Good morning GAGRs and welcome to another Tuesday, and another edition of Tuesday news. Bris covered the super rugby games on the weekend, if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can find it here.
We’ve had some IT problems causing the GAGR site to inaccessible throughout Monday and hopefully it is back in proper working order for you today.
The Brumbies were the only Aussie super rugby team to take the field this week, so there won’t be a team of the week this week, rest assured if the Reds had been the only team that played, there certainly would be one, and well deserved at that.
There is always plenty of rugby news to follow though, so today we’ll have a look at progress from the Brisbane and Sydney competitions, and have at some other news.
Brisbane StoreLocal Hospital Cup (Mens)
With 11 rounds played in the Hospital Cup, Easts have a handy lead at the top of the table on 45 points, followed by Brothers on 40 points, Wests on 35 points, and Souths on 30 points rounding out the top 4. It’s pretty close from 5th to 9th place with only 6 points separating UQ in 5th place from Sunnyank in 9th place. There are seven rounds left to play, so there is still plenty of time for the lower ranked teams to make a push for the top 4.
Round 11 saw thirteen Reds players turn out for their club sides including Seru Uru making his return from injury for Souths, and Isaac Henry returning for wests. You can see the The full list of reds players below.
There were some pretty big scores from the weekend games, with 3rd place Wests putting 46 on the top of the table Easts. That was Easts’ first loss of the season, and notably Brothers in second place have a game in hand to apply pressure at the top of the table.
Brisbane StoreLocal Founders Cup (Womens)
It was the second round of the Womens’ first grade competition on the weekend, and after 2 games, Sunnybank and Wests are 2 from 2, UQ are 1 from 1, and Easts and 1 from 2. Bond Uni, Brothers, and Souths have played once, and Norths have played twice for no wins.
There were three games played on the weekend with UQ, Sunnybank and Wets taking home the chocolates.
There are another seven rounds to play in the Womens’ competition, so it definitely seems too early to make any predictions about where teams will finish.
Shute Shield
Round 10 of the Shute Shield was played in Sydney with some pretty close games particularly between Randwick and Warringah, Eastern Suburbs, and Eastwood, and Norths and the Two Blues.
And after 10 rounds, Eastern Suburbs and on top of the table with 9 wins, 8 bonus points, and and 44 points ahead of Warringah with 7 wins, 11 bonus points, and 39 points. It’s pretty close down the table with Northern Suburbs, Randwick, and Sydney Uni all in the mix on 31 points.
Sydney Women’s Premier Rugby
I have to do some more research into the format of the Womens’ Premier Grade rugby in Sydney, and will try to include more news in future weeks.
The Lions are coming and you can read about it here on GAGR.
After 12 years, a drawn series in New Zealand, and a covid and Rassie impacted series in South Africa, the Lions are about to return to Australia to flex the might of the northern hemisphere against Australian Rugby.
The full list of games is shown in the image below courtesy of Instagram, and it’s now 11 days and counting until the Lions take the field against the Western Force in Perth. I’d love to see the key Force players turn out against the Lions, giving player like with Robertson, Dolly, Swain, Williams, Champion De Crespigny, Crlo Tizzano, Ben Donaldson, Hamish Stewart, Harry Potter, Dylan Pietsch, and Mac Grealy a chance to stay match fit, and make a statement. Is there anyone that I have missed, should anyone be rested, what do you think the best strategy is. At the very least, fringe Wallabies should get a chance to press their claim in this one.
Similarly for the Reds, I’d love to see key Reds and Wallabies players get a chance to play at Lang Park on the 2nd July. More on that next week.
That’s a wrap for this week
As Hoss mentioned, GAGR will be covering each of the games, with team announcements, and match reviews. If you are keen to contribute, then reach out to Hoss and join the team.
