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Joined September 2008
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Brett McKay is one of The Roar's good news stories and has been a rugby and cricket expert for the site since July 2009. Brett is an international and Super Rugby commentator for ABC Grandstand radio, is the voice of ACT club rugby, has commentated on Under-20s Championships, Women's Uni Sevens and National Rugby Championship coverage, and has written for magazines and websites in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. He tweets from @BMcSport.
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It’s been a variable international season for our teams, but with The Rugby Championship now behind us, the respective Spring Tours – the Autumn Internationals once we land in the north – present the last opportunity to salvage whatever we need our teams to show us in 2021.
The Wallabies are in Japan already, and they have a massive chance to finish the 2021 season in the strongest fashion we’ve seen in way too many years.
For one last look at The Rugby Championship for 2021, I thought it was worth getting the panel to have a bit of a think about some of the individuals who made the tournament what it was this year.
For our part of the rugby world at least, these few weeks we’re currently in represent the part of the season where we start searching around for our rugby content, with The Rugby Championship done but the Spring Tours not quite ready to check boarding passes.
The Rugby Championship has been run and won for another year, and the results and upsets and comebacks added a proper unpredictability about it all that tells us rugby in the southern hemisphere isn’t in too bad a place at all, generally speaking.
He was quick to dismiss two of his three tries against Argentina as really only needing to fall over the try line, but Andrew Kellaway’s first try on Saturday night instantly became the poster-moment for so many great developments in the Wallabies’ winning home season.
Our teams are back on the Gold Coast again, having shared a charter flight for all four teams from Townsville down to the Glitter Strip on Sunday.
Wallabies fans are well familiar with the idea of dawn. Unfortunately, it’s most often come from more than a few new dawns over the past decade or so petering out into yet another false dawn.
Well, I certainly didn’t see South Africa sliding down the tables quite like they have in the last two weeks, and I’m quite sure I’m not alone in that.
The best Wallabies performance in recent memory. That’s about as definitive as I can be about where that 30-17 Wallabies win over South Africa on Saturday night ranks.
Well, the Quade Cooper script practically writes itself now, doesn’t it?!
I’ve not even attempted to quantify this, but I can’t imagine the list of teams to turn around a 17-point loss to New Zealand into a two-point win over the current Rugby World Cup holders a week later is particularly long.
The Rugby Championship enters a new phase of tournament play this week, with the final four rounds playing out not just in Australia, but entirely within Queensland.
Another match, another boatload of intercepts and turnovers, and another familiar post-match feeling for players, coaches, and supporters alike as the Wallabies dropped a third straight game to New Zealand for the year.
After not much too-ing and a lot of fro-ing, the Bledisloe Cup series resumes in Perth, a week later than planned, which was already a week later than originally scheduled. But full credit to the rugby public in Perth for managing to sell out the stadium three times over.
So then, Super Rugby Pacific, eh?
The Rugby Championship was plunged into farce suddenly last week, and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: nobody does politics like rugby.
The latest round of he-said, she-said between New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia has quickly become pointless, and arguments both in support and in defence have become predictably parochial.
Well, we’re away in The Rugby Championship and we’ll go again this weekend, with South Africa and Argentina to face off in Port Elizabeth from the second time, but after that looks anything but certain at this stage.
Yes, the panel has been great already this international season, but there’s definitely been a certain South American flair missing among us, so it’s time to do something about it.
Good on you Gatesy, I reckon yours will be a common feeling at the moment. Good times ahead for rugby..
Why I'm a 'glass half full' rugby fan
I’d imagine they’ll ramp up the week of, BF…
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
How many of them were in line to replace Read or McCaw, Jacko?
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Peter gave a not-unreasonable opinion on a speculative article. Yet somehow Peter’s comments were the cause of the outrage, and not the article, or dare I say it, the possibility that the player might be out of line if this was their thinking?
Nah, it was a misdirected over-reaction by many…
WALLABIES TEAM CONFIRMED: Kerevi injury paves way for Paisami return, Brumbies hooker set for debut
Which was Peter’s point preceisely…
WALLABIES TEAM CONFIRMED: Kerevi injury paves way for Paisami return, Brumbies hooker set for debut
Yes Ed, hence the need to get a proven All-Blacks killer into the Homebush area…
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Muz, apart from Cane this year, who hasn’t been able to get into Australia in the last two seasons?
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Apparently. His ability to defend in the front line despite needing a walking frame is chronically underrated…
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
And Cooper is still only 33!
You’d think both of them left Australia on their 30th birthdays 15 years ago, by some comments!! 😛
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
I won’t believe Wales is a certainty until the final whistle is blown!
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Hopefully it’s the rocket for the required extra yards being put in from here..
Rugby Australia faces rival bid from USA to host 2027 World Cup
It’s the ever-present balance RT – giving players the chance to shine, while also giving other players the chance to put their hands up..
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
FOH, Stan have the USA-NZ game listed for this weekend, so they might be working on other ABs fixtures as I know they are other Wallabies games too..
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
It’d be like a great entree to Christmas, Chookosaurus… 😊
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Carlin, I have enjoyed the lengths so many many of us have gone to to avoid naming one players – panelists and commenters alike!! 😂
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
And Matt Taylor’s knowledge of norther defences, too, Mused…
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Exactly my thoughts, LS.
I’m sure Skelton will give everything, but is playing for Australia still a primary motivator for him?
Don’t know. Happy to find out..
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Could you relocate to Australia, please Carlos? Specifically the Homebush area in Sydney… 😁
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Like your thinking, Oz.
Why not Wales too, they used to be Australia’s bunnies!! 😁
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
JD it’s curious to me that NZ have had more trouble replacing Read than they did replacing McCaw…
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Puts even more emphasis on the outside defence, doesn’t it..
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
Also, best celebrations by a country mile… 😛
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams
That’s a long way from being true Jacko, the Spring Tests coverage being locked in last minute happened every year with Fox (and bein Sports)…
The Thursday rugby two-up: Spring Tour hopes and dreams