At the launch of the NSW Waratahs’ 2010 Super 14 season, officials were happy to play down expectations about how their team will perform this year, with public utterances of confidence. But privately they are convinced that this is the Waratahs’ year.
Waratahs captain Phil Waugh is disappointed his great rugby rivalry with George Smith won’t extend beyond this season, but is adamant Smith’s departure from international rugby won’t change his own focus.
New Waratah Berrick Barnes can already hear the thundering hooves of his former Queensland teammates, but he won’t be asked to divulge any trade secrets about the Reds before the opening Super 14 round rugby clash in Brisbane on Saturday.
Former England rugby five-eighth Danny Cipriani has cold feet over a move to Melbourne, but the Rebels are making progress with Mark Gasnier.
More Rugby Union
Cipriani softens on Melbourne, Gasnier firms
Waugh won’t change focus after Smith decision
Italy is guilty of a ‘losing ugly’ mentality
Nick Mallet is a sophisticated man: he speaks several languages. He is bright: he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has been a very good coach: his Springboks in 1998/199 won 17 straight Tests, a South African winning sequence record. He is, however, a very poor coach of Italy.
Mathieu Bastareaud scored his first two international tries to help France open their Six Nations rugby campaign with an 18-9 away victory over Scotland on Sunday.
England scored three tries on Saturday to open their Six Nations rugby campaign with a hard-fought 30-17 win over Wales.
Ireland beat a woeful Italian outfit 29-11 at Croke Park here on Saturday with an uninspiring performance as they opened their defence of the Six Nations rugby title.
Western Force coach John Mitchell has flagged the possibility of playing star back James O’Connor at five-eighth this Super 14 campaign after former Springbok Andre Pretorius suffered a season-ending hamstring injury.
Flanker Karl Lowe snatched a late intercept try to hand the Hurricanes a 17-12 win over the Chiefs in both teams’ final Super 14 pre-season rugby match at Rotorua on Friday.
England rugby manager Martin Johnson has warned Danny Cipriani that he will not be considered for his national team if he goes through with a proposed move to new Super 15 franchise the Melbourne Rebels.
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Every Rugby World Cup winning rugby team has a world-class general playing at 10. In the past, the Wallabies have been blessed with Michael Lynagh and, of course, Stephen Larkham.
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Watching the Six Nations games on the weekend got me thinking: what if the best of the Six Nations combined to form a Northern XV to play a Southern XV made of players from the Tri-Nations in a one-off end-of-year match at Twickenham?
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While I was critical of NRL’s champion halfback Jonathan Thurston being a success at the highest level in rugby union, there was never any doubts with Mark Gasnier.
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I am unaware if a system such as this has been discussed on The Roar but I propose a system of suspension for cheating players rather than simply penalising them for repeat infringements.
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Friday week sees the beginning of a new Super 14 season, which is make or break for the Australian Rugby Union. Australia’s number two code at the turn of the century is now fading out of the public’s mind and is now below football.
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I recently read an article on Rugbymag.com regarding the future of the Rugby Super League in the United States. To informed Rugby fans, the loss of teams like Belmont Shore and Co. has raised questions about the development of US Rugby’s top line championship.
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There is plenty of talk about the likes of Carl Hayman, Aaron Mauger, Chris Jack, and even Byron Kelleher and Jerry Collins returning to the shores of New Zealand with ambitions to force their way back into the All Blacksx squad.
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All the expansion going on throughout the various codes of football is detested by some and held as hope by others. These are all very risky endeavors, with usually close competitions trying to protect their kingdoms and attack each others.
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Jerseys, guernseys, shirts, jumpers and strips – whatever you may call them, through the professionalism of modern-day sport, the real jersey, as in the one you can wear to the bar or to the park, is dying.
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The biggest stumbling block for Super rugby since 2003 has been Australia. In 2003, rugby was going gangbusters in Australia, and 2004 should have been the time when Super rugby became more of a Heineken Cup-style format with the top four teams from the NPC, Currie Cup and the APC.
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The Magners League could be considered the best rugby competition in Europe currently. This is mostly due to the success of the Welsh and Irish teams in the H cup.
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Movies about real life events or people many times leave me wondering if a specific scene or moment in time was exaggerated for effect. With the wealth of information available via the Internet it is an argument that can be solved with some degree of certainty – usually.
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The new Wallabies jersey by Kooga was announced with all the usual fanfare of a well drilled media unit yesterday. Indestructible, increases performance by 4%, chamois on the shorts to allow wiping your hands, padded socks, ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and more gadgets than Rodney Dangerfield’s golf bag in Caddyshack.
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Four-time Top League champions Toshiba showed their championship mettle Sunday, overcoming a 21-7 halftime deficit to stun Suntory in the Microsoft Cup semi finals.
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The one-day cricket series has only just begun, and as I write this article the temperature in Sydney hits 40 degrees, but as rugby fans are aware the 2010 Super 14 tournament is nearly upon us.
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Having been to Papua New Guinea, the only country in the world to have rugby league as its national sport, I can tell you they do love their league. The country may be a basket case in many ways, but I would expect they would actually get organised to field an NRL side if they had to.
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The cries of the die-hard members of the Victorian Rugby Community were answered late last year. After so long, top flight rugby was coming to Victoria. The Melbourne Rebels were resurrected.
