Author: Scott Rea
The Sydney Rays under their previous guise as the North Harbour Rays finished 7th in the first two seasons with two wins and two draws in 2014 and two wins in 2015. In 2016 with an improved list the Sydney Rays finished 2nd with six wins and a loss in the home and away season before losing to eventual champions Perth Spirit in the semi-finals. Coaching Staff 2016 Rays assistant coach and 2017 Penrith coach Julian Huxley takes over as coach from Simon Cron, who has taken up an assistant coaching role at the Waratahs. Cron, however, is still involved…
The Jaguareshave broken the hearts of Rebel fans, prevailing 32 – 29 at AAMI Park. The Rebels led for approximately 80% of the match but unfortunately were not able to close out the match and were over run by the Jaguares. Both sides played an attacking brand of rugby with the kicking game synonymous with the Tony McGahan years virtually non-existent. The night started with the Rebels acknowledging their foundation members with a pre-game lap of AAMI Park. (hopefully, it was not a farewell lap). First Half Embed from Getty Images It was fitting that the first meaningful contribution of…
The first half was a tight affair that swung one way and then another. The Force took control of the match during a dominant first 15 minutes of the second half. Throughout the match the Force also made it across the advantage line much more easily than the Rebels. First half Melbourne Rebels regathered the kick off and were awarded a penalty a minute later. Reece Hodge made no mistake from 40 metres to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead. After 5 minutes Steve Cummins went off the field with concussion following a hit by Chance Peni, where his shoulder…
Both the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels have spent most of the year in a parallel universe, with the uncertainty of the ARU’s guillotine hanging over their heads and both have had significant injury tolls. For what it is worth, personally I don’t think either team should be cut. No matter which team is cut the ARU will be cutting off a non-traditional development pathway at the knees and alienating one supporter base, which Australian Rugby can ill afford. (That is enough off-field politics, let’s move to on-field). Form Neither team has lost for 34 days … oh that’s right…
It’s time for another Australian derby. While the match may include some errors and may not be as high quality as the matches involving the NZ teams, the Australian derbies have generally been intense, entertaining and competitive fixtures, and are well worth the investment of two hours. Last time they met When these teams last met in Round 5 at AAMI Park, the Rebels played what was arguably their best half of the season to take a 25 points to 6 lead into half time. The Waratahs were able to fight back in the second half and score two tries…
It was a game of two halves. In the first half, the Reds were quite dynamic in attack using quick hands to devastating effect. Meanwhile, any attacking by the Rebels either resulted in a handling error or an aimless kick (much to the chagrin of the Rebels fans who were yelling “run”). In the second half, the Rebels played more attacking running rugby. Not sure if this was a result of the injection of Sean McMahon at halftime for the first time this season, coach McGahan listening to the crowd and releasing the shackles, the players taking it on themselves…
This week’s un-Australian activities took us to Johannesburg, Invercargill, Christchurch and Pretoria. Two of these matches held particular interest heading into the weekend and are covered in more detail. LIONS 24 v JAGUARES 21 AT EMIRATES AIRLINES PARK, JOHANNESBURG This was an important match in the context of the Africa 2 Conference with Lions sitting in 1st and the Jaguares sitting in 3rd with less than 10 points separating the Lions, Sharks and Jaguares. This was a match with enterprising play that went right down to the wire. The Jaguares were vastly improved from their clash with the Bulls last…
The Sharks, fresh off a bye, are playing host to the Melbourne Rebels, who last week saluted the judge for the first time this season. This match in the wee hours of Sunday morning will be watched live by the diehards, and I suggest Foxtel iQ may be getting a workout. The Form So, how’s the recent playing form of both teams? Sharks The bye came at a good time for the Sharks who survived a physical battle at King’s Park against the Jaguares with an 18-13 victory in round 7. The Sharks are currently sitting second in Africa 2…
It will have been 201 days since the 2016 Super Rugby final so all eyes will be firmly fixed on AAMI Park, Melbourne on Thursday in anticipation of what lies ahead as the 2017 Super Rugby season kicks off. Form So, what’s the form like for both team? what will they carry over from last season? How did the trial matches go? Rebels 2016 – The Rebels were able to win 7 matches during season 2016 which is their equal most wins in a season (also in 2015). However, the Rebels were only able to earn 3 bonus points during the…
2016 was the Lions’ best season in their existence finishing on top of the Africa 2 Conference. They were the best South African team for years and probably the best to watch, ever. They had never been in a final or semi-final before although a combined team with the Cheetahs, appropriately called “The Cats”, were losing semi-finalists in 2000 and 2001. The Lions were runners-up last year and will be endeavouring to go one step further this season to become only the second team from the republic to win the competition. Embed from Getty Images Lions lost in Buenos Aires…
The Rugby Championship has provided a tight contest between South Africa, Australia and Argentina with these teams having 2 wins, 2 wins and 1 win respectively during the tournament. If the Wallabies defeat the Pumas and South Africa lose to the All Blacks the Wallabies would jump into second spot on the ladder. However, if the Pumas were to win with a bonus point they would leapfrog the Wallabies who would then drop to the bottom of the ladder. Embed from Getty Images FORM The Wallabies – The Wallabies’ Rugby Championship campaign kicked off with consecutive losses to the All…
On a perfect day in Melbourne, the Rising defeat Brisbane City 46 – 28. At the midway point of the season and with both teams going into the clash with one win each this was almost a must win match for both the Melbourne Rising and the two time defending champions Brisbane City. The Rising came flying out of the blocks keeping time with the clock for the first twenty minutes and leading 30 – 14 at half time. Brisbane City played much better in the second half to narrow the margin, but the Rising were too composed and ran…
If it wasn’t for the all-conquering All Blacks you could say that the Rugby Championship was an even competition with the Springboks, Pumas and Wallabies all winning one out of three matches and the margins for the matches not involving the All Blacks being 7 points, 2 points and 6 points. FORM The Wallabies – 2016 started with a 3-0 demolition by the Eddie Jones coached England at home and the continuing All Black dominance in the Bledisloe Cup. This theme seemed to be continuing at Suncorp last week when the Springboks led 14-3 after 20 minutes. Thankfully for the…
Come Saturday night we will have a first time winner of the Super Rugby title, which given some of their past players is difficult to believe for the Hurricanes. No doubt they will have last year in the back of their mind where they were clearly the top team after the regular season and came up just short against the Highlanders in the final. The Lions will have to overcome the trip across the Indian Ocean, the Cake Tin and the fact they have only had one win in ten previous meetings with the Hurricanes. Embed from Getty Images Form…
This semi-final was a highly entertaining, free flowing, fast moving match. It was the type of match that you didn’t want to look away from because you might miss something. The two sides were evenly matched in general play, although the Lions demonstrated a little bit more composure and were dominant at scrum time. The Lions have booked a place in their first Super Rugby final and will fly out for NZ today setting up a date with the Hurricanes at the Cake Tin. So we still have one week until we find out whether Johan Ackermann’s decision to rest…