sidelined

You got to hand it to Australia rugby. As we flounder in the Super 14 rumours of the demise of Reds coach Eddie Jones start to circulate.
It seems that Eddie is staying for now but Waratahs coach, Ewan Mckenzie has come out swinging at national coach John Connolly.

New South Wales coach Ewen McKenzie, [...]

I’ve been looking through the round and the bookies do not like the Aussies. The Brumbies are at $3.90, the Reds $4.00 and the Waratahs have blown out to $7.00. You can’t blame the bookies, apart from the Force the Aussie teams are showing they have nothing. And the ARU seems to be continuing its [...]

Eels center Timana Tahu has switched codes and signed a four year deal with the Waratahs from 2008. It was unexpected at Tahu had earlier claimed that:
he would not consider playing rugby “as a last resort”, claiming he had no interest in handling the ball only “two times in a game”.
Tahu now claims that [...]

Finally the Lote Tuqiri saga is over. Whether this will allow the Waratahs salvage something from the season remains to be seen but the tussle of Tuqiri indicates that all is not well with Australian rugby. Tuqiri is handy to have but he won’t win Australia a world cup. Hell, I doubt that Australia will [...]

Well, the Tahs are almost done and dusted for the season after going down 32-19 against the Bulls last night.
At the least the Waratahs tried some expansive rugby for which they deserve some credit. Unfortunately that was let down by woeful handling with a few promising raids undone by dropped ball or ill [...]

The fourth round has already begun with the Brumbies going down by a point against the Hurricanes in Wellington (11-10). Also, Stephen Larkham was injured just before half-time but no word on how long he may be sidelined for.
Greg Cowden in today’s SMH reveals that former Wallabies selector Barry Want is frustrated at the [...]

So we got thumped for a third time in a row by the Kiwis. And the record for the second highest run chase on limited overs internationals fell after only two days. I’m starting to get a little worried.
The good news is that batting isn’t a problem. Remember that Cilchrist, Ponting, Clarke and Symonds [...]

Sorry folks as I’m a bit late with this and two games have been completed. The Stormers have beat the Chiefs (21 to 16) and the Force have won their third ever game beating the Bulls 30 to 27 in Pretoria.
The other games left in this round are:
Result: Hurricanes 23 d Blues 23
Result: [...]

A few interesting results from the first round but that shouldn’t be a worry. It may take a few rounds for any real trends emerge as who (apart from the Crusaders) will be the teams to beat this year. Onto this round:
Result: Chiefs 32 v Hurricanes 39
Result: Stormers 3 v Force 22
Result: Sharks 22 [...]

The Super 14 kicks off this weekend. Fixtures are below (all times AEDT) and the comments for your thoughts on the round.

Blues v Crusaders, Auckland, Friday 5.35pm
Result: Blues 43 Crusaders 25

Western Force v Highlanders, Perth, Friday 9.05pm
Result: Highlanders 8 Westen Force 7
Lions v NSW Waratahs, Johannesburg, Saturday, 4.10am
Result: Waratahs 25 Lions 16
Chiefs v ACT Brumbies, [...]