All posts tagged "Rugby"

Time for the real deal After a season full of B teams and selection trials, tomorrow’s clash...

By Coatsie In a pub-bound philosophical discussion recently (read piss-up with mates) I made the following formulation as a comparison guide of the football codes. It’s extremely scientific, founded on many years of extensive research as a footyheaded armchair psychologist pouring over reams of literature, and pouring plenty of cold beer down...

Above – big Phil Vickery gets bitch-slapped by Dimitri Szarzewski England 15 – France 21 This was a fascinating clash at Twickenham on Saturday, the key question being whether the English forward centered game plan would be enough to subdue class opposition. The answer, especially pleasing from an Australian viewpoint, is that...

As pointed out by G&GR readers, everyone’s favourite Chief Rugby Correspondent has some pretty variable mug shots out there (haven’t we all?). And as they say, every picture says a thousand words…. Gregory the apprentice Keen as mustard, this picture – taken on his second day at work – captures the apprentice...

The England team to take on the Rugby World Cup 2007 hosts – France – next Saturday was announced today. It has 11, yes eleven, changes from the team that destroyed the Welsh last weekend. Looks like Brian Ashton is mixing it up a bit.Notable changes: Catt in as captain and 12....

In earlier postings on Green and Gold Rugby, we’ve covered how the Chief Rugby Correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald (and contributor to RugbyHeaven.com.au), Greg “the Gossip” Growden, has been waging a single handed campaign to disrupt the Knuckles regime by endlessly harping on about supposed rifts in the coaching team. This...

So what does this result mean for the Wallabies, who will definitely meet Wales and probably England in the early stages of the World Cup? Unfortunately, despite the scoreline, there’s probably not too much you can take for the Welsh match-up as they were missing at least five big names and will...

Here are some video highlights from the England’s 62-5 drubbing of Wales. The vid could’ve done with just a phase more of the build up, but gives a good flavour of the game.

England 62Wales 5 So you turn up to ‘fortress’ Twickenham with a half strength side, but you figure it’s a baking hot day and hey, you’re Wales, you can probably run the ball around a bit to hold up your end. Just how wrong can you get. England today displayed exactly how...

Latest Growden grumble: Meanwhile, Camp Wallaby remains unsteady, with several players privately voicing their concerns they will be involved in yet another training camp next week in Brisbane. While the players are happy to be part of a three-day camp in Sydney this week, some have said another camp next week is...

Nursedude wrote: Hey Matt, along with the cast of idiots, can you throw in some comments about...

The Australian squad to go to France was announced last night. While there weren’t too many howls about players left out, there aren’t many slaps on the back for any visionary selections either. In the backs, Huxley (lucky idiot) and Berrick Barnes made it in.While Barnes hasn’t had a great year for...

ALL GUTS BUT NO GLORY Springboks 22 – Wallabies 19 The Wallabies showed today that they are far from being the easy-beats of this years Tri-Nations, and proved that they have the foundations of a RWC challenging side. However, despite marathon stretches of heroic defence, some key errors and the boot of...

Photo from Reuters For the past two weeks the cry from some prominent Australian journalists has been that the Wallabies have “retreated” to an “old guard” back-line combination that has an abysmal away record. These pundits are barking up the wrong tree. First, lets have a look at this combo’s overall record,...

If you want to read a piece of baseless muck-raking journalism at its best (or should that be worst?) have a look at this piece from Peter Jenkins in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph: Sacking me ‘crazy’: Connolly DEFIANT Test coach John Connolly last night warned that any push to sack him before the...

FOR RWC’07 RESULT & REVIEW CLICK HERE Picture courtesy of Rugby Heaven Australia 49 – Fijian tackle...

Click here for 2007 Rugby World Cup match preview Well, apart from the usual Fijian rugby generalisations...

Yes, I believe we can use the words ‘optimism’ and ‘wallabies’ in the same sentance. See my...

Palu on the rampage. Photo from Rugbyheaven.com.au A tale of two halves. Australia 31 – Wales 0 In the interest of sanity I’ve managed to erase almost all memory of the first half of this test from my mind, making a critique of those 40 minutes pretty difficult. Night-sweat inducing flash backs...

With the level debate over the Wallaby backline selection growing to a fever pitch, let’s stop for a minute to look rationally at how we got to this point, because it actually clearly shows what the selectors must do next.Cast your minds back to the start of Connolly’s reign, following the debacle...