Australian Rugby, A Pathway Forward

[Burgs]

2. Arguably the second most important event of the 2027 Campaign is on Stan this Thursday.
Australian Schools & U18s v New Zealand Schools - Trans-Tasman U18s Test 1 2023
Starts: 12:00pm 28 September 2023 (Test 2- 9:00am 2 October 2023)
How this Squad conducts themselves (not just the result) and, far more importantly, how Rugby Australia conduct themselves around player retention, will set the tone going forward. With potentially only the 2024 Under 20‘s the exception, the pool of players that will have any meaningful influence on RWC ’27 is now known, with the majority only to be culled from, not added to.

Was a mixed outing for the lads.
Unfortunately lost their #8 in the first couple of minutes and down a man for 20 minutes under a Red, which I think combined led to a distinct drop off in the second half.
Was a very competitive 55 minutes before the NZ XV slowly gained ascendency and the scoreline isn't reflective of the first 50.

That said, the Australian pack absolutely smashed them, gaining repeated Penalties on both loose and tight feed.
You couldn't fail to be impressed and the starting Front Row (particularly TH) should be names to nurture-
1. Macarius Pereira (QLD Reds, St Joseph's Nudgee College)
2. Oliver Barrett (QLD Reds, St Joseph's Nudgee College)
3. Will Goddard (NSW Waratahs, Knox Grammar School)

A massive boot on the #15, better than most seniors and another to bring through for sure
15. Finn Prass (QLD Reds, Brothers Rugby Club)

That said, they weren't alone, this is a competitive selection that on a different day could have won. The next match is on Stan on Monday.

[Burgs]

It seems a little telling that the last Rugby Union player inducted to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame was Tim Horan in 2006...

[shasta]

It seems a little telling that the last Rugby Union player inducted to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame was Tim Horan in 2006...

Interesting. Snowy baker is more than 4 years retired.
I looked up the criteria and it seems a purely sports award with part emphasis on leadership. Much was made of Thurston's community work with his award yesterday, though. As was Brad Fittlers work supporting the homeless and bush footy last year. So maybe that plays a part, even if not officially.
On those criteria you might think Pocock and Eales could've been in contention.
EDIT:
Actually, I thought it so unlikely John Eales missed out that I checked. Inducted before Horan in 2003

[Burgs]

Actually, I thought it so unlikely John Eales missed out that I checked. Inducted before Horan in 2003

Eales is the only Union player "upgraded" to Legend of Australian Sport.

[shasta]

Surprised and disappointed to read that Noddy has apparently debunked from the pro-5 franchise/pro Force camp. Well, actually more surprised that he has joined the simplistic 5 divide 3 = a pineapple bandwagon. That's to say basically..... the Wallabies were awesome when they were selected mainly from only NSW & Qld, despite that being in the amateur days. Even awesomer when the Brumbies arrived in the early SR days.

At that time NZ, Aus & ZA were ahead of the game in terms of fitness, style of play and probably coaching. But that's not why they were on top of the rankings. Times were good because players developed cohesion due to playing together & against each other often. So returning to that situation will undoubtedly provide the magic bullet to lead us back to such glory days; stop the bastard Mungos & AFL bogans laughing at Rugby's current situation and even get more kids playing Rugby.

That completely ignores that the 2 major states of old rarely played more than a couple of matches a year. Also that the game has gone completely pro & that all the NH & even Pacific metrics have changed to meet that challenge. Give yourself an uppercut Michael.

https://www.watoday.com.au/sport/rug...09-p5easq.html

[GIGS20]

I am still to have anybody even attempt to answer my question of how did results reflect the wisdom of the decision the last time a team was killed off.

I usually start with
Bledisloe Cups won - 0
Rugby World Cups won - 0
Super Rugby Titles won - 0

I'm sure I could compare total test win percentage from then and now and it'd work out favourably, I could also discuss how much change in playing personnel at Wallaby level and number of Super Rugby victories against Kiwi sides and come up with a pretty solid argument that it achieved precisely nothing other than requiring the Giteau law to be locked in place.

But i don't need to do that work because everybody is avoiding the discussion

[jargan83]

Eales is the only Union player "upgraded" to Legend of Australian Sport.

John Eales was a part of the board that cut the Force in 2017 so he can go and f**k himself.

[jargan83]

I am still to have anybody even attempt to answer my question of how did results reflect the wisdom of the decision the last time a team was killed off.

I usually start with
Bledisloe Cups won - 0
Rugby World Cups won - 0
Super Rugby Titles won - 0

I'm sure I could compare total test win percentage from then and now and it'd work out favourably, I could also discuss how much change in playing personnel at Wallaby level and number of Super Rugby victories against Kiwi sides and come up with a pretty solid argument that it achieved precisely nothing other than requiring the Giteau law to be locked in place.

But i don't need to do that work because everybody is avoiding the discussion

Yeah but this time they're talking about cutting two teams which means they'll achieve the same results twice as fast.

What's 2 x 0?

Edit:

I looked up the Wallabies results after the Force got axed in 2017:

2018 - Won 4/10
2019 - 6/10 (two were against Georgia and Uruguay)

You could include 2020 when the Force were invited to Super Rugby Australia because of Covid border closures puely because from memory most of the squad was the squad that was assembled for GRR.

2020 - Australia won 1/6.

[bootsetal06]

The rest of World Rugby are hoping like hell the teams are cut ASAP so that they can get their hands on the discarded/ overlooked talent that will be available……

[James]

The cohesion argument is a poor one. How does it stack up in France?

We have had some poor coaching across all levels. We don't have enough games for wider squads. Fix that and you'll see a different national team.

[WFDom]

John Eales was a part of the board that cut the Force in 2017 so he can go and f**k himself.

Absolutely!

Someone put his e-mail address up at the time, so I fired one off before going to bed on night whilst I was away at work. To my surprise he answered and we swapped a few robust emails. I offered up my mobile number for a call & to his credit he did.

I admire the man for what he did on the field. But nothing he wrote or said changed my mind about the move to cut us being the underhand back stabbing we all knew it to be.

There was genuine remorse on his part..... an empathetic East coast executioner.

[GIGS20]

The cohesion argument is a poor one. How does it stack up in France?

We have had some poor coaching across all levels. We don't have enough games for wider squads. Fix that and you'll see a different national team.

Hoiles was the first one who mentioned cutting teams (at least the first I heard) it was in the wrap up of the Wales match so I think he'd be amongst the first.

He then followed it up with a statement that the Pacific Islands need to play more rugby to be competitive, so on one hand he's saying less rugby makes you better and on the other, more rugby makes you better.

I never had a very high opinion of him, but that has plummeted

[GIGS20]

Absolutely!

Someone put his e-mail address up at the time, so I fired one off before going to bed on night whilst I was away at work. To my surprise he answered and we swapped a few robust emails. I offered up my mobile number for a call & to his credit he did.

I admire the man for what he did on the field. But nothing he wrote or said changed my mind about the move to cut us being the underhand back stabbing we all knew it to be.

There was genuine remorse on his part..... an empathetic East coast executioner.

I reckon it would have held your confidence more if he'd voted against the move and been overruled by others........

[wholetruth]

Hoiles was the first one who mentioned cutting teams (at least the first I heard) it was in the wrap up of the Wales match so I think he'd be amongst the first.

He then followed it up with a statement that the Pacific Islands need to play more rugby to be competitive, so on one hand he's saying less rugby makes you better and on the other, more rugby makes you better.

I never had a very high opinion of him, but that has plummeted

I think Stephen Moore, among others, was already on the bandwagon before Hoiles.
It's all about paying lip service to their paymasters.

[wholetruth]

I reckon it would have held your confidence more if he'd voted against the move and been overruled by others........

I remember Canno calling for Eales to resign. Eales was actually in the meeting with Twiggy and when the axe fell he wouldn't comment. As good a player as he was he was always in for what he could get himself quite frankly. He also said the Senate inquiry was a waste of time. I wonder why?