The flavour of the competition will never be the same and it remains to be seen if Australia and New Zealand teams can fill the gapFor 26 years club rugby in the southern hemisphere had a distinctive flavour profile. There have been some interesting garnishes, with produce from Japan, Argentina and, more recently, the Pacific Islands enriching the plate. But from the dawn of the professional age in 1996 until the Covid-enforced hiatus in 2020, the three main ingredients have come from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.But now Super Rugby has “lost a bit of spice”, at least according to John Plumtree, the now Durban-based Sharks coach and former All Blacks assistant. Continue reading...
In a World Cup year, the coaches of Australia’s five provinces are as much on notice as the playersThe first wave of final auditions for the Wallabies 2023 World Cup squad is about to begin, as Super Rugby Pacific kicks off on Friday with the ACT Brumbies v NSW Waratahs. With Australia seventh in the world rugby rankings, there’s plenty to do and not much time to do it - there is little more than six months until the first pool game in France on 8 September.Already, new Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has likened the task to “a smash-and-grab job”. Luckily, Rugby Australia has hired the wiliest thief in the game: a man with an 82% win-rate at four World...
Victory over the Crusaders has the potential to have a ripple effect beyond the borders of NSW to the world of rugby beyondThe date 30 April 2022 will live in renown, not just for the NSW Waratahs, but more broadly for Australian rugby and the Super Rugby Pacific competition as a whole. The Waratahs upset the Crusaders 24-21 at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday afternoon to confirm the resurgence of the men in sky blue under new coach Darren Coleman.There has been a marked improvement in the Waratahs’ play this season, but no one saw that stunning result coming. NSW were rank outsiders, but that was not apparent as they took on the most successful team in the history of Super...
With an All Black tight five, the Christchurch side are powerful in the ruck and they can really do some damage through Richie Mo’unga and David HaviliWarren Gatland is kidding no one when he says there is not much difference between playing the Super Rugby teams and the All Blacks. He’s trying to take the pressure off his players but they’ve just lost to the Blues, who haven’t beaten another Kiwi side all season. Test level is a different, much bigger beast and when it’s the full-blooded All Blacks against the Lions the levels of pressure and intensity will go right through the roof.While losing to the Blues was a blow it wasn’t fatal and now they come to the...