24 February 2025
Good morning G&GRs and welcome to Monday. It’s RAWF here, filling in for the big man today. It was a massive weekend of rugby, with round 2 of Super Rugby Pacific, round 3 of the men’s 6 nations, and the Sevens tournament in Vancouver. So, you know what to do, grab some coffee, and let’s get into it.
Super Rugby Round 2
Chiefs v Crusaders
The weekend got off to an early start on Friday (well early if you’re in a place where people are worried about the curtains fading). This game was always going to be interesting, would the Chiefs be able to carry on the form from week 1, have the Crusaders turned the corner after last year?
Overall, this was a very entertaining match, and both teams were right in it until early in the second half with the scores 17 all after 48 minutes. The Chiefs found another gear though and scored 5 tries in the next 23 minutes to put the Crusaders to the sword, and the rest of the competition on notice. The Crusaders got a late try and Damian McKenzie kicked a late penalty to finish the game at 49-24 to the Chiefs. Interestingly, James O’Connor has got decent minutes in each of the first two games, and, despite throwing an intercept in the game, is going well.
The Chiefs look to the be the team to beat after two rounds.
Reds v Moana Pacifika
The Reds finally got their season underway after a bye in the first round as they hosted the improved Moana Pacifika. Some new faces in the Reds starting side with Massimo de Lutiis getting a start at tighthead, Canham in the second row with Smith and Filipo Daugunu returning to the Reds after a stint at the Rebels. The bench for the Reds has depth as well with Wallabies Faessler, Nonggorr, Blyth, and new recruit Lachie Anderson set to make an impact.
Of course, Moana had some good form last week, including having the Force scrum on skates in the second half, so it would be interesting to see how the less experienced Reds front row would go.
The game started with a flurry of tries to the Reds, first Uru, then Daugunu, then Ryan and it was 21-0 after 12 minutes when the rain came down. After a postcard perfect day in Brisbane, it only took 10 minutes of rugby for the rain to arrive. With the rain came a change of fortune for Moana, after a yellow card to Paisami for a high tackle, it was none other than Ardie Savea who drove over for their first try. The Reds then kept inviting Moana back into their 22m zone, and Ryan Smith was sent to the bin for being offside and playing the half back in the ruck.
They managed to hold until the stroke of half time, when Fraser McReight saw yellow and Havili kicked the penalty to go to the sheds at 21-8 to the Reds. How would the defensive effort for the Reds and the three yellow cards play out in the second half?
Matt Faessler started the second half and had an immediate impact by scoring from the back of a rolling maul after 3 minutes to put the Reds up by 28-8. But, just when it looked like the Reds would shut the gate Moana scored two very, very good tries, one for each winger, and all of a sudden the score was 28-22 to the Reds.
The Reds locks then stepped up with a try to Angus Blyth from close range, and then after the Reds took the ball 75 metres and Ryan Smith, ever in support, got the pass from Fraser McReight to go over untouched. Lynagh added the extras and it was 42-22 to the Reds. Have I mentioned the rain? The teams weren’t done with the entertainment though, with Moana’s wing Taumoefolau scoring a great try in the corner to get it back to a 13 point game. Daugunu and McReight hit back 4 minutes later when Taumoefolau took out Flook rather than chasing the ball on a high kick. The Reds hit 54 after Thomas made a beak from a ruck, fed McReight, who found Wilson who broke the line and then gave the ball to Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, who scored and added the extras. Moana did have the last say, with a close range try to leave the final score at 54-36 to the Reds.
The Reds did well to get out to an early lead, defend ferociously (if a tad illegally judging by 3 yellow cards), then traded tries with Moana before putting the game beyond doubt in the second half. We were asking questions about how Massimo de Lutiis would go, and the answer is really well, he held the scrum up, made his tackles, hit rucks and looked like he belonged out there. Other Reds debutants including Canham and Anderson were good, and Filipo was excellent. It’s only one game, but we Reds fans can be hopeful of a good showing this year.
Hurricanes v Fijia Drua
The two teams made the trip to the picturesque seaside town of Napier for this game, and Fiji would have been hoping to turn around their fortunes from the first game loss to the Brumbies. The Hurricanes got off to the best possible start when Roigard broke the line and fed the ball to Kirifi to score within the first minute. The Drua hit back quickly with Ratuva scoring on 7 minutes and that set the tone for the match with the teams trading scores pretty much throughout the game. Kirifi (Hurricanes 7) saw yellow for taking Frank Lomani in the air, and the Drua butchered a certain try in the right corner (the commentators made the call that “gee, I hope the Drua don’t lose by a try!“). Then James Doleman did something we all wished the refs would do more of, he showed yellow to Hurricane Will Tucker for repeated infringements, even after the Drua had scored a try.
The Drua went into the half time break up 22-19 and they opened the scoring in the second half with a 75 metre try finished by lock, Nasilasila, running like a winger in support. The Hurricanes scored the next two tries through Roigard and Sullivan to regain the lead at 31-27, before Drua number 8 Canakaivata crashed over from a lineout move to make it 34-31. The Hurricanes weren’t done though, and young flyhalf Harry Godfrey scored a good team try to put the Canes in front 38-34 which is where it finished. At full time in a thriller, the Hurricanes got home by 38-34, and the players collectively were completely gassed.
Highlanders v Blues
The Highlanders hosted the defending champions the Blues in Dunedin and the key question was whether the Blues could improve on their first outing against the Chiefs. The Highlanders were coming off a close loss to the Waratahs in Sydney and would have a point to prove.
The Blues opened the scoring when Finlay Christie snuck a try from close range after 3 minutes and Barrett converted for 7-0. The Highlanders hit back with a penalty after 20 minutes, before Barrett scored under the posts and then Finn Hurley showed great skills to chip, chase, recover, and then beat two players to score. The Highlanders scored again before half time after a great break by the half back to go into half time down by a point at 13-14.
It was a tight affair in the second half, Ricitelli scored the Blues sole try for the second stanza and Gilbert kicked 3 penalties for the Highlanders, while Finn Hurley added a second half try to match his first half effort to see the Highlanders take home the chocolates 29-21.
The final try of the game by Hurley had some excellent hands by the Highlanders and it looks like Hurley is a star of the future with his pace, and support play. The Highlanders did it the hard way, with Daniel Lienert-Brown Brown shown yellow that was upgraded to red on 60 minutes, meaning they played with 14 men for the last 20. The Highlanders hadn’t beaten the Blues since 2021 and showed plenty of grit in securing the victory. Will the Blues be able find some form next week?
Brumbies v Force
The Brumbies hosted the Force and were looking to build on an 11 game winning streak against them. The Force would bring some confidence to this game after their very good victory against Moana last week. It had been 14 years and more than 5000 days since the Force beat the Brumbies in Canberra, and the Brumbies hadn’t lost to an Australian opponent since 2021.
The Force got off to the best possible start with a try to Dolly after some very good hands down the left side, then Potter snagged an intercept, and somehow held up Cale at the other end. Then Donaldson and Pietsch combined to put the Force ahead by 21-0 after 20 minutes. Yep, 21-0 after 20 minutes.
Pietsch then saw yellow for a missed intercept on 22 minutes and after a well worked move, Wright stood up the defence including fullback Grealy to feed Muirhead down Pietsch’s wing. It was 21-7 to the Force and then Tizzano scored from a rolling maul to make it 28-7 to the Force at 35 minutes. Impressive Force #8 Prinsep saw yellow for a high tackle on Tom Hooper and the Brumbies took advantage by scoring through Meredith on 38 minutes to bring the score back to 28-14 in favour of the Force at half time.
Charlie Cale scored down the right wing on 42 minutes after the ball spilled out of a ruck. The Brumbies scored again in the 47th minute through Saumaisue to level the scores at 28-28. Donaldson then slotted a penalty with half an hour to go, in a game where it was raining tries would this score be a point a difference? The Brumbies hit back through Toole for 35-31, then Pietsch split the Brumbies off a lineout play to score. The Force were up by 38-35 at this stage, but the Brumbies had other things to say. Cale scored again after sustained pressure and the Brumbies were up 42-38, and it felt like the Force were done.
The game had a few more twists, Jeremy Williams saw yellow for taking out Andy Muirhead with a charge down gone wrong at 64 minutes. The penalty put the Brumbies on attack, and after repeated infringements in their defensive zone, the Force #6 Nick Champion de Crespigny was shown yellow. I watched the full match and the mini match twice, and I’m still not sure how the Force held out the Brumbies with only 13 players, and then went on to score the go ahead try to BPA after 75 minutes. But they did, and then the Force were up 45-42, which despite the efforts of the Brumbies, this is how it finished.
The Force look to be a more complete rugby team this year, and with Donaldson’s improved play they will cause their opponents trouble. The Brumbies looked like they had control of the game with 20 to go, but the Force wanted it more and executed better under pressure.
Six Nations
At the time of writing, the English had secured victory against Scotland in a close game at Twickenham, and Ireland had made it past a much improved Wales. After a blistering start by Scotland, defence was the real winner in that game. Scotland will rue the missed opportunities, including all 4 kicks from the tee by the normally excellent Finn Russell. England snuck home 16-15.
I haven’t watched the Wales v Ireland game, so I will leave it up to others to add some details in the comments section. Ireland did win 27-18, but the chat on the G&GR craparazzi suggested that it was a much improved Wales.
France and Italy play early Monday morning.
Vancouver Sevens
Both of he Australian teams had mixed results in the pool matches, the men’s team were victorious against Ireland and South Africa, but lost to New Zealand. The women’s team beat Spain and hosts Canada, but had a shock loss to Brazil.
For the men, they faced South Africa in a quarter final, unfortunately the South Africans turned the tables on Australia with a 17-14 victory relegating the Aussies to a 7th place play off against France.
For the women’s team they beat Great Britain 28-14 in the quarter final and will face New Zealand in the semi-final.
Semi-finals and finals will be played on Monday local time.
That’s a wrap for this week, thanks again for reading this far and I look forward to the chat in the comments. I’ll be back on Tuesday with some more news and an Aussie Super Rugby team of the week, so if you have some ideas as to why I shouldn’t just pick the Reds 23 this week, let me know in the comments.
Happy Monday
