Good morning G&GRs and welcome to Tuesday, following a great first week in Super Rugby if you’re an Aussie fan, and long may it continue.
The Waratahs, Brumbies and Force all had wins and the details of the games were well covered yesterday by BLL. If you’ve missed it, you can can find it here. The Waratahs and Force both won by a single point with a late try to each while the Brumbies got home by 4 points in Fiji. In previous years the Brumbies would likely have got home, but the Waratahs and Force had a habit of losing those games in years past.
Today we’ll cover the Reds season launch and the best performing players from the Australian sides in a Wallabies watch team of the week. We’ll also have a look at the performance of the G&GR authors in their predictions over the weekend and look at the leaderboard in Super Rugby Pacific Fantasy.
Reds season launch
First up though, I had the pleasure of attending the Reds season launch on Friday at City Hall in Brisbane. It was a great afternoon, the Reds introduced the men’s and women’s squads, interviewed Tom Lawton, Dan Herbert and James Horwill about their experiences playing against the Lions in 1989, 2001, and 2013, respectively, and inducted three members into the Queensland Rugby Hall of Fame.
It was great to see the squads introduced. The easiest observation to make is wow, those guys are big, seriously big humans. I spoke to Ryan Smith and Liam Wright at the end of the afternoon, and even in a couple of minutes they come across as being humble, polite and grateful for the opportunity they have.
It was also great to see the women’s team introduced at the same function. The addition of the Australian Sevens players to the squads adds a level of star power to the team, however the Sevens players were on international duty so the balance of the squad got to shine in the spotlight instead. Asoiva (Eva) Karpani is probably the biggest star and game breaker in the squad, but there are plenty of Wallaroos alongside her, and while the Sevens stars don’t have a lot of recent 15s form we can expect them to make an impact with their professionalism, fitness, experience under pressure and breakdown work, so it’ll be exciting to see how the season unfolds for the Reds.
The Lions are Coming
Tom Lawton, Dan Herbert and James Horwill shared their stories and impressions of playing against the Lions, and the common theme was just how much different it was to a normal tour. They talked about how each of the cities seemed to fill up with Lions fans (all wearing red of course) ahead of each game. Of course it couldn’t be a discussion about those three games without reflecting on Campo’s pass in the ingoal in 1989, or Beale slipping in 2013, but there were also the positive turning points in 2001 with Harrison’s lineout steal on the 5m line and Joe Roff’s intercept try in the second test. I was living in London in 2001, but was home in Brisbane in 2013 and remember the excitement the tour brought. Will the improved form of the Australian sides translate to a more competitive and possibly victorious Wallabies team when they take on the Lions this year? Who’ll be the stars for each of the teams?
Reds Hall of Fame
The Reds inducted three new members into their Hall of Fame with Bronwyn Laidlaw, Brendan Moon and John Connolly being recognised for their achievements. It was great to hear from all three legends, including Laidlaw playing a World Cup match with a dislocated collar bone, and John Connolly reflecting on the narrow margins in professional sport; he credited a close club grand final victory with getting the Queensland coaching job and the rest is history. It’s hard to overstate Connolly’s legacy in Australian rugby and while he’s suffered a terrible spinal injury he’s also doing an amazing amount to raise funds and awareness for spinal injury victims.
Wallabies Watch – Week 1
With the British & Irish Lions arriving in June, and the first test in just over 5 months (19 July at Suncorp), every round of rugby will have additional meaning for the players trying to push for Wallabies selection. To that end, we’ll put together a Wallabies team of the week based on the best performing Australian players in each position.
To put a small caveat on this week’s selections: these are my selections based on watching the mini games over a very busy weekend while not having the Reds players in action to cloud my judgement. I’m hoping this will bring discussion in the comments and I’m happy to make some adjustments based on your collective observations (and no, Hoss, I’m not including all of the Waratahs in the 15).
Wallabies – Week 1
- Angus Bell – his usual busy self with carries and tackles and, according to Nutta, had much better shape in the scrums.
- Dave Porecki – welcome back, Dave, very good around the park.
- Siosifa Amone – the reserve prop made the most of his opportunity and scored two tries on debut.
- Tom Hooper – really got through loads of work in Fiji to earn his spot.
- Darcy Swain – the move west looks to have reinvigorated Darcy.
- Carlos Tizzano – I’m taking the liberty of including two number 7s this week.
- Luke Reimer – key steals and two late tries in a great performance, narrowly beats out Tizzano this week for the number 7 jersey.
- Langi Gleeson – carried the ball 18 times and won turnovers with some strong defence.
- Ryan Lonergan – scored a try and played in the toughest of conditions in Fiji.
- Ben Donaldson – looked to be injured just after half time, but toughed it out, 7 from 7 from the tee and scored the game winner well into injury time.
- Max Jorgensen – scored a try and looked more physical than last year.
- Hamish Stewart – plenty of tackles and carries in the midfield by Hamish.
- Hudson Creighton – a busy day out for Hudson with carries, defenders beaten and offloads.
- Dylan Pietsch – added a point of difference off the bench, physical, combative and effective.
- Mac Grealy – gets the nod over JAS due to the try scored and general play, but JAS was good.
I’m keen to see your thoughts on my picks in comments below.
G&GR authors’ picks from round 1
As BLL mentioned in Monday’s news week 1 games were harder to pick than a broken nose while wearing cricket gloves. The average margin across the games was only 5 points, and two games were decided by a single point. It really was close.
I’ll keep a running tally of the G&GR authors picking form and provide updates here.
There wasn’t too much love for the Tahs or the Chiefs among our tipping crew, how did the rest of you go?
G&GR Fantasy
It was a tough week for some of us in Super Rugby Pacific Fantasy tipping as well. The top 10 are below, shout out to Bigmaso who has raced out an early lead by picking DMac as his captain.
That’s a wrap for this week
As always, thanks for reading this far, and I look forward to the comments section.
Cheers, RAWF.
