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

Kurtley Beale will play his first Super Rugby match in 1494 days after being rushed straight into the Western Force’s lineup to take on the Crusaders on Saturday night. His selection comes after being signed earlier this month following an injury to Harry Potter. He’s not the only big-name Wallaby returning either, with Izack Rodda to make his comeback via the bench as earlier reported by The Roar. Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham has tweaked his halves for Saturday’s huge clash with the Blues. Reds coach Les Kiss meanwhile has been forced into several changes following the injuries to Josh Flo ..read more

Izack Rodda’s stop-start career at the Western Force is about to get the green light once again, with the experienced Wallaby set to make his return to Super Rugby. The Roar understands the 27-year-old will come off the bench against the Crusaders on Saturday evening. Confirmation is expected on Wednesday afternoon, with Kurtley Beale a strong chance to make his return to Super Rugby via the bench too. It will be the 2019 World Cup squad member’s first minutes of the year, having been a late withdrawal from their round one side with a quad injury. Although it was hoped he would miss only arou ..read more

Rugby in Australia is often not well represented by Rugby Australia. To be Australian in Australia is often to raise one state over country. Vast distance drives cultural distinction. As Chook the Sydneysider told me lately, even drugs are not nationally Australian: Victoria enjoys heroin, Western Australia has the meth, wild Tasmania prefers ecstasy whilst New South Wales has cocaine in great abundance. He left ACT out, but I understand ‘C’ stands for cannabis. France’s cheesiness makes it hard to govern; Down Under goes higher in remote, never ending parochialism. But when Aussies go abroad ..read more

If there’s one thing Australian rugby is good at – and at time of writing, one thing might be all we can hope for – it’s generating Next Big Things. No sooner has an up-and-comer put in an eye-catching performance than he is immediately talked up as a potential Wallaby and in all likelihood the saviour of the nation. Unfortunately, the next phase comes along with terrifying speed: the chorus of caution, the cacophony of Cassandras warning that we must not place too much expectation on the youngster, for any or all of the following reasons: The pressure will destroy him The disappointment if h ..read more

The Super Rugby Women’s regular season rounds finished up on the weekend. In cliché terms, without a doubt this season has been the most competitive of all the seasons since its inception in 2018. After last weekend, as we head into Friday’s semi-finals, probably the two biggest stories are about the two teams that did not qualify for the semis, Melbourne Rebels and Queensland Reds. One team produced their best season and the other their worst. In short, perennial big dogs of the tournament, the Queensland Reds, had a season they will want to forget very quickly. No idea what happened. More Ru ..read more