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NSW Waratahs

Rugby

Super Rugby 2025 Week 6 of 16: Waratahs def. Brumbies 28-23 on what has been a bittersweet night for Dan McKellar against his old club as coach coupled with Max Jorgensen’s individual show once again at Allianz Stadium

by Sports Benches

It’s been a top physical battle between two of the Australian Super Rugby heavyweights in NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies at Allianz Stadium tonight as Dan McKellar walked away against his old club in the battle of our country’s head coaches helmed by former fly-half Stephen Larkham with the 28-23 win and things are looking likely on the up right now sitting 4th out of 11th as of Round 6.

Sure, no denying the Brumbies’ expansive passage of play especially after half-time when they were right back in the mix with not much time left to go. Their poor start coupled with ill-discipline and ball retention under pressure towards the end was a bit too much to ask there while the Waratahs have simply found the bigger fish to fry with big points after big points & that’s how they’ve set the bar tonight.

Here’s what happened elsewhere prior to this match:

  • Chiefs still holding out strong having fended off a late threat from 11th-placed Moana Pasifika by 35-50;
  • Good to see the Reds end their 12-year away ground drought in Dunedin with the 23-29 win over the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium;
  • And the Crusaders continues to be on red hot form even though it’s been a while with that away win after they were too good v defending champs Blues at Eden Park in Auckland, 19-42.

Now there’s one more game to go to finish off Round 6 when the Western Force are back home at HBF Park v Fijian Drua tomorrow afternoon at 5pm AEDT – should be a good one at the same time happening a bit later with the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix race from Shanghai (6-7.45pm).

Max Jorgensen is simply a class of his own off the back of his immense attacking and defensive contribution as always every now and then. Yes, some say he should be better off at full-back even with no Joseph Suaalii right now but he looks to be more suited on the wide left 11 especially you have top-class players around him – means a lot that makes his Rugby intel so great at all highest levels.

It’s just not the Tahs praising their own product of the Max, they are blessed to have one of the “Burn” boys in Rob Leota on the blindside 6. As a seasoned home grown Wallaby, he’s not just sound as part of the Tahs’ tough defense; he’s also destructive with his wrecking ball presence and with a Finals series already under his belt, he will wanna do that again this time with a semi or even a grand final.

Lastly, Len Ikitau has been cracking up Waratahs defenses all night long on the outside 13 where the Brumbies know how to light things up by building pressure in order to enable that explosive attacking creativity through the line that produced some brilliant moments via his guidance, especially in the last 40. It’s a shame their poor start plus the ill-discipline made their comeback bid so difficult unfortunately & that’s that.

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Rugby

Super Rugby 2025 Week 5 of 16: Queensland Reds retain the Bob Templeton Cup following their comprehensive win over the NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium by 35-15

by Sports Benches

The oldest rivalry between New South Wales and Queensland is back for another year and the Reds were just too good in front of their home fans with their retention of the Bob Templeton Cup that marked the Tahs first loss of 2025 after they began the new year with three straight wins on their home front by Dan McKellar as the final score at Suncorp Stadium was 35-15.

Yes, no doubt Waratahs got onboard so early before they built a solid defensive structure to frustrate the Reds along the way. However, their inability to convert into tries whilst leading saw the Reds pick up most of the pie instead and this is where they were blown away – not even a late TRY would help to make lost time when the game was already over & done.

Elsewhere, Crusaders kept on winning once again where they were also too good this time against the Western Force and the same goes with the ACT Brumbies as of late from last night v Fijian Drua. Plus, Hurricanes rebound over the Highlanders following their surprise loss last weekend v Moana Pasifika (who are taking the bye this week) and earlier tonight, reigning champs Blues fell just short by just a single point (32-31) to the No.1 side right now in none other than the Chiefs.

And shoutout to Eastern Suburbs by the way who just got away with the Australian Club Championship pre-season win over Queensland’s Hospital Cup reigning championship team Wests Brothers from Toowong at Crosby Park, Albion (also in Brisbane, QLD) – how good!! Especially when you follow Shute Shield in NSW where they had a blast last year with that Grand Final win over the Northern Suburbs following a long 55-year wait & now they just added another trophy in such short time.

Player Spotlight

Tom Lynagh lightens up the Queensland Reds fast-paced counter-attack with fireworks thanks to his own creative brilliance + his powerful kicking game and spotless conversion kicks all around much like his legendary dad Michael in the No.10 shirt. He’s been a strong performer on his own every week and sure the rewards will continue to go his way & who knows if he will right up there against the Lions for the Wallabies soon? Sure his dad knows all about that team’s group of intel so well based on his past punditry work in the UK.

Not only that, you can’t get past the Reds Great Wall of loose forwards such as No.8 Harry Wilson and re-committed home grown signing Fraser McReight on the openside 7. Yes, they may have battered a huge bruising over the course of 80 mins that is part & parcel of rugby where Fraser had to be taken off right away for his left shoulder after he scored a TRY; but still, their defense was as good as their attack – both at the breakdown & on open play.

And Triston Reilly did the best he can who was a useful utility asset on the Waratahs right wing 14 – such as that opening TRY not long after kick-off on his own short side while he offers that extra push with the maul at line-out time. Glad he took that opportunity especially with competition for outside backs getting robust as it goes, it’s a shame they failed grasp into conversions for the most part.

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Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Week 4 of 16: Waratahs v Western Force – Tahs just too good off the back of some sensational outside backs display by Max Jorgensen and Darby Lancaster on the wings at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium

by Sports Benches

One month into the new season along with the first of two byes, the NSW Waratahs are currently flying high under new coach Dan McKellar, especially when all three games were played so far at their home fortress of Allianz Stadium in Moore Park.

They were absolutely too good even though the first half was quiet at times where both Tahs and Western Force were having a huge arm wrestle when it comes to a tough physical challenge of rugby.

But again, Tahs reaped the rewards with so many tries across the board off the back of their expansive tactics and while Force weren’t bad on paper whenever they had the ball, they just didn’t have enough execution to pull off for the most part plus their discipline hasn’t helped them much either. All in all, Tahs led 15-5 at half-time before they were too good along with the extra bonus point by 34-10.

Happening Elsewhere

Elsewhere, we saw some unforgettable matches during Week 4 of 16 like the ACT Brumbies win last night on the Blues home turf at Eden Park along with back-to-back Saturday match results being led by the competition’s leading Pasifika teams from Fijian Drua’s continued dominance at their home front v Chiefs to Moana Pasiifka at last went with the distance v Hurricanes.

There’s still one more game to finish off tomorrow arvo as part of some Sunday Super Rugby feast and the Queensland Reds are currently in Christchurch ahead of their reunion with former playmaker James O’Connor who will be in the other side of the pitch for the Crusaders.

Top 3 players

You just couldn’t believe what the Waratahs outside backs got on offer with the likes of Max Jorgensen (No.14 right) and Darby Lancaster (No.11 left) were absolutely electric both with pace to rip defenses out in attack as well as the brawns to push & hold ground in defense.

Yes, Tahs thought injuries may have held back at one point earlier where there were some mistakes at times. But better still, Waratahs do have the depth to build pressure and cash in those chances towards the home front thanks to their better experienced group – and they managed to keep on winning once again tonight especially at their own Allianz Stadium.

Who knows what will happen between now and Week 16?

They will be after the Queensland Reds up next Saturday night away from home not just to win back bragging rights but also keep in check with the ladder and they’re currently sitting on top of 2nd.

Meanwhile, former Tah and WA born-and-bred Carlo Tizzano has been a wrecking ball at the Tahs defense on the openside Force 7 including a TRY for himself from the opening half. No wonder he’s sending a good message there to the Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt ahead of the home Lions tour in July-August, he just needs more support to help capitalise on those executions but Force hasn’t unfortunately where balls were lost/stolen for the most part on top of lost penalties along the way.

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Rugby

Rugby Today: Thoughts on the Western Force’s last-minute heroics v Moana Pasifika last night 45-44 led by Wallaby 10 Ben Donaldson and what does it mean for the Aussie teams after Week 1 of the new 2025 Super Rugby season

by Sports Benches

Comeback after comeback after comeback, it’s great to see our Australian teams each pick up wins on the first week of the 2025 Super Rugby season.

Looking back at how No.10 Ben Donaldson broke Moana Pasifika’s hearts right on full-time last night even with Ardie Savea at the other end – such a magician isn’t he? Goes to show they’ve improved some much-needed competition for the best of Australian Rugby (four at best, we’ll see) as well as the Green & Gold Wallabies.

Now it’s up to them to see out like this more often week in, week out – and maybe two Australian teams will go on to play in semis with one finally able to make it to a Grand Final for a shot at the silverware. 

Watch this space not just Super Rugby & v NZ in general but also the British & Irish Lions who will be on their way mid-year.

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Rugby

Rugby Today’s result: NSW Waratahs begin their Super Rugby 2025 with a last-gasp win over the Highlanders by one point 37-36 at Allianz Stadium after Round 1 out of 16

by Sports Benches

Oh what a game it was to start the new Super Rugby campaign of 2025 for the 30th year running with a NSW Waratahs last-minute win by just one point the difference (37-36) at Allianz Stadium v the Highlanders from Otago, New Zealand.

Where do we start, Highlanders got their first scoring touches but poor discipline  saw the Waratahs sneak back in contention ahead of half-time by 13-12.

The game did go down the wire when both teams continue to add more tries & extra kicking points as it goes in the 2nd term. 

At the end of the day, the Highlanders’ failure to secure this match under pressure while being punished yet again forced the Waratahs’ hand even though the clock was ticking towards full-time – and the rest everyone says is history.

Super Rugby will go on with three more games to finish off the first round tomorrow with the Waratahs taking next week off ahead of their second home clash v Fijian Drua at the end of this month also on Friday Night & Highlanders go back home in Dunedin next Saturday night v the reigning champions Blues.

Happening elsewhere

And shoutout to Wallabies and Reds veteran James O’Connor by the way whose new side Crusaders got away with a season-opening win over last year’s semi-finalists in the Hurricanes by 33-25 – the best part about him was that he came off the bench to help them win from behind.

I mean, how good was that in front of home supporters in Christchurch if you’re a Crusaders fan as still long way to go towards being at their very best again when it comes to competing in Finals & also winning championships.

If that shoutout wasn’t enough, the same goes to Wallabies and Waratahs legendary full-back Matt Burke who just joined Nine and Stan Sport, having spent the last decade reading the sports news for 10 News First’s Sydney bulletin led by Sandra Sully – and he has also provided his expertise when 10 previously had the rights to air Wallabies matches back in 2013-2020.

It’s been a huge change of scenery where he may no longer have to read off an autocue on what we need to know from the world of sport every weekday. But hey, at least he knows his stuff pretty well especially when giving back to all things Rugby – as happy to see him turn up on TV some place else albeit in an analyst role at Nine/Stan for their rugby union coverage.

Don’t forget he will also be part of the Monday and Tuesday weekly podcast that is also to do with everything Rugby where he can talk about it all hour long called Between Two Posts thanks to Stan with Sean Maloney and former team-mate Morgan Turinui, so that’s more than good enough to keep you updated every week on the loop.

Plus, even though Joe Schmidt has done an amazing job with the Wallabies last year when Rugby Australia undergone a huge high performance restructure, he is unable to stay through the 2027 World Cup as he needed to take care of his son back in New Zealand – we wish him good luck.

Top 3 players card

Everyone cheering for the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium has been raving about reserve prop Siosifa Amone, who has been a relevation with two second-half tries including that last-minute winning moment, since he came on in for the seasoned Wallaby Taniela Tupou. 

He came from a long way at the Western Force in Perth but he’s got all the resources he needs to kick on as a better player with more experience at home.

Looking at the Tahs, love how they were willing to take risks on the up while cashing in on a number of missed Highlanders opportunities – and good to see Max Jorgensen giving our rugby fans some memorable moments mainly on the wide left 11 like that game -winning TRY late last year v England at Twickenham. 

He has tremendous talent by his side at a good young age of only age 20 having ticked off a lot of boxes that the Highlanders couldn’t do from their own end as we see Max being more of a team player now which is things we love to see for the best of Australian rugby.

Last but not least, how good was Timoci Tavatavanawai on the inside Highlanders 12 & he is someone who loves playing at Allianz Stadium. He’s tough as nails every time he plays a pivotal role in attack that gets them moving as well as in defense – lots to come straight from the highlights reel. Yes, so unlucky to lose by just one point but it’s a shame they blew their chances while their reckless hits didn’t help either & that’s that sadly in the end.

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Tennis x Sports Crossover at the 2025 Australian Open: Super Rugby, All Blacks & Wallabies preview along with Netball in New Zealand and Jack Doohan under pressure for only the first six races in Formula 1 at Alpine-Renault

by Sports Benches

And last but not least, how about we give a shoutout to two Wallabies stars Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) and Max Jorgensen (NSW Waratahs), who were both in attendance at Melbourne Park this weekend to cheer on Alex De Minaur.

Yet, the Demon did win after all to play in the 4th round for the 4th straight year of his AO men’s singles career.

It was also nice seeing Harry and Max lend over that Wallabies green and gold jersey to Alex and look at him go! – How good! 

Rugby Union

We first have a jam-pack year of Rugby ahead of us with the 11-team Super Rugby competition set to start in a month’s time before the British and Irish Lions arrive at our own backyard during winter. Plus, there’s Club Rugby at the same, the Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup in August-September, and we finish off the year in Europe v the North’s best sides on earth.

First of all, it’s been a bitter blow not seeing Melbourne field a Rugby team anymore in the Rebels when they are a big sporting city due to financial problems. But with lots of people playing AFL (Aussie Rules) and even NRL (Rugby League), it seems there’s no room for Rugby to succeed in that place unfortunately.

Now we are down to four teams with the Western Force still around & as we all know the ACT Brumbies would love to finally play in a Grand Final. However, we would need the Tahs, Reds or even Force to be playing in the semis either way in order for the Wallabies to succeed & that includes the Brumbies. It’s never been a better time to try taking that advantage now, especially with Joseph Suaalii onboard from the Sydney Roosters (NRL) to the Waratahs. 

Other than that, the NZ teams will still be dominating for the most part along with a new-look Crusaders, even though the All Blacks had their bad times last season when it comes to the Springboks and France.

Netball

If Rugby isn’t big enough for NZ, why not Netball when they also have a huge year ahead? 

The Silver Ferns will be stopping by in Sydney soon to spend nine days there as part of their training camp including a Practice Match v the NSW Swifts featuring the Ferns former star shooter (for now) Grace Nweke on Sunday, February 2.

They will also have a slightly different ANZ Premiership season amongst half of the six teams having brand new coaches (Mainland Tactix, Southern Steel and Northern Stars) between May-July including Finals with a two-round home-and-away format across 10-12 weeks rather than playing three times last year.

Yes, the Ferns haven’t organised any matches lined-up yet for the second half season but we are still expected to see the Taini Jamison Trophy series back regardless of opponent. Although England have won it last year but the good news is that they will be able to defend the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds following their 3-1 series win back in late October.

And shoutout to former Silver Fern and current GWS Giants (Western Sydney) player Gina Crampton who plays at Wing Attack and was also in attendance from the stands for Alex De Minaur’s game yesterday – sure she still has plenty to offer at age 33, especially playing against the best in Super Netball.

Formula 1

What else? Rugby & Netball isn’t the only sport who mix and matches well with Tennis.

I also wish Alpine-Renault’s Jack Doohan from Formula 1 was there to see Alex also because they do look like each other with both of them having a smiley face personality. Surely, Jack can get some tips on defying those odds from Alex when there’s a bunch of reverse drivers waiting in his wings under pressure including Franco Colapinto. Alex did beat another Argentine actually yesterday too in Francisco Cerundolo; hopefully, this will cheer Jack up in a bid to keep his seat over the first six odd races of the season.

Although I can understand Jack is more aligned with Ayrna Sabalenka because she visited his team’s garage in his unexpected F1 debut last month at Abu Dhabi & Jack came back in return for Ayrna when she played a match a few weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

Post-Notes

Can’t believe there’s a whole lot of other athletes watching for fun there rather than looking to go toe-to-toe with the pro Tennis players & see who’s better? 

Time will tell.

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Rugby

Thoughts on the 11-team 2025 Super Rugby Season structure with 16 rounds, two byes, no Super Round for now & one Quarter-Final lifeline out of six-team Finals 

by Sports Benches

The 11-team 2025 Super Rugby Season structure including its Finals system has just made its first steps today, although the full 16-round fixtures draw will be released later in the next coming days.

Here’s what we know so far

  • Still an uneven fixture list but the annual rugby calendar during the first-half year is already tight anyway. At it stands, one will play twice v four teams and once v six other teams, with seven home and away games plus two week-long byes.
  • A bit more Sunday afternoon games where we got three on offer throughout the 2025 season with the option of expanding more Sundays when it comes to future seasons.
  • Season to start a bit earlier like mid-February with an extra round rather than the 3rd week of February like it was over the last few years.
  • No Super Round where all teams get to play at the one venue during the three-day weekend – at least for now, especially when Melbourne no longer has a Professional Rugby team in the Rebels. Although they could be back in 2026 as part of the Bledisloe Cup ANZAC Day weekend via A Festival of Rugby that is expected to take place at Optus Stadium in Perth.
  • Finals to look a bit different for three weeks in June with six rather than eight while the bottom five can no longer take further part once the regular season is over. Three Quarter-Final winners to go to the semi-finals before one each winning semi-finalist will go on to battle in the Grand Final, with the 3rd winning Quarter-Finalist being the lucky loser as the highest ranked losing team – so a bit like what we saw with the NSW Shute Shield (Club Rugby) during the 2023 season. Yes, some fans still don’t like it and I do personally like to see just a simple four-team Finals format (just two semi-finals and Grand Final) but this is where it’s going in the way we see in other Footy codes like AFL and NRL.

All in all, good to see some changes that will spice up the competition from a format perspective. We’ll see what happens, especially going into 2026. As much as I liked Super Rugby being a Trans-Tasman and the Pasifika competition over these last few years when South Africa moved over to Europe, we’d like to see the Jaguares come back from Argentina to make up 12 teams like it was before (2022-2024) but be logistically based in Melbourne for the most part with Finals on home turf.

With the idea of having more Super Rugby on Sundays, why not begin the day on the couch when the Jaguares sometimes play at home (if they do really want to play some of their home games truly in Argentina) before finishing off the afternoon either side of the Tasman? This would also be the perfect springboard when it comes to future expansion like North America & Hawaii at some point where we could have more Sunday games here/Saturday games there, but both USA and Canada are a long way off from where we are at least in the Top 10 competitively right now.

Although I’d also like to see Andrew Forrest’s Western Force side to team up with Japan by making one super revival team of the Sunwolves together featuring max involving the best of our players and also these Japanese Internationals from the Top League, with most games in Perth and some in Japan. That would be a great replacement to cover up the lost South African quality talent & income there. 

If the Western Force do wish to continue playing Rugby, it would be through the idea of a new third-tier National Club Competition or a series of exhibition matches like the Cheetahs do from Bloemfontein in South Africa while being a feeder club to the Sunwolves, as well as junior level in the Super Rugby U16 & U19 competitions – also run similarly to the one Rugby Victoria is set to operate now the Rebels are gone with some Melbourne games still a possibility by the ACT Brumbies next season.

But I guess we will wait and see between now and at least the home 2027 Rugby World Cup depending on the Wallabies performance. If not, I could see Twiggy going elsewhere to another comp – doesn’t mean the Force is going to be dead since he’s the owner. In the meantime, all we could hope for the best of Australian Rugby right now is to have at least two decent teams battling up front alongside the dominant NZers next season – even though it’s going to be a bit more difficult from here. 

That way, we could finally see our usual Brumbies or any other Australian team like the Reds or Waratahs to finally play in a Grand Final in a long time when simply advancing into a Quarter-Final & then getting eliminated right on the spot isn’t good enough.

Not even getting kicked outside the last 4 isn’t a good excuse either, especially for the Brumbies when we haven’t been winning for 10 years now since the Tahs last won it v Crusaders & over 20 if you count the Bledisloe Cup & even Rugby Championship for the Wallabies.

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Rugby

2024 Super Rugby Review: New Zealand teams continues to dominate except the Crusaders at least for this year while ACT Brumbies still only the best here in Australia

by Sports Benches

While we are transitioning into International mode and also at Club Rugby too going into the 2nd half of 2024 next month, let’s look back at the 2024 Super Rugby Season following the Blues A+ Grand Final performance that sealed their long-awaited drought for their 4th championship trophy for the first time since 2003 over the Chiefs at Eden Park last night.

It began with the Crusaders largely not being the same team anymore that won them multiple championships despite their late season resurgence where they were one place short of the Top 8 while the Melbourne Rebels had a rare spectacular run on the field in 8th before their poor financial health regardless of this however unfortunately ended the team’s 14 year existence. Plus, NSW Waratahs were at an all-time low once again other than the two wins v Crusaders off the back of numerous injuries in the treatment room, particularly with their front rowers. Queensland Reds also had some fresh breath of under new coach Les Kiss including the Highlanders with their big rebuilding phase over in Otago but then they were both nowhere near past the Quarter-Finals alongside the Fijian Drua off the back of another excellent home season in 7th. Time will tell if the Drua will continue to progress & go Top 6 under a new coach while looking to improve their away form next season.

The same goes with the ACT Brumbies who continues to fall short in the semis yet again as they still continue to hold the title as Australia’s No.1 Super Rugby team, although we did witness a surprise semi elimination in the top-ranked Hurricanes by the Chiefs before the Waikato-based franchise weren’t simply up to the task against the championship-winning Blues last night. Nothing much also happened to Moana Pasifika and the Western Force when they had some wins off the back of a huge off-season drive but both are still underwhelming for the majority. It remains to be seen if the Force will benefit from the Rebels demise in an 11-team competition (short term) next year that would hopefully improve Australia’s record in Super Rugby as well as Wallabies at International level, so they can look to win games again. If not, while we understand of having a national footprint when the world has changed nowadays – three teams may finally be the way to go again with Rugby Australia helping the Force out elsewhere like reviving Global Rapid Rugby & have them play against teams in South East Asia.

And finally, congratulations to the Blues on their fourth championship when they first won this competition back-to-back while Super Rugby was born under Super 12 back in 1996 followed by a 3rd one in 2003 before they finally broken the 21-year hoodoo last night on top of the short-lived Trans-Tasman crown over the Highlanders during COVID back in 2021. They too have been unstoppable who can unseat any team including the top regular-season ranked Hurricanes while setting the standard all along including the Grand Final v Chiefs, even without Beauden Barrett at least in the short term until next year due to him playing in Japan. But it’s all about having an excellent group of players who is still around day in, day out alongside an experienced head coach of Vern Cotter after lifting his first major silverware off the back of long stints in France & Scotland.

So there you go for 2024 as Season 2025 would see 16 regular season matches and two weekly byes alongside a Top 6 Finals system like it was back in 2011-15 with the Top 2 going straight into the semis with 3rd-6th placed teams to play in the first week Quarter-Finals, then the other winning two will face the best two in the Final Four before the best of the best two teams will battle it out in the hope of lifting that championship next time around in 12 months’ time. After that, depending on the four Australian teams performance, Super Rugby would ideally like to say 12 teams but would otherwise have to go with 10.

The South African teams are well and truly happy in Europe following their split back in late 2020 while Japan wants to stay on its own with the Top League, a Jaguares reunion from Argentina may still pose financial and logistical issues & having Canada and USA onboard including a Hawaii-based team is still far off competitively right now for at least the next 10 years.

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Rugby

NSW Waratahs stunning 2nd half comeback from 19-0 down just not enough to stop the Queensland Reds by a single point 26-27

by Sports Benches

Wow!! What a game we have witnessed at Allianz Stadium where one team in the Reds got away with a really good start going into half-time 19-0. Then another team in the form of the underwhelming Waratahs began to pick up plenty of unanswered points where they were oh so close, having closed in at 24-24 all before successful two point conversion puts them in front at 26-24 for a short time. However, a late penalty goal from halfway by Tom Lynagh for the Reds fortunately gave their away fans a huge sigh of relief with the one point win in Moore Park by 26-27. Reds clearly booked in 5th where they will most likely take on the Chiefs once again in Hamilton next weekend while the Waratahs ended up last following a very difficult 2024 season.

Fraser McReight once again outstanding that puts the Reds on the map for a couple of winning occasions throughout the year on the openside 7. Not only he’s so dangerous smashing the opposition while backing up with the backline via his pace and superior passing but also brilliant to break down defensively too including the latter stages needed to stop the Waratahs from slipping away come full-time. There’s unfinished business ahead in the hope he can be the best 7 for both club and country going forward & next weekend’s last eight v the Chiefs away in Hamilton is the perfect time to do it & play semi-finals.

Josh Flook is another important Reds player who we should keep an eye on after an excellent display last night in the midfield outside 13. He’s the man that never stops running & also loves to score tries off the back of a great first half performance with one TRY to himself thanks to some excellent communication in the attacking third. Yes, we could’ve seen him score his 2nd when things didn’t go their way while seeing the Waratahs 2nd half comeback that almost came back to bite his team. But he was happy to accept the win & Josh needs his full support, so he can unleash his attacking abilities in the hope of going one better by beating the Chiefs again next weekend.

Finally, Jack Bowen has been exceptional when being given the keys to start in the Waratahs 10 position, particularly when he played a key role in his team’s resurgence after half-time of one TRY & three successful conversion kicks. Okay, he might have missed the very last penalty kick which was so unlucky. But Jack knows where to hack it when looking to expand into the wide areas on the counter attack with the numbers he’s got around him and voila! Let’s hope he will benefit from good competition that will make him a better player under a new coach going into next season. For now, he will look to help his 4th placed Easts side have a solid run in the Shute Shield show soon enough.

And shoutout with thanks to Darren Coleman on getting the Waratahs get back on track such as back to back 6th places including two Crusaders wins this year as if it’s 2014 again but sadly injuries hit him the most & we wish him good luck.

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Rugby

2024 Super Rugby Season monthly report after Round 12: A change of lead on the ladder with some teams going up and down

by Sports Benches

The last four weeks of the 2024 Super Rugby season saw some great success with the New Zealand teams still going strong minus the Crusaders still unluckily, while the Australian sides have proven that they are up to the challenge that would make a huge difference to their upcoming Wallabies campaign later this year with three more regular rounds to go.

Then it’s all about Finals Footy once again to round off the season campaign after this from the quarter-final followed by the semi-finals and the Grand Final.

New Zealand teams

The Blues recently became unstoppable having just surpassed the Hurricanes on top of the ladder yesterday as they just got the Highlanders, Crusaders & Chiefs to go, which shouldn’t be too hard to go into the Finals with plenty of optimism for a fourth title. Hurricanes as said haven’t done too bad at times without Cameron Roigard but still had some tough times against Blues yesterday & the Brumbies two weeks ago in Canberra, let’s see if they can hold keep on winning where Moana Pasifika should be easy while Chiefs & Highlanders is a bit difficult.

Chiefs also had some easy wins in recent weeks against the bottom 3-4 teams & the race is on for the Waikato side to hopefully get the job done that might be a bit challenging starting with the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday followed by the Top 2 teams (Hurricanes & Blues). Meanwhile, Highlanders recovered well from their worst trip v Reds (31-0) in Round 9 by putting themselves back in the Top 8 at 7th with some good wins even though it wasn’t pretty. Yes, things are going to get difficult when facing the Top 2 sides other than Fijian Drua in Round 14 but sure they can cause a storm like it was before. 

And last but not least the Crusaders who got themselves another win in Christchurch two weeks ago v Rebels 38-0 with some great improvements to see at times. However, time is running against them as they really need to win big, which won’t be easy against Brumbies & then Blues other than easy finish v Moana Pasifika to hopefully make the Top 8 just in time after Round 15.

Australian teams 

ACT Brumbies are still high and flying bar the Blues loss back in Round 9 as they still sit 3rd with an easy run-in that would hopefully give themselves a good Finals run and then end the drought to take home the trophy. Queensland Reds on the other hand returned to winning ways other than also a close Round 10 loss v the Blues. Now the run-in might look a bit difficult when the Drua is so strong on the home front while they got a few being injured but then you got the Western Force at home followed by the Waratahs again shouldn’t be too hard to seal a good run-in v Chiefs or Brumbies in the Quarters.

Western Force also has a great strong home atmosphere off the back of wins against the Crusaders back in Round 9 & the Fijian Drua last night, which puts them back on track towards an outside possibility of playing Finals footy with the Waratahs next up followed by Reds away & then the Brumbies after that. Then don’t know what to say about the NSW Waratahs when they are at their lowest ebb once again with so many being injured other than two lucky wins v the Crusaders with more losses going against them. The only positive I can say that they’ve put in their best effort to hopefully get themselves up first at the finish line, but then they’re last right now with two difficult games to finish it off (Force & Reds) other than Moana Pasifika.

And the Melbourne Rebels are still hanging in 6th with three tough games to go with two being at home, such as the Chiefs on Friday followed by the Brumbies and then the Drua away in Fiji. It all depends on the other results but they will still make it even it means an extra week of playing considering the Crusaders are still struggling with the Waratahs going way worse. Then the big question mark is whether or not if the Rebels will be back next year & beyond who is still broke despite recent on-field success? We still don’t know when you got a businessman-led consortium group ready to save the club from liquidation but then the powers of Rugby Australia has the final say at Rugby HQ with still no resolution to either stay or go at this stage.

Pasifika teams 

Well, Moana Pasifika had their moments earlier during the season where they were flirting with the Top 8 bubble a few times here & there. However, a recent string of losses meaning they will unfortunately miss out as progress will take a bit more time before Moana can start winning more games from here; They got the 2nd-placed Hurricanes next up followed by the Waratahs & Crusaders, even though all of their final three regular season games are going to be played within New Zealand.

Same goes with the Fijian Drua who always have an outstanding home atmosphere in Lauktoka, Fiji like the Force bar the Hurricanes loss back in Round 9. They might be able to play another week of Finals this year depending on other results with the next two games being at home against the Reds & Rebels other than the Highlanders in Dunedin but their away form still much leaves to be desired which is gonna bite back to haunt them including the 48-10 loss v Force last night in Perth. That is going to be their next big step alongside a new head coach with Mick Byrne agreeing to step up with the national team soon.

Post-notes

2/3rd in with three regular weeks to go as the race for 6th-8th is still on where we could still see an odd upset or two on top of the continued Australian teams’ winning progress & the battle for 1st & 2nd between the Blues and Hurricanes, with the lone Australian side Brumbies and the Chiefs being the outside favourites as they’re all locked up with the QF hosting rights.

While the Reds will surely end up in 5th, The Rebels and Highlanders would most certainly be a given as the Waratahs are unable to improve anytime soon with more injury hit-lists in the treatment room. And who is going to claim 8th?

It’s going to be between the Drua, Force and Crusaders – with the Crusaders hopefully getting the last remaining Finals spot, even though things weren’t the best where lots of new guys have a huge job to fill after so many people including a few big-name players and even the head coach in Scott Robertson getting the All Blacks job have came and gone in the off-season.

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