Rugby News: Reds suffer massive Tupou blow, Rassie's radical plan to fix scrum mess, Aussies' 7s heaven

Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou has added to the Queensland Reds unravelling Super Rugby campaign with his calf strain expected to rule him out for the rest of the competition.

Tupou limped off as the Reds, already without star playmaker James O’Connor, lost to the Chiefs on the weekend.

The club released a short statement on Monday morning.

“The Queensland Reds are seeking further medical opinion, however it is expected tighthead prop Taniela Tupou will be sidelined for the remainder of the Super Rugby Pacific season with a calf strain suffered in last Friday’s match against the Chiefs,” the statement read in whole.

Tupou has eight weeks to recover for the start of the July test series against England.

Rassie’s radical scrum call

South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has called for a specialty scrum referee to be added to the officiating mix to help fix a problematic area for the game.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Erasmus said: “For international rugby, why not form a group of world-class scrummaging experts – former players or coaches – to serve as specialist scrummaging referees?.”

He said these refs could roam the sidelines and run onto the field to take over from the normal ref to ofrficiate on scrums.

“Get them in the gym so they are on and off the pitch quickly. It would be their only job, so they would have no impact on the rest of the game,” Erasmus wrote.

“There are about 20 scrums a match so you could even put a microphone on them and link them up to the TV commentary team so the viewers understand what’s going on.”

This left-field suggestion wasn’t the only one raised by Erasmus.

He wants a crackdown on the “shot clock” on goal kickers who currently get 60 seconds for penalties and 90 seconds for conversions, but frequently run overtime.

“We are regularly involved in matches where the kicker goes 20 seconds over the allowance,” Erasmussaid.

“If there are six kicks at goal in a match, that could waste two minutes of ball-in-play time. Put a countdown clock on the big screens and if the time runs out then they lose the kick.”

“If we want to see more ball-in-play time then we need to make sure there is less ball-out-of-play time. If a team goes into a huddle before a lineout, stop the clock. If a guy goes down to tie his shoelaces or take a drink before a scrum, stop the clock.

“We could easily increase the ball-in-play time by between seven and 10 minutes by enforcing the laws as they are written and again no one will have to adapt to any law changes.”

And Erasmus would like to see two referees utilised in general play – in addition to the scrum ref.

“The idea of two referees sounds radical and it has been tried, but it can work if done correctly. If it’s efficient and non-intrusive, it could make a massive difference around the tackle/breakdown area,” he wrote.

“The breakdown is so complicated for players, coaches, referees and fans alike. As a referee, you need five pairs of eyes to see what is going on at a breakdown – otherwise you are guessing.”

Sevens heaven

Australian coach Tim Walsh has cheekily suggested the balance of power in women’s rugby sevens has shifted after a thrilling defeat of New Zealand iced his team’s drought-breaking World Series title, reports AAP. 

Walsh’s side secured their first crown since 2018 on Monday, sweetening the deal with a try after the full-time siren to beat rivals New Zealand 21-17 in the final of the Langford, Canada round.

Trailing by three in the decider, Australia forced a turnover with just five seconds remaining and then defied exhaustion to control possession and carry the ball 85 metres before Lily Dick broke the line to score.

Three wins and a bronze medal at the previous four legs meant Walsh’s side only needed to move beyond the quarter-final stage to claim the World Series title with one round remaining.

That dominance was helped by the fact New Zealand didn’t feature until now, due to their country’s COVID-19 restrictions.  

Australia hadn’t beaten New Zealand since the Sydney leg of the 2018 series, a tournament the hosts famously won without conceding a point.

But since then the Kiwis have dominated, beating Australia in extra time to win the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold and then adding Olympic gold in Tokyo last year when Australia missed the medals altogether.

“We have had some momentous battles and there’s always a balance of power going on and after that it might have swung back a little bit (in Australia’s favour),” Walsh told AAP.

“In the warm ups the energy between the sides was amazing; it was like a competition of who was having more fun and then you go out there and go to war.

“Winning and entertaining sort of doubles the emotion, so we’re pretty stoked.”

Walsh coached the women’s side to gold in Rio before moving to the men’s program, with John Manenti pulling the strings until their Tokyo disappointment.

An Olympic review led to the coaches switching roles and it’s yielded immediate success, the men now ranked third in the World Series with three legs remaining.

Rio gold medallist Charlotte Caslick remains the chief playmaker of a women’s team that now features a host of emerging talent, like Dick and Madison Levi who starred in the decider.

Walsh said the manner of victory would serve them well ahead of the final World Series leg in Toulouse later this month and then Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games in July.

“A good team will still have half their games coming down to the last play and you don’t want to be flipping a coin over it,” Walsh said.

“You want to be able to hold composure, do the basics well and they did that (in the final) and did it in an entertaining way.

“They’re playing without fear; for a coach to get your team into that sort of flow is very rewarding.”

Edmed explains emotional response

Tane Edmed’s raw, emotional interview with Morgan Turinui after the Waratahs’ stunning defeat of the Crusaders won him plenty of admirers but also gave his team mates the opening for some friendly ribbing.

But Edmed told reporters why he was so worked up.

“I have obviously grown up here my whole life, in this area,” said Edmed, whose father Steve played rugby league for Balmain.

“My father played a lot of footy here and I played all my junior rugby league just down the road at Blackmore Oval. I probably kicked thousands of balls down at Leichhardt No.2.

“It was just a really good feeling driving up here and I had 30 friends and family in the stands, and to get a win like that with these boys … we had such a tough year last year. It was a bit too much emotion for me to handle.

“It has been such a tough road for these boys, and to get a win – and then for me to get a win like that in front of my friends and family, and on the field I have grown up playing on – it was just amazing. I was just a bit lost for words.”

Darren Coleman said he understood the depth on emotion on show.

“We were all fighting them [tears] back. You just don’t know when the emotional victories are going to come,” Coleman said.

“And that euphoria that you get straight after a final whistle in a game that you’re not sure you’re going to win or not, and you’ve worked bloody hard to win it, you should show emotion.”

Wallabies to face Boks in Adelaide

The Wallabies return to the scene of one of their most impressive triumphs this year when they face South Africa in Adelaide during the Rugby Championship.

Australia scored a record 142-0 victory at Adelaide Oval during the 2003 World Cup, and last played in the city in 2004.

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The Adelaide match was confirmed along with the decision to move the home Bledisloe Cup match to a Thursday night to avoid a conflict with AFL and NRL finals in Melbourne. It will be the first midweek Test since 1994 in Australia.

The Adelaide match will be the second of a double header with the Wallaroos playing against New Zealand as they tune up for the World Cup.

Family values

Readers of Rugby News last week will be across the England third XV which featured a dad and seven sons selected in the same forward pack.

Mike Ireland, 56, and his seven sons (he also has eight daughters!) made it on the field for Heaton Moor and celebrated his retirment game with a thumping 65-7 win.

The 56-year-old from Stockport said he “held out” from retirement until his youngest son Joel turned 18 so they could all play together.

Mike started playing as a 41 year old.

“During the years I’ve played many games for the Mighty Threes – as we call them – and I’ve played with one or two, three or maybe four of my sons,” he told the BBC.

“But I’ve never had them all on the field at the same time, so I’m really grateful to the people at the club who made it happen.

“I’m not the most amazing rugby player in the world, and some of my sons are very good and play for the first team, but rugby’s not about that, it’s a very big family thing, especially at grass roots level and everyone’s welcome of all abilities.”