Tag:

Andrew Kellaway

Rugby

Top 3 Rugby Union Australian news this week: 2024 Super Rugby semi-finals, Player relocations post-Rebels & Drew Mitchell swam a rare comeback on Nine last night

by Sports Benches

It’s been a huge week of Rugby Union here this week where the last four teams still in contention have been prepping hard ahead of the weekend’s semi finals action starting tomorrow while a few players have been out and about when it comes to relocating to another club ahead of next season with one taking up a code switch rather than looking to stay within here at a different Super Rugby club or go overseas and a surprise guest came up last night in the Aussie Olympic Swimming Trials.

Super Rugby Semi-Finals preview starting tomorrow

The 2024 Super Rugby semi-finals will kick off tomorrow night with the first semi-final game between the Blues and ACT Brumbies at Eden Park in Auckland before semi-final 2 stops there during the Saturday afternoon when the No.1 ranked Hurricanes host the Chiefs at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Will we see a Brumbies breakthrough at last or else The Blues stand strong and tough on home fortress? On the other hand, can the Chiefs make the main event for the 2nd straight year by upsetting the leaders or will the Hurricanes step one ahead in their unreal campaign going into next Saturday’s Grand Final?

This is all to play for when the Crusaders is out of the running at least in the short-term this season, it could open up a really good opportunity for the Brumbies to make a statement on behalf of the sport in Australia whose performance gauge has been underwhelming for a very long time while the team itself has always been regular semi-finalists over the last few years. It’s going to be difficult unfortunately to say unless they go & surprise all of us as the Blues will look to shut them out at home yet again by 15 points like they did earlier this year 46-7 during Round 8 and two years ago with the previous meeting semi-final. For those watching every Saturday on 9Gem, tune in tomorrow from 4.30pm so you don’t miss out ahead of kick-off.

Meanwhile, Hurricanes look set to be real favourites to win that semi-final since their 2024 season has been mostly outstanding despite the injury of half-back Cam Roigard. They’ve got a really good group of players including their bench that puts them way ahead on the Super Rugby map. But don’t forget the Chiefs is not out of the running just yet despite their inconsistencies combined with back-to-back losses v Hurricanes and Blues in the last few rounds of the season. especially when playing away from home after their Quarter-Final win v Queensland Reds last Friday. They are a team that has made massive progress though and the Chiefs would wanna go out on a bang in the hope of making the Final for another year, although don’t get your hopes up as they just need to take things one a time while DMac smiles his way through the sticks.

Life without the Melbourne Rebels with a few players looking to be on the move as one just made the switch to Rugby League

A week on from the Melbourne Rebels’s sad exit out following its one and only Finals loss in the last eight v Hurricanes, there is one player who has just made the move to Rugby League ahead of next season in young No.10 Carter Gordon at the Gold Coast Titans. He will be sorely missed having gone through the ranks at the Queensland Reds on hometown turf before Carter made a name for himself by moving to Melbourne by making the starting 10 role himself for the Rebels before he gained some experience in the Wallabies shirt despite its worse ever campaign at the World Cup in France last year. But again, he’s got so much potential on the best he can ever be following his development with the Rebels and not seeing him end up back at the Reds or go to the Waratahs is such a painful blow to Rugby here. Surely, he will be a hit in the NRL initially on a two-year contract depending on whether he likes to be around for a long time or not. If he just wants to be here for the two years, then happy to welcome him back at anytime ahead of the home 2027 Rugby World Cup as we wish him all the best.

Other than Carter to NRL, it’s too early to see which players will be ending up within Australia as most of them will expected to stay at any of the four Australian Super Rugby teams on top of Andrew Kellaway, who will be returning home at the Waratahs soon enough, while a few have already committed their next playing time offshore. Time will tell whether or not if they will be able to make some progress that would hopefully translate into Wallabies much-needed resurgence as a four-team group next season. If they are not able to deliver this despite a wee bit of quality of players in Rugby Australia’s main talent pool, then they need to do something about it sooner rather than later with the next TV rights deal set to commit from 2026-2030.

While Brumbies won’t ever face the cut since they’ve been always strong on the field despite some financial and crowd filling difficulties with the Waratahs and Reds being foundation teams that belongs in strong/traditional Rugby markets here that goes back to the 1800s, it’s up for the Western Force to finally deliver on the field or else they’d be best either merging with the Sunwolves/Moana Pasifika, expand into PNG or play Global Rapid Rugby in Asia again. Yes, the world has changed these days with 4-5 teams but sometimes things just wasn’t the same when the Wallabies were so good with three teams back then.

Drew Mitchell back on Nine after all in a while ahead of the upcoming Summer Olympics after he took part in the Celebrity Swimming event last night

While the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials is ongoing midway through the week at Brisbane Aquatic Centre, we saw one Rugby person poolside, who is an ex-Wallaby winger and also used to be on Nine and Stan’s Rugby Union coverage from the beginning until he was let go at the end of last year, in none other than Drew Mitchell. He was part of the celebrity swimming race last night where he swam 1 x 50m stint for Team Payne alongside Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne and Olympic Gold Medalist Duncan Armstrong before he confirmed to Roz Kelly after the race that he will be part of Nine’s Olympic commentary line-up for Rugby Sevens alongside Sera Naiqama. Yes, it’s a bit unusual seeing him only on the one channel and not all on the one Nine platforms like Stan Sport but that’s a separate contract when not many of them will be available for the Olympics as most of the ex-players they’ve got usually have more experience than at Sevens level. You can also think Morgan Turinui can easily be part of that group for Nine but will still be on Stan’s group as their resident Rugby 7s expert.

As we all know, he’s the guy that likes to be around when it comes to having fun and giving his insights that goes back from his playing days, having first worked for Fox Sports not long after he retired before he was made redundant after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Although he was given a lifeline when Nine/Stan took over the rights at the start of 2021, he only did studio analysis/sideline reporting for the most part while doing relief game commentary since they prefer Morgan Turinui up there alongside Tim Horan and caller Sean Maloney. Then he barely featured only on Nine during last year’s World Cup particularly on Sports Sunday and maybe on the sports news reports before he was dropped not long after the tournament was over and Drew had no choice but to fight for his media employment in court, which unfortunately didn’t change the outcome.

He has since moved on by appearing in the Kick Off and Kick Ons podcast on a regular basis including at all home Wallabies games later this year alongside ex-Wallabies Matt Giteau, Adam-Ashley Cooper & Host James Rochford. For now, it was great seeing him on Nine again with a bit more to come at the Olympics before Drew is happy to hang around at KOKO every week.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

2024 Super Rugby Season Week 8, Melbourne Rebels’ explosive backline & attacking pace ran the Highlanders ragged with the big win

by Sports Benches

It was a huge scoring game at AAMI Park in Melbourne tonight with Highlanders unpacking the brawns of physical strength thanks to their good start or early lead while picking up some good points along the way, but then the Melbourne Rebels outsmarted them with an abundance of pace, accurate passing and communication and an unreal backline that got way with another win in front of their home crowd. Rebels responded well to the Highlanders opening converted TRY with two Darby Lancaster tries on top of their 1st minute opening score account where they were leading 26-10 at half-time. Highlanders thought they’re beginning to close in after the break but nowhere close enough as the Rebels went on to extend their lead further afield with a Carter Gordon scoring double followed by another Darby TRY that sealed the hat-trick to close the match his way and the Rebels way, 47-31. Rebels will take the well deserved rest next week before they travel to Christchurch on Friday 26th for R10 v the under fire Crusaders & Highlanders head off to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Friday v the Reds.

Andrew Kellaway was outstanding by leading the Rebels backline who made his side’s attack so much better that gifted them tries at No.15. He absolutely knows where to find his man where he is right on the money with the ball on hand through the counter-attack as long as the numbers are there like Darby Lancaster’s first-half double TRY on the left-wing as well as No.10’s Carter Gordon’s first try of the match when the Rebels extended their lead in the 2nd-half. Then tough to say who is 2nd best as discussed between Darby and Carter – both of whom are exceptional Rebels youngsters – but gotta say Darby made a huge name for himself with a hat-trick of tries, having established himself in the World 7s circuit for Australia before and now he continues to cause opposition players carnage in the 15s and Super Rugby level. This Melbourne Super Rugby team is high flying right now in 4th amid financial problems but surely they have a really great squad with Kellaway being an established Wallaby while Gordon earned some stripes last year & surely Darby will be fast-tracked soon enough under Joe Schmidt.

And Sean Withy never stopped working hard in order for the Highlanders to keep the Rebels in check whose physicality and application on the blindside (No.6 flanker) opened up plenty of opportunities that went his side’s way. His opening TRY puts them up front for a short time while he adds so much pressure to make that brick wall against the Rebels so they don’t steal it under his watch including at scrum and mauls, even though the Highlanders were trying to play catch up in a race against time after losing the lead for the majority. But what really let him down tonight is that his side’s so scared of attacking earlier on despite winning a few penalties yet the defense is so poor while the backline weren’t simply up to the Rebels’ standard; Okay, some late changes might have helped but it still puts them at odds as the clock ticks down & sadly it was too late.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Jordie Barrett’s last minute TRY for the All Blacks has all but ended the Wallabies’ bid to take home the Bledisloe Cup series for the 20th year in Game 1 of 2 at Marvel Stadium

by Admin

By Daniel Cullinane

Twitter: @dcullinane02

Even after the defeat by the Springboks in the last round of the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies would go into this match with quiet confidence. With home advantage against an All Blacks team who have looked shaky in this competition and beyond, they would have felt that they could get on top of their old rivals.

New Zealand would be in a better place after a resounding win against the Pumas, but there is still a sense that they are unsure of themselves. The Wallabies would seek to test the All Blacks alleged fragile state. The Wallabies set the tone for the game by advancing on the All Blacks during the Haka, signalling that they were really up for this one. However, as the game got under way it was the New Zealanders who took the initiative.

After just 3 minutes, All Blacks hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho powered over the Wallabies try line to open the scoring. Following a successful conversion from fly half Richie Mo’unga the score was 0-7. The men in blacks dominance continued and was rewarded with another 3 points from the boot of Mo’unga. They were building nicely. The Wallabies were yet to turn up.

After 17 minutes, some good work by the Australians from a lineout lead to a kickable penalty. Veteran Aussie fly half, Bernard Foley who was exemplary all evening opened his account with three points. Some slick handling saw Wallaby full back Andrew Kellaway score in the corner. But on closer inspection it was clear that he had been unable to ground the ball.

The Australian team were growing in confidence and starting to impose themselves on the All Blacks. They kicked to the corner after being awarded a penalty at the scrum. There was a short drive from the ensuing lineout and then a pick and go to score by Aussie No8 Rob Valetini. Foley made it 10-10.

With an All Black going to the bin, the momentum was firmly with the Australians. Marika Koroibete charged up the field and smashed into New Zealand wing Caleb Clarke. The Wallaby forwards then dismantled the All Blacks at the resulting scrum. Although the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, Australia were on top. But then, everything changed. The Aussies hit self destruct. A superb and powerful break by Clarke ended with a pile-up near the Australian try line. Indiscipline meant that Tom Wright and Darcy Swain were sent to the bin. The tables turned almost instantly, with the All Blacks being held up over the line. Half time came, the score 10 all.

The men in Black had clearly been told to take advantage of the 13-man Australia, and did so in spectacular fashion. A testing kick in behind and then some rapid passing saw Samisoni Taukei’aho score his second try of the match. Soon the Wallabies were back to a full compliment and picked up another kickable penalty. Foley rarely misses, making the score 13-17.

More indiscipline led to Wallaby scrum half Jake Gordon going to the bin. New Zealand soon took advantage with Richie Mo’unga dissecting the Aussie backline to touch down near the posts. He converted his own try, making the score 13-24 to New Zealand.

Beauden Barrett then reminded everyone what a world-class player he is with a superbly weighted chip over the gold defence that was collected by wing Will Jordan, who raced away to score. The All Blacks were in cruise control. Australia then fired a shot of their own down the other end with Andrew Kellaway running on to a flat pass from Foley to grab a much needed score. Foley converted. Minutes later, Kellaway was at it again. Some long passes stretch the New Zealand defence allowing the full-back to score in the corner. 27-31 to Australia.

New Zealand then extended their lead through a Mo’unga penalty, but Australia weren’t finished yet. A brilliant one-two between Koroibete and Pete Samu saw the back row forward score. Foley then drew the teams level at 34 all. A remarkable comeback by Australia.

When Australia were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, the replacement scrum-half Nic White stepped up and kicked the points for Australia to take them into the lead. As expected, the All Blacks fought back but then gave away a penalty 2 metres from the Aussie try line. Then a moment of controversy saw referee Mathieu Raynal award a scrum to New Zealand for Bernhard Foley allegedly time wasting.

The All Blacks saw their chance. They won the ball, and then moved it wide, allowing Jordie Barrett to score in the corner in the 80th minute. The kick was missed, but it didn’t matter. The men in black had done enough to win the match and retain the Bledisloe cup. Australia will say they were on the wrong end of a refereeing decision, and that cost them the game. Their discipline needs to be fixed before the return fixture. Final score 37-39. Great game.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

James Hanson’s back to back 1st half tries & a Reece Hodge 2nd half display helped Melbourne Rebels wrap up a four-point win v Moana Pasifika at AAMI Park

by Sports Benches

Round 11 of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific continues to breed spectacular match-ups like this Saturday night fixture between the Melbourne Rebels v Moana Pasifika at AAMI Park. It was a competitive first-half spell when the Rebels caught up to Moana, 14-10, at the break. Although, Moana struck one back where they briefly regained the lead. However, it’s the Rebels who were unstoppable before they shut Moana down by full-time at 26-22.

Well done to Melbourne Rebels on a fine display where they took advantage of a number of lost penalties by Moana in the first half. Credit to James Hanson, who was the mastermind at starting hooker when it comes to the line-outs & maul, with back-to-back tries before an early mark to the bench not long after half-time. Meanwhile, Reece Hodge managed to put the Rebels back in the box seat & stayed there thanks to his stunning 2nd half spell. He too not only scored one by himself but also assisted one that ended Andrew Kellaway’s seven-game hoodoo without a TRY on the right-wing.

And unlucky from Moana Pasifika tonight, who played really well against an opponent that doesn’t give away any team lightly. They fired off well with the early lead which is good signs from this new Pasifika Super Rugby outfit. Although they kept going despite losing the lead, and were almost within winning reach again towards an upset. Unfortunately, a number of lost penalties counted against them in the 1st half came back to bite them later on before Moana fell just short.

Moana will return to Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland for Round 12 next Saturday afternoon v NSW Waratahs, who were triumphant in their 24-21 upset win earlier tonight v Crusaders. And the Rebels are also heading off to Auckland as well, but this time at Eden Park on Friday night v the Blues.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby News Australia, Melbourne Rebels made up lost time in the 2nd-half but it’s ACT Brumbies who were firing in all cylinders that sealed the win at AAMI Park

by Sports Benches

It was a huge scoring game last night when the Melbourne Rebels began to bounce back from 3-17 after half-time with two tries from Cabous Eloff & Richard Hardwick, but it’s the Brumbies who were firing in all cylinders throughout the full 80 in a 17-36 win at AAMI Park.

The Rebels were happy to welcome back a few key players into the fold, such as two backline players in Andrew Kellaway & Reece Hodge, plus loose forward from the bench in Richard Hardwick. These players have played a part in their comeback after half-time alone, which wowed the home supporters off from their seats every time the Rebels score. If they’ve done this from the start, then the Rebels would’ve still been in the running but they have left it too late following a poor first-half spell.

Meanwhile, how good is this Brumbies attack! It’s incredible to look back with a whopping six tries on the board, mainly from full-back Tom Banks, who led this charge. We also saw some outstanding finishing from Tom Wright with two tries himself on the wide right, and the same goes with their back-row forwards in Rob Valetini & Jahrome Brown at the blindside (No.6) & openside (No.7) respectively. It’s only week 4 of 18 so far, but we’ll see if this Brums attacking shape will put to the test against the five New Zealand sides later on.

The Brumbies will return home in Canberra next Friday at GIO Stadium in a Grand Final Super Rugby AU rematch v Queensland Reds. And Melbourne Rebels are still looking for their first win of 2022 when they travel to Sydney next Saturday night v Waratahs at the SCG.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby News, Wallabies complete their 2021 Rugby Championship campaign with four straight wins in their last four games against both Springboks & Pumas

by Sports Benches

Great start from the Wallabies in the first half after seeing a series of kicking contests v Los Pumas during the first 20 minutes, they used the ball well when given the chance, called their players up to support through the channels & successfully executed two tries along the way from Folau Faingaa & Andrew Kellaway.

Pumas meanwhile have done well defensively at times as seen that held the Wallabies back & win penalties, but they need to improve their discipline as seen with Tomas Lavinini’s yellow card just a few minutes before half-time which is going to give them time to get past the Wallabies’ own territory or else it’s too late.

HALF-TIME: Pumas 3-15 Wallabies

And the Wallabies continued to thrive after the break with more tries on the board including Andrew Kellaway’s double brace that summed up his hat-trick TRY tonight on the Gold Coast, although they began to falter towards the final siren but a win is a win after all.

Pumas may have turned around in the last 20 minutes thanks to a number of fresh faces off the bench such as Thomas Gallo who touched down twice on the front row, but it doesn’t detract their overall performance when they weren’t up to speed for the majority thanks to ill-discipline before it’s too late to nail down.

FULL-TIME: Pumas 15-32 Wallabies

Wallabies finish 2nd in this year’s Rugby Championship behind champions All Blacks after six games while Los Pumas came home last without registering a win, they will now spend a month and a half in the northern side of the world with Japan later this October before a British visit in November v Scotland, England & Wales.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby News Australia, Top 3 players from the Pumas v Wallabies in Game 6 of the 2021 Rugby Championship

by Sports Benches

Andrew Kellaway has been a brilliant addition to the Wallabies squad on the wing since he first entered the International level back in July this year at home v France, he has never looked out of depth with his finishing skills which is explosive to blow out any opposition team.

Whenever the Wallabies have the ball in hand they were able to march around his best strengths so the communication is there before he exactly knows where to ice that cake with his hat-trick TRY v Argentina tonight, credit to the Melbourne Rebels who continue to nurture these wingers into international stardom like Marika Koroibete & Andrew Kellaway.

Next up is another Wallaby at Number 8 in Rob Valetini where he played a huge role around the team’s attacking support system tonight, he gets involved more often when giving them a helping hand through that build-up base which makes his backline a lot easier to execute.

And communication is a very important skill before processing the physicality in any way to push Valetini around these support runners through the channels, it’s the same thing he was tested defensively where he held back the Pumas’ lost opportunities that profited more points in return for the Wallabies.

And how about we introduce Thomas Gallo from the Pumas who just played his first International cap off the bench after half-time on the front row & made an impact straight away at age 22.

He boasts a big physicality frame which is a nightmare for the Wallabies defensive half when they began to falter later on & Pumas began to take advantage with some numbers before Gallo executed that damage past the TRY line twice, it may be a loss as a whole team in the end through ill-discipline & lack of attacking touch earlier on but there’s more to come in the Pumas shirt from Gallo.

#Rugby #ARGvAUS #RugbyChampionship #Wallabies #LosPumas #ThomasGallo #RobValetini #AndrewKellaway #RugbyUnion

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby News, Top 3 players from the Wallabies v Los Pumas Game

by Sports Benches

Samu Kerevi as always has been immense in the Wallabies midfield at No.12 having gone strength to strength as an all-action player since he returned from Olympics duty in Rugby 7s.

He has the physicality & vision to rip apart the opposition territory whenever with the ball in hand that gave time to complete these executions, thanks to the support runners around him the communication & close passing was key to the Wallabies’ big score contributions tonight.

Next up is another Wallaby in Andrew Kellaway who was excellent in the wide right position & he too hasn’t put a foot wrong after accruing a few caps at International level.

He made so much running into the Los Pumas territory especially when his side were patient going forward which afforded the possession given to him so they know what’s best for Kellaway to help smash this game which is reflected in the 2nd half.

And Lucio Cinti Luna performed not bad for Los Pumas at outside centre (No.13) where not only he can hold back the Wallabies with his defending but can be a real threat going forward thanks to the tall & physical build which is huge to read that vision at 6 ft 3 in (1.9 m).

Unfortunately, it’s not his night when his Pumas side lacked support numbers to build pressure back to the Wallabies, even though they were good at times with the reset penalties like the Julian Montoya TRY just after half-time with very little change to turn around later on.

#RugbyChampionship #InternationalRugby #Rugby #RugbyUnion #Wallabies #LosPumas #LucioCintiLuna #AndrewKellaway #SamuKerevi

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Rugby News, Quade Cooper’s return to the Wallabies is perfect timing thanks to his last-minute penalty goal heroics v Springboks

by Sports Benches

Wallabies started very well in the first half when Quade Cooper’s return to the No.10 jersey was superb with his kicking through the posts as well as Andrew Kellaway’s first try of the night off the assist from Samu Kerevi, so great to have some added experience in the line-up.

Meanwhile, Springboks were good defensively which led to some penalties that converted into some three-point kicks and a TRY late in the 1st half from Bongi Mbonambi but they need to watch their discipline which caused them to hold back & the same goes for the Wallabies if they don’t want to lose after the break.

HALF-TIME: Springboks 11-19 Wallabies

Although the Wallabies may not have scored a TRY after the break but they continued to rack up successful three-point goals, even though they escaped the Springboks powerful scrum/maul feed towards full-time thanks to Quade Cooper’s penalty heroics into the post.

And the Boks as said a bit earlier have turned a corner with their robust driving feed that puts down two tries from substitute Malcolm Marx which puts them back in the game that threatened the Wallabies, they just still unable to find the finishing in other areas of the attack as well as the continued ill-discipline where it fell short.

FULL-TIME: Springboks 26-28 Wallabies

Wallabies registered their first win of 2021 in the Rugby Championship and third overall if you count the other two games v France back in July as they face the Boks again next Saturday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, Springboks hopes to make up revenge v the Wallabies at the same time while they look to close in top spot as long as the Argentine Pumas upset All Blacks which falls also on next Saturday.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Rugby

Australian Rugby News, Top 3 players from Game 2 of the 2021 Bledisloe Cup at Eden Park

by Sports Benches

Sam Whitelock stood out on his own All Blacks territory who exposed the Wallabies’ poor executions both as a leader where he guided the Crusaders to many Super Rugby titles & a brilliant contributor in defense.

He read it well when the opposition lacked support numbers going forward that saw so many gaps before Sam filled it up with the Wallabies lost opportunities via the turnover/penalty.

It sums up his side’s attacking dominance in return with some help when building the attack which saved him so much workload & uses his natural game that puts off the Wallabies at Eden Park.

Codie Taylor comes in next who helped stabilize the All Blacks’ extended lead after the HT break at hooker; he has so much to offer when it comes to the line-outs/throw-in as well as the physicality on all fronts.

He credits the direct passage of play where Dane communicated very well that helped ease their workload, especially to his team-mates at the backline who built the groundwork before he processed two tries off his own.

Brilliant run tonight alongside an early mark to the bench so he can rest up towards the All Blacks’ upcoming Rugby Championship campaign later this month.

And Andrew Kellaway is the last of the Top 3 bunch when his Wallabies side looked really sore once again, but he did well individually on the wide right backline position.

He has the finishing instincts to explode any opposing half even though it’s his 2nd game at International level, you got to credit some winning penalty restarts that helped the Wallabies were organised for a couple of occasions.

Unfortunately, his side lacked patience when it comes to executing through open play with no talk up & direct attacking structure which frustrated him as Andrew needs help next time in order to earn the tries his side desperately need that is match-winning quality.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail