The Rogues Rant

RoguesRantWelcome to The Rogues Rant, an occasional look at all things Rugby.

A tragic few weeks have passed in Rugby with the untimely deaths of three rugby greats, passing much too early in life. Springbok Joost van der Westhuizen succumbed to Motor Nuerone Disease at the age of 45. All Black Sione Lauaki died at just 35 years old after Kidney and heart problems. Then came the death of 63 Test Wallaby veteran Dan Vickerman which rocked the Rugby Community to its core. Vickerman’s death at just 37 years of age has shaken all who knew him, with tributes coming from all parts of the Rugby world. An unpromising force on the Rugby field, Vickerman was regarded by many as one of the greatest second rowers ever to represent Australia after migrating to Australia from his native South Africa. All our thoughts and best wishes are with his wife and two young children.

The second installment of the Camden Tens was played last week, and proved to be a very entertaining tournament for the strong crowd that turned up to watch at Camden Rugby Park. The Deadwood Timberwolves returned to defend their title from last year’s inaugural tournament, and managed to repeat their success with a good win in the final over the Cornwallace Crusaders. Following last year’s example the Timberwolves once again donated their prizemoney to charity. The $2,500.00 cheque was passed onto the Westmead Children’s Hospital and Heart Kids. Well done to the Timberwolves. Vikings were the best performed local side making it through to the Semi-Finals, with Camden taking out the Plate final by beating the Camden Baa Baas, made up of recently retired Ram veterans. I’m assured that the Camden Tens will return in 2018.

The Kiama 7’s are on this Saturday with matches getting started bright and early at 8.30AM. I’m told that the Tournament is fully booked with a full house of participants across all competitions. There will be $25,000.00 in trophies and prize money up for grabs. The finals will get underway at 4.15 with the Cup Final set down for 6.20PM.

Super Rugby kicks off the 15 a side season this Thursday night. Once again there has been plenty of player movements and squad changes right across the competition. You can’t take any notice of some of the one sided trial match results over the last few weeks with all franchises having a very close look at their rosters throughout. It will take a couple of weeks once again to get a gauge on just who the teams are to watch. My tips for Round 1 are: Blues, Highlanders, Reds, Hurricanes, Crusaders, Waratahs, Lions, Jaguars and Stormers.

All opinions offered in this column are the opinion of the author. They should not be considered to represent the views of the IDRU.