Roar Rookie
Joined June 2020
5.1k
Views
6
Published
1.5k
Comments
I was born in Auckland in 1950. When we moved to Sydney in 1958, Uncle Bob stopped sending me the All Blacks Book for Boys. Playing Hooker with the UNSW Reserve Grade side, I made our touring team to NZ in 1973, and Uncle Bob wrote about it in the Levin Chronicle—"Prodigal Son Returns."
Published
Comments
I was born in Auckland in 1950. With a Kiwi mum and my Aussie dad and my younger brothers, I moved to Collaroy, Sydney,…
Sunday 15:00, September 20th, 2023 Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Fontfroide In the year of our Lord, 1057, the Fontfroid Abbey joined the Cistercian brotherhood, the…
Coupe du Monde de Rugby 2023. Pool A: Australie vs Nouvelle-Zélande au Stade de Toulouse. Saturday morning, 17 September, Hotel d'Orsay. We had our…
Friday 17:00, September 18th, 2023: Grand Hotel de l'Opera, Place du Capitole, 31000 Toulouse, France. Well, what a day we had. Travelling with a…
Thursday, September 17th, 2023: Narbonne-Toulouse. We are off to Toulouse this afternoon, on the 15:09 SNCF, arriving at Toulouse Matabiau 16:42. Marty and his…
We were in Narbonne for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. "Georgie, it's CW". "CW, bonjour ca va mon ami. J'aime text a vous le…
Just goes to show what a physical toll it is on these guys, and why did he play 80 mins for five matches? Because it was won at all costs.
'Huge loss': All Blacks young gun in doubt for ENTIRE Super Rugby season as Chiefs coach confirms knee op
Leigh was signed by Rob Half-Penney enough said!.
'Grateful' Beale signs fresh deal with Force as Wallabies veteran makes late bid to take on Lions
Kurtley will most probably get injured when the Super pressure comes on, and he tries to accelerate out of trouble, like that NRL winger who played for the Reds, remember? 😱
'Grateful' Beale signs fresh deal with Force as Wallabies veteran makes late bid to take on Lions
I think we are desperate for a couple of reliable openers. Is that too much to ask? Surely, the coach and captain can take care of Sam K as he matures into what works.
Not another Bernard Tomic: Why we should all be deeply worried about Sam Konstas
😱
Flem’s Verdict: Aussies have a Big Four with Boland no longer a back-up, SCG pitch not up to scratch and Beau knows Test cricket
Yes, it’s a good idea and with Yashasvi Jaiswal, he was clearly out LBW, before then, but the bizarre bails, don’t count regulation.
Flem’s Verdict: There’s a bit of Deano magic in Konstas, Cummins nails crucial calls and MCG atmosphere an all-timer
Thanks Harry and thanks for your excellent thoughts during the year and onto the next. I met Robert through my wife. Robert’s French wife teaches English and brought some students to Australia to Balmain High School. In 2007 we went to the RWC together in France and Robert and I got to know each other better. Rugby camadarie is a real thing.
Joe Schmidt has shown the way forward in 2024 and a Lions triumph is possible - this is how he can do it
It’s Xmas Eve and I’m reminded of my French friend who played flanker for Toulouse University in the early 70s. Robert is also an amateur pilot and went on a guided tour, flying his own plane with wife navigator along with fourteen other pairs doing the mail route flown by Saint-Exupery. It’s on YouTube raid latecoere afrique 2015
Joe Schmidt has shown the way forward in 2024 and a Lions triumph is possible - this is how he can do it
I think it’s best at this time of the year to speculate on Joes contract thoughts. The longer it goes maybe the more likely there’s a way we can keep him on. 😁 👍
Schmidt names one uncapped player in 40-man squad to kick off Lions campaign - as RA waits on contract call
Chin up. I’ve got some faith in RA so far, and we have Super Rugb,y then the Lions Tour. Cracker 2025. Happy Xmas.. 😁
The 2024 Wrap: Rejected Rebels, Schmidt's stability - and why this year was more about 2025
The kiwi prop started with me in UNSW 3rd grade. We had never experienced anything like it before or since. He turned to the skipper after the 1st tight head against us and asked if we wanted him to sort out their front row and he did!. We won our 1st game ever against the dreaded Sydney Uni.
The 2024 Wrap: Rejected Rebels, Schmidt's stability - and why this year was more about 2025
Careful what you wish for Dionysus 😱
The 2024 Wrap: Rejected Rebels, Schmidt's stability - and why this year was more about 2025
Thanks for the Wraps, Geoff. Excellent journalism and fun to read and debate, if a little heavy on Victorian rugby, but I would say that. I’m from Sydney. I might even have a look at your book over Xmas or, as my grown-up children would say, “What else do you have to do?” aged 74 and continually organising reunions of the Narrabeen High 1st XV, Joint Premiers (North Shore Zone) 1967 or UNSW 1970 Inter-Varsity Champions, Perth. The 1970 Carnival in Perth was an interesting one. Someone realised that the Royal Military College in Duntroon, Canberra, was a College of UNSW, and that enabled us to recruit four officers from the Army and the SAS, along with a Kiwi from Lincoln College, Canterbury to bolster our playing stocks. Sydney University, including a couple of Wallabies, were shocked and threatened to take legal action.
The 2024 Wrap: Rejected Rebels, Schmidt's stability - and why this year was more about 2025
I think Joe will create a strong infrastructure, but Ireland’s lack of performance in two RWCs still lurks. The BIL will be the first litmus Test, but in the end, we need some of our guys to be injury-free and the world’s best. Bell, Frost, Mcreight, Ikitau, Suuali, Wright not bad but I wish for a no 10.
Five out of seven ain’t bad but Joe still needs to fix two deadly Wallabies sins before tangling with the Lions
When Rod Macqueens team won the Lions series in 2001 he showed more elation than the Bledisloe or the RWC possibly.
Five out of seven ain’t bad but Joe still needs to fix two deadly Wallabies sins before tangling with the Lions
If you look back at ’99, we had a “good enough” front row that didn’t go backwards, a terrific second row, including Eales, and a pretty good back row, including David Wilson. If we can match that, then do we have the backs? Gregan?Larkham vs Gordon/Lelosio (not by a long way), but then it gets interesting. On paper we could lose the final game vs the Lions to go down 2-1 unless we unearth a new 10.
Five out of seven ain’t bad but Joe still needs to fix two deadly Wallabies sins before tangling with the Lions
What about Andy Farrell takes over from Joe for the RWC. 😁
The Wrap: Say it ain’t so, Joe - Wallabies desperate for Schmidt to stay on beyond Lions series
We could ask Joe to transition to a well-chosen assistant during the Lions Tour and sensibly manage his exit and handover. I think Joe is first class in this phase, but if you look back, his success in the white-hot big-time is not that “hot.” For all this talk about Ireland, where were they at the last two RWCs? That leaves some with the $64.00 question: Who will take over? Les Kiss for mine but lets see how Super Rugby goes shall we.
The Wrap: Say it ain’t so, Joe - Wallabies desperate for Schmidt to stay on beyond Lions series
I don’t see Ireland as a Top 4 nation even though they are so high in the rankings. Unfortunately, their RWC record is not very good. I’d say we are close to equal with them, and if they toured down under, we might beat them in a best-of-3. Worse is to come, though, because Andy Farrel gets to choose from 4 nations and will have a great crowd of supporters. Exciting times.
Wallabies are finally respected again - now RA must move mountains to re-sign Schmidt beyond Lions tour
What a cold hotdog of a comment 😛
Wallabies are two years away from their sweet spot - Schmidt is trying to speed up the process with scattergun selections
I think we have a big chance in Dublin; if not, we will give them a big shake. I like the sweet-spot in 2026 for the Bledisloe and look forward to the RWC ’27.
Wallabies are two years away from their sweet spot - Schmidt is trying to speed up the process with scattergun selections
Hi JD, good polite debate. I think Australia and NZ need to treat the game as global and pick their team from anywhere. If you’re a young star, come up through the domestic comp, make the U20’s RWC side, are on the bench for the national team, leave for France or England with the coach’s blessing or play in NZ, even like Edmed and still get picked. Interesting times. I watched with awe at NZ winning the America’s Cup so maybe NZ can do it. I’d like to see that.
Razor's first report card: All Blacks' duxes and dunces of 2024
Yes, Andrew and JD, that’s very true. Covering for the world’s best in Whitelock and Retallick is almost impossible. Primarily, I think that as other countries put more money and focus on Rugby, NZ will never be able to return to its former dominance. The AB’s win loss ratio of more than 90%. Same goes for Australia’s cricket team.
Razor's first report card: All Blacks' duxes and dunces of 2024
RSA made three big strategic moves that left the ANZACs in the shade. It left Super Rugby but stayed in the RC and entered the European Cup. It has a global selection policy: game, set, and match. Australia and NZ need to wake up. NZ is trapped in it’s past glory, like us but we have less glory to reflect on.
Razor's first report card: All Blacks' duxes and dunces of 2024
“Feeling no pain” in Europe’s night clubs 😂
'Huge loss': All Blacks young gun in doubt for ENTIRE Super Rugby season as Chiefs coach confirms knee op