Monday’s Rugby News sees the results from the weekend, Thorn being proud of the lads, the latest signings for the Force, and Dom saying goodbye.
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The results are in…
It was another solid weekend for Aussie rugby, even though one team got up and another went down.
Starting in Melbourne, the Rebels got back to winning ways by thumping the living daylights out of the Sharks, 46-14. It was an all-round attacking masterclass from the home side, particularly in the second half when they ran in four tries to earn the bonus point.
It was fair to say that was pretty comprehensive turnaround from getting thumped by the Tahs the week before. They’ll face the ultimate challenge next week, taking on the Hurricanes in the first Trans-Tasman derby.
With two poor losses on their Aussie tour, the Shorkies are now heading off to two matches in New Zealand. Unless they have a big turnaround, things could be about to get a lot worse.
The other result was the Reds, who, after a crazy week which saw them get stuck in Argentina and then have to get a flight to London on their way to South Africa, put in a valiant effort against the Stormers, eventually going down 25-19 in Cape Town.
While there was plenty of questionable actions going on by the Aussie cricket team a few miles away, the Reds however set a much better example when they stepped out on the field. They played hard and fair. While the Stormers led for the whole match, the second half fightback was something to be applauded, considering their preparation time was thrown into disarray.
While their winning streak is over, the Reds picked up a losing bonus point, which takes their total tour tally to five points.
Any away points are precious, and this will sure come in handy later down the line. Frankly, I think this will be a loss that’ll do a lot of good for the men from Queensland, they’ll use this performance as a benchmark for the rest of the year. They’ll now head into a well-earned bye.
In the other results of the round, the Crusaders made like work of the Bulls (33-14), the Moon Dogs continued to make us question why they’re in this comp, getting smacked 10-61 by the Chiefs, the Hurricanes beat the Highlanders (29-12), and, in the surprise win of the round, the right Jaguares side turned up and shocked the Lions in Buenos Aires, winning 49-35.
The other results of the weekend continued in the Super W. The Brumbies Women put in a valiant display against NSW at Rat Park yesterday, playing out a gritty affair. However, the women from NSW continued their winning streak, winning 24-5.
The other result saw the Reds Women smash the Rebels Women 60-0 at Ballymore.
The girls from Victoria have had a tough time of it lately, and will be up against it when they host NSW next week. QLD will go into the bye, while the Brums will have a tough assignment on their hands when they play the Western Force Women.
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Beefin’ Up
The new-look Western Force have added to their coaching outfit, with former Reds and Wallabies second-rower, Van Humphries taking on the role of forwards coach over in the west.
The big lock had a pretty solid career, before starting to ply his trade as forwards coach for Souths in Brisvegas. He was pondering about going overseas, but then Twiggy got his digits.
“It came about rather suddenly. Andrew Forrest flicking the switch and me talking to Hodgo,” Humphries admitted candidly.
“I threw my hat into the ring and here I am. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind but I’m so appreciative of being able to be a part of something that is unprecedented in rugby.
“I’ve been very impressed with what everyone has done to sign this group of players when they are not usually available in this window.
“We all watched what happened to the Force last year.
“It was totally unprecedented, but it has resulted in this exciting and challenging new World Series Rugby tournament and I was really motivated to be a part of that.
“I believe this presents a new opportunity for Australian rugby and offers a real alternative for people looking for a game that will entertain and inspire them.
“The key to its success this year is an impressive team, which we have.
“I know about half a dozen of the guys from playing and coaching and can’t wait to get to know the rest.
“There is a really good mix of experience and some exciting up-and-comers.”
Humphries joins Tim Sampson as Head Coach and Jaque Fourie as their centre/defence coach. Fourie has made it no secret that he is keen for the Force to go places this year when he spoke to the Australian last week.
“It’s going to be hard,” he admitted.
“But I’ve been training on my own so I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a shock to the system.
“It will be my first gig at coaching but I’ve been doing that (running the defence) for the last five years with the teams I’ve been playing with.
“At the moment, I’m not thinking about that. I just want to get to Perth and settle in and then we’ll take it from there. You never know.”
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Proud of the Lads
Yes, it might not have been the result we all wanted, but just like us, Brad Thorn was proud of the performance the Reds put in against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Coming off a pretty chaotic week which saw them go on detours to Europe and back again, Thorn took the time post-match to praise his team for their courage, and how far they have progressed over the last six weeks.
“A round the world trip, a little detour along the way, lot of things weren’t all rosy out there,” Thorn said to rugby.com.au.
“The guys had a lot of different challenges. To get within that sort of range of winning the game it’s just really a great effort.
“At the beginning of the season, I talked along the way about playing for each other, playing for the jersey.
“You’re just seeing so much heart seeing games like that. When your 18-0 down, they can easily blow out.
“The guys just kept on competing. There’s a lot for us to take out of that.”
While he commented that there was plenty to improve on, skipper James Slipper was sure the team would take a lot out of the experience.
The Reds scrum has a particularly tough time at set piece, with Taniela Tupou also receiving a citing later in the game.
“We didn’t perform (at scrum time) the way that we wanted to,” Slipper said.
“We let the referee dictate what was happening out there and that’s not always great.”
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Calling Time
It’s been a tough couple of years for Dom Shipperley. The former Wallabies winger has battled a few serious knee injuries, on top of that a badly fractured and dislocated ankle since 2014.
After spending all of last year recovering, he was keen to put the injury run behind him and play in the Brisbane Tens and the Rebels trials. However, he got a knee injury yet again in the first trial against the Tahs.
Finally, after struggling with rehab again, Dom’s decided that his body is telling him that it’s time to call it quits, and he officially announced his decision to retire from the game.
He finishes with 44 caps with the Reds, 19 caps with the Rebels, 10 caps with the Melbourne Rising, three caps each for both the Aussie Sevens team and the Australian U20s team and, of course, three Wallaby caps.
While Rebels fans may not see him come out again onto AAMI Park again, Dave Wessels hopes that Dom can stay at the club in an off-field role, mentioning that he is a very popular member of the squad.
“Dom’s just a champion human being,” Wessels said after their win against the Sharks on Friday.
“He’s won a Super Rugby title, played for the Wallabies and has come back from three ACL operations.
“Unfortunately it just hasn’t been his run and the boys were quite emotional saying goodbye because he’s a big part of the team.”
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