Despite finishing with the Wooden Spoon in its maiden Super 14 season in 2006, the Western Force have steadily improved their roster and performances under coach John Mitchell, and are now an established side. With seven Wallaby internationals in the Force line-up, the Perth based club have the looks of a side capable of challenging for a place in the Super 14 finals.
Six weeks into the 2010 Super 14 tournament, the NSW Waratahs are in the top four. But is this elevated position a case of flattering only to deceive?
The other three leading sides are there without any qualms about whether they’ve been promoted above the level of their abilities. Can we say the same about the [...] Read article
The NSW Waratahs surged into the Super 14 top four with a hard-fought 14-10 triumph over Western Force in Perth on Saturday night.
The Waratahs trailed 10-8 at half-time but regained the lead courtesy of two penalties from five-eighth Daniel Halangahu, who took over the kicking duties from the wayward Berrick Barnes after the break.
The Force [...] Read article
The result of the game against the Force has seen the Tahs move into fourth place. As a fan of the team this should be great news. What this round has shown us is that this is the most open super season we have all seen for a very long time, but things don’t look [...] Read article
Western Force coach John Mitchell has named an unchanged starting line-up for Saturday’s Super 14 clash with NSW in Perth, believing his players deserve the chance to atone for last week’s 50-10 pummelling at the hands of Queensland.
The Force sit last on the table with no points from their four games.
And despite the Force’s horror [...] Read article
The Waratahs have unsurprisingly stuck with the combination that thrashed the Lions in their last Super 14 start for Saturday’s clash with the Western Force in Perth.
Despite some injury concerns it is the third week in a row that coach Chris Hickey has retained the same 22-man squad.
Hickey said that he was monitoring the work [...] Read article
Red-hot Queensland’s long-awaited Super 14 resurgence hit top gear on Sunday night with a record 50-10 smashing of the Western Force.
Australia form halves pairing of Will Genia and Quade Cooper fed off the powerful performance of their pack to guide the Reds to their biggest victory in 15 seasons of Super rugby.
A Suncorp Stadium crowd [...] Read article
Strike weapon Digby Ioane shapes as the blunt force Queensland will aim at Western Force wonderboy James O’Connor in Sunday’s Super 14 grudge match.
Wallabies outside centre Ioane will wear the No.13 jersey for the first time this season due mainly to the threat he will pose to Test teammate O’Connor whose small 84kg frame slots [...] Read article
The Western Force will enter Sunday’s Super 14 clash with Queensland armed extra motivation after being the subject of an expletive-laden outburst from Reds lock Van Humphries.
Straight after Queensland’s gritty 23-18 win over the Chiefs last weekend, a fired-up Humphries gathered his team-mates into a circle and told them in no uncertain terms “come next [...] Read article
Six weeks into the 2010 Super 14 tournament, the NSW Waratahs are in the top four. But is this elevated position a case of flattering only to deceive?
The other three leading sides are there without any qualms about whether they’ve been promoted above the level of their abilities. Can we say the same about the [...]
Despite playing a role in bringing together a gathering of Roarers, to happen at the Waratahs-Brumbies blockbuster (ANZ Stadium, 24 April for those interested), I’ve only just organised my own tickets to the game in this week just gone. And didn’t I get a shock.
Since when have tickets to the Super 14 – and [...]
The constant shuffling of Australian backlines will result in our best young players never reaching their potential, falling victim to the ‘Peter Principle’.
The ‘Peter Principle’, penned (somewhat comically) by Dr. Laurence Peter in the 1960’s, is a common truth which you may well have heard of, or at the very least, been witness to.
It states: [...]
Plenty has already been written about the Tahs and how lucky they where to get over the Force. The Tahs are definitely a team with some issues.
I watched the games the other night over a few bottles of Red and was far from impressed but happy with the Tahs’ defensive effort in the dying stages [...]
The NSW Waratahs surged into the Super 14 top four with a hard-fought 14-10 triumph over Western Force in Perth on Saturday night.
The Waratahs trailed 10-8 at half-time but regained the lead courtesy of two penalties from five-eighth Daniel Halangahu, who took over the kicking duties from the wayward Berrick Barnes after the break.
The Force [...]
The Crusaders were made to work harder than expected to beat the hapless Lions 46-19 in their Super 14 clash in Christchurch on Saturday.
The win, their fifth from six outings, kept the seven-time champions on course to again make the playoffs while the Lions remain without a win.
But despite the 27-point margin the contest was [...]
Joe Pietersen scored 13 points and Springboks centre Jaque Fourie grabbed his third try for his new team as the Stormers beat the Cheetahs 21-8 in an all-South African match in the Super 14.
Pietersen kicked two early penalties and converted his own try on Saturday to help the Stormers to a third successive win and [...]
The Sharks finally broke their duck with a 30-16 Super 14 rugby win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday night.
It marked the first victory in six matches for the South Africans this season at the expense of a Highlanders team now boasting a similarly mediocre 1-5 win-loss record.
The result was only confirmed two minutes [...]
The result of the game against the Force has seen the Tahs move into fourth place. As a fan of the team this should be great news. What this round has shown us is that this is the most open super season we have all seen for a very long time, but things don’t look [...]
In-form Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked four penalties and a conversion to pass 100 points for the season and help the Bulls to a narrow 19-18 win over the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday.
The Super 14 leaders scored just one try, through fullback Zane Kirchner, and relied on Steyn’s radar-like boot to extend their winning run [...]
