Author: Shane Sullivan

Make Australian Rugby Great Again

Greetings Punters, I’m back for one Happyman free Thursday. For my limited return I’d like to talk about, the cough decline cough of Michael Hooper, Hamish McLennan stirring up the NRL, again, Taniela Tupou reflecting on his career, and a bit of small talk about studs with Simon Cron. Let’s talk about Michael Hooper Ex Wallaby and Waratah skipper Michael Hooper is a good openside. But questions have been raised about his form and age this year. Hooper turns 32 during this year’s Rugby World Cup. Nick Bishop’s article on Rugbypass compares Hooper with his two main rivals for the…

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According to the media, the Wallabies are a chance of a two-peat against France tonight. It’s a low bar getting excited about winning two in a row, but it seems to be where we’re at right now. This French side is near the pointy end of men’s rugby right now, kind of where we were 20 years ago. There’s probably no two-peat happening tonight, but an unreasonable expectation of success is built into the Australian DNA. I mean we’re a chance, right? First half The Wallabies kick off to Les Bleus, mess around at their ruck, 1000 Peyper Cuts calls…

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It’s finally here! Let’s see if we’ve got what it takes to run with the big boys. Should be a blast! The Match The Wallabies lost their main playmaker, Quade Cooper, in the warm-up to a calf injury. Noah Lolesio will start, with JOC moving to the bench. The first 20 minutes showcased some very average minutes, with the Wallabies gifting England a couple of penalties to be behind 6-0. Then Tom Banks went up for a high ball and fell badly and broke his arm. Australia won a penalty, which Lolesio converted to reduce the lead to 6-3. Australia’s…

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All the way from sunny Queensland, today we’ll look at Rugby Australia’s new eligibility rules, the Reds forced out of Ballymore ahead of Force showdown, and a few thoughts on the Wallaby fullback spot. Not The Giteau Law If you’re a top level rugby player and don’t want to live in Straya but still earn a few bucks playing for the Wallabies, here’s what you got to do: You’ve got to be really good and play in a position we’re pretty crap at because there’re only three spots open in the squad at each tournament. You have to have played…

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The Reds, if anything, have underachieved in trials and round 1 this season, while the Waratahs have done the opposite. The Reds lost Taniela Tupou just before kickoff in what appears to be a huge loss for the away team on a very wet track. The match After an extraordinary amount of rain in eastern Australia, I wasn’t expecting much from this game, but the Waratahs never got the email and came out firing. They dominated everywhere except the score board, with the Reds taking every chance they had in the first 20 minutes to lead 10-0 after 20 minutes.…

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It looks like the Tuesday team is a little behind the rest of the news gurus. Fingers crossed, things are back on track. Well, it would be if there was some sort of track that we were on and we knew how to get back on it. Tuesday’s rugby news has a look at how Harry Wilson felt about staying home, feel goods from the Brumbies and the threat of uncontested scrums. Wilson, refreshed after missing northern tour. Harry Wilson was interview before the Reds first Super Rugby match. Here’s what he had to say: When asked if the Reds…

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Tuesday’s rugby news looks at, Australia’s sevens squad for Spain, and big changes for Ballymore. Sevens Squads Henry Hutchison scores for Australia, Australia v New Zealand 28 lucky Aussies are off to Spain for the Malaga and Seville legs of the World Sevens Tour. The Aussie Women’s Sevens will look to claim their third-consecutive Sevens World Series title for the second time, last achieving this feat during the 2015-16 World Series. Meanwhile, the Australian Men’s program will travel with a new leader, as Henry Hutchison temporarily replaces Nick Malouf as the men’s team captain, with Malouf taking leave from the…

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G’Day G&GRs! A very sleep-deprived BL coming at you. Staying up late/getting up early to watch the Festival of Rugby that has been going on in the Northern Hemisphere is killing me. Loving the games (except the Wallabies), as it is just such a bonus to have this much rugby on offer. Anyway, settle back for the ramblings of a mad man. Fiji fights valiantly in close loss to the Taffs Despite being down to 13 players twice during the game, and playing most of it with only14 players, the Flying Fijians, made the Taffy boys work their arses off…

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England Love/Hate our Eddie Happy Eddie Jones at post-match press-conference. Over at the SMH GRob has a good article about our very own Eddie Jones. Eddie has polarised fans where ever he has coached, and his time at the helm of England’s rugby side has been no different. They love his win rate which, as it hovers in the high 70s, is the best an England coach has ever achieved. But they don’t much like his methods and, once or twice a year and usually following a loss, the antipathy boils over into something akin to hate. The Australian is…

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Tuesday’s rugby news sees CFS to the Brumbies, Canada out of the big show, Japan name their squad Brumbies sign former Red Chris Feauai-Sautia Ewen McKenzie signed CFS in 2011 and over the next nine or ten years the clearly talented player managed 82 appearances for the Reds. The Reds kept re-signing him despite a string of leg injuries because he was clearly up to Super Rugby standard, but in 2020 they decided to cut their losses and let him go. As a fan of the Reds and Chris, I hope a new program at the Brumbies allows him to…

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Six Argentinian players went on the road trip to the Hotel California and won’t feature today. Australia is in the somewhat unusual position of being on the cusp of four wins in a row. The wallabies need to account for a weakened Puma and do it handily to maintain momentum. The Match during the Rugby Championship Test between Australia and Argentina at CBus Super Stadium on October 2nd 2021 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Stephen Tremain) If I could sum up the first quarter of this game in one word, it would be vanilla. Australia led 3-0, but…

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The Wallabies are riding high after two straight wins against the world cup holders, while Argentina have lost four straight in the RC. The South Americans will look to restore pride and have the two draws against Australia to draw confidence from. Australia are looking for three wins in a row for the first time in a very long time. The Match Australia had a bipolar start. They gave away a kickable penalty and lost a contestable kick receipt, but then they latched onto a loose ball, marched up field through a Kerevi run and Hodge barged through to score…

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After last week surprise win by the Wallabies, the Springbok will be keener than ever to live up to their World Champ tag. The Match during the Rugby Championship Test between Australia and South Africa at Suncorp Stadium on September 18th 2021 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Stephen Tremain) The Boks immediately showed a change of game plan. Ditching the midfield kick in favour of running the ball and kicking to the corner instead of taking the shot at goal. But it was the Wallabies who were first to score after Etsebeth had flubbed their chance at the other…

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Tuesday’s Rugby News looks at Dave Rennie’s reaction to the Aussie win, the Force welcoming Mark Ozich, Frustration with Bank’s to continue, and some rambling about life and Jordy Petaia. ‘It’s A Start’ It’s been a tough start to the Rugby Championship for the Wallabies. Two games at one of the true fortress’s in world rugby. Eden park followed by another drubbing in the lockdown delayed game in Perth. No one could forgive Wallabies coach Dave Rennie for being a little relieved after his side manged a nail biting win over the World Champion South African’s but, he was as…

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The series is gone, but our guys are looking to save some face with a win at fortress Perth. The Match As with most games between these two sides, the first 15 minutes was very even. New Zealand score a couple of penalties to lead 6-0, but things were starting to loosen up. Then Beauden Barrett grubbered through, NZ recovered and two quick inside passes and his brother Jordie scored the try. High drama at the 22 minute mark as try scorer Jordie Barrett jumps high to take a bomb and secures it easily, but on the way down he…

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Tuesday’s Rugby News takes a look at the new Super Rugby comp, a player draft, the Hospital cup final, and someone being naughty. Super Rugby Pacific Is Here GaGR’s own Nathan Williamson is reporting that Super Rugby Pacific is going to kick off next year. The twelve team, consisting of the five Aussie, the five Kiwi Super Rugby sides, the Fijian Drua and Moana Pacifika is set to start on February 18, 2022 Teams will play each other once across the 14-week regular season, along with playing three teams twice, with an added focus on delivering more local derbies following…

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It’s the last chance saloon for the Wallabies Bledisloe dreams of 2021, while the All Blacks just keep doing All Black stuff and looking awesome and stuff. Oh and humble, I forgot how humble they are. The Match It was a mixed start for both sides with dropped catches and knock ons all over the park. Australia committed the biggest crime by gifting another cut out pass directly into the arms of NZ centre Rieko Ioane who ran … well it was a long way to dot down under the posts. The All Blacks a good enough already, they just…

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G’Day GAGR’s! Hard to concentrate on the ruggers when to quote Big Darryl Eastlake… “By gees …. By Jingo… By Crikey…. We’ve got sports coming out of our assholes!” With the Olympics distracting life, I will try and slip some rugby in. Rona ruins Rugby schedule yet Again! Well as of close of business Monday, it looks like with the current Wuhan Flu debacle, the Trans-Transman travel bubble is shot. It now looks like instead of a Test in twiggy Land (Perth) bookended by games in Auckland and Wellington, the Perpetually NZ Cup (AKA the Bledisloe) will now commence with…

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Tuesday’s news looks at justice for Marika, Tupou winning the Stan Pilecki Medal, RA to fight Koroibete charge! Okay, I’ll admit it, Marika Koroibete’s hit on French captain and big girl’s blouse Anthony Jelonch was slightly high and deserved a yellow card. But the actions of France’s captain Anthony Jelonch in the next five seconds deserve international condemmation. Firstly, he grabbed an unrelated part of his face, and secondly he fell to the ground screaming for attention like a five-year-old in the playground who’d burned his bot bot on the slippery slide. It was a seriously shameful display that should…

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Tonight is the first proper test for Dave Rennie’s Wallabies. If his black period is to be successful, the Wallabies need to start knocking off teams ranked higher than them. Even teams missing most of their top ranked players. Even teams who’ve been in lockdown for weeks. The Match The wallabies started a little skittishly and invited the French into their 22 with an unforgivable scrum stuff up. The ball squirted out the side straight into french hands and only a couple of phases later Le Bleu were in through number 11 Gabin Villiere. The Wallabies looked to have hit…

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