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Queensland Reds

2025 Super Rugby Qualifying Final 1: Crusaders win with Reds out of the opening week for another year by 32-12

by Sports Benches June 6, 2025

Looks like the tricks he pulled off was well worth the $$$ by Crusaders 9 Noah Hotham who loves taking on individual challenges that blew everyone away while playing a crucial role with his forwards following their qualifying Final win last night & now they’re semi-finals bound.

Then you got someone clearing those decks on the second row with superior attacking and defensive ground in team captain Scott Barrett and being in sync with a group Crusaders re-built over time is paramount towards playing Finals Footy in the hope of winning trophies again.

Last but not least, tough pill to swallow going into a tough game like this and Reds can’t go any further than the 1st week Finals. But Reds is proud to have someone who used to play in Canterbury had stood out on the blindside six on its own – Joe Brial. He’s a defensive tackler, aggressive basher & all of the above; he’s got the Lions to take on soon also for Reds and gotta say, it’s perfect timing – bring it on.

All in all, Crusaders too good on what has been an A-Game performance over Queensland once again at their own stomping ground in Christchurch by 32-12.

Lots of fireworks being launched by the next group of players including experienced ones, who took a great stand for the sake of the Crusaders DNA, as coach Rob Penney will be delighted with that going into next week’s semi depending on this evening’s results.

Aside from the Reds or even any other Australian Super Rugby side that can just turn up there for an extra week of Rugby, there’s always the Brumbies you can count on who always make the semis but still short of the Grand Final over the last few years. They will have the Hurricanes to face off with later tonight in Canberra.

Will this be a dead rubber or not should the Blues defeat the Chiefs also tonight?

If Blues win, either Brumbies or Hurricanes will be the last to get out of a must-win situation, with Chiefs getting that “lucky loser” berth since they came home 1st.

Sure Australia might have been encouraged with the early season progress where no NZ team have won here over the first 10-11 weeks having gone from five teams to four after the Rebels were axed due to financial reasons.

However, then things have largely remained the same downhill since then.

That’s 1-2 things Rugby Australia will have to look in the second half of 2025.

June 6, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season, Round 15 of 16: Crusaders lucky escape at the last minute v Highlanders while Hurricanes hold off Queensland Reds in a close high-scoring thriller

by Sports Benches May 23, 2025

What a game it was to open Super Rugby Round 15 of 16 on Friday night across both sides of the Tasman including one Australian side taking part of course.

But still, Crusaders lucky to walk away unscathed v Highlanders (15-12) while Hurricanes locked out the threatening Reds in silence away from home (27-31).

Also, there was a women’s Pacific 4 International match with the Wallaroos this time hosting Canada prior to the Reds v Hurricanes curtain raiser. Unfortunately, that didn’t go too well with Canada being oh too good and the final score was 7-44.

With the Highlanders now lost 10 out of 13 in Season 2025, safe to say their chances to reach Top 6 definitely out of reach. They’ve got the Chiefs next Friday which will be extremely difficult even if an unexpected win would put the season early to bed.

Crusaders also return on top of the table as a result of their win along with the Hurricanes just leapfrogged Reds for 4th that will no doubt shift their full attention towards Finals Footy.

Now the race continues tomorrow on Super Saturday where Moana Pasifika will want to solidify their Top 6 extended chance v Chiefs and so does Waratahs but only if they can beat Western Force that could give them one last golden shot v the Blues.

Top 3 players from both Crusaders v Highlanders and Reds v Hurricanes

Just can’t get enough of the Crusaders tough No.3 tight prop Tamaiti Williams off the back of his tries and tough tackling; same with team-mate Tom Christie on the open 7 who always contributes at every turn like he did last week v Waratahs – they finished well physically like no other.

Then there’s Timoci Tavatavanawai making a huge effort on the inside Highlanders 12 where they had their own moments but shame their “kick to comes” weren’t good – oh, they were also hesitant & being a touch isolated in return.

Meanwhile in Brisbane, outside Hurricanes 13 Billy Proctor beautifully executed his ball carries so he knows they can score tries including for himself – and look out, Fehi Fineanganofo stirs up a surprise with his tricky pace and finishing on the left 11.

At last, Harry Wilson is back as the Reds first-choice 8 where he’s got the build-up base and leadership to funnel into tries especially on the expansive (2nd half) – unlucky though with missing bits and pieces being filled in by the Hurricanes.

May 23, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

Rugby News, Brumbies took advantage of the Reds handling errors & so does Wallaroos over USA all happening on the one chilly night in Canberra

by Sports Benches May 17, 2025

Brumbies has just topped the Super Rugby table ahead of the two best NZ teams in this competition Chiefs and Crusaders thanks to their win against the other best team in Australia – Queensland Reds.

Both teams fought hard where they had to share the lead going into the break by 7-7 all but all of the other 40 towards the finish belongs to Brumbies hands down.

The way Reds slip up from ill-discipline to being willy nilly when trying to convert their attack into points allowed Brumbies to snatch the next few tries and that was something the Reds weren’t able to do by 24-14.

We also had a women’s test match as part of the Pacific Four series at the same GIO Stadium in Canberra with the Wallaroos and USA Eagles. USA weren’t bad other than some poorly timed errors with Hope Rogers cashing in a hat-trick of tries past the in-goal. However, expansive & positive rugby from the Wallaroos elevated them to the front row in cruise control by 27-19.

Top 3 players from Brumbies v Reds and Wallaroos v USA

Glad to hear that Tom “Tommy Turbo” Wright turbocharged his Brumbies attack where running rugby was in play on the front foot especially in the 2nd half. With Joe Schmidt watching on-site once again, here’s hoping Ryan Lonergan gets his chance to take on the Lions – he can do a bit of everything off the expansive and can also provide some handy kicking extras.

Reds, meanwhile, good in defense but not so much putting things together at times in attack, with Fraser McReight continuing to put in those hard yards. A good Finals run would surely help Joe choose Fraser over Tizzano with competition heating up for the Wallabies starting open No.7 shirt.

Going back earlier with the Wallaroos v USA, Ash Marsters also on the 7 continues to be at her best like it was off the bench v Black Ferns last week + Charlotte Caslick with her pace and little cross kicks gave us every reason why she wants to play at the World Cup later this year in England.

And on the Eagles, Hope Rogers’ hat-trick of tries at loosehead 1 lights up their confidence along the way. Bummer they made the wrong calls where Wallaroos took great care of the ball than USA, that’s all I can say & also shoutout to IIona Maher who has been everywhere from helping USA achieve Olympic bronze in the 7s last year in Paris to ABC’s DWTS.

May 17, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Week 13 of 16: Blues too good for the Fijian Drua in Suva and Reds delivered Waratahs a crushing blow once again at Moore Park’s Allianz Stadium

by Sports Benches May 9, 2025

Blues were absolutely too good for the Fijian Drua even when they were playing away in front of the Drua’s passionate home fortress in Suva by 0-34. On the same night going south at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, we did see a much tighter contest following another state v state clash between Waratahs and Reds.

But again, Reds’ attacking backline were key to outshine the Waratahs in one particular area to close out the game, and they did so too in fine fashion by 21-28.

While Blues stay on track inside 5th alongside Reds holding on clear 4th just ahead by a single point, it’s looking tough and tougher by the week from the Waratahs unfortunately as of late.

Having seen Joseph Suaalii hauled off due to injury along with a lack of ideas to stop the Reds from walking out 1st towards full-time, those next three games – the last three to finish off 2025 – by the Waratahs will be the toughest one yet again if they want to end up being Top 6 by the end of this month.

Don’t know what to say other than being clueless based on their recent form with their away results not a good pill to swallow.

And yes, Drua’s 2025 ain’t the same when Mick Byrne took the Fijian National team job post-season last year. They are unlikely taste Finals compared to 2023 and 2024 but they will do whatever it can to finish on a high.

There’s two games to come tomorrow night across the Trans-Tasman with the Crusaders v Chiefs and Western Force v Brumbies.

Top 3 players of the night

Drua v Blues

Corey Evans is right on the money every time he clears out those decks being the Blues’ resident speed demon that also shows excellent team-work at 15.

Taufa Funaki doesn’t disappoint as the Blues’ starting 9 lately that is vital to stay Top 6 who continues to put these fine performances so he knows they’re ahead like last week v Western Force.

Drua could’ve used a trick or two especially when they had less ball but their young 4 Mesake Vocevoce was the Drua’s hit song tonight – like how he outmuscled the Blues defense including one that almost led to a TRY.

Waratahs v Reds

From Suva to the Sydney Allianz, Tim Ryan on the left 11 provided his junkyard dog push that turned into a number of rewarding tries. Filipo Daugunu, unbelievably creative on the outside 13 – take note of that Joe, seems we’ve got a surprise right here this July v the Lions.

And unlucky from Waratahs with Joseph knocked out in the head and their attack just difficult to match that spark, Langi Gleeson took no prisoners at the heart of their back row & he won’t give up with the last three games tough inc. last two away to see out 2025.

May 9, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Rugby

A few Quickfire sports news items of the week of 30th April 2025: Les Kiss to Wallabies, Max Purcell’s doping ban, Grace Nweke & Kiri Wills reunion at Super Netball level plus many more

by Sports Benches April 29, 2025

Congratulations to Les Kiss with the Wallabies job who has done big things with the Reds past two years and sure his setup & influence on players can help them flow from dominating Super Rugby to being a Top 3 side on the global stage like the glorious Springboks at present.

Felt sorry for Max Purcell having accepted a year-and-a-half ban on doping.

Won’t be the same without him especially being a strong contributor to our Aussie doubles team both grand slams and team tournaments but we gotta put a fine line with our standards of professional sport.

After a very long Round 3 of Super Netball, we’re back again with a full weekend log with one match I’m looking to forward to is Swifts v Firebirds.

Grace Nweke will playing against Kiri Wills’ team once again and it’s not at ANZP level like it was with Mystics v Stars but in Super Netball – so yeah, bring it on.

Formula 1 is back this weekend in Miami along with the second sprint race of the year as yes happy for Oscar Piastri who is currently leading the drivers’ championship after he collected the Saudi win last time round. But here’s hoping Jack Doohan will be able to step up to the plate when there’s a short and long race opportunity, so onto the engineers here to help map out the best strategy and tire management. Not only that, he needs to turn up every post-race in order to not just be consistent but also finish races strong.

And can’t wait for final round Championship Saturday at 9.30pm AEST where Plymouth do need Burnley’s help along as long as Burnley v Millwall but can’t ignore all day from free-scoring Leeds.

April 29, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Motorsport Rugby

Top 5 sports items this week 24/4/25: Rodney Childers’ shock departure at Spire, Scott Parker’s links with Tottenham after PL promotion with Burnley, Super Rugby Round 11/16, Max Verstappen and Western Bears in NRL

by Sports Benches April 24, 2025

Bummer Rodney Childers won’t be back in the No.7 pit box but Spire ain’t backing down nonetheless with all three cars in & out of Top 16 to 20 drivers’ points.

There’s always time with the win and Playoffs still a possibility as long as it’s before September where Spire has the full backing of three talented and experienced drivers in McDowell, Haley and Hocevar.

Parker back to Tottenham?

While Burnley now back to the PL, Scott Parker might not be there because of Tottenham who could get rid of Aussie Ange even if he wins the Europa final.

Maybe it’s best if Scott helps Burnley win it all and see Leeds bottle it at the same time, then he can go considering he hasn’t been successful so far at this top level.

There’s even talk about Leeds wanting to sack Farke in order to avoid his curse record at PL level – looks like it will be advantage Parker for the title then.

Super Rugby: another golden week from the Aussie sides v NZ?

Super Rugby back for another week going the Australian teams away we hope after a few brilliant games including one that ended in a draw, although not so much for the Waratahs unfortunately v Fijian Drua away in Suva.

Yet, things could get even better if Reds, Brumbies and Force all beat their respective NZ teams in Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs this weekend.

Perfect timing (mark that down) and as of Week 11 out of 16, still no NZ side win recorded yet at least on Australian soil.

Max Verstappen wants out of Red Bull?

Also, Max frustrated behind the scenes being the cut lone figure at Red Bull when McLaren in a Mercedes customer engine are leading the way via Oscar and Lando.

Would love to see him end up at Aston Martin with Honda engines + Adrian Newey again & Franco C. be the ideal one when RB have no other choice post-Max.

NRL finally has a Perth team with assistance of the North Sydney Bears

And last but not least, Perth will finally get a NRL team in a long time with credit to the North Sydney Bears.

That means, the Bears will be expected to play top-level Rugby League once again but looks like half of the games will be played at in Perth with other still going to be at the spiritual North Sydney Oval.

National footprint is important for all of our Aussie sports including rugby despite losing a team in Melbourne but gotta accept it’s the best fight right now in the bid for championships and series trophies.

The big weekend other than the off-weekend of F1 starts tomorrow on ANZAC day Friday before the second last round’s matches is on a bright Saturday night at 9pm and we round it off with the shuffling decks of Talladega come Monday AM.

April 24, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Week 9 of 16: ACT Brumbies has unfinished business now 3rd on the ladder following their 26-39 win over the Queensland Reds

by Sports Benches April 12, 2025

Tonight’s Reds v Brumbies match was full of physically-contested slides on the field like we see in ten-pin bowling with handling errors through a series of hits and misses being a key Achilles heel towards one team’s loss here and there.

The winner turned out to be the Brumbies by 26-39 who backflipped the Reds good start with a series of brilliant executions while maintaining a lot of ball that is good with their retention – something the Reds couldn’t hang on with their long game.

Now at this time of the year, the Brumbies are back in business this time sitting Top 3 behind the Chiefs (2nd) and Crusaders (1st). Speaking of this time, they want to be the ones to be the next Australian team to play in a Super Rugby final proper again after being outside Grand Finals best for a number of recent years now since 2022.

Although the regular season isn’t done yet going into Week 10 out of 16, here’s more you need to know also from elsewhere:

The resurgent Crusaders still currently standing up tall over everyone having successfully hold off the Hurricanes to begin Week 9’s share of games earlier last night in Christchurch by 24-31.
NSW Waratahs rejoice as the last earned Aussie Super Rugby champ at least in its proper comp that goes back to 2014 following their home win this time against a NZ team in the Chiefs by 21-14 also last night at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park.
Moana Pasifika’s bid for Top 6 will have to wait another time now after they were held back by the Auckland Blues earlier in the arvo by 36-17.
And Highlanders back on track from last Saturday’s loss v the Flying (Western) Force in Perth to a big win over the wooden spooners Fijian Drua prior to this game in Dunedin, 43-20.

Top players Pick

First up, Allan Alaalatoa – he’s a very important part of their front row props glue at tighthead 3 alongside former Red James Slipper on the other loosehead 1.

They both make up crunch time, every time and by outmuscling Reds, Brumbies exactly know what to do to keep on churning with their end goals at full speed.

Also a great time too to have Rob Valetini back on the blindside 6 from injury and Brumbies will continue to unfinished business & maybe in Grand Final this year.

And if one stood out for the Reds alone, it’s gotta be Hunter Paisami on the inside 12 where he too fought hard with a pack of punches off his shoulders thanks to his team’s good start. Unfortunately, they’ve messed things up tactically all over the place with lost balls/penalty caught by the ref, and Reds better be careful next time.

April 12, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

Thoughts on Rugby Australia’s TV rights contract extension that is now finalised with Nine and Stan between 2026-2030

by Sports Benches April 9, 2025

The decision has already been made yesterday as Nine and Stan now confirmed to stay on with Rugby Australia for another five years when it comes to the next TV rights contact that is set to start from next season (2026) to at least the end of 2030.

Here’s what we know so far:

All Super Rugby games will be aired on Stan Sport.
All Wallabies and Wallaroos games including the Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Championship (Stan only everywhere else that isn’t Wallabies) and the proposed Nations Cup/Spring Tour to be on both Nine and Stan.
All Club Rugby games both NSW Shute Shield and QLD Hospital Cup will also stay on Stan for at least the next two seasons with one main weekly Saturday afternoon game back on free-to-air also on Nine through 9Gem including Finals.
All other content they’ve got will also stay on only through Stan from Super W to U-16 and U-19 National Championships as well as Six Nations, Currie Cup, NZ’s National Provincial Championship and many more including the full All Blacks v Springboks 2026 (to SA) & 2030 (back in NZ) tours.
The final cost would be around $215 million ($43 million per season) with up to $30 million add-ons depending on the Wallabies and Australian Super Rugby teams’ successes over time.

So what’s missing? No Saturday night free-to-air weekly Super Rugby games.

That contract obligation they’ve got at the moment has now been removed starting next season onwards to aid with RA’s retention of keeping their top players away from lucrative overseas playing and money opportunities as Nine chose to give them more cash instead by swapping Super Rugby with all Wallabies and Club Rugby games returning on free-to-air TV.

Nothing much to do with increased ratings or exposure really, although there’s still a possibility that Nine could still air some Super Rugby games after all albeit at different times during the season.

It could only be key matches or even a mix of both Friday nights plus some Sunday afternoon regular-season games on what they call it flexible scheduling including one weekly finals on Saturdays, I don’t know.

But I hope RA and Nine with their paid streaming subsidiary Stan will find a way soon enough to keep Super Rugby on free-to-air at least in some way, so we don’t have to feel disappointed & not like it was in the past when there were no live Super Rugby games at all other than replays & highlights until 2021 all thanks to Nine.

Regardless of that, sure we are moving onto the right direction for the betterment of Rugby Australia, when Super Rugby is going well at the moment at the expense of our four Aussie teams along with the front row potential of winning it all in the green & gold Wallabies when we take on the British and Irish Lions as well as another Trans-Tasman contest later this year.

April 9, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Week 7 of 16: Queensland Reds v Western Force: Reds come out strong as the survivors over Force once again through the wet Suncorp Stadium pitch

by Sports Benches March 29, 2025

It was a game of competitive two-halves rugby that was held under wet weather between the Queensland Reds and Western Force tonight at Suncorp Stadium as we are nearly halfway (Week 7 of 16). Reds got themselves going before some ill-discipline and poor line-outs have marked a huge setback while Force played the Reds with Fire of the gold & black jersey so they can make every chance count that can keep their Top 6 Finals hopes alive.

There can be only be one winner having levelled 21-21 at half-time and in the end, it’s the mighty Queensland Reds who took home yet another win like it was a few weeks ago in their last own match on the Force’s own ground at HBF Park, 28-24.

From elsewhere

Here’s what you need to know prior to this game tonight:

Gotta feel for the Waratahs especially Max Jorgensen who picked up an unfortunate injury during their big loss to the Hurricanes early last night to begin Week 7’s matches at Wellington’s Sky Stadium by 57-12.
ACT Brumbies broke the Highlanders’ hearts that late to sign off their strong home ground front at GIO Stadium also last night in Canberra, 34-27.
Crusaders got battered & bruised this weekend in Christchurch thanks to Moana Pasifika who are back in business with a long way to go (from last spot to now 9th), 29-45.
And there’s only four games out of five since the Chiefs and Blues (both last year’s grand finalists) are having the week-long off the field.

Top 3 players

Filipo Daugunu belongs to the heart of Ballymore having made up some magic attacking metres while he was superb at locking up in defense – no wonder his goalkeeping & striking background from soccer helped him struck a good balance right at the middle of the Reds’ outside 13.

So does fellow Red Tate McDermott as the reverse 9 where his supercharged influences created shockwaves at the Force’s own doormat, especially in the last 10 mins thanks to his late TRY & that enough to get over the line in the end.

All in all, yes, there were some mistakes like poor line-outs and ill-discipline but hey, Queenslanders never back down!

And you can’t go past the Western Force’s own running rugby with Darcy Swain’s top-class input all on the second row 5 from line-out intercepts to building pressure both attack and defence which proved to be a huge difference so far.

Yes, unlucky there from Force who had the better ball than the Reds – they just struggled have the last say in the end.

March 29, 2025 0 comment

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 March 15, 2025

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.

March 15, 2025 0 comment