Rob Penney, sacked by the Waratahs midway through the 2021 season after five straight losses, will return to Super Rugby as a replacement for the competition’s most successful coach. Penney returns to his roots in Canterbury and will take over from All Blacks bound Scott Robertson after this campaign. Under Penney, NSW won just five of 19 matches (26 per cent) and he was let go after five straight losses in 2021. “I’m excited and honoured to have been selected to lead the coaching group at the Crusaders from 2024 onwards,” Penney said in a statement on Tuesday. He coached the NSW Waratahs fro ..read more

As Leon MacDonald welcomed the return of Beauden Barrett, his coaching counterpart Darren Coleman firmly took hold of the underdog status as his Waratahs side resembled the walking wounded. While Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham attempted to paint a rosy picture that his side were in strong health ahead of their crunch knockout match against Jason Holland’s Hurricanes on Saturday. It was all fun and games on Monday afternoon, but the pleasantries are about to stop. The respective coaches of the Waratahs and Blues, Brumbies and Hurricanes jumped on zooms on Monday afternoon ahead of this weekend ..read more

With the regular season done and dusted The Roar’s experts turned selection panel to decide our Australian Super Rugby Team of the Year for 2023. The five panelists found accord in key positions: Carter Gordon, Len Ikitau, Tom Wright, Nick Frost, Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight made everyone’s list. Also, with Namibia’s own Richard Hardwick sneaking into some lists, it’s important to point out that this was a team selected from the Australian franchises. Here’s what the Roar’s rugby experts decided Christy Doran Team (1-15): James Slipper, Lachie Lonergan, Sam Talakai, Nick Frost, Cadeyrn Ne ..read more

No one expected Eddie Jones to be as middle of the road as his predecessor Dave Rennie, but perhaps we weren’t prepared for him to lurch all over it on the journey to the Rugby World Cup. Five days after Jones set the cat amongst the RA marketing pigeons over his future, Jones has finally opted to clarify what he meant when he said he would be quitting after the World Cup, win or lose. I know this will come as a huge shock to precisely none of you – but he now says he’s staying. “I’m only coaching to this World Cup,” Jones said on the Evening Standard podcast last week. “I’ve signed, but  ..read more

Almost four years after representing the Wallabies at the 2019 World Cup, Christian Leali’ifano looks set to appear in his second straight tournament later this year. But it won’t be with Eddie Jones’ Wallabies, but Samoa. The 35-year-old, who was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2016 and missed almost a year of action on the field, revealed he is set to gain approval to play for Samoa at the World Cup after World Rugby changed its eligibility laws on January 1, 2022.    “I think I’m close. I think we’re just waiting on the form or the documents. I’m not too sure but I thi ..read more

After Saturday night’s abysmal showing, Waratahs coach Darren Coleman has a real test of faith ahead of Friday night’s quarter-final against the Blues at Eden Park. Matches at the graveyard of Australian rugby are generally lost on the little moments; a kick booted out on the full, a ball that goes to ground and a wobbling set-piece. On Saturday against a physical Moana Pasifika side with threats across the park – Solomone Funaki is destructive, Levi Aumua is a beast and Timoci Tavatavanawai is a tackle-busting machine – the Waratahs’ young backline struggled to execute under pressure. The Blu ..read more

We’ve all heard the arguments against Super Rugby’s eight-team finals series. In a 12-team competition, it lacks integrity, it rewards teams with 35 per cent winning records and minus 122 points differentials, and it sets up first versus eighth and second versus seventh quarter-finals that are unlikely to be competitive. As unarguable as all of those things are, sometimes there is a bigger picture at play. In its current iteration, Super Rugby Pacific is only two seasons old. It is entirely reasonable – and desirable – to have all sides retain a realistic chance for as long as possible of maki ..read more

The Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinals have been decided after an action-packed final round of the 2023 competition. The first game of round 15 saw the Blues beat the Highlanders 16-9 to secure third place and leave the Highlanders needing other results to go their way. The Brumbies secured fourth spot with a win in Canberra while the Drua made the top eight, beating Queensland to eliminate the Highlanders and leave the Reds sweating on the final game of the round between the Force and Chiefs. An understrength Chiefs came out blazing and beat the Force to end their hopes. Finals match ups Quart ..read more

From the VFL to Fijian rugby, Mick Byrne rates his latest feat among the most special after the Drua earned a Super Rugby Pacific finals berth and dedicated it to the Australian coach’s late father. The Drua ran rampant in the second half on Saturday in Suva, scoring 24 unanswered points to beat the Queensland Reds 41-17 and guarantee themselves a place in the quarter-finals. It was the Fijian side’s sixth win in their second campaign, and their fifth from six on home soil after a debut season that yielded just two wins while based in northern NSW due to COVID-19 restrictions. They’ll play in ..read more

Western Force’s dreams of a first Super Rugby Pacific finals berth have been shattered in a 43-19 loss to the table-topping Chiefs in a do-or-die clash at HBF Park. The Chiefs rested plenty of stars on Saturday night, making 11 changes to the side that beat the Brumbies in the previous round to secure top spot. But the depth and class of the New Zealand side shone through as they ended the Force’s unbeaten home run of six games. They were well drilled, had power across the park and bullied the Force, effectively sealing the win with four first-half tries. They added two more after the break wi ..read more