27 August 2024 #008
Good morning G&GRs and welcome to Tuesday. The Wallabies didn’t play on the weekend, they’re in Argentina getting ready to take on the Pumas. There was a bit of news about the Wallabies coming out of RA on Monday, which I’ll provide links to, and my thoughts on.
There was a big weekend of club rugby in Brisbane with preliminary finals played across all of the grades to see who could book their spot in the grand final, so read on for a summary of that.
Then it will be a small smattering of news from the Southern hemisphere and around the world, before handing the reins over to the comments section.
Camp Wallabies
Nathan Williamson penned a couple of articles featuring Noah Lolesio on rugby.com.au here and here. Noah seems to be getting the right coaching and support from the Brumbies and the Wallabies alike and still only at 24 years of age has plenty of time on his side to become the best footballer he can be. I’ve been critical at times about some of Noah’s behaviours on the field, but you can’t deny his passion and team spirit. I think that for the Wallabies to climb the rankings we need two or three genuine options in each position to give us competition and depth, and at the moment Noah is getting the most game time. I hope he continues to improve and refines the art of choosing the right tactical play at the right point in the game.
Which leads me to the second article about Schmidt’s tactic for short kicks to offset the rush defence. We tried plenty of them in the two tests against South Africa in Perth, and they didn’t all work, in fact, some went to South Africa, so hopefully, a bit like the cut-out pass, our play makers can identify the right timing for those tactics as we line up against Argentina this weekend. Let’s hope we see more of the smiling Noah on the Weekend, because it’s meant to be fun.
Rebuilding pains
I’m going to be watching the Wallabies anyway, but it is reassuring that we have adults in charge that acknowledge that we aren’t good enough, and that it’ll take time. Hoss started it last Friday with his piece about the Wallabies starting to exhibit some structure, and it has been a resounding theme in the news since. While it is still disappointing and frustrating that we have fallen as far as we have, we as fans have to be patient for a bit longer.
Brisbane Club Rugby
I have to admit that I was in Sydney over the weekend, enjoying some of the best sites that the harbour city has to offer. It’s hard not to be impressed by the combination of natural beauty and iconic structures, including the Opera House, and Harbour Bridge that I snapped from the Botanic Gardens on Sunday morning.
The value of patience
I was in Sydney to see the musical Hamilton and to celebrate my wife’s birthday. I’ve seen Hamilton before in Brisbane, and what struck me this time is that it appeared that the cast were more relaxed than before and looked to be having more fun performing, and they were exceptional. It might’ve been that we had better seats with a closer view, or it might’ve been that the cast were more familiar with their roles, were more practised at the performance, and that the small moments between them could shine through. Some of the cast have performed that show live hundreds of times, so they certainly are well practised.
Compare that to the Wallabies, five games and not many more weeks with a new coach, new ideas, and a lot of new players. They look great at times, look lost at others, but they are turning up for each other and the team, and I have faith that they’re continuing to improve. I guess we’ll know more on Sunday morning.
Last thing about the Wallabies is that we need a new inside centre this week, I’d like to see Hamish Stewart get a go there; it’s easy to forget he’s only 26 and has played more than 100 Super Rugby games for the Reds and Western Force. He’s a young man who seems to know his game and what he brings to the teams he plays for, I’m confident he’ll go well if he’s picked.
Brisbane Club Rugby
It was preliminary finals time in Brisbane club rugby, with teams battling for a spot in the grand final this week. The results from the men’s preliminary finals are shown in the image below, and based on the scores alone, there were plenty of close games played out, with four of the six games being decided by a try or less.
The Premier women’s game was a close affair with Easts edging Sunnybank by 8 points. They’ll have their work cut out for them this week when they take on Bond Uni who really put Sunnybank to the sword the week before.
Which leads us to the grand finals for this year. All of the finals are being played at Ballymore over the weekend, with games kicking off from 9:30am on Saturday. It’s a great result for Brothers with five teams featuring in Saturday’s games.
Then, it’s on to the top grade finals on Sunday, Brothers will take on Wests in the men’s first grade, Bond Uni will take on Easts in the Premier women’s, and Souths will take on Wests in the Colts 1 final.
It looks like it will be hot out this weekend, with temperatures expected to hit 36 on Saturday, and 33 on Sunday, so if you do make it out to Ballymore, make sure to slap on the sunscreen (how weird does that sound for watching rugby), and keep the fluids up throughout the day.
Around the nations
I’m sure that the excitement will build through the week as the Wallabies prepare to meet Argentina, but also as South Africa prepare to host New Zealand at Ellis Park. There’s already plenty of talk about the rivalry between these two sides. The All Blacks look likely to welcome Scott Barrett back into the starting side at lock, and they’ll be looking to put the disruption of Leon MacDonald leaving behind them as they line up for what is probably the second hardest assignment in world rugby. Any way you cut it, this should be an absolute belter of a test match. For mine, if the ref makes the Springboks forwards tie their shoe laces up properly at the start of the game, this would really help to speed up the pace of play. I’m hoping that the All Blacks win this one to keep the tournament wide open. And because, well, they are playing South Africa.
The one that got away?
Reports on The Roar on Monday, here, that David Nucifora will be joining Scotland and finishing up his consulting role with Australia. Time will tell about how much of a loss to Australian rugby Nucifora will be this time around, or whether he has helped set up some key change that can be delivered by Peter Horne and his team.
That’s a wrap for this week
There will be plenty more to cover though but I’ll leave it for Yowie, Karl, Happyman, and of course Hoss later in the week.
That’s it for me this week, over to you G&GRs.
