Tuesday 9 September 2025
Good morning G&GRs and welcome to another Tuesday news article. If you’re new to the site, then welcome; if you’re a regular, welcome back. It was a big weekend of rugby, the Rugby Championship is in full swing with Australia taking on Argentina in Townsville and the All Blacks hosting the Springboks in Auckland. If you didn’t get a chance to catch Monday’s news, then you can check it out here.
The World Cup is also on in England and the Wallaroos took on the mighty Red Roses in the last game of Pool A on Sunday morning. While being given very long odds to win the game, the Aussies were excellent, and really took it to England, and deserved to progress to the quarter finals. Some comments on the Wallaroos game below.
Because it’s a Tuesday following a Wallabies test match we’ll do Wallabies player ratings and look at some general news from around the grounds.
Wallaroos through to quarter finals
The Wallaroos started like a BBQ with turps thrown on it putting pressure on England early with great kicking, and from an early lineout Adiana Talakai drove the maul over for a well earned try, converted by Sam Wood, and the Wallaroos are up by 7-0 after 6 minutes.
The Wallaroos continued to pressure the Red Roses, and they were well in the game for the first half, unfortunately though, England did score twice between 32 minutes and 40 minutes to take a 19-7 lead into half time. The Wallaroos were generally excellent in the first half, a lot of possession, a clear game plan to play the game in England’s end of the field, excellent kicking with three 50-22s in the first half, solid hit ups in attack and great defence. It must have been frustrating for Georgina Friedrichs, Desiree Miller and Maya Stewart in attack, because the English rush defence was magnificent and the Wallaroos just couldn’t get the ball to the speedsters in space.
Credit to all of the Wallaroos in the first half, but shout out in particular to our back 5 of Kaitlan Leaney, Michaela Leonard, Piper Duck, Ashley Marsters, and Siokapesi Palu who really stood up to their more fancied opposition.
The second half went a bit closer to the script that the English supporters would’ve expected before the game. They got an early start with a try at 43 minutes, and then three more tries at 52 minutes, 57 minutes, and 64 minutes. Some of the English tries were from brutal forward play, some were by excellent backs, and some did look a bit easy. Some genuine injury concerns for England out of the game with their world class prop Hannah Botterman going off early and star fullback Ellie Kildunne going off after failing a HIA. If there’s one team that has depth it’s England and you would have to expect them to get through their quarter final match against Scotland.
Australia also have an injury problem with prop Lydia Kavoa leaving the field and unlikely to play any further role in the tournament.
At the end of the game, England won by 47 points to 7, scoring 7 tries to 1. However, Australia really troubled England at times, with their attacking kicking, robust carries and solid defence. Our key playmakers, Wood, Moleka and Halse, were all excellent throughout, and while our tactics were good, the class of England showed in the end.
Despite the score finishing in England’s favour, this was a great game of rugby to watch, the official attendance figure was 30,443, including none other than the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, who looked to be enjoying the show put on by both sides and visited the Wallaroos after the game.
Australia did enough to earn their spot in the quarter finals and will take on Canada, who are ranked #2 in the world, and who took down the Wallaroos 45 to 7 in May in Brisbane. The Wallaroos are looking to be a much better side than they were in May, and I’m hopeful that they can pull off the upset on Saturday.
World Cup finals time
The pool matches are over and it’s time for the quarter finals in the world cup. England, New Zealand, Canada and France topped the pools and will all start as favourites in the quarters. The full set of matches for this week is shown in the image below, and all of the games will be on Stan.
Wallabies Player Ratings
The Wallabies had a fantastic win against Argentina on Saturday afternoon in Townsville, and it was heartening to see the local fans filling the stadium and apparently the merchandise tents sold out of Wallabies jerseys before the game. I think it’s great that we play test matches all over this wonderful nation of ours, including Townsville, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. Outside of the 2003 World Cup, I can’t remember any tests in other venues, but happy to be corrected.
On to the player ratings from the weekend. As usual, we’ll use the G&GR scoring system.
10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Outstanding performance: Man of the match shoo-in
8 – Excellent all-round game
7 – Good game with a few sparkles
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average – a pass mark
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking pal
1 – A complete joke
0 – Didn’t make it on, or no meaningful involvement
Wallabies vs Argentina – first test
- Tom Robertson – Replaced at half time, for Angus Bell. Was penalised for an early scrum and was one the wallabies that was penalised at an attacking breakdown. Was a willing runner and defender throughout. – 5
- Billy Pollard – A good game from Pollard, and like others is starting to look the part of an international player. The lineout was good, only one loss all day, and was good around the field with plenty of ruck involvements. 6
- Taniela Tupou – Gave away two early penalties for poor tackling technique, was more involved carrying the ball and the scrum was ok. 4
- Nick Frost – Was replaced for the first time this year. Another good game for Frost, good work in tight, good lineout work, and a well earned rest. 6
- Tom Hooper – Continues to be one of the Wallabies best players this year. Played the full 80 and was busy throughout, though he did throw a couple of forward passes in the first half, the second one to McReight was pinged. 7
- Bob Valetini – another good game from the big man, made way for Tizzano. Does the hard work when he is on the field. 6
- Fraser McReight -Good involvements throughout the game, always a support runner option and his combination with Wilson is top class. Early turnovers were influential as well. 6
- Harry Wilson – A captain’s performance. Carries, tackles, support lay, grubber kicks, and the courage to keep going for the win when we were all shouting to take the points. 7
- Nic White – The veteran halfback had a good game, his ruck clearances were good, his kicking was good but defensive communication with Lynagh led to two first half tries to the Pumas. 6.
- Tom Lynagh – Had to leave the field with a hamstring concern, was reported for a HIA, which he failed, but has subsequently passed the two follow up HIAs. Not his best game in Gold, covering off the ball for kicks was good, but two defensive misreads led to tries, and failed to find touch from a penalty while trying to chew off too much territory. Will continue to learn and get better. 4
- Corey Toole – Chases everything, and uses his pace to great effect. No real opportunities in attack, but good all around game. 6
- Len Ikitau – One of, if not Australia’s best. Keeps on showing up in attack and defence, and his combination with JAS is getting better each game. Got through a mountain of carries, particularly close to the line and threw the last pass for two of Australia’s tries. 8
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii – His most accomplished game for the Wallabies. Scored two tries, the second was the result of hard work to get into position, and great footwork and pace to beat his defender on the outside. 7
- Max Jorgensen – Another accomplished performance from the winger. Good under the high ball and the kick chase early on the second half to put the Pumas on the back foot showed real ticker. 6
- Andrew Kellaway – Tried to mix it up with running and kicking from the back field, and except for the interchange with Lynagh that led to a penalty, made good choices. 6
- Brandon Paenga-Amosa – The replacement hooker was prominent in the final stages of the game, repeatedly throwing himself at the Pumas defence. Was busy and effective. 6
- Angus Bell – Added a running threat to the Wallabies forwards, was consistently getting over the gain line in the second half and scored the winning try. 6
- Zane Nonggorr – Added energy to the Wallabies, makes tackles, hit ups and has good hands for a prop. Made a positive contribution in the second half. 6
- Jeremy Williams – Another bench player that improved the team in his time on the field. Made a great tackle on an Argentine winger in broken play. Busy in tight and very agile for a big man. 6
- Carlo Tizzano – Adds a punchy ball carrying option, and breakdown presence. Was penalised (maybe harshly) for not rolling away, giving the Pumas a chance to go in front with less than two minutes to play. Was busy in the last seven minutes as Australia tried to snatch victory. 6
- Tate McDermott – His kicking isn’t as accurate as White’s but lifts the speed of play and threatens the line with his running. 7
- James O’Connor – Had one unfortunate moment where a clearing kick from just outside his 22 went dead in goal, but was otherwise very good. 7
- Filipo Daugunu – Didn’t make it on the field.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
That’s a wrap
As always, thanks for reading this far, hope you’re having a great Tuesday.
Cheers
