It was all action in soggy Hobart on Saturday for grand finals day at Rugby Park. Inclement weather, and the cost of my diesel-guzzling ute, prevented an appearance from yours truly but the good people from TAS Rugby have been quick to post reports of the games and a few piccies. Thanks guys.
Men’s Premiership Final – Launceston 1 47 defeated Taroona 33
Launceston 1 have stormed to a third straight TRU Premiership after seeing off a resurgent Taroona in Hobart. The Tigers roared early with captain TJ Pieters scoring inside the first three minutes and looked home and hosed with a 35-12 half time lead. Neels Truter finished with three tries and was nigh untouchable while Kyle Lombard continued his rich vein of form with a grand final double.
Not to be outdone, the Penguins rallied through boom centre Aron Lovell and two-try lock James Holman to close the gap to just seven points before a 60m counterattacking move broke Taroona hearts with five minutes remaining.
Go you Tigers.
Men’s Championship Grand Final – Hobart Lions 33 defeated Launceston 27
Hobart Lions avenged their junior Hutchins counterparts with an enthralling 33-27 win over Launceston 2 to take home the Division 2 trophy. The Tigers outscored Lions five tries to four but couldn’t deny the boot of best on ground Zac Summerfield, who slotted three penalties and a conversion to prove the difference. Launceston were superb in the second half, scoring four of their five tries in a 22-minute blitz but ultimately ran out of time.
Women’s Grand Final – Taroona 27 defeated Uni-Queens 22
Taroona have clinched the TasNetworks women’s crown in extra-time, toppling Uni-Queens 27-22 to ice a perfect season for the Colony. The sides were locked 17-all at the whistle for normal time and looked inseparable before best on ground Karryne Hurkmans scored the crucial go-ahead try in extra time. Uni-Queens rallied late with two-try star Leah Dunn leading the charge but it was too little too late as Taroona secured a dramatic win marred by delays and injuries.
Just Like Eddie
A chip off the old block
So he who must not be named wasn’t averse to having a high turnover of assistants. It now seems that Steve Borthwick has ripped a page or two from EJ’s playbook following the shock resignation of Felix Jones, erstwhile saviour of England’s defence. Picked up from the DDFs with much fanfare, Jones was part of the South African coaching team that helped the Springboks win back-to-back World Cups before joining the England set-up. It was assumed that he’d take up the attack coaching role but with the departure of Kevin Sinfield, the defence coach, Jones took up that role and was successful in implementing the aggressive blitz defence that was adopted by the DDFs and was taking shape nicely. Speculation is rife as to what went wrong. Was he expecting a move to the attack coach role currently held by Borthwick’s bosom buddy Wigglesworth? Have the RFU/Borthwick reneged on that deal? Who knows. What’s clear to me at least is that having taken some decent steps forward, losing Jones in quick succession to the highly regarded S&C coach Aled Walters leaves a massive hole. FJ has only been in the job for 7 months and it looks like the suits at RFU HQ intend to make him work his 12-month notice period, so the SDs have the November series and the 6Ns to bed in their blitz defence whilst they look for a replacement. FJ himself has given no indication that he has another job to go to but with him being good mates with Aled Walters, who has signed up with The Men in Green it looks like the Emerald Isle is the place to be. The RFU have a large amount of egg on their faces. The new Professional Game Agreement due to be published in September contained a plan for a coordinated approach between the RFU and Premiership clubs regarding individual players S&C but with Alec Walters and his S&C sidekick gonski the clubs must be scratching their heads.
So suits at the RFU wtf is going on. Questions need answering and all we’ve heard is 🦗🦗🦗. To say that this SD supporter and my fellows in the motherland are disgruntled would be something of an understatement.
