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The Queensland Reds new era under Les Kiss began with the home win v Waratahs tonight

by Sports Benches

Great to have Super Rugby back for another year in 2024, especially on a Saturday night that began with the long-running Queensland Reds v NSW Waratahs rivalry as this week’s game of the round at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. It was a close first half where the Waratahs showed some intent in the way they spotted a few Reds mistakes before they cashed in with the rewards on hand, while the home side benefitted from winning penalties every time when they have the ball in hand going forward & they are the ones who has the upper hand at the break, 21-15. But the 2nd half is all about the Reds where they continued to keep on scoring before being too good in the end as the new era under head coach Les Kiss is off to a great start with a comfortable victory on home soil, 40-22. Next weekend’s games will be under the one roof during the Super Round at AAMI Park in Melbourne with Crusaders v Waratahs on next Saturday night & Hurricanes v Reds next Sunday afternoon. Time will tell if the Australian teams really mean business this season since the NZ teams have entered into a completely new chapter with lots of musical chairs amongst coaches and even players over the course of the off-season.

Tate McDermott has been a revelation in the Reds attack at No.9 (half-back) whose performance tonight has played a key role in his team’s huge win v the Waratahs. He’s great communicating with his players while unleashing the pace and physicality every time the Reds has the ball on hand. All of this is so important in getting the job done when making the most of the counter-attack as this is how Les Kiss wanted the Reds to play and gotta say it’s so far, so good with McDermott vowing to keep that rebuilding phase onto the next step in the weeks to come. There’s another Reds player who will be there to bring back the glory is experienced Alex Hodgman on the front row at loosehead. He too benefitted from winning penalties where he has the tall reach & packed meat combined to plow himself past the Waratahs players with scrums and tries being won under his watch. There’s life after Taniela Tupou in the props when you got someone onboard who has previous Super Rugby experience in New Zealand and he could even play for the Wallabies too soon enough thanks to his Australian-born father.

And Mark Nawaqanitawase had a really long evening on the wide right for the Waratahs where he has outstanding vision as being tested in defense while he can get his side out of trouble every time the opportunity is there whenever the ball is right near or with him. There’s a reason why he’s more than a Super Rugby player in the Wallabies shirt as Mark will be missed when he will play for the Sydney Roosters in 2025 & 2026. Even though he did his best to try and stop the Reds from scoring, his side unfortunately wasn’t happy with the discipline/lost penalties before more mistakes went against them at his own end later on & this is something the Waratahs will need to watch out if they wish to get themselves back on track this season.

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Thoughts on the Melbourne Rebels experiencing its lowest downfall behind the scenes with no guarantee they will be back playing after the 2024 Super Rugby Season

by Sports Benches

Things are going from bad to worse at the Melbourne Rebels who are operating by little by little now. First of all, they’ve entered voluntary administration 1-2 weeks ago while they were owed lots of money in debt. Now not only a few of their staff including the board were forced to leave but also they have just $17,300 left with just a few pieces of office furniture, gym equipment & two cars. Although they will be playing out this season since the fixtures have already been laid out for the over the next few months as there’s no way back, but still no guarantee the Rebels will return in 2025 which will be highly unlikely. 

It will be devastating to see Rugby leave Melbourne where they’ve been the host of the three-day annual Super Round weekend for a few years, which isn’t too far away now for Round 2 at the start of March. They also hosted the home Bledisloe Cup games when the Wallabies v All Blacks over the last two years (2022 at Marvel Stadium & 2023 at MCG) & will be hosting Wales during the 2nd mid-year tour match in mid-July at AAMI Park. Yes, they have also produced a few Wallabies players of their own over the last few years & not being able to play for a local professional team like the Rebels like underage level & then into Super Rugby before stepping up at International level would see them end up elsewhere. Regardless of what happens, there will always be some people wanting to play rugby from a young age in Melbourne & across Victoria.

But if you look at the on-field results however, they barely do anything good apart from the rare 9th placed finish back in 2018 when they benefited from Western Force’s axing from Super Rugby at the time. You might also tell that they do have a great line-up of players too from the off-season despite a huge mess off the field lately, but don’t think it will make much of a difference when all of the players’ contracts including the coaching staff under Kevin Foote will last through the end of June.

Look it’s so hard to tell having looked at options to see the Rebels live on such as merging with another team like the ACT Brumbies from Canberra and even Moana Pasifika. But no matter what you think whether or not if the merged squad would be even stronger, it’s unfortunately not a good idea when merging two teams would see plenty of uproar amongst fans in the Rugby community here. That means, you will be taking out the history they’ve built for such a long time like 27 years & it won’t be good to see that kind of value go, who fear the team they support will soon be gone under a different location & new team identity. It means a lot to them & that will be irreplaceable as Rugby Australia never wanted to do it anyway.

Now here’s what will happen if the Rebels meet their comeuppance, as said, it would be so sad to lose an Australian Super Rugby side as RA always wanted to keep all five teams in order to have a national footprint, which is understandable. 

But the results and lack of silverware including their worst ever World Cup last year is still weighing against them over the last 20 + years as the question is can they support five teams? The answer is no unfortunately because RA proved that they are unable to make room to support themselves financially for all five Super Rugby teams in order to have the best success as we will be down to four after this with the Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies & Western Force. Yes, there were rumours about the Brumbies also entering the same way (voluntary administration) as the Rebels, who are also running tight on funds. But considering their strong on-field presence year-long round that includes making the Finals every year where they went all the way as the only Australian team here to the semi-finals meaning it will be too difficult to see them go.

Even so with four teams here that was done on more than a few occasions, they still haven’t translated much success into International level as the Wallabies used to enjoy dominating on the field with just three Super Rugby teams of Reds, Waratahs & Brumbies back then in the 1990s & early 2000s. So is abandoning the national footprint plan for a pro-rugby state strategy that would finally see the Wallabies return to winning ways just like Rugby League does mostly in NSW & QLD? This could finally be the answer with the Western Force from Perth either playing in Japan or relaunching their own comp in Global Rapid Rugby considering Andrew Forrest has lots of cash in the bank. They are a side that has been in and out off the comp for a long time since 2006 whose form weren’t bad during most home games last year but still yet never made the finals.

In the meantime, Rugby Australia has lots of issues to address where the silverware cabinet has been mostly empty other than the rare 2011 Tri Nations & 2015 Rugby Championship as time will tell soon enough with or without the Melbourne Rebels.

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Rugby News Australia, 2024 Super Rugby Season Preview

by Sports Benches

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

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

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

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

Predicting ladder 2024

  1. Crusaders (champions)
  2. Chiefs (then semi-finalists)
  3. Blues (runners-up)
  4. ACT Brumbies (then semi-finalists)
  5. Hurricanes
  6. NSW Waratahs
  7. Queensland Reds
  8. Highlanders
  9. Fijian Drua
  10. Western Force
  11. Melbourne Rebels
  12. Moana Pasifika
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Thoughts on Steve Hansen’s latest suggestion with merging both the ACT Brumbies & Melbourne Rebels for the betterment of Rugby Union in Australia

by Sports Benches

Just saw an extract from Code Sports and also The Roar earlier today about Steve Hansen wanting to help out a review of the state Rugby Union is in right now across Australia which is clearly worse and worser as it gets. I agreed with Stephen Hoiles the other day and Steve Hansen that we should cut an Australian Super Rugby side, but it’s even better if they cut two sides in order to go back to the things that made them once successful of having just three good quality teams (Brumbies, Reds & Waratahs) at the highest level. There is something he suggested a bit differently though to this is that the ACT Brumbies should merge with the Melbourne Rebels. He understands that Rugby is an International sport while more games would help gather revenue when it comes to showing Super Rugby across TV & attendances in-person at Stadiums, but then Brumbies fans don’t like this idea at all where it has been revisited several times throughout their 27-year existence.

Okay, they’re best Super Rugby side here for a long time where they won two trophies (2001 & 2004) plus the 2020 Super Rugby AU trophy. Plus, they’re the only side who made the semis every year since 2019 and these are all true. It would’ve also been better if the Wallabies squad was full of Brumbies players rather than a mixture of players being selected from other states which is impossible. But at the same time, they’re small commercially where the Brumbies were under threat at one point several years ago while still thriving on the pitch despite its small geographical population & an incompetent board.

Plus, we still don’t know if the ACT Government will commit building a new 30,000 seater Canberra Stadium over in the Civic area that would probably be the end of GIO Stadium currently located in the Bruce region.

It’s hard to say when you look back at the club’s history but even though people here don’t like this, the merged Brumbies side will still play half of the home games in Canberra while the other half will see them play at AAMI Park in Melbourne. That way, the Brumbies will get a metro following while Canberra still retains some existence like the NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds & Western Force as well as the other five NZ Super Rugby teams. Also, the squad would get somewhat better where only a handful of good talented players from Melbourne (Imagine Carter Gordon playing with Ryan Lonergan or Harrison Goddard at No.10) will be rewarded to play alongside most of the Canberra & Southern NSW based team-mates. Not only they can learn from these players through the senior and its academy squad, but it could also help them win more regular-season games as well as make the big Final every 1-2 years which is almost certainly a guarantee in Australian Super Rugby history. 

Aussie sports fans would love seeing this happen in the hope of winning the Super Rugby trophy that would definitely translate into Wallabies success as well as us rugby fans here and of course, Melbournians, who love seeing their favourite team and/or sport thrive at home whether if it’s AFL (Aussie Rules) or the Melbourne Storm in Rugby League (NRL).

All in all, things would be better if the Rebels and Force play either in a revived National Tier 2 comp or the Top League in Japan so that the Brumbies can continue its own identity out of just Canberra and Southern NSW & continue playing Super Rugby alongside just the NSW Waratahs & Queensland Reds. But if both options aren’t possible, then maybe the Brumbies-Rebels merger would be Rugby Australia’s last resort if they really do intend to cut a Super Rugby side. The competition right now in Melbourne is far too inferior for RA when trying to pit Rugby against other winter Football codes where most boys will want to pick up a Sherrin over a Gilbert ball as we can’t keep on being mediocre at best.

And as said, I don’t have anything against the Western Force which doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be playing Rugby out of Perth, Western Australia. If they survive the axe, we’ll have to wait & see if they do help the Wallabies get back to their best again when it comes to on-field results but then we’ve been there twice before with four teams and it doesn’t seem to have helped the cause that much. Instead, their best bet is for them (Western Force) to play elsewhere where they either revive their own comp (Global Rapid Rugby between 2018-early 2020) or join the Japanese Top League. The level of Rugby they play as well as the same day time zone fits the Force perfectly amongst the other Japanese Top League or Asian-based teams there.

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Rugby News Australia, Thoughts on Stephen Hoiles’s suggestion on cutting one Australian Super Rugby side, but it’s best we go back to just only three teams like it once was before

by Sports Benches

Yes, first and foremost I agreed with Stephen Hoiles that our Super Rugby system here in Australia is broken. But I don’t agree that one team should be dropped out like it was 5-6 years ago when we didn’t win a lot with four Australian teams from 2006-2010 as well as 2018-2020 until COVID has changed things unexpectedly from there.

Instead, I think that dropping two teams would be for the best for Rugby Union in Australia where the Western Force & Melbourne Rebels can get International experience elsewhere, while we go back to the system that worked so well for us before with just the ACT Brumbies, NSW Waratahs & Queensland Reds. That way, you only need three top-quality teams in order to do well not just against our New Zealand counterparts, but it would also help our Wallabies get back to their best again where we can win silverwares regularly & be Top 3-4 instead of sitting around 9th-13th right now.

We also know & understand that Rugby Union here is an International sport. How come New Zealand has lots of Rugby teams where they got five in Super Rugby & the rest down to the Tier 2 National Provincial Championship comp? We should do the same with three Super Rugby teams & the rest elsewhere. But otherwise, there’s always the Top League over in Japan, who should bring both the Rebels & Force over from Super Rugby. It’s the kind of standard that suits them (Rebels & Force) perfectly when facing a bunch of other Japanese teams that includes the same day time zone as well. 

So all in all, we’d be all for it if Rugby Australia downsizes from five to three Super Rugby teams going forward. At the same time though, we want the Force & Rebels play in Japan and/or through a new National 2nd Tier comp as we have nothing against them. It’s just the fact that they’re both not Super Rugby standard and it’s been hurting us for a long time.

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Mat Rogers is right, Wallabies on their way towards becoming a Tier 2 Rugby nation and Rugby Australia needs to fix this now

by Sports Benches

It’s time to be very honest and upfront to the board at Rugby Australia that this isn’t working where we keep on losing matches time & time again without any regular silverware for a very long time. 

First of all, please go back to having just three Super Rugby teams – NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds & ACT Brumbies. It’s something that worked before in the past and they should look to either create a national 2nd tier comp involving both Western Force & Melbourne Rebels or send both teams to some Asia-Pacific comp or even the Top League in Japan where they can compliment each other very well at that kind of standard.

Have a look at South Africa when they had to cut back 2 Super Rugby teams & sending them over to Europe at the same time back in late 2017? It actually worked out well for them, having went on to win a World Cup a few years ago while being able to beat the All Blacks occasionally which is what we should exactly be doing. They’re even one of the four favourite teams to take home this year’s World Cup too & despite not having the Cheetahs onboard when playing against International opposition sometimes in an annual European rugby comp right now, things are currently on the up for them.

Now yes, not everything we suggest can be perfect as we all see Rugby as an International sport compared to Rugby League & Aussie Rules Football. But then with League, they don’t have a Perth & Adelaide team & yet it’s going so well for them being as the fastest game in the country & even on earth. You might also argue that the Melbourne Storm is one of the most successful teams out in League but that sport is also observed by all Aussies, not Rugby where Melbourians would rather pick up a Football and play AFL, VFL or League with the Storm than playing Rugby for the Rebels. 

So no room to have another footy code there sadly no matter how much effort they put in to have an annual Super Round as well as the home Bledisloe Cup test match v All Blacks. The same goes to Perth where they’re not a traditional Rugby state despite a whole heap of investments thanks to Andrew Forrest, but the results isn’t there to back it up compared to our traditional state teams as it’s best if the Force & Rebels play elsewhere – nothing against them. All we want is for Rugby Australia to realise their potential in Super Rugby that would in turn help them win games again v the top International teams as not only we’re frustrated but NZ Rugby as well when the ABs are beginning to slip away from the Top 3-4 thanks to us here.

Please do us a favour and go back to the way things were that made Australia once successful in all fronts before both in Super Rugby (you only need three teams to be really successful v NZ teams every weekend in order to win championships) & Wallabies (selection structure would help too) while maintaining the national footprint by having a National Tier 2 comp or send both Western Force & Melbourne Rebels to another comp as well as investing more in grassroots elsewhere.

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Rugby News, Top 3 players from the 3rd Test between Wallabies v England at the Sydney Cricket Ground

by Sports Benches

Courtney Lawes has definitely frustrated & stopped the Wallabies from slipping past his English side last night as skipper on the Blindside (flanker role). His defensive work was outstanding every time the Wallabies tries to get themselves going under pressure before Lawes stepped in & called in his troops to lock the ball up, so they (Wallabies) can’t continue under the referee’s watch. He can also be an excellent support player with so much physicality going forward while calling for cover to ensure that the ball stays with England, which led to winning penalties/advantages off the back of the Wallabies ill-discipline. It led to a sigh of relief when the Wallabies were unable to capitalise going forward, while celebrating the series win at the same time.

Next up is Jack van Poortvliet – who came on for Danny Care at half-back not long before half-time – and he too made an instant impact ever since in the No.21 England shirt. He has a very good talk up when looking at ways to get past the Wallabies while calling out for some support. They were able to keep themselves ahead thanks to the Wallabies messy discipline/play via the advantages & later winning penalties before keeping a close eye in defense to close out this deciding test match – including his TRY assist to his Leicester team-mate Freddie Steward that saw England lead Australia by one point ahead of half-time at 10-11. And like Freddie, he proved that he can translate these premiership-winning skillsets at International level, as JVP put England in a great position on the run home with the series trophy.

Lastly, Tom Wright never stopped running on the right wing, especially when he opened the Wallabies scoring account with Nic White backing up on his way through the TRY zone. A few fresh faces in the 2nd-half kept his side closer within reach of England’s radar – thanks to Folau Faingaa. Unfortunately, he just wished that he gets supported more often where he was being isolated in both attack & defense. It would’ve helped the Wallabies get ahead of England once more & capitalise towards the win they desperately needed.

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Shute Shield returns on free to air next Saturday on 9Gem with three regular rounds left when Manly takes on Warringah

by Sports Benches

We’re very excited to say that Shute Shield will be back on free-to-air with the Week 16 game between Manly v Warringah next Saturday at 3pm on 9Gem. There should be more to come with another two regular season games to finish off before continuing with one Playoffs round in August. They already showed some women’s rugby earlier this season on 9Gem with the Super W competition, as well as the opening Wallaroos match v Fiji.

It’s been a long time coming since club rugby hasn’t been aired on Free TV here in NSW since Stan Sport & the Nine Network replaced Fox Sports & Network 10 as Rugby Australia’s broadcast partner last year under an initial three-year contract, with the option to extend another two years afterwards.

Although Channel 7 was the previous rights holder for these Shute Shield games through a separate deal prior to 2021, but then Rugby Australia brought that product off Club Rugby TV and bundled them up under the one roof ahead of the next broadcast rights deal at the time two years ago.

We can’t wait to see how the business end of this year’s Shute Shield season pans out for those who don’t have the Stan Sport subscription to look back over the last 10-15 weeks. We’re also aware that there was some free-to-air Hospital Cup Rugby on last year on 9Gem via the QLD market alone, while we didn’t get to see that opportunity at all when lockdown in NSW also at the time effectively cancelled the 2021 Shute Shield season without a champion.

But let’s see if some of Nine/Stan’s regular Super Rugby & Wallabies commentary team will be present for these free-to-air club rugby games at the ground.

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Rugby News, Thoughts on Folau Faingaa switching teams from the Brumbies to Western Force beginning next year

by Sports Benches

We didn’t see that coming when Folau Faingaa just defected teams from the ACT Brumbies to now the Western Force starting next season on a two-year deal, while remaining with Rugby Australia for Wallaby selection at the same time. He also reunites with a couple of ex-Brumbies who now play their trade in Perth – including Reejan Pasitoa, Bayley Kuenzle, Issak Fines, Kyle Godwin, Toni Pulu, Harry Lloyd & Angus Wagner.

It’s a great sign of ambition being shown there from the WA-based Super Rugby side – who wants to make the most of themselves in the long-term at Super Rugby level – and be a competitive front on the pitch. Plus, it will be great to see Faingaa get the chance to show his full 80 spells ahead of Felati Kaitu’u for the leading hooker position after he always start half-games often, before he was replaced by Lachlan Lonergan every time later during the 2nd half in a Brumbies shirt.

They have came from a long way since their shock axing back in 2018 before COVID changed everything three years ago, and Rugby Australia has came to their rescue once more as the 5th full-time Super Rugby Team here alongside the Melbourne Rebels, ACT Brumbies, NSW Waratahs & Queensland Reds.

From the Super Rugby AU Qualifying Final in 3rd last year to a near Top 8 finish in 9th this season in the Super Rugby Pacific; They’ve gone from strength to strength, having replaced Tim Sampson with one of the emerging coaches from New South Wales in none other than – Simon Cron – as the new head coach.

Not only he knows the NSW Rugby system & talent pool very well like current Tahs head coach Darren Coleman, he also most recently worked with Steve Hansen over the last three years as Director of Rugby at Toyota Verblitz in Japan.

There’s also a talented youngster in Jeremy Williams coming over from the Tahs where he will replace the now-retired Jeremy Thrush on the second row, while they convinced experienced Flanker/Number 8 Michael Wells to move back home from the Rebels.

The best is yet to come when Faingaa’s vast 63-cap Super Rugby and 25-cap Wallaby experience will change the way how the Force executes their throw-ins and driving maul come line-out time.

It could be a game changer under his watch that will provide plenty of competition across the Trans-Tasman in the hope of beating some New Zealand teams, as well as an extended shot via the Playoffs as long as they can finish Top 8 in the regular-season ladder every year.

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Top 3 players from the Blues v Crusaders Game at Eden Park in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific Final

by Sports Benches

The last time Pablo Matera played in a Super Rugby Final was three years ago as runner-up in a Jaguares shirt. He now went one better this year this time with a winning team for the Crusaders – where he simply kept the Blues quiet in all fronts tonight on the blindside flanker role at No.6. His tall build, leadership & physicality gave him an outlook of how the Blues play their rugby before the mistakes began to pile up on their end, as he capitalised on it defensively. Matera can also be dangerous in the attack where he made up two 2nd 40 TRY assists off the back of winning penalties/turnovers/intercepts; One for the opening big score to Bryn Hall and another with the cross kick to Sevu Reece that secured them the Super Rugby Pacific title.

Next up is Richie Mo’unga who has to be the best playmaker out of the No.10s tonight for the Crusaders ahead of Beauden Barrett – his opposite dial over at The Blues. We love how he kickstarted the match with two three-point goals while he sets up the attack with a mix of pace, team-work and passing that requires persistence to get past the Blues through the gate. That is one big area his opponents couldn’t match where the Saders took care of his creative work off the back of winning penalties/turnovers being given to them with the ball, and they managed to get the job done with two 2nd-half tries tonight.

And Dalton Papalii made a huge difference for the Blues off the bench throughout the 2nd half on the openside back row. He too gave the Crusaders some nerves having created a line break going forward with some pace, as well as being the main man cheering them up with the scrum and maul feed. He unpacked all of these attributes when being tested both in attack and defense that gave the Blues a lift thanks to Finlay Christie’s TRY with 20 minutes to go. However, the continuous mistakes limited their attacking chances to get the job done that saw them settle as 2nd best, especially at line-out time where inaccurate throws cost the Blues time after time before it’s too late.

#SuperRugby #Rugby #TheBlues #Crusaders #EdenPark #PabloMatera #RichieMounga #DaltonPapalii #RugbyUnion

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