12 August 2025
Good Morning GAGRs and welcome to Tuesday’s news. The Wallabies and Wallaroos didn’t play on the weekend, but there is still some news coming out of both camps ahead of the Rugby Championship, and the World Cup respectively, the Reds have named a touring squad to play Tonga, and the Hospital Cup is getting closer to the pointy end of the season.
Wallabies on Safari
I must admit that I like this idea of the Rugby Championship being played the way it is this year, with the Aussies being away in South Africa or two games rather than home and away. Obviously it is harder to win away, even harder to win an opening game against the Boks at Ellis Park, but the challenge has been set, and we will see how well the Wallabies can step up with 2 weeks of rest and preparation between the Lions Series and the Rugby Championship kicking off.
The Wallabies have named a very good squad to take on the Boks, with the biggest area of concern being the flyhalf position. With our first and second choice players injured, is there an opportunity for Ben Donaldson, or Tane Edmed to take the reins, or will Joe Schmidt turn to the vastly experienced James O’Connor in the first test. Other key players to mention are uncapped Aidan Ross, Ryan Lonergan, and Corey Toole.
Just a reminder of the Wallabies squad that has travelled to South Africa for the first two tests. Go well Wallabies.
It feels like the Springboks at altitude will be a step up in difficulty for the Wallabies compared to the lions on home soil, and I am looking forward to seeing how the players respond.
Wallaroos and the World Cup
The Wallaroos are on their way to England for the World Cup, with their first game in just 11 days time when they take on Samoa, in what will be a must win clash.
The Wallabies pool matches are:
- Saturday 23 – Australia vs Samoa
- Sunday 31 August – USA vs Australia
- Sunday 7 September – England vs Australia
General consensus is that the Wallaroos will need to win two pool games to qualify for the quarter finals, so first up wins against Samoa and the USA will be critical as they face the highly favoured English in their third game. There is the old adage that you have to be able to beat every other team if you want to win the cup, so I am sure that the Wallaroos will be looking to beat England, not just make up the numbers.
Caslick out of World Cup squad
In disappointing news for the Wallaroos and Charlotte Caslick, the Australian superstar has been excluded from the initial squad for the World Cup as she hasn’t fully recovered from the ankle injury that she sustained in last months match against the Black Ferns. There is a chance that Caslick could be called into the squad later if there are injuries and you can read the full article here.
The Wallaroos are taking an exciting squad of experienced and new players and will be looking to improve on their performance in New Zealand where they won pool games against Scotland and Wales, (lost to the Black Ferns) and qualified for the quarter final, which they lost to eventual runners-up, England.
Good luck to the Wallaroos!
Reds Touring Side to Tonga
The Reds are heading to Tonga again this year as part of an ongoing development series and will take on a strong Tongan side who are looking to put the finishing touches on their preparations for upcoming World cup Qualifiers. The 26 player Reds squad includes 10 potential debutants and 6 players who featured for the junior Wallabies in the World Rugby Under 20 Championships in Italy.
The game is on Friday in Nuku’alofa, and the Reds will be hoping for better weather than last year with the game being played in torrential rain.
In addition to the players getting some additional game experience, Norths coach Dan Ritchie is joining the squad for the visit to Tonga to get experience on tour with the next level of coaches and staff. It’s all around a great initiative, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Kohan Herbert, Joe Brial, and Isaac Henry go in particular.
Brisbane Rugby Semi Finals
It’s semi finals time in the Hospital Cup and Founders Cup in Brisbane with two packed days this weekend at GPS Rugby on Saturday, and Sunnybank Rugby Club on Sunday. Matches kick off at 8:20am on Saturday with the Colts 3 game seeing Brothers take on Wests, and Sunday kicks off at 8:20 as well with the Colts 3 and GPS taking on Easts.
In total there are 18 games over the weekend, good luck to all of the players, coaches, managers, volunteers, and of course supporters as you cheer on your club heroes. If you can’t make it to the grounds, you can catch some of the games on 9 and Stan.
The full list of games for the weekend is:
2025 QUEENSLAND PREMIER RUGBY
SEMI-FINAL WEEKEND
Saturday, August 16 @ GPS Rugby Club
2nd Grade: Brothers vs GPS 3:30pm Field 1
2nd Grade: Easts vs Bond University 1:55pm Field 1
Colts 1: Bond University vs Easts 12:25pm Field 1
Colts 1: Wests vs University of Queensland 10:45am Field 1
3rd Grade: Wests vs Brothers 12:10pm Field 2
4th Grade: Brothers vs Sunnybank 10:35am Field 2
5th Grade: Sunnybank vs Brothers 9:00am Field 2
Colts 2: Easts vs Souths 9:55am Field 3
Colts 3: Brothers vs Wests 8:20am Field 3
Sunday, August 17 @ Sunnybank Rugby Club
StoreLocal Founders Cup: Wests vs Bond University 5:15pm Field 1
StoreLocal Hospital Cup: Brothers vs Easts** 3:10pm Field 1
StoreLocal Hospital Cup: Wests vs Bond University* 12:35pm Field 1
StoreLocal Founders Cup: Easts vs Sunnybank 10:55am Field 1
3rd Grade: GPS vs Easts 12:10pm Field 2
4th Grade: GPS vs Wests 10:35am Field 2
5th Grade: University of Queensland vs Wests 9:00am Field 2
Colts 2: Brothers vs Wests 9:55am Field 3
Colts 3: GPS vs Easts 8:20am Field 3
** Live on 9Gem and Stan Sport
*Live on Stan Sport
That’s a wrap
That’s it for me for the week. As always, thanks for making it this far, and see you in the comments section.
I think Yowie is back on normal programming tomorrow to bring some humour to the mid-week grind.
