A number of weeks in the past, I used to be on the 8/9 Podcast and made the purpose that the Rugby Championship doesn’t have the identical ardour because the six nations as a consequence of a scarcity of travelling followers. Whereas I feel that remark is basically true the Multi-Cultural nature of Australia signifies that travelling groups at all times have first rate help and the South African Followers actually confirmed it for the primary two exams. The South African diaspora actually confirmed up in pressure. My name to them is to actially attend Suoer video games additionally.
The Following reveals why so many South Africans stay in Australia. Hyperlink Right here
Ellis Park has a fearsome popularity as a hostile setting and intimidating stadium. And that’s only for the spectators, provided that the 94-year-old venue sits in the midst of a metropolis synonymous with crime. The Doornfontein suburb the place Ellis Park sits is not any exception to the challenges town faces.
It’s why video games there kick off within the afternoon, relatively than at night time, so followers don’t have to depart the world as soon as it’s darkish.
Nevertheless, issues are altering in Johannesburg. A brand new rail hyperlink connects Ellis Park (recognized formally as Emirates Airways Stadium for sponsorship functions) with the remainder of town, with two native prepare companies becoming a member of forces to make sure followers can go to and from the sport safely. On Sunday these companies organised a visit for media on the hyperlink, which ended with a stroll on the well-known stadium’s pristine enjoying floor.
“The town of Johannesburg has grappled with the problems of security for the longest of occasions,” former mayor and native authorities consultant Kabelo Gwamanda mentioned.
“Security is our predominant concern, in order that our patrons can benefit from the sport with out having some other worries. We’ve got ensured with native regulation enforcement that we are going to mitigate any type of threats that shall be related to the sport.
“Having a sport of this magnitude, we will anticipate it should appeal to the incorrect sorts of factor. So in our state of readiness these are a few of the essential points we wanted to deal with…in order that our patrons can benefit from the sport with out the concern of being mugged.”
GPS flanker Matt Gicquel has immediately been named the 2024 Alec Evans Medallist whereas Sunnybank’s Ana Afuie has received back-to-back Selena Worsley Medals.
Pravda Hyperlink Right here
The excessive achievers had been honoured with the foremost awards on the annual Queensland Premier Rugby Grand Ultimate Breakfast staged at The Jubilee Resort.
Gicquel’s excellent season for GPS was recognised by common nods from referees who awarded votes on a 3-2-1 foundation for every sport within the StoreLocal Hospital Cup competitors.
He was proficient at successful turnovers, averaged 11 tackles a sport, was adept at beating defenders along with his zest for operating and scored 9 tries.
He was a runaway winner on 24 factors by snaring six three-point votes, together with three in a row in the direction of the tip of the season in opposition to Bond College, Wests and Norths.
He displayed all the abilities sharpened by two seasons in French rugby with the Valence Romans Drome Rugby membership. He was additionally as sturdy as ever, enjoying 15 of GPS’ 16 video games.
Afuie once more confirmed her matchwinning knack from halfback within the Sunnybank aspect which claimed the minor premiership within the StoreLocal Premier Girls’s competitors.
A Samoan worldwide and former Queensland Reds participant, Afuie backed up her 2023 success with a second Selena Worsley Medal.
“We did a whole lot of good issues at Sunnybank this season and I see ladies’s rugby on the way in which up in some ways since I first performed on the membership in 2015,” Afuie mentioned.
“The sport is loads faster and extra skilful.
“It’s a thrill to win this medal and contribute this season.”
2024 Queensland Premier Rugby Award Winners
Hospital Cup High Attempt Scorer: Jake Tierney (College) – 16 tries
Hospital Cup High Level Scorer: Hamish Roberts (Bond College) – 157 factors
Premier Girls’s High Attempt Scorer: Tess Littleton (College) – 15 tries
Premier Girls’s High Level Scorer: Mel Wilks (Bond College) – 101 factors
Horsley Trophy – Minor Premiership – Brothers
Welsby Cup – Winner of Groups 1st and 2nd from Spherical 1 – Brothers
Doughty Protect – Membership Championship – Brothers
Geoff “Bunter” Shaw Problem Cup (Bunter Bowl) – Wests
Underneath-20s Participant of the 12 months – Dre Pakeho (Brothers)
Andrew Cole Medal – Referees’ award – Aaron Pook
Selena Worsley Medal (Premier Girls’s Greatest and Fairest) – Ana Afuie (Sunnybank)
Alec Evans Medal (Hospital Cup Greatest and Fairest) – Matt Gicquel (GPS)
Rees-Zammit misses out on Chiefs’ 53-man squad
Former rugby union star Louis Rees-Zammit has not been chosen within the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ 53-man squad for the 2024 season.
The previous Wales winger, who give up rugby in January to pursue a profession within the NFL, has been coaching with the Chiefs all through the offseason.
The 23-year-old performed in all three of their pre-season video games, however missed out on the NFL’s ‘cutdown day’.
Groups have an offseason coaching squad of 90 gamers and should choose 53 for the beginning of the season, for which the deadline was Tuesday.
Rees-Zammit’s hopes of enjoying throughout the common season should not over, although.
He’ll now be positioned on waivers, which means one other staff can signal him, however he’s anticipated to proceed coaching with the Chiefs as a part of their observe squad.
That might give him extra time to adapt to the game, and the NFL champions can promote him to their lively roster as much as 3 times throughout the season. NFL groups can promote two gamers from their observe squad every sport.
Rees-Zammit’s NFL journey started with a 10-week coaching camp as a part of the NFL’s Worldwide Participant Pathway (IPP).
He was then signed by the Chiefs, who’ve received the previous two Tremendous Bowls, and though he was earmarked as a operating again, he performed in quite a lot of positions throughout pre-season because the Chiefs tried to search out his best suited function.
IRFU announce 37 central contracts for girls’s sport
The Irish Rugby Soccer Union has introduced 37 central contracts throughout the Girls’s Excessive Efficiency Programme because the Eire Girls’s XVs and Sevens squads construct in the direction of the 2024-25 season.
The Eire Girls’s XV shall be again in motion once they host Australia on the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday 14 September as a part of Irish Rugby’s one hundred and fiftieth 12 months celebrations.
Scott Bemand’s squad then journey to Vancouver for his or her WXV1 marketing campaign within the autumn, earlier than they flip their consideration to subsequent season’s Girls’s Six Nations and Girls’s Rugby World Cup in England.
After making their debut on the Olympics in Paris, the Eire Girls’s Sevens aspect will return to coaching in mid-September as preparations for a brand new HSBC SVNS Collection marketing campaign kicks off in Dubai in November.
‘An essential 12 months forward’
“It is a crucial 12 months forward for the Girls’s programme, with our XVs squad constructing in the direction of our return to the Girls’s Rugby World Cup stage, and our Sevens squad bidding to construct on the optimistic momentum from their look on the latest Paris Olympics, so growing depth in our enjoying sources is a key focus,” defined Head of Girls’s Efficiency and Pathways Gillian McDarby.
“With this in thoughts, the alignment between our squads is a crucial energy as we face right into a busy schedule and the constant conversations between Scott and Allan [Temple-Jones, Sevens coach], in addition to our Excessive Efficiency Employees throughout each XVs and Sevens, ensures we’ll give each our Eire groups the most effective probability of success on the worldwide stage.”
