Category:

Rugby

Stay in the know with the latest rugby news, scores, and highlights. Get up-to-the-minute updates on your favorite teams, players, and tournaments

Rugby

2024 Shute Shield Week 1 Finals: Randwick successfully came back from behind that left Gordon hanging in the balance with the close seven-point win at Coogee Oval by 36-29

by Sports Benches

This afternoon’s one of the three Shute Shield semi games this weekend was a cracker at Coogee Oval between reigning champions Randwick and 2020 champions Gordon. Randwick may have scored the first points thanks to the penalty TRY but Gordon stole the first half show by two points at the break 12-14. 

Gordon may have extended their winning share later on but the game wasn’t over just yet when the Wicks began to make up lost time thanks to some fresh faces off the bench before a series of Gordon’s handling errors went their way & then Randwick somehow regained the lead to shut them down towards full-time 36-29.

As it stands, Eastern Suburbs (who were too good at the same time v Manly 45-17) and Randwick are through to next Saturday’s Elimination Finals day.

There’s one more semi-final game to settle tomorrow afternoon at 3.05pm with Warringah v Northern Suburbs as Manly already out of the running. If Warringah win, they will play v Randwick and Gordon won’t be out of the race just yet, but Gordon will have to face the 1st-placed Easts. But if Norths win, then Gordon will join Manly as the ones being left out as they will play v Randwick & Warringah to play v Easts. It remains to be seen if the Elimination Final games will all be played at North Sydney Oval like it was last year.

It’s just the 2024 Shute Shield Finals wording has slightly changed a bit that’s all as the highest ranked losing 1st week Finals side will get a second chance in either Gordon (4th) or Norths (5th) with Warringah already safe regardless of tomorrow’s result since they finished 2nd.

That young midfielder Matias Jensen saved the day for Randwick when he came off the bench in the 2nd half & finished off knowing his side is still in the Playoffs fight with the 36-29 win. You just couldn’t take off the eyes every time the ball comes to him who can do whatever he wants to cross the line with pace including one TRY for himself. Let’s hope his ongoing focus to help Randwick retain their Shute Shield title for 2024 will be enough for the Brumbies to give him a chance at Super Rugby level next season.

Ben Houston on the other hand at 8 for the Wicks also brilliant to watch like a firefighter to help get themselves out of trouble & that turned out to be the win he wanted following a hard-fought 2nd half shift. Those firefighter qualities he’s got reflect his natural game with unfinished business ahead. He’s so good in defense, as well as the leadership since he’s the skipper and how he helps out with a mix of pace & power in attack via the ruck, scrum/maul & on the counter – that’s all. 

And we did enjoy James Armstrong’s two-try performance on the outside No.13 for Gordon where he knows how to beat his man thanks to the depth being offered through the short side or gate. The fight was there every time Gordon attempts to play catch up with the Wicks on the counter & there’s no need for an introduction other than Armstrong thanks to his explosive running ability. It’s just a shame Gordon gave the ball away including the ill-discipline & that’s gotta hurt not just with the result but also possibly their bid to win the Shute Shield if Norths win over Warringah tomorrow afternoon. 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Olympics News: Aussie Men’s Rugby 7s team fall short by Flying Fijians in the Medal semi-final at Stade De France

by Sports Benches

Ah, so gutted for the Aussie Men’s 7s team whose gold medal chances unfortunately came to an end at the hands of Fiji, 31-7.

Yes, great start by Ben Dowling who found the ball that came to him after one of the Fijian players couldn’t put the ball down first at the in-goal area. They just couldn’t build on it when Fiji levelled the scoreboard going into half-time 7-7 before being simply unstoppable throughout the 2nd x 7 minutes of play including that brilliant finish to the Medal semi-final.

Less ball didn’t help especially when going up against a seasoned gold medalist side while their attack lacked support at times including in defense & the Aussies should’ve brought some new faces a bit earlier than expected if one thing would’ve helped them get past tactically the Flying Fijians. One thing for sure though that the Aussie Men’s Rugby 7s side has made it this far having gone from a long, long way. But they still got a chance though to take home the bronze later on v South Africa. 

All the best to Fiji if they can go all the way with their three-peat for the Olympic 7s gold since the sport’s inception back in 2016. But if there’s one nation that can stop the Flying Fijians, then it’s the host nation France as well, who wants to light up Stade De France with a match-winning gold medal right in front of their home crowd, off the back of their unbelievable late turnaround when they were scoreless during first 7 minutes v South Africa, 5-19.

UPDATE: Fiji unable to get through France in the gold medal match on what has been their first ever loss at the Olympics as congratulations to the host nation with the 28-7 win while the Aussies unfortunately got left out of the 3rd and final podium spot for bronze by South Africa who got away from them unscathed 26-19. Again, our men’s sevens team made it as far as they can which was unbelievable – let’s hope they can continue to dominate the yearly 7s circuit that would mean everything.

Now over to you the Aussie women’s 7s team as their bid to bring back their Olympic crown from 2016 will begin later tonight at the same venue.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Olympics News: The Aussie Men’s Rugby 7s team on a roll to the medal semis after their wins v Argentina to top the group stage followed by an easy last eight win v USA

by Sports Benches

Can you believe it? The Aussie Men’s 7s team had another excellent field day on the road towards gold in the Men’s Olympic program. Not only they topped their Group stage undefeated off the back of a decent win v Argentina but they were also too good v Team USA in the last 8 with the medal semis to pick up tomorrow v Fiji. Now we need our Aussie supporters and for those currently in Paris to go to Stade De France this Saturday by cheering them up for the green & gold!!

Now that last group stage game was a bit challenging with the fast starts which is something they need to improve on, especially when going up against the top notch teams as always. But they’ve still done it though where they’ve bossed the pitch by expanding their attack through the wide areas on what has been a team-led effort against Argentina, 14-22.

Then as said above during the medal Quarter-Finals, we saw another team-led effort off the back of some amazing finishing tries from several players this time v Team USA 18-0.

No doubt they will be coming back hungry with a point to prove v gold medallists Fiji this weekend such as Henry Hutchinson, James Turner & ACT Brumbies regular Corey Toole. Then we can dream in order for the Aussies to get over the line should they make it for the Gold Medal match v either France or South Africa. They’ve came from a long way so far & hope they can replicate the success that the women’s team has done in this 7s format.  

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Olympics News 2024: Australian Men’s Rugby 7s team off to a flying start overnight with back-to-back wins against Samoa and Kenya

by Sports Benches

The Australian Men’s Rugby 7s team were off to a brilliant start to the Olympics campaign with back-to-back wins v Samoa (21-14) and Kenya (21-7) last night. Now they’ve got Argentina next up tonight before they will turn their attention to the Medal Quarter-Finals later on during the day regardless of this final group stage result at Stade De France.

Yes, the only weaknesses they need to work on is the strong starts where the Aussies have been disadvantaged or have been levelled earlier on, especially when things may eventually go out of hand by the time they take on the other top-notch Olympic nations as it progresses. That next match v Argentina is the first real acid test where correcting this weakness could change everything so they can hopefully go all the way rather than being dropped out & not being able to win a medal.

However, they too have dominated for the majority though when it comes to the possession on this fast-paced format of Rugby off the back of a few brilliant tries and also a couple of opposition handling errors through the gate that sums up their perfect start of their Olympic campaign as still a long way to go towards chasing that gold medal come Saturday.

Hats off to Henry Hutchinson, who scored two tries in the first game v Samoa. So does an excellent group of backs on what has been a team-led brilliance v Kenya with James Turner, Nathan Lawson (also scored the team’s other try from the opening game) & Brumbies regular Corey Toole sharing the pie of tries being scored.

Plus, hats off to Dietrich Roache on his spotless conversion kicks through the two sticks. Keep an eye on him as their main man when the Aussie Men’s 7s team is set to get tested a bit tougher on the speedometer but we’ve got some of our experienced backline that can cause the opposition trouble starting with Argentina tonight.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Shute Shield Week 15 of 18: Randwick’s huge 41-15 win over Warringah saw a new change for 1st on the ladder in the Eastern Suburbs 

by Sports Benches

Since we had the Wallabies v Georgia International match yesterday afternoon at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park, we had a rare Sunday afternoon match to finish off Week 15 of 18 today over in Coogee between defending champions Randwick v the high flying Warringah Rats. 

Randwick dominated the first half fair and square and although Warringah had some moments including their first quick try of their own, they were still behind by 14 points at half-time, 22-8. Now the 2nd half saw Warringah beginning to play catch up at one stage off the back of a great restart; But at the end of the day, the match still belongs to the Wicks court right in front of their strong home supporters. 

The final score was Randwick 41-15 Warringah as Warringah’s loss saw the Eastern Suburbs now leading the 2024 ladder with three regular rounds to go followed by another three weeks of Finals.

Well done to Waratahs winger Triston Reilly who scored a tremendous hat-trick (2 x 1st 40 and 1 x late 2nd 40) that sets up a decent lead for Randwick. Yes, he might have been in and out of the side earlier this year at Super Rugby level – in which the Waratahs didn’t so well unfortunately other than a couple of odd glimpses. However, that doesn’t take away his natural game where he’s got the blistering pace that benefitted Randwick’s excellent counter-attack. He’s also able to back track defensively & can crack opposition defenses to create chances via the gate, with unfinished business ahead to try & gift them another championship.

Next up is Randwick No.10 mainstay Andrew Deegan whose attacking creativities were wonderful to watch that safeguarded the Wicks with an easy win in Coogee. Okay, he may had a a few missed kicking attempts at times, especially when playing through the wind on a rare Sunday arvo of Club Rugby. But love how he unpacks every time he has the ball including in possession to make things expansive, such as that cross kick and quick passes through the gate or short side where tries were made there without much difficulty. Looks like the Tahs might have missed a trick without him but another club crown would do it here.

And the towering Ben Woollett did the best he possible to put Warringah on the map in the inside No.12 midfield. First of all, he caused the Wicks some trouble off the back of his running pace including the way he shields the opposition defenders for Warringah to touch one down via the gate. He too credit his forwards that helped Warringah accrue few winning penalties and turnovers – such as the side’s excellent 2nd half restart where they began to close in at one stage. Unfortunately, Warringah were simply scrappy & isolated when trying to get the finishing touches for the most part before ill-discipline held them back time and time again that forced the Wicks hand towards the end with more extended tries for the win.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby Union Today: Wallabies break away from Georgia’s 2nd half improvements with the eleven-point win at Allianz Stadium

by Sports Benches

It’s been an excellent contest of International Rugby throughout the afternoon at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park between the Wallabies v the emerging Georgia team as we now turn our attention to the Rugby 7s over in Paris for the Olympics next week followed by another year of the Rugby Championship campaign that will begin early next month. 

Georgia opened the scoring first off the back of the three-point penalty goal but it was the Wallabies at home who dominated the first 40 including another set of tries right on half-time, 26-10.Second half saw Georgia improving their game at the restart where we witnessed two quick sensational tries that puts them back on track to the Wallabies radar at one point.

At the end of the day though, the Wallabies have held their lead baton through full-time with the 11-point win, 40-29. They benefitted a series of opposition handling errors & ill-discipline with no disrespect to Georgia, who gave them a hard time all along, as Wallabies now has three wins now so far in 2024 under the tutelage of coach Joe Schmidt. 

The Wallabies long-term back rowers are safe with Fraser McReight on the openside 7 following his A-game performance this afternoon v Georgia. He’s the go-to man who can lock up defenses every time the opposition lack numbers. Not only that, he has power of physical steel that makes a big difference with a few tries off the back of Georgia’s silly mistakes/handling errors, especially in attack having ensured the win for the Wallabies at the end of the day.

Then we have another Wallabies main man at the back in Tom Wright at 15. He knows how to make that attack flow as seen regularly with the Brumbies where he never stops running while Tom can smash the opposition blocks – all of this has been created so they can get the job done with both hands. That’s without saying this contest was a practice match v Georgia which wasn’t easy & he’ll make sure the Wallabies continues with the Rugby Championship set to begin next month.

And shoutout to Aka Tabutsadze following his sensational 2nd half display on the Georgian right wing at 14. You can’t underestimate his abundance on pace who can win these 1 v 1 battles from out of nowhere as if he’s competing in the 100m sprint Final – Georgia should get him on their Track & Field team now to Stade De France for the Olympics next month!!

Yes, he had some mistakes including the ill-discipline that forced the Wallabies hand at times but he won’t be short of suitors as better competition v the top teams more often including domestic level as they hope will make him & his country reach new levels – such as getting Tier 1 status so Georgia can look to crack the Top 10 rankings as well as the chance to play in the Europe’s elite United Rugby Championship competition in the long run. We’ll keep a good track on them as time goes by.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

International Rugby News 2024: Wallabies hold on tight v Wales with a 2-0 series clean sweep victory tonight at AAMI Park

by Sports Benches

The two-test series belongs to the Wallabies with a 2-0 whitewash v Wales on what has been a close encounter tonight under wet and wild weather at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Wallabies fired off well where they were comfortably ahead whereas Wales struggled for the most part until they found the touch line twice off the back of two successful line-out penalties as Wallabies lead by nine points at half-time, 23-14. 

Wales did have an excellent restart that puts them back in the game by a two point difference at one stage. However, the Wallabies puts them into bed off the back of Wales’s series of silly and disciplinary mistakes. Not only the Wallabies continued to score a couple of more tries, but they’ve done enough to stop Wales from closing out the match with the eight point win, 36-28. My predictions for that game wasn’t bad with Wallabies to win the other day by eight & they did win by eight!!

Plus, also happy to see a Trans-Tasman clean sweep with the All Blacks also won v England earlier this evening at Eden Park by 24-17 on top of their one point win (16-15) last Saturday in Dunedin. Now there’s one last set of matches to go in the July Internationals next Saturday where the ABs will jet off to San Diego v Fiji while the Wallabies will be back at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park this time in the arvo v Georgia at 3.45pm.

The flying Filipo Daugunu showcased his magic as usual on the left wing like he did with the Rebels this year & sure he’ll continue to do so when he will back at the Queensland Reds next season. He’s not afraid to go up high while having an abundance of who finish it off with the ball with two tries and can also defend, having been a goalkeeper & even striker in the past through junior soccer. Melbourne Rugby fans will always remember him for his contribution there both club & country.

If one Melbourne-related rugby player isn’t enough to cheer on, how about we look at someone that is born and bred & now plays for the ACT Brumbies? His name is Rob Valetini on the back row this time on the open flanker at No.6. He’s the man who can get down and steal the ball back defensively that leads to turnovers/winning penalties before Rob can be an exceptional force going forward at the breakdown that proved to be a big difference tonight, especially when he kept the lead away from Wales in the 2nd half.

And the only man that pushed Wales as best as possible through the very end is another left winger in 24-year-old Rio Dyer. Love how he processed that quick ball assist to Liam Thomas where Wales were two points off at one stage after half-time before he has unbelievable pace to finish things off like that sensational 70th minute masterclass TRY. It’s a shame that Wales suffered ill-discipline all along + a series of silly mistakes when most of his backline buddies were a horror show, especially when trying to pass the Wallabies for the lead under pressure & yet Wales still without a win so far in 2024.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby Union today: No.1 Warringah too good for Eastwood by 27 points in Week 14/18 of the 2024 NSW Shute Shield Season

by Sports Benches

Great to have Shute Shield back on 9Gem for another year in 2024 with the last five rounds including three weeks Playoffs beginning Week 14’s Match of the Round between Warringah v Eastwood at Pittwater Rugby Park. The first 20 minutes was a bit quiet but then Warringah ate most of the pie by dominating the 1st half, although Eastwood did score right on half-time as the score was Warringah’s way, 28-8. Eastwood did make a couple of steps forward where they were able to score a few, having seen two of their players sitting on the naughty chair earlier on at different times. But at the end of the day, it was Warringah who was too good in the end whilst extending their winning share to almost half-century by 27 points, 49-22.

He’s the starting Warringah Hooker who is a ball-throwing machine with lots of physical grit to plow the opposition down and his name is Wes Thomas. What a performance he’s had this afternoon with two tries, although a hat-trick would be nice but then that was counted as a penalty TRY. Anyways, he’s the seasoned veteran out there having the best time whose team is sitting on top spot & he’s here for the best of Warringah. Coby Miln, a 25-year-old Kiwi plying his trade in Sydney, also had an excellent afternoon as Warringah’s creative man in the No.10 role. His conversion kicks never looked out of place while getting the best out of Warringah’s counter-attack through open play with the likes of tall back of Ben Marr running with the ball before the help of his forwards helped finish off the good work for him. Again, keep an eye out for him over the next coming weeks where winning the Minor Premiership & hopefully a grand final triumph would be the next great thing on his CV.

And half-back Tom Goddard gave Eastwood some great moments including one TRY for himself on what has been a tough outing v Warringah. He might not be the tallest but has a great knack of picking up the pieces that Warringah couldn’t capitalise before he finds the support Goddard needs to get over the line. It’s a shame Eastwood unable to stay on Warringah’s radar despite some 2nd half improvements off the back of poor discipline coupled with a poor first 40 as well.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Top 3 Rugby Union news this week: Trans-Tasman’s perfect start to the two-match July Internationals, ACT Brumbies to hand over control to Rugby Australia & Club Rugby is back on 9Gem for another year this weekend

by Sports Benches

There has been plenty of rugby news over the last couple of days ahead of another big weekend of International Rugby where a couple of two-match tours is about to come to an end, although they do have another match left to play but this time it will be against the lesser sides before we turn our attention to the Rugby 7s at the Summer Olympics in Paris towards the end of this month. Not only that, there’s a huge change coming at the ACT Brumbies in Canberra when it comes to the off-field operations and Club Rugby is back on free-to-air once again via 9Gem that will go for little over a month including Finals beginning this weekend whether if you’re tuning in for the Shute Shield in New South Wales or Hospital Cup in Queensland.

International Rugby

All Blacks were relieved to see off England unscathed by a single point 15-16 in Dunedin while the Wallabies may have a huge task ahead following their disastrous World Cup pool stage run last year but at least a win is a good start to get on top of the under-pressure Wales side 25-16. What’s even better that both sides were able to hold onto their respective series plates, even though the final Test results aren’t guaranteed to see out for sure when they retained them last time around. Now the ABs will head off to Eden Park in Auckland which is place they do so well all the time and Wallabies play at AAMI Park in Melbourne this Saturday. The reception there in Melbourne is going to be mixed when Rugby Australia decided to axe the Melbourne Rebels at season’s end towards the end of May & it won’t be the same without rugby fans going there as if they have no home-supporting player to cheer on for the Green and Gold – despite the team’s one & only rare good season that wrapped up the Rebels’ 14 year existence but again, it was due to financial reasons & the board moved on with the times now.

Predictions: All Blacks to win v England by 13 points and Wallabies to win v Wales by 8 points – so another Southern Hemisphere/Tasman clean sweep then to round off their respective two-match July tours.

Super Rugby 1: Australia

Speaking of Rugby Australia, their plans to have their Super Rugby teams being centralised (similar to the setup in New Zealand and Ireland) has taken another step this week as the ACT Brumbies now became the second team after the NSW Waratahs to hand over their off-field operations to the governing body – such as the high performance, players/staff and the commercial departments. That way, RA will look after both the Brumbies and Waratahs in the hope of getting back to their best while the state-run organizations will focus on getting the best out of Club and Grassroots Rugby – even though the Brumbies is by far the No.1 Australian Super Rugby side every year. They won’t be leaving Canberra after all which is good news, although they might be open to host some games in Melbourne since the Rebels is now gone (again not a merger).

If that happens, then it will be great to see Melbournians return to AAMI Park by getting behind the best Australian Super Rugby team in the Brumbies and that is gonna help inspire the kids there to start playing Rugby in their local area before they can make a name for themselves once they’ve grown up through the junior representative ranks with Rugby Victoria. All of that can be done while the Brumbies will always remain first and foremost in Canberra hoping they can make the Grand Final at last by knicking the championship. Even though Western Force will stay on as Australia’s 4th Super Rugby team, hoping they can get some support from Japan like reviving to boost their on-field performances if they can’t do well next season when a national third-tier competition is back on the cards – as if Japan is the perfect nation to replace South Africa in Super Rugby without having to sacrifice their own Top League competition thanks to the huge amount of seasoned Internationals they’ve got there. Again, most of the home games would come from Perth with some over in Tokyo and Singapore.

Super Rugby 2: New Zealand

Looking across the Ditch a bit in NZ, the Highlanders have re-installed Jamie Joseph as their head coach once again with Clarke Dermody demoting as his No.2 assistant coach. Yes, it was great seeing them enjoy some success in 6th this season but the Highlanders still have a long way to go if they want to challenge the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes someday since their last championship back in 2015 under Joseph during his 1st spell before he went on to coach Japan and is now back at home to turn things around for Otago. Their attack has been somewhat hesitant at times that consigned them to losses, especially when playing against the Australian teams but most of home games they’ve played though ain’t bad. Watch this space as this is the team they wanted to reclaim its former glory having last won the Super Rugby title under the six-team Playoffs format before its complicated expansion between 2016-2024, which is expected to be revived as a 11-team competition next season.

Club Rugby

And last but not least, while the respective Shute Shield and Hospital Cup competitions are ongoing since the start of April, it’s great to see both Club Rugby competitions return to free-to-air a bit relatively early this weekend via 9Gem for another year in 2024 starting with the last five regular rounds followed three weeks of Finals. That gives you a huge Saturday viewing line-up of Rugby there with Club Rugby in the afternoon before finishing off the rest of your evening with some of the Wallabies action when playing at home including the 2nd Test v Wales in Melbourne. Although it remains to be seen whether if next weekend’s Shute Shield free-to-air viewing would bump into Sunday or be pitted at the same time as the one-off Wallabies match v Georgia that is going to be aired on the main channel at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park. The same thing should apply with the Hospital Cup for those tuning in from Queensland. The Shute Shield commentary team will look a bit different when Will Davies will be out for a while to commentate Field Hockey at the Olympics soon for Nine with former Hockeyroo Georgie Parker, but he should be back after this to call the Shute Shield Finals like he did last year – having also called a series of Super W games more often, as well as some Wallaroos Tests and the odd Super Rugby match (Force v Fijian Drua) so far this year.

UPDATE: Next round’s Shute Shield game for Round 15 is scheduled on a rare Sunday afternoon next weekend at 3pm between reigning champions Randwick v Warringah, so this should be on 9Gem while Nine will showcase Wallabies and Georgia to fill up the primary 3pm Saturday afternoon slot on the main channel. For Queensland viewers though, not so much where you would need both a TV and a portable device or a computer to watch both rugby games at the same time.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Wallabies are back in business that gave Joe Schmidt his first win on the job in Game 1 of 2 v Wales by nine points at Allianz Stadium 

by Sports Benches

What a night it has been for the Green & Good to walk away with the win v Wales at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park as they now retained the James Bevan Trophy ahead of their 2nd and final Test next Saturday at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

The first half kinda scrappy where Wales opened the scoring account first via the three-point penalty goal including a penalty TRY, but the Wallabies had a narrow three-point advantage off the back of their first TRY by Taniela Tupou in between two successful penalty goals from Noah Lolesio going into the break 13-10. Nothing much happened into the second half despite some glimpses of promise from the Welsh when they were not far away from the Wallabies radar for the lead. However, a series of missed opportunities in open play including an observation that denied them the TRY forced the Wallabies hand later on where it ultimately came back to bite them as Wales still yet to taste victory this year off the back of a poor Six Nations campaign. Meanwhile, Wallabies continued to maintain their dominant ball off the back of a receiving Wales kick & their poor conversion play where they found the gaps well with pace of nowhere that surprised everyone including the opposition team.

They went on to touch down decent tries through the wide channels courtesy of Filipo Daugunu and Tom Wright before the Wallabies won in the end for the first time in a while off the back of a painful 40-7 Wales loss at the World Cup in France last year that consigned to their first-ever pool stage elimination. The final score was 25-16 with the Wallabies win by 9 points.

Tom Wright kickstarted the new Wallabies year with the bang from the back at 15. He had a really great night in the way he supported his wingers that got the best out of him and his team with thanks to the dominant possession while Tom had excellent recovery ball including from up high to kick his way out of trouble as being tested defensively. But what made him so special is his explosive pace that wowed everyone from out of nowhere. He read that gap well where no one was Wales was able to stop him before Tom got the job done that finally got the Wallabies talking following their worst ever campaign throughout last year as he hopes to give them better days more often like he does to the Brumbies every week of the season.

Although yet to commit to a club next season after good year for the one & only good Rebels season, but Taniela Tupou did well to keep the Welsh quiet on the front row at tighthead. Every time the Welsh couldn’t the best out of their counter-attack in open play or bottled the ball down, Taniela’s there to turn things around thanks to his excellent read and brute physicality that turned out to be his side’s way for the majority. Plus, he never put a foot wrong with great patience thanks to the dominant possession before he left the field in great hands for the Wallabies to get the job done with the win. He made Wallabies supporters in Sydney had a good night, why not do that more often if he goes to the Waratahs? We shall see…

And Wales No.8 Aaron Rainwright did the best he can to keep the Wallabies in check. He’s the man who never stopped working hard while being brave to smash the Wallabies defense that opened up plenty of opportunities for his Welsh side to get over the line. But unfortunately, Wales just couldn’t cut it that frustrated their fans every time when balls go out into the full/touch – despite winning a few penalties. Plus, they had less ball on top of poor line-outs, discipline & defense which was very disappointing. Wales still needs get the job done in order to build on their 2023 World Cup run to the Quarter-Finals & not blow it out like it was before where constant chopping & changing isn’t enough to make them win matches more often.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail