Toowoomba Grammar 17 defeated by TSS 50
Terrace 12 defeated by BBC 36
State High 37 defeated Ipswich Grammar 36
Churchie 22 defeated by Brisbane Grammar 46
GPS Round 4 2026
Tag Archives: New Zealand
Japan Produces Good Halfbacks
I’m sure everyone remembers the infectious Brave Blossoms’ halfback Fumiaki Tanaka. The little general made his mark on Super Rugby for the Highlanders with his speed and crisp service from behind the ruck. He was not a university prospect, but joined the Panasonic Wild Knights in 2007, where he played alongside Tony Brown, who was instrumental in bringing him to the ‘Landers (Wikipedia). At 166cm and 72 kg, he’s one of the smallest players to play international rugby, but a very inspirational one.
In Brisbane, there’s a young 20-year-old student, Risa Hayashi, playing halfback for the UQ women’s team. A fiery young prospect making her mark on the competition. I caught up with her earlier in the season at Jeeps ‘ home ground at Yoku Road, Ashgrove. Originally born in Dubai, her mum is from Kanagawa, next to Tokyo, and her father is from Osaka. She has prospects of playing in Japan.
Hayashi is not a trailblazer, though, as that honour goes to Asako “Diji” Ono. Ono also played for UQ Women’s, then went on to represent the Reds and Wallaroos at halfback. Originally, coming to Australia as a young, naive 16-year-old student chasing her dream to play rugby, she now mentors other women to better themselves. Currently teaching at Churchie, where one of her Mathematics students, Rio Shimizu, is also from Japan and is a halfback for the 1st XV team.
Wallabies Bid Averacherchi to Joe with a Classy win in Perth
Having taken over a disjointed Wallabies side after the debacle that was RWC 2023 in France. That night in Lyon was tough as a Wallabies supporter; we were decimated 40-6 by the Welsh after coming off a 14-22 loss to Fiji. This was the team he inherited, but Kiwi Joe Schmidt has bled 27 fresh faces into this national team to build ahead of RWC 2027, where Les Kiss takes over. Being in the crowd in Melbourne in 2024, playing the Welsh again but with confidence instilled in his players by Schmidt to win 36-25 at AAMI Park. Fast forward to the present, with three sold-out stadiums in three weeks, it will be music to Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh’s ears ahead of a home World Cup next year. The game is in a healthy position.
A nine-try to two demolition of Italy was a fitting way to salute the services of the outgoing Joe Schmidt and Laurie Fisher, especially when you consider they have lost their last two matches against the Azurri. Not a very flattering winning percentage; however, the matches he has won speak volumes of his tenure. No one will forget that win at Ellis Park in Johannesburg when the Springboks led 22-0 only for the Wallabies to come back and win 38-22. Selections have always been questioned, such as Carlo Tizzano taking over the best-performing Wallaby in the first two matches, Fraser McReight, and the controversial omission of Lukan Salakai-Loto from his last squad. He got it right in Perth and reaps the benefit of an 80-minute performance.
Schmidt mentioned that Tizzano is a “Hometown boy” and that “we have sold out six stadiums in a row”, so he must be doing something right, despite not as many wins as we would have liked. $5m man, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, was praising Schmidt for “Someone who believed in me”.The game is stronger because of Schmidt’s influence. As the curtain falls on his era, the future is exciting when Kiss comes in.
The Wallabies started, as they have in this block of matches, with confidence. Man of the match: Josh Canhamm scores the first of his three tries in the 4th minute. Tom Wright goes over in the 9th minute, followed by Brendan Panga-Amosa in the 12th minute to race to a 19-0 lead before the Azzurri managed to cross the paint in the 20th minute. Then, Canham bagged his second in the 27th minute, shortly followed by BPA scoring his double and Len Ikitau on the stroke of halftime to go to the break 38-5. No second-half fade would have pleased Schmidt, with Canham becoming the first Wallaby lock to score a hat-trick.
The Azzurri were quick out of the blocks with Melbourne-born Monty Ioane going over inside the first minute. However, the Wallabies toiled away and went on to win the match 57-10, with local player Ben Donaldson going under the posts.
Under 20s finished a somewhat unlucky campaign strongly with a big win over Argentina in Georgia in the 7th place playoff.
Nations Championship 2026🏆
This weekend, the first round of the Nations Championship begins: North v South. The Northern Hemisphere comprises the 6 Nations teams, i.e., France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. The Southern Hemisphere consists of teams in the Rugby Championship, i.e., South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina, plus Japan* and Fiji** (*NB: Japan is classed as a Southern Hemisphere team).
**NB. Fiji will play their “home” matches in the Northern Hemisphere (because most of their players play in Europe).
This is the first edition of this championship in which three teams from the Northern Hemisphere play three teams from the Southern Hemisphere in the South, and three teams from the Southern Hemisphere play three teams from the Northern Hemisphere in the Northern Hemisphere in July. Then, in November, the Southern Hemisphere teams play in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the Nations Championship, every point, result, and match matters to every team. 12 nations come together for a North v South competition, with a final series in late November.
Reds vs Chiefs: A Thrilling Battle Overview
The Reds had their biggest home crowd of the season, with 14,438 of the faithful turning out for another cliffhanger two weeks in a row. Having lost the week before in super-point to the Blues during Super Round in Christchurch, the crowd were on their feet inside 10 minutes when Lachie Andersen showed what we had been missing since Round 4 with his return on the left flank, crashing over in the corner to put the Reds on the board first with a five-pointer converted by Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.
Chiefs replied quickly with a try to inform number 8, Wallace Sititi, and converted by the mercurial boot of Damien McKenzie, to level the score 7-all. The arm wrestle continued, and in the 14th minute, second-year New Zealand referee Marcus Playle awarded the Chiefs a penalty, giving McKenzie a shot at goal, basically in front of the posts; however, uncharacteristically, he pushed it to the right. Score remains 7-all.
In the 20th minute, Reds inside-centre, Hunter Paisami, gives his opposite number, Quinn Tupaea (VC), a bone-rattling tackle that requires the trainer to come to his assistance. The TMO deems it fair play.
The forward battle was immense when Playle awarded the Chiefs a try, which, on review, was denied due to several knock-ons. Under penalty advantage, McKenzie slots a penalty 5 minutes before half-time to put the visitors ahead 10-7. Another controversial decision by the Kiwi referee against Seru Uru denied the Reds a crucial 5-pointer before they went to the sheds. The Match Official has one look at it before the ref calls half-time to a huge chorus of boos from the crowd. Score remains Chiefs ahead 10-nil.
The entertainment didn’t stop with Conrad Sewell, who played fly-half for St. Laurence’s College up to Grade 10, providing his dulcet tones for the passionate crowd at the break (photo by David Kapernick @brisbanerugbycom).
The forward battle continued in the second half, with none other than Australia’s inform lock, Lukan Salakai-Loto (main photo by David Kapernick @brisbanerugbycom), snubbed by Joe Schmidt for the British & Irish Lions Tour last year; he will be first pick when Les Kiss takes the Wallabies’ coach’s seat from July. However, the Chiefs score first in the second half, extending their lead to 17-7.
McKenzie was under pressure and made a few errors as the battle intensified. The return of Carter Gordon also put a spring in the Reds’ step.
At the 65th minute mark, Harry Wilson receives the ball out wide from Gordon on the right flank, slips a pass (“the ball of the year“, according to Tim Horan in the commentary box) to Joe Brial, who goes over for a much-needed try. Converted by replacement half, Louis Werchon, to close the gap to 14-17.
A brain snap in the 68th minute by front rower, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, results in a yellow card. Proving costly for the Reds when it led to a double for Chiefs’ replacement hooker, Samisoni Taukei’aho. McKenzie adds the extras for the lead to go back to a 10-point margin, 24-14.
In the 73rd minute, a long cut-out pass by Gordon puts 19-year-old Treyvon Pritchard in a position to score his first Super Rugby Pacific try, smoking McKenzie in the process, to close the margin to 21-24 with the successful conversion by replacement halfback, Luis Werchon.
In the 78th minute, Sititi goes over for a double, breaking the hearts of the Lang Park faithful to extend the lead back to ten, 31-21. The Chiefs close out the match, and a chance at a home quarter-final for the Reds goes begging.
With three more weeks of Super Rugby Pacific, coach Kiss has to focus his chargers on maintaining a position in the top six. He said after the match that he wanted his players to stay cool, even if the referees’ decisions went against them (12-5).
Winners Are Grinners
After being blown out of the park in their last two outings, Les Kiss’ men finally showed the Suncorp faithful that they are genuine Super Rugby Pacific contenders. Having the Hurricanes put 50+ points on them at the Cake-tin, and then the Western Force a further 40+ at home, the Reds’ dressing room was a lot happier place to be last night after defeating last year’s premiers, the Crusaders 31-26, for the first time since 2012. In Filipo Daugunu’s 100 Super Rugby cap, he showed that he is a world-class winger, scoring a try of his own. Kiss said in the post-match conference that his versatility from 12 to 15 makes him a valuable asset.
16,000+ were on hand to witness two great adversaries throw everything, bar the kitchen sink, at each other in the muggy conditions at the Cauldron. The men from Christchurch opened the scoring through Vice-Captain, Christian Lio-Willie, in the 5th minute after both teams had been playing expansive rugby from the kick-off. Lang Park has been a favourite hunting ground for the Crusaders since their loss in the Super Rugby final in 2011. However, the ghosts of that era were on hand to inspire the Reds, including Digby Ioane, Scott Higginbotham, Jake Schatz, and James Hansen, as the Reds beat the Crusaders twice that year. Reds Captain Courageous, Fraser McReight, drew on that energy, having been a young schoolboy in the crowd that night. Ioane was proudly watching his former team break a 19-all deadlock in the last 10 minutes with a Daugunu runaway try in the 73rd minute to lead 24-19. Memories of Will Genia running away with a break to 50 metres out to break a 13-all deadlock 15 years ago to win the Super Rugby title.
Springboks Eye Historic Fifth Title at RWC 2027
The Rugby World Cup draw took place last week, and the ‘big players’ have been dispersed across the Pools. The All Blacks and Wallabies meet for the first time in World Cup history in a round-robin match as the heavyweights of Pool A. South Africa and Italy headline Pool B; Argentina & Fiji in Pool C; Ireland & Scotland in Pool D; France & Japan in Pool E; and finally, England & Wales in Pool F. However, it is hard to go against the Springboks achieving a record fifth Webb-Ellis Trophy to make it three in a row under the leadership of Siya Kolisi.
According to the World Rugby rankings, the round of 16 would mean that the Top two finishers in the six Pools, plus the next four teams placed after the round-robin stage. The eight winners would progress to the knockout stage.
The opening match will be held in Perth, likely between the hosts, Australia and New Zealand, to a record sold-out crowd. This will mean that these two teams won’t meet again until the final in Sydney. The All Blacks will have to negotiate a tough semi-final against the Springboks, while the Wallabies will have to overcome a mighty English side.
The Wallabies will have to play Japan in the quarter-final, a team they only managed to beat 19-15 at Tokyo’s Kokuritsugyogijo Stadium on October 25th this year. Eddie Jones’ men will be up for the challenge, possibly trying to replicate their RWC 2015 win over the Springboks in the Miracle in Brighton, arguably the greatest upset in not only Rugby World Cup history, but sport in general.
RWC 2027 is set up for the greatest contest in Rugby World Cup history, and the permutations will be studiously studied by the coaching staff of each participating nation, none more so than the mercurial Eddie Jones. Bring it on!!
Springboks Rule Supreme, Again
So the 2023 Rugby World Cup has been decided in Paris by one point between two giants of the rugby world in South Africa and New Zealand. As the rain came down at Saint-Denis the Springboks went about their business of acquiring points through the boot of Handre Pollard to be up 12-6 at half-time. The only points in the second half was an unconverted try by Beauden Barrett that left the All Blacks one short at the end to lose by the slimmest of margins, 11-12.
After seven weeks of intense battle, the two teams that had each won the tournament three times a piece, were left to fight the final battle. The Northern Hemisphere had said that the Southern Hemisphere were not up to standard, but some performances of Fiji and Argentina, in particular, were worth taking note of. Despite this, Australia performed badly losing to Fiji for the first time in 69 years and being thumped by Wales 40-6 in the Pool stages which meant they could not reach the knockout stages for the first time in World Cup history. A lot of the blame can be laid on the coach, Eddie Jones, for not preparing his young team to do better. As a consequence, he has resigned from his position.
However, the final came down to two teams that had lost one match each in their respective Pool matches. New Zealand lost to France, 13-27, and South Africa lost to Ireland, 8-13. Ironically, those matches were reversed in the quarter-finals where New Zealand defeated Ireland, 28-24, and South Africa defeated France, 29-28. While the All Blacks had an easy route over Los Pumas, 44-6, in the semi-final the Springboks did it much harder against a determined English side to win by a single point, 16-15.
It is a true testament that the Springbok team could galvanise under Siya Kolisi to win a fourth Webb-Ellis trophy, back-to-back champions. And not just the team as Kolisi says, “Our country goes through such a lot and we are that very hope that they have”. They had plenty of support in the crowd as well, none more so than tennis great Roger Federer whose mother is South African. Well done!
Japanese Womens Rugby Team Makes History on the Gold Coast
Last Tuesday night at Bond University on the Gold Coast the Japanese women’s rugby team, known as the Sakura 15, defeated the Wallaroos 12 to 10. Despite 10 personnel and positional changes due to COVID Tests on the eve the match, they were able to overcome their more fancied rivals.
The first half was dominated by the decidedly larger Aussie side in both scrums and lineouts. However, the tenacious Japanese side made their tackles and held them out to keep the score at nil-all going to the sheds.
In the second half it was No. 10 Ayasa Otsuka that kicked through a dropped ball by the Wallaroos in their own 22 to snatch a try in the 49th minute. She successfully converted her try to put the Sakura 15 ahead 7-0.
The Wallaroos continued to work the ball downfield and off a rolling maul, Ashley Masteri, was in for the Aussies first score. The Sakura 15 put some good phases together and eventually put Kyoko Hosokawa in to extend their lead to 12-5. However, the Wallaroos were not going to give in and Adiana Talakai managed to cross out wide. Once again Lori Crammer missed the conversion so the score remained 10-12. Crammer had an easier penalty shot in the 79th minute to steal the match for the Wallaroos, but was unsuccessful. Crammer’s 0 and 3 with the boot proved decisive for the home team.
The short turnaround from Friday night’s 36-19 demolition of Fijiana at Suncorp Stadium was no excuse for Jay Tregonning fielding the same 23. The last time the two sides met on the 19th of July, 2019, the Aussies won 46-3 after beating them 34-5 on the 13th of July, 2019. The only other time the two side have met was the 17th of August, 2017, at the Rugby World Cup in Ireland where the Wallaroos were also victorious winning 29-15.
It was history making on the Gold Coast for the Sakura 15 with plenty of Japanese in the crowd. This bodes well for their campaign for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year in October/November.
Wake up Japan, this is bigger than the Olympics
Well technically not, as it’s only the third biggest global sporting event. A mere 20 nations qualifying after an exhaustive elimination process, however, the tournament is three times longer at six-weeks and 12 venues from Hokkaido to Kyushu. The influx of foreign invaders will be the greatest since Commodore Perry’s arrival in 1853 at Shimoda.
Perennial favourites the All Blacks from New Zealand will be looking for an unprecedented three-peat, having won the last two incarnations in 2011 & 2015. Although, Ireland will go into the tournament as World No. 1, due to the quirky World Rugby algorithm that determines placings. Never before have the ‘Men in Green’ made a RWC Final, although their Quarter-Final match against RWC1991 winners, the Wallabies, at Landsdown Road will go down as ‘the one that got away‘.
The teams descending on Japan, somewhat delayed due to Typhoon Faxai, should be embraced by the Japanese populous along with the tsunami of international supporters. Rugby people are a different breed: beer-swilling aficionados as opposed to football (soccer in the English speaking world outside of England) hooligans. They will appreciate the culture, the ceremonies, the nature and the history that abounds there; as well as the onsen or hot springs, the most renowned are found in Beppu, Kyushu; with matches played in Oita, including two very important quarter-finals, these are a must-see (map below).
Visiting Japan 12 months out from the Rugby World Cup I got a sense that the ‘general’ Japanese population were somewhat unaware of the tournament. When questioned they would reply with, “Tokyo 2020?” Just last week at a theme park on the Gold Coast some university students visiting from Japan on their summer break in Australia looked puzzled when I said I was going to Japan for the Rugby World Cup (admittedly, they were from Ibaraki Prefecture, an hour or so north of Tokyo on the Joban Line, where no matches are being played). Also in Australia, when people ask why I am going to Japan the response often is, “Do they play rugby in Japan?”
Undoubtedly, when RWC2019 begins this Friday at Ajinomoto Stadium the vast majority will get on board. Not everyone is a diehard rugby fan, but when a spectacle such as the Rugby World Cup is on your doorstep you can be assured that the populous will respond and Japanese ‘omotenashi‘ (hospitality) will come to the fore. At the 2015 tournament, 25 million in Japan tuned in to watch Japan v Samoa on their television sets, so the interest is there. The other takeout from that tournament held in the UK was the 34-32 last-minute win over the Springboks by the Japanese Brave Blossoms; recreated in cinema with the just-released “Miracle in Brighton“.
Rugby Union has a long history in Japan dating from 1866 in Yokohama and, while being more popular in the universities, the company based Top League has started to attract larger crowds. Unfortunately, Japan’s Super Rugby team the Sunwolves will be axed from the competition after the 2020 season, though I’m sure their company based Top League will eventually open up to international teams from Hong Kong and Perth (convincing the JRFU will be a challenge, though).
All and all this bodes well for a spectacular tournament that I am very much looking forward to attending. 楽しみですネ‼
Brisbane Rugby.com 