (NT), Queensland Country (QLDC), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC), and Western Australia (WA), competing in a group style format with finals to determine the champions. It was launched in 2000 by Rugby Australia. The competition was intended to unearth new talent outside of the existing rugby strongholds of Sydney and Brisbane. The competition was suspended after the 2008 season, but has since been revived. Rugby Australia (RA) has announced the location and dates of the 2023 and 2024 Australian Rugby Shield (ARS) competition. The 2023 and 2024 ARS tournament will be played at Ballymore in Brisbane. The 2023 ARS competition dates are Thursday 27 September to Monday 2 October.
With any luck, the Sydney Country and Brisbane Country sides will put their egos aside and not demand to play in the same pool. The reason why? They have an annual match and they wanted to play it in the pool stages, effectively hijacking the tournament for their own gains.
I hope that the alleged ‘Home of Rugby’ finds a way to stream these matches; it was on an obscure YouTube channel last year, so hopefully bringing the competition to Ballymore means a few Queensland Rugby interns can be summonsed and placed behind a camera on a decent stream.
COMMUNITY RUGBY
I’ve been disgusted to hear of more cowardly attacks on rugby officials at the community level over the weekend. I have seen video of a player deliberately running into a referee with his back turned, and social media posts questioning the integrity of match officials. For the vast majority, this isn’t something that would ever cross your mind to do.
If you are one of these people who are abusing referees in any way, shape or kind, go find another sport, and a life. If you see this behaviour and do nothing, then you are, by default, condoning this behaviour. The standard of behaviour you allow is the standard of behaviour you set (even if World Rugby are piss poor at this themselves).
