Close to 50 years have passed since the late Peter Diamond famously made a late comeback at the age of 44 to play his last game of premier grade rugby with sons Michael and Greg for his beloved Nedlands club in Perth. Life member Diamond Snr was such a legend at Neddies that the tree where supporters gathered around to watch finals matches played at the old Perry Lakes playing field was named after him. As a placard in the Neddies club rooms attests, it will always live on as “Diamond’s tree.” Now club historians believe a new chapter in the club’s 90-year history has been written with three b ..read more

Wallaby Jordie Petaia is in doubt for the rest of the Super Rugby season, and potentially Australia’s Test series against Wales, after suffering a shoulder dislocation in the Queensland Reds’ 31-0 win over the Highlanders in Brisbane. Petaia was hurt when he attempted to tackle Highlanders winger Timoci Tavatavanawai, 33 minutes into the match at Suncorp Stadium and he fell badly. The loss meant Hunter Paisami shuffled from No.12 to 13 and he produced a superb all round display with kicks both deft and dynamic, hard hitting defence and powerful running. Jordan Petaia of the Reds is taken from ..read more

Fijian Drua will look to complete three titles in a row when they face the NSW Waratahs in the 2024 Buildcorp Super Rugby Women’s Grand Final at Ballymore Stadium next Sunday. The Drua’s quest for a historic threepeat remained on track with a 25-14 semi-final win over the Western Force at a sold-out HFC Bank Stadium in Suva earlier today. Drua fullback Atelaite Buna was at her elusive best in Suva, scoring three tries to the delight of the capacity crowd, as the Western Force were left to rue missed opportunities in their maiden finals appearance. THE HAT-TRICK HERO ???? ???? Atelaite Buna ..read more

Following on from Ben Pobjie’s great article about positivity, I thought I would put my thoughts down on how Rugby should be promoted as being different to League. This is not another article about what a competition shake-up or whether we should play nicely with the Kiwi’s, as we all know the answer to build our playing group and its competitiveness. Further, it is not a league bashing article as I too enjoy the spectacle. While rugby and league spawned from the same place, they are now two vastly different games. While many people who propose rule changes (or are they law changes…) are doi ..read more

Two years after a serious knee injury scuppered Nic Dolly’s hopes of running out for England against his home nation Down Under, the one-Test Australian-born hooker could make a stunning international U-turn by running out for the Wallabies as early as later this year after signing with the Western Force. After it was announced that Dolly would leave Dan McKellar’s Leicester Tigers at season’s end, The Roar can reveal the 24-year-old has signed a multi-year deal to join Simon Cron’s Force side. It means Dolly, whose only Test appearance came for Eddie Jones’ England off the bench during their ..read more

The in-form ACT Brumbies have returned from their bye week raring to go and more mentally switched on than they’ve been all year, Stephen Larkham says. But the coach insisted his third-placed side must not rest on their laurels as the business-end of the season draws closer.  Far from interrupting the momentum generated by a five-game winning streak, Larkham said the extra break came at the perfect time before the Brumbies embark on the most difficult fortnight of their campaign. They fly to Auckland to take on the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday where they’ll try snap an 11-year drought ..read more

Fijian Drua will try to end the 7-0 streak of the table-topping Hurricanes to kick off a spicy weekend of action that has split the tipping pool. The Reds have been given another chance by the panellists after their shocker against Moana Pasifika last weekend, where they lost the game and Wallabies Tate McDermott and Fraser McReight to suspensions. They face a huge banana skin game against the Highlanders, and a big test of Les Kiss’ ability to get them back on track. The Brumbies are in third and travel to second placed Auckland Blues on Saturday. This should be a cracker but three of our fou ..read more

Four years after getting a taste of international coaching, Geoff Parling will return as the Wallabies’ new lineout coach. The Roar can reveal the Rebels assistant, who coached alongside Dave Rennie in six Tests during the 2020 campaign, is set to be unveiled as Joe Schmidt’s latest – and final – recruit to his coaching team in the coming days. It comes after Rugby Australia advertised for the position in recent weeks, with interviews held last week. While RA was keen on adding an Australian to the coaching team given Schmidt and new scrum coach Mike Cron are New Zealanders, the governing bod ..read more

And then, there were four. Super Rugby Women’s enters it’s final fortnight, and with the Reds and Rebels campaigns coming to a close, this Friday sees matches in Fiji and Sydney, as the Drua host the big improvers in the Western Force, while the Waratahs welcome the Brumbies to Allianz Stadium. The winners go through to the big dance next week. See all the team news below. Friday Fijiana Drua v Western Force, 2:35 pm AEST Yep, you read that right. The rugby starts before 3pm on Friday this week, and it is set to be a great clash in Suva, serving as the pre-cursor to the Drua-Hurricanes clash ..read more

Four years after getting a taste of international coaching, Geoff Parling will return as the Wallabies’ new lineout coach. The Roar can reveal the Rebels assistant, who coached alongside Dave Rennie in six Tests during the 2020 campaign, is set to be unveiled as Joe Schmidt’s latest recruit to his coaching team in the coming days. It comes after Rugby Australia advertised for the position in recent weeks, with interviews held last week. While RA was keen on adding an Australian to the coaching team given Schmidt and new scrum coach Mike Cron are New Zealanders, the governing body settled on P ..read more