Yep you need to be able to consistently win big games on the road and we won’t be there yet.

Getting to a semi final would be nice this year and if we can keep most of the squad together (and maybe get Petaia back) then 2026 could be a year to give it a good shake.

The Reds depth is the real deal this year but I think our flyhalves are a year or two off being able to take us to a GF. If we’d kept O’Connor for another year I might’ve been a bit more bullish.

Dunno about that. HJH had trouble at TH more games than not at the Tahs, Moli the poor bloke has been injured for 5 years and Tauakipulu is very much still developing although heading in a good direction. Tighthead still looks dicey to me

I hope I’m wrong and BPA should make a difference there as well.

A good question is also whether RA is trying to keep Schmidt involved in some capacity and whether Cheika would view that similar to when Johnson was above him. Schmidt has that association with Horne which Cheika might again see as a noose around his neck like CS mentions.
It’s not like we need a chance merchant either. We need someone to continue in the same direction Schmidt has us heading. There’s no doubt though that Cheika is not the same coach he was last time around (and that is not meant to be a knock) so maybe there is continuity possible with him there?

Yeh those are some pretty strong tea leaves. All lines up perfectly as Cheika may shadow Schmidt for the Rugby Championship and take over for Spring Tour. If it’s going that way jeez I hope everyone involved has learnt something from last time around. I wonder if Hewat comes with him and who he’d have in mind for defence? I don’t think Cheika typically take a portfolio for himself does he?

Just saw that article from Rugbypass saying Cheika will only do the one year at the Tigers because he wants to be back with family in Sydney…

Stars might be aligning for you mate. Not sure it’s the night time view that I want but if it is Cheika I’ll get around him the same way I tried to get around Jones until the coward tucked tail and ran.

Yeh I don’t believe in the edit button either. A man has said what a man has said.

The lack of consistency is why I would rather see him stay on board. 4 coaches in 4 years isn’t great and as we saw with Eddie things can go backwards pretty quickly if you get it wrong. I think where we fundamentally disagree is I think Schmidt can have really meaningful influence in a part time capacity.

I also think we saw enough of a progression/improvement on the Northern Hemisphere tour to say that Schmidt has had the time to implement his form of progress as you put it. It’s better than anything I’ve seen since a few games under Rennie and 2015 before that so I don’t want a coach that is going to try and do their own thing. I want continuation and I haven’t seen anything from our Super coaches that says to me their vision for the game will be better than Schmidt’s so if Schmidt was there as a DoR and they couldn’t work with that then I don’t want them haha.

I think everything you’re saying is very reasonable and I might change my tune if one of the obvious top shelf coaches from overseas put their hand up but I don’t see that happening.

If he went into that role or some sort of consultancy role I see it as ensuring consistency across the program given we’re likely also hiring a new defense coach (maybe an attack coach as well) and scrum coach to go with a new head coach outside the typical world cup cycle.

I also think if we’re promoting from Super his involvement is even more crucial as none of our coaches have done all that much to hang your hat on. He’s there as a resource for them and as oversight to ensure we have a good run into an incredibly important world cup.

A part time basis still allows him to review tape, attend camps and have input on direction/strategy. It’s a dialed down version of what Rassie was doing with the Boks previously.

There’s potential for it to backfire like it did with Cheika and Johnson but from a punters perspective I think the upside of his continued involvement is worth that risk.

Nah another DoR works for an organisation with a remit the size of RA. Schmidt could be on a 2 year deal directly responsible for the Wallabies and A programs while Horne would still have plenty on his plate looking after everything else. I think it’s money well spent keeping Schmidt involved in any capacity given the way the Irish, Kiwi and now Aus players talk about him.

Love that I had to spend 10 minutes scrolling past a discussion about Joe Schmidt being morally bankrupt before finding some normality. The Bristol game should be an absolute cracker given the way the two teams play.

*watch

Pretty happy to see three players eligible for the u20’s there. I briefly saw a headline about the sevens financials being pretty dire so I wonder whether RA will go even further with using it as a good place to park young players of national interest for the XV game while Olympics money is covering some of the bill?

I don’t want much sevens but with Harvey and Tonga playing I’ll probably get around this tournament.

If the Brumbies beat the Reds at Suncorp again I’ll be changing my username to Jimbo82 and joining some of the other Reds fans here on their hill

I think Angelo never came back from Fiji unfortunately so they’ll be hoping Grant or Lee-Warner show a bit this year.

Sinclair is always one of their best. Just a shame he isn’t 10cm taller otherwise he’d have 50+ Wallaby caps to his name.

Thankfully for McKellar no one that counts will be expecting them to go from wooden spoon to top 4 in one season.

Middle of the table will be a good result and is achievable if they can win their home games.

The other little wins they’ll want from this year:

– the next tighthead to step up and show they can win set piece at this level
– Amatosero to keep progressing so they only need to go shopping for a lineout lock
– one of Talataina and Kunavula to bang the door down for life after Gleeson
– O’Donnell or Ropata to shine since Foketi is probably goneski next year

I think RA and the Super programs are a lot better in that space than they used to be. A lot of the u18’s from last year were already “contracted” with their unions before the NZ wins and had been standouts in the u15 and u16 teams.

You look at Peni Naqau and Chase Bunce from the Force pathways, they’ve been playing an age or two above for a few years now so have been a focus for that program since they were 14 or so.

The Rebels were pretty good in that space and the Brumbies have their niche of picking off guys like Ikitau who are under appreciated in their home state.

The emphasis is on the Tahs and Reds to be better at securing the best playing in their school comps and I think they are.

Someone from Sydney can probably correct me if I’m wrong but one of the standouts from the u16’s was Jarryd King who hasn’t been as obvious a target while at Newington with Makasini and others standing out who are more league orientated. He wouldn’t have become as obvious a retention focus from a national perspective if it wasn’t for these pathways comps.

Yep the OS approach to our tight 5 prospects is concerning. An agent I know was telling me he had a representative of a French club ask him about two of the props from the u16’s.

This is more a general comment rather than solely to do with old mate that you’re responding to but I do wonder what some people get out of watching rugby when they bring the same negative energy to every comment thread.

I remember getting so caught up in a tipping comp once that I wanted the Reds to lose so I’d score a perfect round. Had a rugby moment of clarity and toned it down from then on but it wouldn’t surprise me if people on here are doing something similar to themselves with the hills they die on.

I think we are seeing a lot of Wallabies show the potential at 18. It’s hard to quantify of course but I’d say close to 3/4 the Wallabies starting team at the moment were standing out ahead of their peers at 18 and promoted very quickly to Super and/or Test level because of it. Whether that’s a good thing is a different question.

It’s a three year stand down period from international duty isn’t it? I think Rugbypass did a slide yesterday showing all the low cap all blacks who are going to be eligible for other countries this year and some are along those lines.

Yeh I do mean the French clubs when it’s come to the Pacific Islands. I wouldn’t have a problem with it because of the money that flows back into the islands through those contracts but the strong arming to stop them turning out for their national teams is what gets my goat. If you take you should give back and not getting in the way of those players giving back to the islands by elevating the national teams is the bare minimum.

Well written and persuasive article but I don’t think I really agree with it.

Few things in my mind at play here. I completely agree there should be a different set of rules for the Pacific Islands (not Japan) after what they’ve given rugby. I don’t care if it’s favouritism or anything like that, they deserve to have someone like Sowakula or Folau eligible for them immediately. Given I don’t think you would ever be able to get a sole exception for them I don’t think I can support it.

I’m less sympathetic towards Aus and NZ as we’ve had opportunities to create a financially sound league that would prevent raids on our talent but (ironically in the context of this article) have let the primacy of Test rugby get in the way of it or made poor decisions with limited resources.

If we had done a better job of keeping our Super fanbase we wouldn’t be having this conversation. No point getting into the myriad reasons of how it happened but take away the financial impetus to move overseas and if someone still chooses to go there and change their eligibility than more power to them I say.

I don’t like how predatory some of the French and Scottish stuff is but we need to fix our own backyard rather than lament this.

So you’ve gone with the Rebel username because… It sounds hardcore? 😂
Why would you say he’s right about rugby not being a game for all shapes and sizes then? What he’s saying is only certain physical profiles can play the game well nowadays. That’s why I thought your chat about “bravery” was garbage given the context. Read the paragraph you wrote and tell me it’s not confusing…
You’re projecting if you think that anything he said in the article means he believes rugby is morally superior. You might not think it’s more accepting than other sports but you are delusional enough to think you’ve got a better handle on what the game needs in the States than someone in the rugby business there.

You’re worried I’m putting words in your mouth when you’re alluding to only a certain physical profile has the required bravery to play our game? Tell you what I wouldn’t throw the word elitist around when you put garbage like that out there. Re the jobs bit that’s you not understanding how lost some young people are over there when football is their life and they don’t get a college offer or the like. There isn’t the same culture around playing sport when you leave school so rugby has found a niche there. I played with a few kids like that in Texas and there were some older blokes at the club who helped mentor them and yes, helped them get a job.
Are you from Victoria? Go tell the Academy Movement people what they’re doing is elitist…
We get new people turn up to our club in Brisbane every year off the back of someone telling them they’d have a good shape for prop or they’d be a good halfback, second row or wing. It’s why Friday night teams and 5/6th grade exist. It’s an even bigger thing in the States where hardly anyone knows about the game so word of mouth about it being for everyone gets people in the door. It does drive participation.
Notice how he says contact sport is already covered over there? I think he’s probably a bit more qualified than you to as to what the point of difference can be the in the States.

It’s a pickle alright. I’ve got a mate who I played footy with over there who’s a big believer in integration not ostracization as a way to change those things but I dunno. Gut says I don’t love it.