Page 5 of 36 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 15 ... LastLast
Results 61 to 75 of 535

Thread: Official Alan Jones thread

  1. #61
    Veteran sittingbison's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    North Freo
    Posts
    2,800
    vCash
    5000000
    Quote Originally Posted by Bakkies View Post
    I see the RA has found more 'money' for a six figure salary. They have just announced a Chief Commercial Officer.
    They've got $6m in the cookie jar... The Force filthy lucre was never going to "grassroots"

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor

  2. #62
    Veteran Bakkies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    3,728
    vCash
    5000000
    Wallabies did well but that can’t cover over cracks in the game

    The Australian
    12:00AM June 29, 2018

    Alan Jones


    Radio broadcaster



    Considering all the circumstances, the Wallabies did well to get as close to Ireland as they did.

    What the Wallaby performance demonstrated, yet again, is that no matter the mess the game is in, and it is in a mess, we have outstanding rugby potential at our disposal. That said, there are many diehard rugby fans who would feel that we were badly done by last Saturday.

    A couple of things should be said. Israel Folau’s yellow card was utter nonsense. If this continues, we are taking all the athleticism out of the game.

    Folau under the high ball is a magnificent spectacle. It’s glorious sporting aesthetics but he collides with someone who hits the ground and Folau is suspended for a week.

    Someone is kidding. Everything you do in a contact sport is capable of incurring an injury. If you don’t want to take that risk, you don’t play.

    Then there’s the refereeing. Almost universally, and without whingeing, the predominant sentiment ventilated after the match was that the refereeing was woeful.

    The best referees in world rugby are Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes. Barnes was put in charge of the Test between the USA and Canada and Nigel Owens was refereeing Georgia and Japan. Is someone telling us we’ve sunk so low in world rugby that we merit, at best, a third or fourth-ranked referee?

    Ireland versus Australia on Saturday night was second versus fourth in the world. It was given to a French referee. The assistant referee, Cameron Stone, has no experience, even at Super Rugby level. How the hell was he given a Test?

    I’d make two final points regarding last Saturday. Ireland can’t win the World Cup with this side. There are too many players who will be over the hill by the time the World Cup comes around. They will have to rebuild.

    Mind you, the Irish grassroots system is such that they may well be able to do that. But they had eight players in their starting line-up on Saturday over the age of 28.

    Australia, with the talent, could be anything. But we have to fix the lack of height at the back of the lineout and we have to move the ball away from the ruck to give room for people like Kurtley Beale and Folau to express their gifts.

    And the one thing the Wallabies have to learn is how to win when the situation is tight. Michael Cheika’s sides have lost too many close games. The Ireland team, when push turns to shove, can eke out a victory and that’s what they did in Melbourne and Sydney.

    However, the very respectable performance by the Wallabies can’t be allowed to mask the deep-seated problems that continue to afflict the game.

    I had a letter from a parent last week thanking me for my articles in this newspaper and telling me that his 11-year-old son had won awards as an outstanding all-round player.

    He’s been captain of his district side. He’s played representative rugby. And then the father says this:

    “ … Over the last couple of weeks, he’s told me about his passion to now play rugby league or AFL. I thought it was a fad thing, as we also support the Roosters. But he’s become more and more passionate about other codes. As parents, we couldn’t understand why he would want to move away from a game he seemed to enjoy, from which he receives accolades and in which he excels. Two nights ago, I drilled down to why he had so much passion for the other sports and not for rugby. His answer was ‘rugby is dying’.”

    As the parent says to me: “If we’ve got problems of perception at this level, then we’ve really got problems.”

    But no wonder kids are deserting the code. As I said last week, there’s no money for grassroots rugby. But there’s money for a big announcement a couple of days ago that a bloke by the name of Cameron Murray had been appointed to the “new role of chief commercial officer at Rugby Australia”. What the hell is this about?

    And in the media release, we were told that Murray “will provide strong leadership across Rugby Australia’s commercial programs, including our partnerships, marketing and operations teams …” Are you any the wiser as to what he will do?

    Remember, the Western Force were eliminated from Super Rugby because we couldn’t afford them. But we can now afford to appoint some bloke as a chief commercial officer.

    So the staff at Head Office climbs towards 150. To do what, I have no idea.

    Raelene Castle has had no difficulty finding a sympathetic ear among sections of the media to talk in jargon and rhetoric without any evidence that she knows anything about the game.

    Her observations include, “We’ve got really great relationships with our four Super Rugby franchises.

    “We’re around the table much more regularly and we’re having the difficult conversations, but making sure we’re coming through the front door, rather than having them in back rooms.”

    What the hell does that mean?

    Raelene, I think there will be more difficult conversations to be had in the future, with a new collective bargaining agreement to be negotiated in 2020, along with a new broadcast deal.

    The vast majority of Rugby Australia’s revenue comes from the broadcast deal. So if the new broadcast offer in 2020 is less than the current offer, Rugby Australia will be forced to cut costs.

    They have form in abandoning franchises. Who is to say the Brumbies or the Rebels would be safe if there’s another round of cost-cutting in the future?

    In another platitudinous and meaningless observation, Castle said: “We all know the power of the Wallaby brand and the importance of the Wallaby brand to opening the rugby public’s support for the game. We’ve seen it in context here over the last three weeks. The fact that we’ve had three almost sold-out stadiums and two great Test matches is what people want to see.” The fact is, the Wallabies beat an Ireland B side in the first Test match and after losing the series have slipped to fifth in the world.

    Yes, the Test matches were well attended and yes, the stadiums had good crowds. But we should point out that half the crowd were wearing Irish jerseys and singing Irish songs.

    To put it in perspective, the Tests were played in small stadiums in Melbourne and Sydney.

    Not the MCG or ANZ Stadium.

    Talking about the Wallaby “brand”, Castle notes: “It’s a brand within the rugby world that’s incredibly well respected and the commercial opportunities that unlocks for us, being an Australian organisation looking to go into the Japanese market for two and a half years, with a Bledisloe Test match, a Rugby World Cup and an Olympics, could really maximise the power of the Wallaby brand.”

    This is gold medal jargon. She obviously wants the rugby organisation to be more bullish about the Wallabies’ brand overseas, using it to generate revenue to invest back home.

    But why is Raelene Castle taking the third Bledisloe Cup match to Japan on October 27?

    I suppose she’s taking it there because a promoter will guarantee her cash and she’s afraid nobody in Australia will turn up to a dead-rubber third Test held in one of our stadiums. The going rate for the All Blacks to play abroad is $2 million so the Wallabies can expect about $1 million.

    How do I know this? When I coached the Barbarians against the Wallabies last year, the promoters had to pay the Wallabies $1m to play the game.

    But Raelene wasn’t finished with the jargon. She said last week: “We need to be using the Wallabies brand to make sure we’re maximising those opportunities and every dollar we can generate is an extra dollar we can invest in the rugby community and the grassroots.”

    I beg your pardon! Last year, Rugby Australia spent just over $3m on grassroots rugby. This year, the AFL will spend $253m on grassroots footy.

    Rugby Australia has spent more on marketing the Test matches than they did on the community game. The fact is, you can’t put that $1m from the Yokohama Test directly into grassroots rugby, because under the new collective bargaining agreement, 29 per cent of the revenue must go to the players.

    So what about the other 71 per cent? We only have to have a look at how Castle and Rugby Australia chairman Cameron Clyne have spent the $5m they saved by chopping the Western Force.

    According to the bean counters, that $5m has been mostly spent on expanded Super Rugby squads and improving the pay for the Sevens teams.

    The grassroots have been dudded and so too have the loyal rugby supporters in WA.

    One final thought, which has inspired a lot of comment from my readers. It baffles me how Rod Kafer can work for Rugby Australia and pitch up to commentate for Fox Sports in their coverage of the Wallabies. How this bloke can double-dip from the nose bag of rugby is astounding.

    One irony escapes our rugby administrators. We expect of our players and coaches clear thinking under pressure and good judgment in the use of the football.

    Rugby administrators can’t be expected to escape similar scrutiny. Sadly, there is a decided incapacity of administrators to think clearly under pressure.

    And as for good judgment, the cupboard is bare.

    ■ Alan Jones will be on leave for the next three weeks. His column will return on July 27. Jones is a former coach of the Wallabies and hosts The Alan Jones Breakfast Show on 2GB and the Macquarie radio network and is host of Jones & Co on Sky News at 8pm on Tuesdays.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Last edited by Bakkies; 29-06-18 at 06:59.
    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

  3. #63
    Legend Contributor
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    5,256
    vCash
    5096000
    Arrant hypocrisy Jones bleating about some kid saying that Rugby is dying. Now where might he have gotten that idea from???

    Either it is true and not merely a perception, or some commentators are a bit guilty of gonzo journalism and doing the very damage they moan about.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  4. #64
    Veteran Bakkies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    3,728
    vCash
    5000000
    Quote Originally Posted by AndyS View Post
    Arrant hypocrisy Jones bleating about some kid saying that Rugby is dying. Now where might he have gotten that idea from???

    Either it is true and not merely a perception, or some commentators are a bit guilty of gonzo journalism and doing the very damage they moan about.
    It is barely breathing in Australia as it is run by incompetents and parasites based in Moore Park. Clubs and schools are getting chicken feed from Moore Park's distribution to the state unions for Community Rugby. The state unions can't afford to hire more development officers so the clubs and schools are having to do the work themselves out of their own budget. The clubs have had enough and I am not talking about Shute Shield clubs with 500k Rugby programs like Norths have.

    A paltry $3 million was distributed out with $1 million of that going to the NSWRU. De Clyne's mates at the VRU received 200k more than Rugby WA and the ACT and Southern NSWRU. The Brumbies have had enough and are looking at alternatives.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

  5. #65
    Veteran Sheikh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    4,892
    vCash
    28840136
    To bring up a couple of things from Jones' article:
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Jones View Post
    A couple of things should be said. Israel Folau’s yellow card was utter nonsense. If this continues, we are taking all the athleticism out of the game.

    Folau under the high ball is a magnificent spectacle. It’s glorious sporting aesthetics but he collides with someone who hits the ground and Folau is suspended for a week.

    Someone is kidding. Everything you do in a contact sport is capable of incurring an injury. If you don’t want to take that risk, you don’t play.
    While correct that in a contact sport everything you do is capable of incurring an injury, this leaves the players beholden to respect the other team and not go out to cause injury. Grabbing a player whilst they are in the air and pulling them sideways and off-balance is the sort of thing which is liable to cause an injury. Folau should have been given a yellow for the earlier contact (9th minute). To complain that Folau should be allowed to play in a manner which increases the risk of injury to other players just because it looks good to the viewers is possibly one of the silliest things Jones has ever said.
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Jones View Post
    Then there’s the refereeing. Almost universally, and without whingeing, the predominant sentiment ventilated after the match was that the refereeing was woeful.

    The best referees in world rugby are Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes. Barnes was put in charge of the Test between the USA and Canada and Nigel Owens was refereeing Georgia and Japan. Is someone telling us we’ve sunk so low in world rugby that we merit, at best, a third or fourth-ranked referee?

    Ireland versus Australia on Saturday night was second versus fourth in the world. It was given to a French referee. The assistant referee, Cameron Stone, has no experience, even at Super Rugby level. How the hell was he given a Test?
    Why should the top teams get the best referees all the time? Surely the top teams have better players and so, by definition, don't require the top referees. Besides which, Pascal Gauzere isn't a rookie nobody - he was one of the refs selected for the last World Cup, and is on the IRB's panel of elite referees. He will probably be in Japan next year, which brings me onto this:
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Jones View Post
    Ireland can’t win the World Cup with this side. There are too many players who will be over the hill by the time the World Cup comes around. They will have to rebuild.
    Rebuild? For next year? Does Jones not realise that the next World Cup is a year away? Sexton's the oldest member of the squad, and he's only 32. Cronin & Kearney are also 32 and Toner's 31. The average age of the touring side was 26.5. The average age of the Wallabies squad was 25.4, and that was with four hookers with a combined 6 caps before the series and a number of other uncapped or barely-capped players (Tupou, Rodda, Tui, Samu, Timu, Gordon, Powell, Banks & Maddocks)

    2 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

  6. #66
    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Rockingham
    Posts
    20,476
    vCash
    1276000
    What really gets me with all the bleating about folau is the myth that he was playiinnng for the ball. I watched the second one, and sure, playing for the ball got him in the air, but he realised pretty early that he was out of position and looked down at his opposition, why grab him by the chest when you realise you've lost the contest?

    The yellow was deserved, Si nice the outcome of the foul is the yardstick these days, he's lucky it wasn't red.

    And regardless of whether it was a fairytale, Jones is right, rugby is dying and it will take a defibrillator to change that.

    Hopefully wsr will be enough.

    2 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    C'mon the

  7. #67
    Player UAUdiver1959's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Mullaloo
    Posts
    371
    vCash
    5000000
    Quote Originally Posted by Bakkies View Post
    What's he doing for a crust these days?
    He is on LinkedIn as a Consultant for his company FiveTwoOne.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  8. #68
    Veteran Bakkies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    3,728
    vCash
    5000000
    Hopefully not providing consultancy for related services to the RA.

    https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/ne...after-14839285

    After reading this doozy about Wasps I wonder how KPMG are going with their internal audits after they signed off on the RA's creative 'accounting.'

    PwC resigns as auditor for Wasps after recent accounts revealed 'falsified' information and "uncertainty"
    In the most recent accounts information was 'falsified'

    71
    SHARES
    13
    COMMENTS
    ByLaura HartleySenior Reporter
    11:08, 28 JUN 2018
    Following recent 'falsified' accounts for Wasps, PwC have now resigned as their auditors.

    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were the registered auditors for Wasps, but they have now confirmed they are resigning due to the 'seriousness of the events' regarding the previous accounts.

    PwC said following the completion of their audit, they do not consider it appropriate to continue as auditors.

    The resignation was published on Companies House earlier this week.

    The auditors cast a shadow of doubt on the future of the club after its accounts revealed it is relying on shareholder cash to stay afloat.

    A full document was uploaded to Companies House from PwC explaining their reasons for resignation.

    The letter, dated May 19 2018, was the day the resignation became effective.

    Below is information contained in the letter from PwC.

    "The reason we are ceasing to hold office is that, as set out in our audit report on the financial statements of Wasps Holdings Limited for the year ended 30 June 2017, during the course of our audit we were provided with evidence which our testing revealed to have been falsified.

    "Given the seriousness of these events, following completion of our audit we do not consider it appropriate that we continue as auditors."

    What did the accounts say?
    Independent auditors assessing the group's accounts for the year up to June 2017 say there is “material uncertainty” over whether Wasps can continue as a “going concern”.

    Wasps Finance Plc is relying on shareholder support from Irish millionaire owner Derek Richardson to be able to meet its ongoing cash flow requirements and bond covenants, according to the report.

    But it stressed the club had enough cash to continue operating for the "foreseeable future" an that directors were "satisfied that existing shareholder support will continue".

    Mr Richardson has previously bankrolled the club to the tune of millions of pounds prior to the move to Coventry in 2014.

    The auditors report said: "If shareholder support should not be forthcoming, the Group would have insufficient cash without securing additional funding to meet its ongoing liabilities, which include the payment of interest to the Company."

    It added: "These 15 month forecasts show that the Group continues to be dependent on the financial support of its shareholder, Derek Richardson, with financial contributions needed to fund ongoing cash flow requirements and to meet bond covenants.

    "The directors are satisfied that existing shareholder support will continue to be forthcoming...However, as this letter of support is not legally binding, the directors have drawn attention to the risk that shareholder support is not forthcoming in disclosing a material uncertainty relating to going concern in the basis of preparation to the financial statements."

    Wasps Finance plc was set up to handle the £35 million bond scheme launched to fans in April 2015.

    It sits under parent company Wasps Holdings Group (WHL), which also consists of Wasps Holdings Limited, which runs the rugby club, Ricoh arena business Arena Coventry Limited and events company IEC Experience Limited.

    Wasps was also criticised by the auditors over "falsified" information concerning a financial irregularity that saw the accounts delayed by more than three months.

    Wasps Group, which runs the rugby club and the Ricoh Arena, overstated its earnings after declaring a £1.1million cash injection from “ultimate shareholder” Derek Richardson as revenue instead of as a capital contribution.

    The report said: "During the year, WHL [Wasps Group] recognised income of £1.1m relating to a risk mitigation contract.

    "Management considered that this arrangement was with an independent third party, and that there was commercial substance to the transaction.

    "We focused on this transaction as our initial audit procedures identified that receipts from this arrangement came from Derek Richardson, the company's ultimate controlling party, and we had questions as to the commercial substance of the transaction.

    "In the course of our audit enquiries into the above, we were provided with evidence which our testing revealed to have been falsified.

    "We undertook additional audit procedures to establish the facts behind the transaction and to determine whether other key audit evidence was reliable.

    "Our extended testing did not identify any other issues with the evidence supporting the financial statements of WHL."

    The report also revealed that one of the group's auditors - PricewaterhouseCoopers- had announced it was "resigning" following the accounting irregularities.

    The discrepancy was picked up by auditors - who also decided the payment came too late to go in the 2017 accounts - and delayed the filing of accounts for Wasps Finance Plc for the year ending June 30, 2017.

    The accounts should have been with Companies House by the end of 2017.

    And because they were not it also meant the group had breached the rules of its £35million bonds scheme - which have been popular with investors who earn a fixed gross interest of 6.5 per cent a year until 2022, paid semi-annually.

    Wasps Finance Plc, which was set up to handle the bond scheme launched in April 2015, had to ask bondholders to waive the breach in its rules on the ratio of earnings to costs at a meeting and replenish the interest reserve account by way of shareholder investment on January 19, delaying the accounts.

    What did Wasps say?
    Talking about the falsified evidence, a spokesman for the club said: “This was an isolated incident, entirely at odds with our policy of maintaining the highest standards of governance.

    "The matter has been addressed directly and as we announced in December, a number of measures have been put in place to strengthen the robustness of the Group’s reporting and accounting procedures.”

    What's the club's financial position?
    The receipt of interest receivable and compliance with the Retail Bond financial covenants for Wasps Finance Plc are dependent upon the performance of parent group - Wasps Holdings Group (WHG).

    The group has net assets of £13.6million but made a loss of £3,809,000 in the current year.

    Last year, losses totalled £6,370,000.

    WHG has current net liabilities of £7,877,000, up from £7,202,000 at the end of 2016.

    The amount of cash held by Wasps Finance Plc at the bank and in hand fell slightly from £1,772,000 at the end of 2016 to £1,139,000 at the end of 2017.

    Its debt consists of a £35million tradeable bond held on the LSE Retail Bond market.

    coventrytelegraph

    1 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Last edited by Bakkies; 30-06-18 at 21:47.
    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

  9. #69
    Apprentice
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    12
    vCash
    5000000
    That is very interesting

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  10. #70
    Veteran Bakkies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    3,728
    vCash
    5000000
    Quote Originally Posted by Joey View Post
    That is very interesting
    Yeah it is. After all those corporate collapses over the past 10 years auditing companies have to make themselves accountable.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

  11. #71
    Senior Player
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Killara
    Posts
    507
    vCash
    5000000
    Quote Originally Posted by Bakkies View Post
    Yeah it is. After all those corporate collapses over the past 10 years auditing companies have to make themselves accountable.
    Do they?
    The delinquency of the auditors was one of the main reasons behind accounting scandals like Waste Management, Enron, WorldCom and Tyco.

    In spite of their ineffective auditing efforts, the major accounting firms earned truckloads of fees for auditing those arrant companies. Has anyone ever heard of an accounting firm handing back its fees because it did a bad job of auditing?

    Then the accounting firms convinced Congress to pass even more accounting regulations, q.v. Sarbanes-Oxley, which imposed even more stringent compliance and audit criteria on companies.

    So having been major parties in the original accounting scandals, the accounting firms have managed to get themselves rewarded with even more truckloads of fees for SOx compliance and audit.

    Now that is a win-win situation!

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  12. #72
    Veteran valzc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Denmark WA
    Posts
    2,838
    vCash
    5060000
    Is anyone able to post Wayne Smiths article today re SANZAAR meeting, it’s behind paywall.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  13. #73
    Rookie JPR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    74
    vCash
    5000000
    Quote Originally Posted by valzc View Post
    Is anyone able to post Wayne Smiths article today re SANZAAR meeting, it’s behind paywall.
    Extract from today's, The Australian written by Wayne Smith.

    "Super Rugby Solutions likely to Resist Change"

    SANZAAR will hold its last meeting in Singapore today before assembling in September to make the tough calls on the future of Super Rugby but all indications are that “more of the same” can be expected.

    Rugby Australia, which will be represented today by CEO Raelene Castle and deputy chairman Brett Robinson, have done months of war-gaming ahead of the crucial meeting in September, including polling 800 fans, but when push comes to shove in SANZAAR politics, it’s clear that the Australians are not masters of their own destiny.

    For all the talk of South Africa exiting Super Rugby to go into Europe, bolstering their former Super Rugby sides the Cheetahs and Southern Kings in the Pro14 competition, there is no real evidence that this is seriously being considered. Short term, at least, South Africa look wedded to both Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship.

    The only change being pushed by New Zealand is the abolition of the conference system which was put in place to ensure that foundation joint venturers, Australia and South Africa, would each host at least one Super Rugby quarter-final.

    The fact that All Black captain Kieran Read came out with a call for the conferences to be axed just two days before the meeting makes it unmistakably clear that abolishing it is New Zealand Rugby’s policy.

    It is understandable that the Kiwis would object to their teams, who currently occupy four of the top five places on the Super Rugby table, having to travel to Australia or, worse, the republic for quarter-finals against lower-ranked sides.

    A solution might be to give New Zealand two automatic home finals and yet one only has to track back to 2014 — when the Waratahs, Crusaders, Sharks and Brumbies filled the top four placings — to find an example of the Kiwis not dominating the competition. It is irrefutable that New Zealand have dominated Super Rugby but even they are subject to cyclical variations.

    Whether Japan maintain their place in Super Rugby remains to be seen, although the recent surge of the Sunwolves is certainly timely. At present, everything in Japanese rugby is being done to ensure the success of the Japanese side in next year’s World Cup but thereafter all bets are off.

    Certainly SANZAAR will need to be convinced the major corporations that compete in Japan’s domestic rugby competition, the Top League, will continue to support Super Rugby. Otherwise, the claims of a Pacific Islands team will be hard to refute.

    Australia are likely to raise at the meeting the subject of match officials and inconsistent rulings both on the field and at SANZAAR judiciaries. There have, however, been strong suggestions that SANZAAR will cut the current cohort of 17 match officials back to 10 senior referees who will be appointed to all major Super Rugby games. There is likely to be a further panel of five developmental referees for lesser matches.

    Both Wallabies fullback Israel Folau and All Black five-eighth Beauden Barrett yesterday called on officials, at SANZAAR and World Rugby levels, to clarify aerial contests for the ball. Barrett was concussed in such a contest against France while Folau was suspended for a week for an incident in the Irish Test when he was deemed to have caused Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony to fall heavily.

    Folau insisted he would continue to leap for ball in the air. “I won’t change anything around my game,” he said.

    “I understand the dangers of being in the air. The last thing you want for yourself or the opposing player is to get any serious injury. It’s up to World Rugby to clear it up and hopefully they can do it sooner rather than later.”

    Meanwhile, lawyers representing Wallaby Karmichael Hunt have requested their client be allowed back to work for the Queensland Reds, who have made him persona non grata since his arrest for drug possession in December.
    Seemingly the Reds cannot prevent him and have devised a reconditioning program for him, though it is highly unlikely he will play in either of their two remaining Super Rugby matches over the next fortnight.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    One Team - One Dream - Go The Western Force

  14. #74
    Veteran chibi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Chinatown, Roe St
    Posts
    3,019
    vCash
    5332000
    No one cares. Are they going to do anything about that?

    How about something radical to ensure that all the best players in the world from the five participating Super Rugby nations are playing in it? No more players in Europe and the Japan Top League. Maybe SA and Australia need more of the pay-TV pie to stave off the Rand/Euro exchange rate issues or to halt the encroachment of AFL and Aussie soccer? Can't find any billionaire private investors anywhere for the franchises? Don't billionaires find the game attractive? No?

    Ah well...

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!


    Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!

    Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?

  15. #75
    Veteran valzc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Denmark WA
    Posts
    2,838
    vCash
    5060000
    Well a few twats on GAGR apparently believe RA are working with Twiggy on developing the NRC in Australia. Castle seems to have given the impression that everything is AOK with RA & Twiggy - wish someone would enlighten them.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

Page 5 of 36 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 15 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Go Alan Jones!
    By WF2006 in forum Western Force
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 12-09-17, 19:29
  2. Alan Jones Smashes Clyne
    By LMSC in forum Western Force
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 12-04-17, 16:07
  3. The 2010 Quiz Night Official Thread
    By The InnFORCEr in forum Public Bar
    Replies: 125
    Last Post: 01-07-14, 22:28
  4. Alan Jones interview
    By Happy in forum Wallabies
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 20-10-11, 13:06
  5. official TWF piss up thread.....
    By Irish Welsh boyo in forum Western Force
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 12-02-06, 15:09

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •