Try-scoring machine Tim Ryan is momentarily putting his Wallabies dreams to the side so he can focus on helping the Queensland Reds have a deep finals run – as well as making sure he has the right boots.  Ryan announced himself as a future star when he scored three tries on his starting debut in Queensland’s 41-34 loss to the Blues in round 10. The 20-year-old scored two tries in his next game – a win over the Crusaders – and added another try in the round-12 win over the Rebels. Ryan was given a “freshener” last week, with just 22 minutes off the bench in a 28-19 loss to Fijian Drua. But ..read more

The Crusaders have apologised on behalf of under-fire coach Rob Penney who was caught calling a reporter a “c–t” after a prickly press conference. The former Waratahs coach replaced Scott Robertson in charge of Super Rugby’s most successful franchise and has led them to 10th on the table with two games to play. Penney has dug in despite increasing questions over his tenure and he was noticeably agitated by that line of questioning in Wednesday’s press conference. Penney was involved in a tense exchange with TVNZ reporter Thomas Mead. Rob Penney. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images) After th ..read more

Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp has made several changes for the crucial Pacific Four clash against New Zealand’s Black Ferns in Auckland on Saturday. Yapp has lost Ashley Marsters with an ankle injury for a game the Australians must win with a bonus point to qualify for the WXV1 in October. The Aussies have a terrible record against New Zealand and lost their most recent clash 50-0 last year. The Wallaroos have lost both their games of the series so far – to Canada and the United States, while the Black Ferns were surprisingly on the end of a 22-19 defeat to Canada last Sunday. On the clock ????#W ..read more

As Rugby Australia crawls towards deciding on whether to hand back the Super Rugby license to the Melbourne Rebels, the governing body has begun discussing potential new homes with the playing group should the franchise be culled. The Roar can reveal RA officials met with the Rebels playing group and high performance staff on Monday and Tuesday to discuss their future. While no answer to whether the Rebels would exist beyond 2024 was forthcoming, RA officials, including new director of high performance Peter Horne, held individual meetings with players to determine alternate options beyond li ..read more

The Reds are set to face the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium, seeking to avenge their first two losses against them earlier in the season. The Reds are also seeking to redeem themselves after their loss to the Fijian Drua at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva with the final score being 28-19 to the home side. More Rugby Suilasi Vunivalu's suspension is the final straw for some Reds fans, should he continue playing for the club? Joe Schmidt is the coaching mastermind that Australian Rugby needs, but is he enough with the game's structural issues? 'I have the same feeling': Tah claims he's quit crisis c ..read more

It’s the second last week of the regular season with the top four all but settled and plenty to play for in the bottom half of the top eight. Aussie eyes will be on the Reds’ home match against the Force, with the Perth team pushing to make the playoffs. See the team news as it unfolds below. (All times are AEST) Friday Chiefs vs Hurricanes, 5.05pm The Hurricanes will be without captain and loose forward Brad Shields in this second vs. fourth clash. Shields strained a quad in training this week but is expected to be fit for the finals. Joride Barrett takes the captaincy in a much changed team ..read more

At 26 and without a Super Rugby start to his name, New Zealand-born centre Ollie Sapsford had his work cut out to break into a Wallabies-studded ACT Brumbies back-line featuring the likes of Len Ikitau, Tom Wright and Irae Simone. But two years and a shift to the wings later, Sapsford has cemented himself as a regular starter for the premiership-chasing Brumbies. After a breakout 2023 season, he has been rewarded with 10 starts out of 12 in 2024 and a new contract to extend his stay in Canberra until the end of 2026. Ollie Sapsford of the Brumbies is tackled during the round 12 Super Rugby Pa ..read more

With the Waratahs’ recruitment and retention being questioned and their Super Rugby season in disarray, one of their departing players has claimed he felt unloved at the club. In June 2023, Mosese Tuipulotu re-signed for the Waratahs, knocking back interest from Scotland and declared “I love this club and they’ve done a lot for me, so I’m happy to stay and obviously pursue that dream.” He also made it clear he wanted to chase a Wallaby jersey, but a frustrating time in Sydney, under outgoing coach Darren Coleman, has seemingly ended that goal. Tuipulotu is heading to Edinburgh and could follow ..read more

When Suliasi Vunivalu first entered Wallabies camp in November 2020 he arrived with an “aura” that swept up his teammates. Three and half years later the former NRL star finds himself a laughing stock after an embarrassing two yellow cards for trips against Fijian Drua resulted in a one match ban. To describe his Test career as a disappointment doesn’t go close to nailing how big a flop Vunivalu has been since arriving on the high of a try in a NRL grand final win for the Storm. He has put a lot of his early struggles down to then-coach Dave Rennie and his focus on the winger’s pace. “Every in ..read more

And so it came to pass: with the weekend’s loss to the Western Force, the Waratahs’ season is finally and definitively dead, as opposed to just being comatose as it has been for most of the year. In some ways the removal of even the slightest theoretical possibility of the Tahs making the finals comes as a relief, like when you finally admit to yourself you’re never going to eat that black banana and throw it out. But it also highlights a serious flaw with the structure of Super Rugby’s competition and finals system, and the more you think about it, the more egregious that flaw gets. More Rugb ..read more