A century on and Kylie Pennell is Australia’s female answer to the great Dally Messenger. Pennell is one of several unheralded sporting all-rounders who will line up for the Wallaroos tomorrow night in the first of two Tests against New Zealand’s Black Ferns at Canberra’s Viking Park.
Wallabies halfback Luke Burgess rates himself as the third choice No.9 in the current Australian squad as he prepares to take the next step in his return from injury.
The New York Yankees are apparently having few difficulties in selling off the hugely expensive corporate boxes in their new ballpark. But as the world credit crisis deepens this might change.
Leicester outmuscled the Ospreys 12-6 in the European Cup on Sunday while Toulouse edged a nail-biting 18-16 win over Bath, David Skrela hitting the winning penalty two minutes into injury time.
England star Jonny Wilkinson faces missing the Six Nations tournament after dubbing the dislocated knee-cap he suffered on Premiership duty for Newcastle against Gloucester last week one of his worst ever setbacks.
The Australian Schoolboys created rugby union history yesterday with a first-ever victory over New Zealand Schools on Kiwi soil. The young Australians scored two tries to one to win a bruising match 15-11 in New Plymouth.
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Wilkinson set to miss Six Nations after latest setback
Serial underachievers Stade Francais, Leinster, Gloucester and Ospreys begin their latest campaigns to finally solve the riddle of the European Cup this weekend.
The mental and physical state of two refreshed All Blacks pose an interesting subplot to the first Air NZ Cup rugby quarterfinal between Canterbury and Tasman in Christchurch tomorrow night.
Robbie Deans has warned his Wallabies the looming Spring Tour of Europe will be no end-of-season holiday and that only the true performers will survive.
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Europe’s underachievers to erase miserable record
All Black to add gloss to rusty derby
Australian schoolboys name test team to play NZ
Ipswich Grammar speedster Kenneth Robertson has sealed a berth in the Suncorp Australian Schoolboys team to play New Zealand Schools at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth today.
Red-headed Brumbies skyscraper Peter Kimlin won’t have to travel far if he receives a Wallabies call-up today.
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As the semi-finals loom, Wellington and Canterbury will host upstarts Southland and Hawkes Bay to host the pundits dream final In fact, upstarts is probably a harsh term considering that both those teams finished in the top five for the 2008 regular season.
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John O’Neill promised that Robbie Deans would bring cultural change to the Wallabies. His assessment of the Wallabies was correct, particularly after their submission in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
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There can’t be too many rugby fans who don’t know that the Wallabies and the All Blacks kick off their overseas tours when they meet in Hong Kong, November 1. Which brings up a question: which team will have the advantage playing away in this particular game?
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The other day, the head of the South African sports portfolio, Butana Komphela, called for the Springbok to be culled as the emblem of the national rugby team. He argued that, among other things, “the Springbok divides us”, and that there can be “no negotiation” on its future.
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This is the third installment in my series of previews of the teams that are contesting the Heineken Cup this season.
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Following up on my first installment in this Heineken Cup preview, here is a group-by-group rundown on the main Pool Two, Three and Four contenders.
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The Wallabies selectors’ job is far from over. Having chosen the lucky 34 players for the upcoming Northern tour, they now need to select players that can break the Wallabies hoodoo of winning on the road while also renewing the squad.
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This weekend hails the Fourteenth Heineken Cup tournament, so here is a group-by-group rundown on the action. The French and Italian websites aren’t all up-to-date, and given that I speak a little French, I thought it would be helpful if I could bridge some gaps.
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No, not Melbourne. A little further north than that: Chattanooga, Tennessee, where I was born. If the folks up there paid close attention to rugby instead of the NFL, and if they knew something about the game of rugby, they’d surely opine that the Wallabies were in for a whuppin’ on the coming tour.
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Australian rugby is rotting away from the most important level of all: the juniors. Several dads who have taken their sons through junior rugby, have explained the problem to me, and there is a long list of complaints about the way it’s being managed.
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A recent history of Australian rugby would have a rather thin entry under the heading of world class props. Clearly great props don’t just happen.
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Defence used to be our strength; the one thing thing we always could rely on. Under Deans our attack, skills and attitude have improved. However, our defence has gone backwards. Literally.
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Here’s an exercise: take a sample group of ten Springboks who took part in the 2008 Super 14 series, analyse their game time, then ask yourself, are we contributing to the corrosive attrition of our leading rugby players?
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Your constituents are restless. Your most recent selections confused many of us, dismayed some of us, and made a few of us very, very unhappy.
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It is not my intention to canvas all the issues that such a broad heading entails. My intention is to concentrate on one aspect - a national comp.
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Luke Rooney, Jerry Collins, Andrew Mehrtens, Anton Oliver, Matt Hanjak, David Vaealiki, Tana Umaga, Mark Gasnier, SonnyBill Williams, Craig Gower, Dan Carter, George Gregan, John Connolly and Ewen McKenzie are just some of the Antipodean players and coaches who have made or are making their way to French rugby.
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The significant difference between the current All Blacks and our Wallabies, is the speed of the New Zealand front row.
We were talking about the important things in life, mainly sport.
