Author: Lee Grant

There were some interesting happenings on the weekend in Six Nations. This week we talk about bonehead plays, the alternate Six Nations, what chance the Lions, trending North, what’s up for grabs and trivial pursuits. Bonehead plays You see them every week—some hyped-up numbskull stuffs up and lets his team down. England v Scotland At 1 min 27 secs England winger Daly passes the ball then gets a late lifting tackle from Scotland hooker Reid, he lands on his “upper back”. Yellow card. Joseph scores immediately from the lineout following the penalty kick and Scotland’s game gets off to a…

The Lions mauled the Waratahs in Johannesburg 55-36 in front of an adoring home crowd, scoring eight tries to five. They were superior in most facets of rugby and were it not for some of their own blemishes they would have won by 40. With injuries to Wallabies Skelton, Foley and Phipps in the days leading up to the game the visitors were never in the lead and never looked likely to win. Embed from Getty Images Waratahs’ hooker Tolu Latu tackles Lions’ centre Harold Vorster First half One theme of the game occurred early when the Lions drove from…

The Western Force broke a horrible sequence of ten losses at home by beating the Queensland Reds in front of a small but jubilant crowd at nib Stadium last night. In a game in which three ex-NRL players made significant contributions, the score was tied at half-time but the home team played the humid conditions better after the break to win 26-19. First half The game started sensationally when the Force put on a set lineout move and winger Chance Peni scooted through a gap to score just after the first minute had ticked over. It was soon obvious that…

The Force will be reeling from the attritional loss they suffered in Sydney as they prepare to have their first home game.  Their visitors will be the Reds, who were jubilant after stealing their opening match against the Sharks near the end. The form Conditions were not ideal for the Force nor their opponents in Sydney last week and the bad handling and heavy stepping made for a dull match. Whereas the locals took their chances eventually, the westerners could not take their big moments, though they led at half-time. Their impressive new young Head Coach, David Wessels, will have…

The first round of the Super Under 20s started yesterday and the NSW Gen Blues scraped home against the willing Force Under 20s, 41-36. First half In wet and windy conditions at the Kippax Field, a few long punts away from Allianz Stadium, Gen Blue took the lead after six minutes. Hooker Phil Bradford doubled around the back of the lineout after throwing the ball in, to break through before passing to LHP Harry Johnson-Holmes, who dished the ball lightly for scrumhalf Theo Strang to score. Ten minutes later Johnson-Holmes earned his own try with a thrilling one-metre dash for…

It’s that time of the year again when everybody is excited about the first Super Rugby game of the season for their team, yet they have no clue about how they will perform. Not really. The Waratahs had their biggest win ever against the Force, in Perth last year, but before that they had lost three in a row to the westerners including both games in 2015. Does that mean a lot? Not really either. The form There isn’t any unless you count trial form and you probably shouldn’t. The Waratahs showed they had good depth when their secondary players…

The Sharks will continue their quest to win Super Rugby for the first time. They have appeared in the final more than any other South African team: four times, but have never won the trophy. Their fans had high hopes last year when they beat New Zealand teams twice in the regular season and lost three close ones to them. But they were annihilated 41-0 by the Hurricanes in the Wellington quarter-final and sent home. Ironically they had beaten the ‘Canes in Round 11. Embed from Getty Images TJ Perenara scores one of six Hurricane’s tries in 2016 quarter-final The…

Stormers’ fans will be hoping that 2017 is the year that they get rid of their reputation of being the most under-performing team since Super Rugby began. Representing a proud rugby community, they made the play-offs just twice in their first 13 seasons. Things were better in the last seven years because they played post-season rugby five times, but they were in the final just once, ever, when they lost in 2010. Embed from Getty Images Stormers – thrashed by a high-tempo game by the Chiefs in the quarter-finals Last year In 2016 they were spoilt and had the advantage…

There were two admirable games on the weekend – one in Cardiff featuring a comeback that was either thrilling or gut-wrenching according to the allegiance of the person watching it, and another in Paris by a team who had lost three winnable games on the trot – against opponents who were on the rise. The third was another disappointment to home fans in Rome when the Azzurri were blitzed by an Ireland team that took no prisoners. Embed from Getty Images CJ Stander – one of the Ireland hat-trick try-scorers Italy 10 — Ireland 63 by Mark Rooney There was…

There were some interesting observations on the weekend, not all about the rugby. For Round 1 of Six Nations we talk about commentators having fun, two referees, whacky lineouts, trival matters, winners and losers from the weekend, and a pride of Lions. Embed from Getty Images Uini Atonio – large human Quotes The commentators were in good form on the weekend. Nick Mullins mentioned the 934 kg France pack and the large units, which included 145kgs THP Uini Atonio: Lawrence Dallaglio:  “I saw them this morning coming out of the team hotel at Richmond Hill. I was walking the dog…

The RBS 6 Nations starts on the weekend and there will be more interest in this one because so much is different. Bonus points For the first time in Six Nations there will be a bonus point system—but with a twist. The boring bit is that teams earn four points for a win and two for a draw, plus another one for scoring four or more tries, and for losing by seven points or fewer. Old stuff. I know what you’re thinking. What happens if a team wins the Grand Slam, but doesn’t earn a bonus point in the Championship,…

Waratahs’ General Manager of Rugby, Tim Rapp, has announced his NSW Gen Blue Under 20 squad for the second year of the Super Rugby Under 20 competition. After winning the first two National Under 20 tournaments in Canberra in 2014 and 2015, NSW Gen Blue could not make the final of the inaugural Super Rugby Under 20s in 2016, after a count-back. Their team for the tournament had many in their Under 19 year and several flyhalves were injured before it started. Despite a centre making a good fist of it in the 10 jersey, they were well beaten by…

Waratahs’ training took a jump in intensity this week as the Wallabies returned to the squad after their end-of-year break. Although the Tahs had lost some experienced players both Assistant Coach (Defence) Cameron Blades and flyhalf Bernard Foley were not fazed by the transition, because young leaders were jumping out of the woodwork. Bernard Foley was probably the most refreshed Waratahs’ international, compared to last year. After the Rugby World Cup in 2015 he played for Ricoh in Japan between seasons, went straight into Super Rugby and started in all 15 test matches in 2016—but he had a break this…

Assistant coach Nathan Grey confided yesterday that the 2017 Waratahs will write their own script and not be concerned about which players were not with the team for the upcoming Super Rugby season. After the Waratahs had their last training run at the Kippax Field at Moore Park yesterday before the NSW Wallabies return to the squad next week, he indicated that the past had already happened and the future was now. As in earlier years before the Wallabies came back after their break, the coaches invited some of the Under 20 players to participate with the depleted senior squad…

NSW and Queensland split the awards at the National Youth Sevens for Under 17 players in Perth yesterday. The NSW Blue team won the boys competition and Queensland Red took the honours for the girls. Western Australia had an outstanding tournament as their boys and girls earned the bronze in their respective competitions when they dominated opponents in the play-offs. Fearless Green & Gold reporter “Iloverugby24/7” reports from the ground. Day 2 review by “Iloverugby24/7” South Australia  24 – Northern Territory  15 This was a the battle to avoid the wooden spoon. NT scored two tries early, however SA responded…

It was stinking hot in Perth for the National Youth Sevens Championships and the youngsters are to be congratulated for how they played in the conditions. Another to be commended is our fearless reporter “Iloverugby24/7” who survived meltdown to report on the Boys’ competition. Day 1 review by “Iloverugby24/7” What an amazing day of’ rugby at the National Under 17s Sevens Championships in Perth. The event has been very well organised by ARU and attended by a range of selectors and administrators. All states and territories, except Tasmania are represented in both the Girls’ and Boys’ competitions. The day was…

The ARU continues its positive push into the Sevens’ game and is holding the National Youth Sevens Championships (for Under 17s) next weekend. Perth will host the event at McGillivray Oval on December 10th and 11th at the University of Western Australia. Preview by “Iloverugby24/7” It is shaping-up to be a sweltering weekend for the tournament with 36 degrees forecast for the first day, Saturday, before changing to a chilly 29 degrees on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how the organisers manage that situation to ensure that our teams from the southerly states don’t pass-out from heat exhaustion.…

England beat Argentina 27-14 though playing with 14 men for most of the game and with 13 men at other times. Both teams showed poor discipline and the game tally was two red cards and four yellows. Embed from Getty Images  Eddie Jones – perfect record in 2016 with one to go First half The test started sensationally when the Rose’s winger Elliot Daly was red-carded in the fourth minute. Scrummie Ben Youngs had hoisted the ball and Daly contested clumsily, and thereby floored Argentina no. 8 Leonardo Senatore. But it was as though Argentina, not England, was a man…

England won their twelfth game in a row when they beat Fiji last week and probably won’t need a lucky thirteen performance to beat Argentina who have been disappointing in their last two matches, and haven’t beaten the Poms away from home in ten years. The form England They were not at their best in their first match against South Africa supplying them with early penalties but as they progressed in the game, the Springboks regressed, and they won, scoring four tries to two. The Roses were imperious at times last Saturday scoring nine tries to three, but the…

The Wallabies will be hell-bent on keeping their undefeated streak on tour going after surviving a comeback by Les Bleus in Paris. Ireland will want to recover from their brutal and breathtaking game against the All Blacks and finish their November series with a win against the third-ranked team in the world. The form Ireland Last week at home, the Irish could not duplicate their heroic Chicago win against the All Blacks, even though though the game was played two-thirds in the All Black half, and Ireland enjoyed 70% of the possession. They weren’t as potent in the first half…