Don’t worry, Ad Tastic. A smartphone can’t electrocute anyone 😊

K.F.T.D.
My idea of fun isn’t to be abused online by someone whose idea of fun is to make ‘Japanese jokes’ then hide behind his part-Chinese wife… because, ya know, ‘all Asians are the same’.
Not everyone who enjoys rugby and engages online is middle aged or a senior citizen such as yourself. If yours is typical of the attitude of posters on The Roar towards new people, then The Roar has more to worry about than the demise of Australian Rugby.
Why would anyone want to stick around The Roar for a year, let alone ten years, to read your delightful comments?
Even my xenophobic great-aunt has more class than what you’ve shown.

Ad Tastic
I’m not a Wallabies fan, so I’m not hurt. But I am an RU fan and I don’t take delight in what’s happened to them.
Fair enough, you had low expectations, but it’s good to strive for improvement rather than going backwards.

K.F.T.D.
If you read my comments, or knew which comments I liked, you would know that I am not an ‘apologist for this coaching group’.
I have never agreed with Dave Rennie’s sacking, the actions of Hamish McLennan, the incoherent coaching decisions. While I appreciate the constructive criticism of other posters, I don’t pile on.
I follow a lot of sports and enjoy the discussion, but have never registered a forum account before.
Most of the 240 comments you mentioned are the comments I make in the live blogs.
People like you, who think ‘Japanese jokes’ are fair criticism of an Aussie coach with Japanese heritage, then proceed to attack me when I call you out on it by making the ignorant and wrong assumption that I am an ‘apologist for this coaching group’, is why I have previously been hesitant about engaging online.
Also, I am a woman.
Again, you make lazy assumptions and show your ignorance.

The gleeful tone of your comment shows that your opinion is definitely not ‘humble’.

Certainly didn’t expect the Wallabies to be ‘towelled by Wales’. Even with the drastically changed Wallabies squad, getting ‘towelled by Wales’ was unexpected because of the Welsh team’s form going into the RWC.
Wallabies fans have a right to be upset to lose by such a large margin, and the manner in which the team lost.

K.F.T.D.
Eddie cops enough criticism, a lot of which is deserved, without the likes of you denigrating his Japanese heritage by making a terrible ‘Japanese joke’.
How many languages do you speak? You probably lack the self-awareness to know how your accent and pronunciation sounds when speaking another language, because if you had self-awareness you wouldn’t be making crass ‘Japanese jokes’.

This is knockout rugby now for the ABs. Italy cannot be taken lightly. Do what it takes to secure the win with no cards and hopefully no injuries.

Thanks for the live blog, Mike.
Well done to the contenders. Congratulations to the winners.
Special mention to the dapper AFB…shone like a glorious sunflower 😊

Oh, poor SJ. Congratulations Kalyn.

The closest I’ve ever gotten face to face with Webby is watching his Face to Face episode. The one with Stacey was also good.

He seems down to earth and personable.

So happy for Andrew Webster. Congratulations to Webby and his family.

Worthy of many bites.
Thank you, The Great One, for the light-hearted read. Brought a smile to my face.

Hi Billo. Your optimism is refreshing. Reminds me of Sean Maloney during commentary pleafully asking Morgan Turinui what needs to happen for the Wallabies to reach the Quarter-Finals. Maloney had an ember of hope glowing in his heart. Turinui stamped it out.
I’ll be the Turinui to your Maloney.
The Wallabies have lost momentum and the nature of their loss to Wales must’ve damaged their confidence.
Portugal can’t be underestimated; they’re coming off an impressive draw against Georgia. They showed resilience to keep Georgia scoreless during a sin-binning, and, but for a missed penalty at the last minute, almost staged a triumphant comeback from 13-0 down.
Fiji have had a good tournament so far, and are improving and building momentum. They seem primed for the knockout stage.

Hi Scar. I appreciate your opinion and mostly agree, except I don’t think it’s practical or financially feasible to reinstate the previous coaching staff.
I agree with your opinions on Dave Rennie. He deserves to be Head Coach of a national side. But, for his sake, I hope he steers clear of RA.
What professional coach would want to take up a role appointed by a board that has tainted its reputation with unprofessionalism, unethical behaviour, fickleness and chronic short term thinking?
The RA board, especially Hamish ‘Don’t Watch’ McLennan, certainly should be held accountable.
There needs to be significant changes and thoughtful planning going forward.

Hi Nick,
Thanks for expressing your thoughts and reaction. Commiserations to you and other Wallabies fans for what has happened.
Wales had a good performance, but it was sad to watch the comprehensive nature of the win considering what it would likely mean for Australia.
It’s good to see that the team has the continued support of Wallabies fans. The current iteration of RA certainly doesn’t deserve fans’ loyalty, not that RA seems to care as they seem indifferent to holding themselves accountable.
According to Hamish McLennan, if fans are unhappy, ‘don’t watch’. No worries, McLennan… looks like you won’t need to repeat your directive; watching the Wallabies at the RWC won’t be an option for much longer.

After being treated badly by them, I wouldn’t want Rennie to be subjected to RA again.
How can any new coach have faith that they will be treated with professional integrity and have their contract honoured?
The disrespect and derisive attitude McLennan seemed to show Rennie, and the general negativity towards New Zealanders in important roles, is hardly conducive to creating a welcoming environment – there will certainly be no kumbaya sessions.
Considering how previous coaches from New Zealand have been shafted, why would any New Zealander, let alone Dave Rennie, want to live the nightmare of being an RA appointed coach?

Hi Brett, thanks for your reply.
I was talking about favourites to win the RU WC. But any one of the following teams have a realistic chance of winning:
– Ireland
– South Africa
– New Zealand
– France
– England
– Fiji
– Argentina
– Wales
– Scotland
I would’ve included Australia in that list too, until RA mismanagement stuffed them over.

Hi Brett. I don’t want to get into a code war here, as I’m a fan of both codes.
I enjoy the RLWC and was very disappointed, especially for the French RL, that France had to pull out of hosting RLWC 2025 due to lack of funding. I look forward to international RL developing to the extent that the WC is regarded as the pinnacle of RL.
But to answer your question, yes… currently the RU WC is more competitive than the RL WC, for many reasons, including:
– More countries have won the RU WC.
– This year there are 4 strong favourites to win: Ireland, Springboks (South Africa), All Blacks (NZ) and France.
– Two previous winners of the RU WC, Australia (for obvious reasons) and England, are not favourites to win this year.
– It’s possible that previous RU WC winner and historically the most successful RU team, the All Blacks, doesn’t make it past the Quarter-Finals. Could you imagine the Kangaroos getting knocked out of the RL WC?
– Some countries who aren’t a realistic chance of making it to the Quarter-Finals are fighting for 3rd place in their pool so that they don’t have go through qualification for the next WC.
– Wealthy countries such as USA and Canada, which have their own professional North American competition, could not qualify for this RU WC.
I agree with you that there is a perception that RU in Australia is played by and for private school ‘snobs’. It’s a failure of RA that they have neglected grassroots RU and state schools.
The elitist perception RU has in Australia isn’t the case for other countries. It’s certainly not the case in NZ where RU is played by many state schools (known as public schools in NZ), some of which are the best RU schools in the country, and enjoyed by fans from a wide socio-economic spectrum, including someone like me who grew up in one of the poorest areas of NZ that had some of the worst statistics in the country.

Not just the allure of international RU for players, but for fans as well. I enjoy the intensity of the contest of international RU test matches, with the pinnacle being the RWC.
RU may be denigrated in Australia, but packed stadiums for international matches and at the RWC shows that RU is enjoyed by people in many countries.
I’ve been a fan of both codes since childhood. I watch RU for different reasons to RL, as there are aspects of RU that just aren’t in RL.
It’s a sad indictment on how little regard is given to developing RL internationally that the RLWC isn’t taken seriously as a tournament by administrators. Rather, the pinnacle of RL is widely purported to be SOO, which, although a wonderful contest, is basically a domestic series between two states of one country.
The spectacle of international RU and the RWC is akin to taking the lustre and intensity of the SOO and expanding it to many countries around the world. Nations doing battle on the sports field. National sporting pride and bragging rights at stake.
RU could learn a lot from RL about developing pathways and commercially viable, competitive domestic franchises. RL could learn from RU about the long term planning and coordination needed to turn RL into a global sport.

Congratulations to the Panthers and Broncos for earning their Grand Final spots with emphatic wins.
I’m proud of the Warriors’ season, disappointed for the players in their loss, but not disappointed in them.
It was very lonely being surrounded by Broncos fans at the stadium. I screamed myself hoarse, but towards the end was pretty glum. Despite that, it was a good night – just didn’t go the way I wanted.
Looking forward to the Grand Final this weekend. Hopefully it’s a better contest than either of the preliminary finals.
Good luck to both teams, hope it’s a great contest.

New Zealanders generally don’t have an “us vs them” mentality when it comes to RU and RL.
Kiwi RU fans, professional players, analysts and pundits also enjoy RL, or at least have respect and appreciation for it. Kiwi RL fans respect and appreciate the All Blacks. Being a Warriors fan has helped me appreciate, and not take for granted, the consistent success of the All Blacks.
I’m proud of the Warriors for the season they’ve had. But the All Blacks haven’t lost popularity due to the Warriors’ success. New Zealanders want both to do well as many people, myself included, enjoy both codes.
It seems that in NZ there isn’t anywhere near the level of animosity between codes as there is in Australia; there seems to be more a spirit of respect and cooperation.
I hope RU and RL in Australia can let go of grievances and stop tearing each other down. There can be a lot learnt from each other to help each code and build domestically and internationally.

It was nice to see a Fiji fan at the stadium wearing a Warriors jersey 😊 Have also seen a Warriors jersey at the recent NZA vs AusA (cricket) series, and Up the Wahs shirt at the FIBA World Cup. Great to see support worldwide. Let’s gone Wahs!

And interest in Fijian rugby