The Rogues Rant #260

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

Shoalhaven has put up another strong early season performance winning the Bowl Final 33 – 5 against Hunters Hill at the Kiama 7’s on Saturday. Having made the final the week before at the Macarthur 10’s, the Shoalies will be one of the teams to watch when the local comp gets underway in two weeks’ time. A record 3000 strong crowd turned out for the 7’s tournament which was in doubt until a very welcome clearance from Rugby Australia came through in late November. All in attendance complied diligently with all the Covid requirements, cleaning out the host clubs food and refreshment supplies across the day. Even the Streakers who graced the field during the afternoon wore the obligatory Masks. The Western Sydney Two Blues made it two from two after winning the Macarthur Tens last week with a 15 – 12 win over the North Shoremen in the Open Final. The Women’s Trophy went to the Southern Districts Reblettes with a 20 – 5 final victory over Warringah. The Bungendore Mudchooks took the Country Cup over Parkes 26 – 12 in the Final, with the Country Women’s Final won by the Jindabyne Miss Piggies 27 – 0 against the Goulburn Dirty Reds.  

Unfortunately the IDRU Season Launch Luncheon has been cancelled due to a lack of bookings being received. The Lunch was to be held at the City Beach Function Center on March 12th.

Four clubs have confirmed that they will be fielding a 3rd Grade side in 2021. The IDRU Board has decided that a competition will go ahead with a draw to be finalized in the next couple of weeks. Competing will be Bowral, Camden, Campbelltown and Shamrocks.    

Super Rugby after two weeks of matches is looking like a bit more of the same. The matches last weekend in New Zealand were again on a different level to what we have witnessed so far in Aus. The thought of the Aussie sides, especially the Waratahs up against all the Kiwi sides later in the year is a bit scary. The form shown in their first hit outs across the ditch was quite impressive and only suggests that the Aussie sides will be up against it again this year. Even at this early stage it looks to me that only the Brumbies and the Reds will provide any opposition at all for the Kiwi sides again this year.

Speaking of the Waratahs, after their opening season losses I see that there is already calls going out for the removal of Coach Rob Penney. The Waratahs playing ranks have been decimated with something like 1800 playing caps lost through the player exodus we have witnessed over the last couple of years. What we have seen so far this year I reckon Rob Penney is the Waratahs number 1 asset at the moment. He speaks a lot of sense and it appears to me that he is just the man to take NSW through what will be some very tough times ahead. There is talent in this current group of players who are very inexperienced at this level as the Tahs find themselves in a very similar situation to that which the Reds were in a few seasons back. Rob Penney clearly knows his stuff and should be given every opportunity and resource available to bring these players through. Maybe that’s the biggest problem at NSW Rugby, Resources!

The Rogue has only missed one winner so far this year after three rounds. This week I’ll go for The Force, The Brumbies, Chiefs and Crusaders.  

RUGBY DIARY

IDRU Season Launch Luncheon – 12th March. CANCELLED

IDRU Round 1 – 19th / 20th March.

                             University V Tech Waratahs (Friday 19th)

                          Avondale V Bowral

                          Campbelltown V Vikings

                          Shoalhaven V Camden

                          Shamrocks V KIama          

NSW Country Week – 12th-14th June.

IDRU Grand Final – 4th September.      

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