All posts tagged "stirling mortlock"

Blues 11 – Brumbies 16 To beat the third placed side at their home is no mean feat, but the truth is that this Blues side is rapidly unraveling and it simply couldn’t take the pressure that this make-do Brumbies side managed to muster. It wasn’t a scintillating stuff, but the Canberran...

When Pat Howard was put in charge of the High Performance Unit at the ARU, I’m not...

Here’s Green and Gold Rugby’s Rugby World Cup 2007 select 15. It’s based solely on performance at the cup (that I saw anyway) and I’ve chosen each man purely in his position and not in any combos. You’ll notice for example that it’s missing an out and out goal kicker (nothing new...

Dear Santa…. The perceived wisdom (from both sides) for Saturday’s first quarter final seems to be this:...

So here we are, four years on from that glitch in the order of the universe, and the stage is set for either some serious payback, or some serious egg on face. In rugby, this has got to be the ultimate in North/South grudge matches. Sure, you’ve got the fact that we’ve...

Here’s a great weekend round-up from Sportsfreak plus a few comments in green. I thought Ruggerblogger also did a good job, but that’s enough plugs for New Zealanders. Minnows – Crowd FavouritesHave the IRB pulled off a bit of a coup here? Before the World Cup started they made public noises about...

Wales 20 – Australia 32 Today the Wallabies showed far too much class for Wales, but at...

According to reports, today we discovered the Wallaby team that will take part in the first really competitive match of their world cup, against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. There are a few well publicised changes through injuries, and then a few on the bench. Shepherdson’s back at the expense of ‘Big’...

Wallabies 91Cherryblossoms 3 As the scoreline suggests, this was your classic World Cup mismatch of the type that Campo has been campaigning against of late. That aside, the Wallabies produced a composed performance, for the most part devoid of the ‘rustiness’ excuse that usually dogs them in world cup pool games, and...

Knuckles has named his team for Australia’s world cup owner on Saturday, saying that it’s the first...

There’s another article today from Grumpy Greg over at RugbyHeaven – Deans targeted as rift triggers clean-out – that takes his last dodgy piece (see my previous post) and takes it to the next level of anonymous gossip fueled supposition. Wading through all the re-hashed crap based on the off-record say-so of...

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 Blacks 26 – Wallabies 12 The all blacks picked up the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe cups today with a good second half performance against Australia. It wasn’t all New Zealand’s way though with Australia unlucky to go in at half time 12-9 down, having had the lion share of possession, territory and...

This weekend effectively sees the grand final of the 2007 tri-nations, with the Wallabies taking on the All Blacks in Auckland. The twists and turns of this year’s competition means the default supposition of only a month ago – that the ABs should stroll this one – is no longer a foregone...

Lack-luster comeback does enough Wallabies 25 – Springboks 17 THE Wallabies dominated this rugby game. Unfortunately though, for most of the test it was in the wrong way. Except for the 35 minutes around half-time, Australia did a great job of giving it away.Overall, I don’t know what to make of this...

WITH the Springboks bringing only two of the side that played the All Blacks, it’s a thankless task for the Wallabies. The only win in the public’s eye will be a points land-slide to the Aussies, which will be no mean feat. So what can we expect? There aren’t a stack of...

Here’s great little compilation of the Australian tries from the Tri-Nations match against the All Blacks at...

Mortlock and that pass (photo c/o Rugby Heaven) Wallabies overrun All Blacks (you little beauty)Australia 20 – New Zealand 15 DO they come sweeter than this? As one of the many Aussie rugby fans despairing of our slip from the top table of rugby over the past years, this was a victory...

AFTER a valiant but unsuccessful opening to their Tri-Nations campaign in South Africa, the Wallabies face a step up in opponent as they take on the premier team in world rugby – the All Blacks. What can we expect from this game and where will the key battles on the field be?...

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,...