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

By Ron Wood

The Wallabies performance and the outcome of the game against The Springboks last Saturday amounts to a clear indication as to where Australian Rugby sits in the current International Rugby landscape. The current World Champion Springboks were yards ahead of the Wallabies in every aspect of the game. Their physical dominance and higher skill level was clear for all to see. The International Ratings as at August 12th has Australia at No.9 in the world. The Boks are at one, Ireland at two and the All Blacks at three. Then comes France at four and England at five. Ahead of Australia are Argentina, Scotland and Italy, with Fiji one behind us at 10. I can’t see our situation changing anytime soon and we can expect more of the same going forward in terms of results as we have seen for the past several years. The occasional win will come around against sides with a similar rating to us but the days of Australia being a fixture in the top three or four in the world are long gone. Rugby Australia are making changes and recruiting talented people to the task of turning this all around but there is clearly a lot of work to do if the Wallabies are ever going to return to the top of Ratings.

The statistics coming out of last Saturdays match at Kiama make for interesting consideration. The most significant stat was the fact that Camden went into the two matches against the Cows with some 20 players not available for various reasons. My information is that a few of these players were out injured but what about the majority of the players who didn’t turn out. I’m sure there is a myriad of reasons for players not being available, but on a weekend where another club forfeited their two games  as well, it raises the question for a lot of Rugby enthusiasts in regard to the modern-day player's commitment to their clubs. As for the game stats, Kiama scored at a point a minute over the duration of the game. They scored six tries per half with goal kicker Matt Forsyth kicking five goals per half. Despite dominating the game in most aspects of play Kiama still conceded four tries to the Rams and a bonus point as well. Shoalhaven are looking good to achieve their Threepeat of Premierships.   

With one round to go I think we can declare what the Semi Finals will look like in both grades. With Campbelltown having the bye in both Grades this week there can be no change to the top four in either Grade. If results go to form it will be Shoalhaven V Kiama in Firsts and Bowral V Kiama in Seconds in the Major Semis next Saturday at Shoalhaven Rugby Park. On the Sunday at Ocean Park the Minor Semis will feature Campbelltown V Camden in Firsts and Shoalhaven V Camden in Seconds.

The last Round for 2024 looks pretty straight forward. Vikings will be hosting Kiama at Vikings Oval. Kiama are really firing in attack and will run up a score here as well. Kiama to Win. Next door, Tech Waratahs will be up against the Premiers Shoalhaven and we should see another high scoring affair here as well. Shoalhaven to Win. The Match of the Round is at Camden with Bowral visiting. Camden at full strength should account for The Blacks but don’t write off this very committed Bowral side. Bowral is on the rise and, if the Rams take them lightly, they may find themselves going into the finals on a three-game losing streak. Camden to Win.   

Rugby Diary 

Saturday August 24           Major Semi Finals – Shoalhaven Rugby Park

Sunday August 25             Minor Semi Finals – Ocean Park, Woonona

Saturday August 31           Finals – Vikings Oval, Wollongong

Wednesday September 4     IDRU Grand Final Dinner/Presentation

Saturday September 7         IDRU Grand Final Day – Collegians Sports Ground, Figtree