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2024 All Blacks v Italy at Juventus FC’s Allianz Stadium: A brilliant end to their 2024 tour with the win by 18 points

by Sports Benches

After a long five weeks, the All Blacks have now finished their away tour campaign earlier today at Juventus FC’s Allianz Stadium in Torino v Italy. Yes, it has been somewhat scrappy and quiet at times by both teams, but the ABs know what they’re doing to get themselves over the line including their 11 point lead at half-time (6-17) — as a win is a win after all at the end of the day by 18 points, 11-29.

All in all, there is still some room for improvement going into 2025 with some key players moving on like Sam Cane & TJ Perenara. We saw that coming last weekend when they lost to France while they almost to the Wallabies in the 1st Test here and also lost twice to the Springboks all from 2-3 months ago. But not to worry, there should still be more good days ahead for the Men in Black under head coach Scott Robertson after his first year.

It’s been great seeing Cam Roigard back on the field lately in the AB’s away tour after a long six months out from his knee injury. He’s made some terrific moments that a classic half-back could do including a few of his own like the one Cam scored earlier in the first half v the Azzurri as if he scored a goal in soccer for Juventus at their Allianz Stadium. Looks like the Canes need him to stay fit all of next year including another ABs campaign that could hopefully win the Canes a Super Rugby Grand Final – something they haven’t done in a long time since 2016.

We also saw the best of Beauden Barrett who has been doing all sorts of tricks as always on top of his excellent conversion kicks before he managed to finish off the ABs 2024 term in style. He’s at the right place at the right time when he will be back for the championship-winning Blues in Auckland & same again for the ABs next year, so he can play for the 2027 World Cup. Going to miss one of his long-time team-mates in Sam Cane though who made the openside 7 of his own over the last decade. Yes, the ABs made some mistakes too but they should be fine as long as it’s the right replacement for Sam.

And despite the loss, great to see some Italian attacking finesse on top of their good start from their outside backs, particularly in the 2nd half from super sub Marco Zanon. He’s the guy who can create all sorts of moments like how he ran off Mark Talea from the high ball thanks to Tommaso Menacello before he found Menacello again for their one & only TRY. If they had more ball & if it wasn’t for their poor discipline, then they would be right on the money with a more robust backline to make them spin out in circles like in Mario Kart.

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2024 All Blacks Spring Tour v France: ABs unable to get past the Les Bleus following their one-point loss by 30-29 at Stade De France in Paris

by Sports Benches

It might not be the day today for the All Blacks off the back of their two wins lately v England and Ireland, but it was certainly another good game of Rugby though in this year’s Autumn Nations Series and the French got what they wanted with the home win by a single point in Paris, 30-29.

Yes, the ABs fired off well with two early tries that sets up a seven point lead going into the break (10-17).

But unfortunately, a few injuries including one setback right away after kick-off and also risk averse tactics despite winning penalties backfired so badly – which made more and more difficult to get out of jail in the end v the scrambled French defense.

I’m sure there’s more good days to come between those two teams when the ABs welcome France on their home turf for a three-match tour in July next year, but what they need to do now is finish off the tour on a high v Italy next weekend at Juventus FC’s Allianz Stadium in Torino.

Thomas Ramos – what a performance he’s had at 10 for the mighty French side on home soil at a packed Stade De France in Paris. He has a great creativity collection of Swiss Army Knives that eventually got the home supporters pumping, especially on the counter-attack – like the Roman Baros TRY on debut & that cross kick for Louis Bielle-Biarrey to score one over with pace on the wide left after the ABs stuffed the ball up at the halfway mark. Also, he’s never shy at kicking conversions between the posts, even from long range that was enough to shut them down by just 1 point.

Then here comes the towering second rower 4 in Thibaud Flament who had a stellar performance all night long to protect the French from slipping away v the ABs. He’s bit of like a nightclub bouncer really, who doesn’t give his opponents easy passes to walk in, but he certainly kicked them out to give his French side the points they really need as his defensive strong hold was key to his country’s big win. And yes, the French nightlife went wild even more overnight thanks to their winning efforts v the ABs.

And Tamati Williams was unbelievably powerful with extreme force on the loosehead front row 1 for the ABs, particularly in the 1st half who sets up some amazing tries including winning penalties/scrums along the way. He’s been there and done that many times before including with the Crusaders as sure we will get to see more of his best work going into 2025. It would’ve been better though if the ABs went all in when it comes to winning penalties that would make Tamati even more dangerous to nail down the French for tries but when going for the safe penalty goals, um that didn’t go well.

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All Blacks two-week tour of England and Ireland 2024 Review: They are still on song over both of the North’s best teams lately

by Sports Benches

Yes, going to Europe this year for the All Blacks may not be without any challenges, with unfinished business ahead in this Spring Tour. But so far, so good though with not one but two wins off the trot. 

One was a close win last weekend v England (22-24) at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium’s when the home reserve 23 couldn’t get it converted via the post that hit the bar, and now the ABs notched a huge win over Ireland (13-23) earlier this morning – both on their respective opposition teams’ home fortresses. 

At one point, the lead did belong to the English and later the Irish thanks to their own good headstarts ahead of the ABs, particularly earlier in the 2nd half that sent a strong message to the ABs that their good times may well be over by the North.

But at the end of the day, we all want to see a stunning contest of rugby and yet they’ve delivered both times with a phenomenal fightback, and they’re not done yet with their fight back towards being the world’s best ranked rugby team. 

They have France to play for next weekend in Paris – which isn’t going to be an easy run much like their recent games – before the ABs will finish their year in in two weeks from now at a different Allianz Stadium this time v Italy in Torino – who currently hosts the home games for Serie A side Juventus FC in Soccer/Football.

There’s no need for an introduction there in none other than outstanding All Blacks and Crusaders full-back Will Jordan, who never disappoints while he keeps on scoring a TRY or two per game. Every time someone is looking out for numbers, he puts his hand, always knows what to do it & answers this with perfection – simply a world-class player both physically and mentally. He could even dominate in any other contest Will wishes to play as well.

The next best consistent ABs star is Wallace Sititi on the blindside 6 from the Chiefs & gotta say he’s been delivering the goods that coach Scott Robertson is putting faith in him so far. Not only he’s  sound in defense, he’s also paramount when it comes to these offloads & through tackle busts – especially via the counter-which suits his game so perfectly. Again, he’s a superstar in the making now in Europe off the back of his break in 2024.

He and Will have been ticking off winning games as of late based on their consistency, the work isn’t done yet for the ABs to be on top of the world once again. 

Meanwhile, the best Irish player on show belongs to Bundee Aki on the inside midfield pack at No.12 – he’s also originally from NZ too just like a bunch of other adopted Internationals. He did a brilliant job covering & clearing up in defense in the way he offers through all areas in attack as if he’s thrown into an arm wrestling contest with loads of experience. It’s just a shame that his team fell off the rails later on like being a touch isolated while being scrappy with the ball.

And the one English player the Wallabies need to watch out for is Marcus Smith at 10. He’s the one who usually loves to convert kicks inside the posts in any kind from penalty goals, conversion goals off tries & even drop goals – he should’ve been kept through the end anyway. Is there more he can do? Yes, he’s also quick on the counter like that intercept TRY last weekend and as long he continues to find support, then he will no doubt guide England home like it was before.

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All Blacks way too good after overcoming Japan’s brilliant start in Yokohama by 19-64

by Sports Benches

Good to see International Rugby back for  the final leg of 2024 up North of the world that began with the All Blacks taking on the Brave Blossoms (Japan) at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. 

It was a close contest over the first few minutes when Japan unexpectedly had the early lead thanks to a TRY from Jone Naikabula but for the most part though, the ABs showed off what they can do best as they were too good all along from start to finish. 

They were leading by 31 points (12-43) at half-time before the ABs stretched their lead way further through half-century towards the end with the win by 45 points (19-64). Now it’s up to the ABs to make the most out of their European tour as their next game will be against England next weekend at London’s iconic Twickenham rugby venue – now known as England’s Allianz Stadium.

The man of the moment belongs to first-time All Blacks skipper Patrick Tuipulotu following his A-game performance tonight on the second row 5. He’s got all sorts of power to outmuscle the Brave Blossoms every time Japan tried to score one over the TRY line defensively while he’s well proven with the ball on hand – he’s been there & done that by scoring one over (by himself) and several more set-up tries for the ABs. He knows what it takes to win a Super Rugby Final & he wants to make sure that not all of the ABs best talent is lost when going up v the North’s best over the next couple weeks from next weekend.

Next up, here comes Ruben Love who was unreal on his All Blacks debut as the reserve back 23 with back-to-back late tries. He proved his worth throughout the first half year with the Hurricanes when they were mostly unbeaten up until the home semis defeat by the Chiefs while he could’ve been fast-tracked to the ABs sooner much like a few other first-time impact stars. But hey, he’s ready to do more damage as that next big challenge will come to him soon enough v the Northern Hemisphere’s best sides starting next weekend – let’s see if can fulfil his SR potential for the ABs there over in Europe.

And Japanese half-back Shinobu Fujiwara has been sensational off the back of the Brave Blossoms’ brilliant early start v the ABs. Every time Japan launches on the counter-attack, he’s been so destructive – despite not being so tall – where he’s got the players around him to help get the job done like that quick ball pass, and the tries were to there to see. Yes, he may have only played for Japan a few times while he was up against a team that is always so dominant. But glad he made a name for himself with he experience he picked up against veteran overseas players in the Top League – more to come.

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Rugby News Australia, All Blacks finish off the 2024 Bledisloe Cup Series on a real high v Wallabies by 20 at Sky Stadium in Wellington

by Sports Benches

Well, the All Blacks had something to finish off their home 2024 campaign on a high after they were simply too good v Wallabies. Yes, the first half was tight with the Wallabies up first thanks to Fraser McReight while the ABs managed to fill up the first half at the right time going into the break by five points (19-13). But at the end of the day, the ABs extended their lead with more and more tries where the Wallabies unable to catch them up as the clock ticks down unlike Game 1 last weekend in Homebush (Accor Stadium). 

Even though the Rugby Championship trophy may no longer be within reach with the Springboks or Los Pumas likely favourites to take home later tonight over in South Africa, a win will do it for the ABs to settle fair & square by 20 points (33-13) as all eyes on the South now to take on the North’s best when the Autumn Nations Series begins this November in Europe.

This is the man the All Blacks wanted to see someone pounce all day & it’s Will Jordan from the back at 15. It’s been a while when he couldn’t play for the Crusaders earlier this year due to a pre-existing shoulder surgery. But what we know best about Will is that he has the outstanding pace to lead out all in one go as if he got the chance to drive that fast military tank & he too got the best out of his wide players on what has been a masterclass display tonight.

Then we will move onto someone currently earning his stripes in the All Blacks Way & he’s young too thanks to Wallace Sititi on the blindside 6. He’s had a huge 2024 from guiding the Chiefs to a Grand Final on this same Wellington ground to All Blacks selection and yet Wallace didn’t put a foot wrong every time he runs and smashes hard with the ball as well as his solid defense. Don’t forget he has a brilliant rugby IQ as seen particularly in the second half – more to come in 2025.

All in all, congrats to the ABs with a 2-0 series clean sweep thanks to their comfy Game 2 win by 20 points (33-13). Yes, they still need to improve their breakdowns while retaining ball retention. But other than that, they’re still winning as long as they still have the Bledisloe Cup trophy.

And journeyman Taniela Tupou didn’t back down as one of the two Wallabies main front rowers at tighthead 3. Yes, he may felt such pain on his knee not long after the game was underway but he still kept going to do some damage on the ABs alongside his solid defense off the back of the Wallabies’ fast start. Anyone would love to have the Tongan Thor all day as we’ve seen that before earlier this year with the Rebels, a few years ago at the Reds & now he’s Waratahs-bound next year under Dan McKellar. For now, it would’ve been better if the Wallabies had more ball to score more tries rather than letting the ABs have it if that helps with little to no fight towards the end there.

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Rugby News Australia: All Blacks see off late escape to retain the Bledisloe Cup by three points following an excellent Wallabies 2nd half fight at Accor Stadium

by Sports Benches

What a close game it was to bring out Bledisloe Cup I this afternoon from the grandstand at Accor Stadium where the All Blacks got away with a few early tries while the Wallabies benefitted from a series of handling opposition errors where a win was almost possible but not enough time towards the end unfortunately. 

The ABs led the Wallabies by 14 points (14-28) at half-time and the Wallabies made most of these unanswered points later on other than the opposition extra lone penalty goal. The final score was 28-31 as the ABs still get to keep the Bledisloe Cup yet again for the 22nd consecutive time going into the 2nd game that will mark the final round of the 2024 Rugby Championship at Eden Park next Saturday in Auckland, although the overall crown will most likely go to the Springboks off the back of their unbeaten 2024 run.

If there’s one person out there who can unlock these gates while adding some conversion kicking swagger, then it’s Damian McKenzie in the All Blacks No.10 shirt. We’ve seen the best of him as always on the counter-attack with a brilliant quick passage of play that reflected the ABs brilliant start and overall first half performance. He could’ve done any better if it wasn’t for these no tries & these poorly timed fumbles but it’s up for everyone else to help him out as if DMac is playing in a Final again (been there more often over the past two years with the Chiefs but still runners-up) next weekend. Although he had some great memories in Wellington though like that semi-finals win a few months ago over the ladder-leading Hurricanes & sure he’ll do his best to produce another A+ grade run there once again (Sky Stadium) but this time at International level.

Next one up is Sevu Reece over in the starting All Blacks wide flank at 14 where he’s been crashing & running at Wallabies defenders for the most part. He’s the one who the ABs benefitted on the short side areas much like Caleb Clarke on the left wing. He can also read off at the right time like these intercepts as well as his sound defending, having made a name of himself plenty of times before & is still here at the Crusaders. Maybe the ABs need him as their only hope too, even though things haven’t been that great at times like we saw today and that two-week Boks tour lately. But safe to say that he & DMac can hoist the Bledisloe for now.

And oh so close for the Wallabies after a near 2nd half resurgence where they could’ve won if it wasn’t for those referee & TMO roulette games. Hard to choose between Tom (Wright) at 15, Fraser (McReight) on the openside 7 or even Tate McDermott at reserve half-back No.9 but Fraser did the heavy lifting though with physical power and pace. He knows what the ABs can’t do which was giving the ball away & Fraser translated it with tries that really threw the opposition under pressure. Imagine if he was playing in a Super Rugby semi-final? (Add Tom and James Slipper in there with Fraser together if you like) He would put any NZ in a tough contest no doubt. But a bad start unfortunately has put the Wallabies in all sorts of trouble as they will go into a match they haven’t won for a long time in NZ territory. Sure, another spiritual performance is always needed like we saw in the 2nd 40 here & the 1st 40 in Dunedin last year but still no Bledisloe Cup for them yet again.

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Thoughts on the English Premiership Rugby teams trying to kick Italy and South Africa out of the current United Rugby Championship & how it affects Super Rugby

by Sports Benches

Now we normally don’t look at the Northern Hemisphere side of Rugby, but there has been come chatter a few days ago about a British and Irish domestic competition featuring 10 teams from the English Premiership, 4 each across Ireland and Wales & 2 from Scotland that would leave two Italian and four South African teams out of the cold. 

As much as we’d liked to have South African teams coming back here & NZ in Super Rugby like it used to be, why kick them out from Europe when the current United Rugby Championship comp is working well for them that benefits a whole lot other European sides from a commercial and competition standpoint other than Wales  — despite the long travel of course to go back up & down between Europe and South Africa but still their European and African time zones are only 1-2 hours apart.

Speaking of Wales, yes, they barely had one team making the last 8 last season in the Ospreys & none at all the before that (2022-23). Don’t forget they’ve haven’t been good at all as seen a few months ago with still no win so far this year for the national team when they came down here for two Tests apart from the rare World Cups thanks to Head Coach Warren Gatland.

But would it be great if the Welsh teams be willing to try help out an ailing English comp like we see in English soccer when three of the comp’s recent teams unfortunately went bust last year? Maybe the lesser need of travel and the close build-up of rivalries to compete v the English teams may be work best for them while the URC can get a Georgian side & another SA side in the Cheetahs – even though it may end up being 14 teams instead of 16. That’s okay though as don’t see much changes for URC anytime soon when SA is playing at their No.1 best once again that won them 1 x URC title back in 21-22 for the Stormers from Cape Town while seeing at least one of their sides make the big dance every year and the Sharks from Durban recently won the European Challenge Cup title a few months ago v Gloucester; Plus, they won another World Cup triumph last year v All Blacks and now they get to beat the ABs twice on home turf with the cusp of winning the Rugby Championship.

Meanwhile going back home, there’s still some room of improvement when it comes to Super Rugby with the comp being more Trans-Tasman & across the Pacific rather than being the best of the Southern Hemisphere since its reboot three years ago. We’ve just lost a side a few months ago in the Melbourne Rebels (although we could continue to see some Melbourne games next season under the ACT Brumbies while always staying at traditional heartland in Canberra and Southern NSW) after 14 years due to financial problems as the 2025 season will now feature 11 teams (short-term) across 16 weeks, 2 byes and a new look three-week Finals featuring the Top 6. 

Since the European sides and countries benefitted SA competitively, why not we bring some Japanese players (I mean some best Top League and also Japanese aka Cherry blossoms Test players) coming over here with the help of Andrew Forrest by forming a partnership with Japan Rugby Football Union to revive the Sunwolves as the new Japanese/Western Australian side but have most of their home games in Perth with a few in Tokyo – doesn’t mean the Western Force should be disbanded since he’s the owner. He can continue to promote the Force differently like playing in a few post-season exhibition games that they’re doing right now over the next few weeks including a trip to South Africa, don’t forget a possible future National Club Comp is in the works & they can also enter in the Japanese Top League and even South Africa’s Currie Cup by having some home-grown talent in as a feeder team where all of this can be doable while retaining its junior presence (via U16/19 comps).

And to make up the 12th team, also like to see the Jaguares coming back and now this will be challenging with no direct flights now to Argentina since COVID at the start of this decade. But being based in Melbourne wouldn’t hurt for the most part with the regular season, although a few traditional long-haul trips would bring back some of the old days should they make the six-team Finals & they can truly play in Buenos Aires to bring the home crowd up and pumping on home turf.

At the end of the day, we all want Super Rugby to be competitive where things will take time without South Africa that will make New Zealand happy so they don’t really have to suffer on its own like we’ve seen in recent years, and also us Aussies happy too after barely winning any trophies other than some occasional winning matches to celebrate for a very long time.

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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.

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Rugby News Australia, 2024 Super Rugby Season Preview

by Sports Benches

We are about to enter the 28th year of Super Rugby & yet things are still not the same as it once was back in the glorious 1990s-early 2000s when Australia (Wallabies) benefited so much success right until the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Yes, they won just three Super Rugby championships ever since but that doesn’t mean they are on the same standard as their Tasman neighbours, New Zealand. There has been so many changes through the off-season with regards to musical chairs at players and coaching staff amongst multiple teams. Waratahs handed over control to Rugby Australia recently while the Reds got a new head coach. Plus, Brumbies staying strong as the leading Super Rugby team here, as well as Western Force who are looking to return to the finals with the recruitment of some experienced players. And this week, the Melbourne Rebels entered voluntary administration even though they will continue to play just for this season, despite some star hirings of their own.

Over in New Zealand, most of the five teams (Blues, Hurricanes & of course Crusaders) except Chiefs & Highlanders will now have new head coaches where most of them from last year have joined Scott Robertson at the All Blacks as the Crusaders will begin a brand new era in 2024 without him. He was the one who delivered so many Super Rugby championships including last year’s final v Chiefs & it remains to be seen if the Crusaders can keep on winning including delivering another championship under former Waratahs coach Rob Penney. And for the Highlanders, they are under a big rebuilding phase with Jamie Joseph back onboard to try & return to its former glory as the head of rugby after they missed the Top 8 finals bubble in 9th last year.

We also don’t forget the two Pasifika teams to round off the line-up with Fijian Drua coming off from a great second season before they were elminated by the Crusaders in the last 8 as winning away from home would be the great next step to stay in the Top 8 & Moana Pasifika needs more time so they can really win games after they finished last over the last two seasons.

This year could be a great opportunity to see an even/level playing field where it’s Australia’s time at last to catch up to NZ but despite there will be some really close games, the outcome won’t change much where we will see a New Zealand winner once again whether it’s going to be the Crusaders or Blues or Chiefs by surprise whereas the Brumbies will continue being the best Australian Super Rugby team. Likewise in previous seasons though, the Brumbies will unfortunately still be nowhere near the Grand Final radar either in the quarter or semi finals. Yes, Rugby Australia is going with the high performance centralisation system alongside Joe Schmidt as their new head coach in the hope of also winning games again following a disastrous group stage campaign for the first time ever at last year’s World Cup in France. But the question remains to be seen whether or not if they can support five teams, having seen the Rebels fall into trouble off the field this week? While there will always going to be some Victorian/Melbourne born talent, there’s no guarantee that the Rebels will continue to play at AAMI Park going into 2025 and beyond. For now, the new season will start on Friday 23rd February right until mid-June where every game is live and Ad-Free on Stan Sport while there’s always a Saturday night game being simulcast via free-to-air on 9Gem.

Predicting ladder 2024

  1. Crusaders (champions)
  2. Chiefs (then semi-finalists)
  3. Blues (runners-up)
  4. ACT Brumbies (then semi-finalists)
  5. Hurricanes
  6. NSW Waratahs
  7. Queensland Reds
  8. Highlanders
  9. Fijian Drua
  10. Western Force
  11. Melbourne Rebels
  12. Moana Pasifika
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2023 Rugby World Cup Final Review from the weekend: Springboks hold out the All Blacks by just one point en route towards being the first four-time Webb Ellis Cup holders in Paris

by Sports Benches

Wow!! How dramatic and thrilling it was to close out the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final in the 47th & final match of the six-week tournament at Paris’s Stade De France where one of the two almighty nations will become the first 4 x Webb Ellis Cup winners – All Blacks & the Springboks. The first half has been full of penalty kicks where the Boks led the way from the beginning & while the ABs have caught them up at times, but then they lost skipper Sam Cane for the rest of this match due to a high jaw tackle on Jesse Kriel – which was initially seen as a yellow card before being upgraded to red by the referee Wayne Barnes. Half-time: 6-12. Although the ABs may have scored the one & only TRY by closing in on the Boks by just a single point later during the 2nd half. Unfortunately, not only they struggled to get away these kicks between the sticks from a difficult & long range, but they also couldn’t find a way to get past a scrambled Boks defense before it was too late. Despite no 2nd half score & seeing both skipper Siya Kolisi & Cheslin Kolbe sitting in the naughty chair, the Boks held on their one-point buffer really well en route towards their 4th World Championship title after full-time, 11-12.

Pieter-Steph Du Toit is one of the Boks’ most important players out there thanks to an all-round display in the Openside role at No.7. He’s extremely tall who did well to limit the All Blacks’s attacking play while he puts his body on the line through their wall every time the Boks have the ball on hand, which shows how much they need him so badly as the longer they hold on, the better it will be to see light at the end of the tunnel that saw the ABs struggle under pressure. Next up Handre Pollard ends up as the No.1 kicker and No.10 player for the World Championship winning Boks team. He’s an excellent team member who can give them everything as his kicking conversion accuracy was spot on as always thanks to these winning penalties, even though all the points his side has accrued has been three-point kicks. Both of them have been stronger as ever that reflects the Bokke’s rebuild from the top since 2018-19 whereas nearly all of their four original Super Rugby franchises now ply in Europe – congrats on being the first team to lift 4 x Webb Ellis Cup trophies now in Rugby World Cup history.

And Mark Telea rounds off the Top 3, having done the best he can to try and get the All Blacks over the line on the wide right at No.14. He’s an excellent communicator who backs up really well as being tested both in attack & defense before Mark was able to make good use of the ball such as the pace including these 1 v 1 battles against defenders that saw him found the quick ball assist to fellow Blues player Beauden Barrett with the team’s only big score. Sadly, ill-discipline has hit them very hard where the ABs were so behind before they couldn’t get it done under pressure in the end as runners-up.

After 47 games over the last six weeks, the 2023 Rugby World Cup has come to a close as we look forward to the next World Cup edition in four years time at our own backyard in Australia. It’s been great seeing the Southern Hemisphere teams dominate once again despite some early round defeats against 1-2 best Northern sides out there including some first-time moments from the Tier 2 nations, such as Portugal’s win v Fiji 23-24 in Pool C & Uruguay def. Namibia 36-26 in Pool A respectively. Now we’re going to swap the Gilbert rugby ball with a cricket bat and ball for the summer as always following a long season this year before we go back all again beginning with a brand new season of Super Rugby in February 2024 followed by the Wallabies & Club Rugby (Shute Shield & QLD Hospital Cup) campaigns during the 2nd half of the year.

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