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

By Ron Wood

Local Rugby is over for the year but there is still plenty happening on the field as we move into October. The Australian Rugby Shield Tournament is on this weekend up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The tournament gets underway on Wednesday at the Caloundra Rugby Fields. Jack Hobbs and Eli Sinoti are key members of the NSW Country Cockatoos for the Carnival and Malama Leatigaga will be turning out for the Womens Country Corellas as well. Illawarra will also be represented by IDRURA President Adam Lysle who has been appointed to the Rugby Australia Referees Development Panel and will be overseeing the Referees for the Tournament. You can see all the action by going to rugby.com.au/videos to stream all the action live. The Draw has the Cockatoos playing Qld Subbies on Wednesday 2nd at 11.00am, Tasmania on Thursday 3rd at 2.30 pm, and the ADF side on Saturday 5th at 12.45pm. The Tournament Finals will be played on Sunday 6th. The Corellas play  the ADF at 12.45pm on Wednesday 2nd, South Australia on Thursday 3rd at 12.45pm, and the ACT/SNSW Kestrels on Saturday 5th at 11.00am.  

The Wallabies campaign in the Rugby Championships is over with a disappointing last place on the ladder. With just one win in the tournament Coach Joe Schmidt now has a pretty good idea of just what he has in front of him. The Wallabies performance against the Kiwis showed some good signs but the scorelines were hard to ignore in the end. The first match against the All Blacks was very hard to watch. In the first half the Wallabies were just not competitive at all as the All Blacks did whatever they liked. The physical effort from the Wallabies was just not there and the All Blacks took complete control. After a rev up from somebody in the shed at half time the Wallabies came out and turned things around and put in a much more physical effort which really put the Kiwis off their game. In Wellington although well beaten again in the end, the physical effort was there again and the All Blacks had to work hard for their victory. In a clear sign in Wellington of the difference in player depth between the two National Teams, when the Coaches went to their respective benches the All Blacks lost nothing with their changes. In fact, their defensive effort after the changes was outstanding, while despite what was a better effort from the Wallabies, they just couldn’t get themselves anywhere near a win. The Grand Slam Northern Tour coming up in November will be very interesting with the Lions due next year.

In the latest International Ratings the Wallabies and the Wallaroos have both dropped down. The Women have dropped one spot to number 7, while the men are now rated  at Number 10 with Fiji, Italy and Argentina now all ahead on the table. The Northern Tour in November will be crucial for the Wallabies if they are to maintain a top 10 rating. The tour includes matches against all the Home Nations starting with England on 10th November, Wales on the 18th November, Scotland the 25th November  and finally Ireland on the 1st December. Let’s hope that the Giteau law will be scrapped by then and overseas based players can be selected going forward. I reckon Joe Schmidt would like to see that happen!

The next big event locally will be the IDRU AGM which is set for 11th November at the Builders Club at 7.00PM. In what could be a major overhaul of the Board, The Presidents position, the Rugby Chairmans spot and the Junior Representative Director  are up for grabs. Tom Ellicott has indicated that he will not be seeking re election and so we will be welcoming a new President to take us to the 2025 season and beyond.  To nominate for one of these positions you need to fill in a Nomination Form which can be obtained by contacting the IDRU through the Website or Facebook page. Nominations must be submitted by 5.00PM on Friday 11th October.      

Rugby Diary 

Australian Rugby Shield

Wednesday 2nd October          Cockatoos V Qld Subbies, 11.00am

                                                  Corellas V ADF, 12.45am

Thursday 3rd October               Cockatoos V Tasmania, 2.30pm

                                                  Corellas V South Australia, 12.45pm

Saturday 5th October                Cockatoos V ADF, 12.45pm

                                                  Corellas V ACT/SNSW Kestrels, 11.00am

Sunday 6th October                  Finals – To Be Confirmed

Sunday 10th November            Wallabies V England, 2.10am

Monday 11th November            IDRU AGM.  7.00pm

Monday 18th November            Wallabies V Wales, 3.10am

Monday 25th November            Wallabies V Scotland, 12.40am

Sunday 1st December               Wallabies V Ireland, 2.10am