Latest news with #Tahs
Sydney Morning Herald
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Lions Tour LIVE updates: Waratahs go head-to-head with Lions in Sydney
Latest posts Latest posts 7.30pm Kiwis sneak home against France 'B' team Iain Payten Interesting result across the ditch, with the All Blacks only just getting home 31-27 against a severely depleted French side. Controversially, France sent a squad with 17 uncapped players due to the powerful clubs refusing to release a host of stars. Kiwi commentators have been irate, but the France reggies almost pulled off a massive upset in Dunedin. The game on a knife edge for the last quarter, with New Zealand leading 28-27. But All Blacks star Beauden Barrett slotted a late penalty to seal a too-close-for-comfort victory. 7.30pm Late change for Lions - Pollock out By Iain Payten Here are the teams for the Tahs and Lions. As you can see, the Lions look exceptionally strong, with a couple of familiar names in the starting team: Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham and Sione Tuipulotu were all raised in Australia before finding their way to Ireland and Scotland to play Test rugby. There has been a late change for the Lions: young backrower Henry Pollock has been withdrawn with a tight calf, meaning skipper Tadgh Beirne moves from lock to no.6, and Scott Cummings comes into the second row. Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan are both playing their first matches on tour, as well, and are both sharp with the ball in hand. As with other Aussie sides, the Waratahs are down on Wallaby troops but there are a couple of key men in key spots. Taniela Tupou is starting at tighthead and you'd have to think his Test chances ride heavily on a strong showing here. Andrew Kellaway has also come back from the Wallabies and will be a key man to bring calm and composure. So too will backrower Rob Leota, and new Tahs recruit Matt Philip, who'll bring presence from the bench. Interestingly, Wallabies squad member Tane Edmed is not starting at no.10, however. Jack Bowen will start and Edmed - who is heading to the Brumbies next year - will come from the pine. WARATAHS (15-1): Lawson Creighton; Andrew Kellaway, Lalakai Foketi, Joey Walton, Darby Lancaster; Jack Bowen, Teddy Wilson; Hugh Sinclair (capt), Charlie Gamble, Rob Leota; Miles Amatosero, Fergus Lee-Warner; Taniela Tupou, Ethan Dobbins, Tom Lambert Replacements: Mahe Vailanu, Jack Barrett, Daniel Botha, Matt Philip, Jamie Adamson, Jack Grant, Tane Edmed, Henry O'Donnell LIONS (15-1): Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne (c), James Ryan, Scott Cummings, Finlay Bealham, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Pierre Schoeman Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Ellis Genge, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Duhan van der Merwe, Jac Morgan, Ben White, Marcus Smith Referee: Paul Williams (NZR) Assistant Referees: James Doleman (NZR), Angus Mabey (NZR) TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR) FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU) 7.29pm Welcome to the jungle By Iain Payten Good evening fans and welcome to a massive night of rugby. The British and Irish Lions tour of Australia has arrived at its third stop - Sydney - and a clash with the Waratahs. My name is Iain Payten and I will be your blogging buddy, and the expert comments and match report will come from our reverse-Lion - the Herald's own project player from norn Iron, Jonathan Drennan. This NSW-Lions game has been, historically, very spicy. Who can forget the infamous 2001 fixture when Duncan McRae was red-carded for punching the tripe out of Lions five-eighth Ronan O'Gara? Yes, we went straight there. O'Gara has kept a low profile on this tour but here's a yarn with him ahead of the 2013 tour. The 2001 game was a generally ill-tempered affair, and though they ended up losing 41-24, the then-Waratahs captain Phil Waugh proudly mentioned in a post-match function that they'd taken lumps out of the Lions. Waugh is, of course, now chief executive of Rugby Australia. It's unclear if he put his hand up to play tonight but there's about a 50% chance he did. NSW have not beaten the Lions since the 12-year cycle began in 1989, but in 20 clashes overall since 1888, NSW have four wins: 1908, 1930, 1950 and 1959. The Waratahs tonight are not favoured to bring a fifth win. That much is clear from the bookies, who have them at $ do we reckon is going to happen? Have your say in the poll.
The Age
05-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Lions Tour LIVE updates: Waratahs go head-to-head with Lions in Sydney
Latest posts Latest posts 7.30pm Kiwis sneak home against France 'B' team Iain Payten Interesting result across the ditch, with the All Blacks only just getting home 31-27 against a severely depleted French side. Controversially, France sent a squad with 17 uncapped players due to the powerful clubs refusing to release a host of stars. Kiwi commentators have been irate, but the France reggies almost pulled off a massive upset in Dunedin. The game on a knife edge for the last quarter, with New Zealand leading 28-27. But All Blacks star Beauden Barrett slotted a late penalty to seal a too-close-for-comfort victory. 7.30pm Late change for Lions - Pollock out By Iain Payten Here are the teams for the Tahs and Lions. As you can see, the Lions look exceptionally strong, with a couple of familiar names in the starting team: Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham and Sione Tuipulotu were all raised in Australia before finding their way to Ireland and Scotland to play Test rugby. There has been a late change for the Lions: young backrower Henry Pollock has been withdrawn with a tight calf, meaning skipper Tadgh Beirne moves from lock to no.6, and Scott Cummings comes into the second row. Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan are both playing their first matches on tour, as well, and are both sharp with the ball in hand. As with other Aussie sides, the Waratahs are down on Wallaby troops but there are a couple of key men in key spots. Taniela Tupou is starting at tighthead and you'd have to think his Test chances ride heavily on a strong showing here. Andrew Kellaway has also come back from the Wallabies and will be a key man to bring calm and composure. So too will backrower Rob Leota, and new Tahs recruit Matt Philip, who'll bring presence from the bench. Interestingly, Wallabies squad member Tane Edmed is not starting at no.10, however. Jack Bowen will start and Edmed - who is heading to the Brumbies next year - will come from the pine. WARATAHS (15-1): Lawson Creighton; Andrew Kellaway, Lalakai Foketi, Joey Walton, Darby Lancaster; Jack Bowen, Teddy Wilson; Hugh Sinclair (capt), Charlie Gamble, Rob Leota; Miles Amatosero, Fergus Lee-Warner; Taniela Tupou, Ethan Dobbins, Tom Lambert Replacements: Mahe Vailanu, Jack Barrett, Daniel Botha, Matt Philip, Jamie Adamson, Jack Grant, Tane Edmed, Henry O'Donnell LIONS (15-1): Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne (c), James Ryan, Scott Cummings, Finlay Bealham, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Pierre Schoeman Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Ellis Genge, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Duhan van der Merwe, Jac Morgan, Ben White, Marcus Smith Referee: Paul Williams (NZR) Assistant Referees: James Doleman (NZR), Angus Mabey (NZR) TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR) FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU) 7.29pm Welcome to the jungle By Iain Payten Good evening fans and welcome to a massive night of rugby. The British and Irish Lions tour of Australia has arrived at its third stop - Sydney - and a clash with the Waratahs. My name is Iain Payten and I will be your blogging buddy, and the expert comments and match report will come from our reverse-Lion - the Herald's own project player from norn Iron, Jonathan Drennan. This NSW-Lions game has been, historically, very spicy. Who can forget the infamous 2001 fixture when Duncan McRae was red-carded for punching the tripe out of Lions five-eighth Ronan O'Gara? Yes, we went straight there. O'Gara has kept a low profile on this tour but here's a yarn with him ahead of the 2013 tour. The 2001 game was a generally ill-tempered affair, and though they ended up losing 41-24, the then-Waratahs captain Phil Waugh proudly mentioned in a post-match function that they'd taken lumps out of the Lions. Waugh is, of course, now chief executive of Rugby Australia. It's unclear if he put his hand up to play tonight but there's about a 50% chance he did. NSW have not beaten the Lions since the 12-year cycle began in 1989, but in 20 clashes overall since 1888, NSW have four wins: 1908, 1930, 1950 and 1959. The Waratahs tonight are not favoured to bring a fifth win. That much is clear from the bookies, who have them at $ do we reckon is going to happen? Have your say in the poll.
The Age
02-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
‘Those days are gone': Why Waratahs-Lions won't get punchy
I had a back injury before the tour but Graham Henry put a lot of faith in me and said, 'we really want you to come on the tour'. I knew in the back of my mind I would doing well to get a game in. It was a brutal tour from day one. We started going bone on bone, competing for positions really, really early. In the first session we went to, three blokes got split open and needed stitches. I missed the first three games but eventually played against Australia A, and tore my calf after 40 minutes. Dan Luger and Phil Greening also got injured that week, so we hired a car and did a roadtrip up to Brisbane. Stupidly they let us follow the tour, they said, 'we've booked your rooms and stuff, so why don't you just keep following'. Lawrence Dallaglio joined us as well. When we got to Byron Bay no-one could decide if we would stay or push on to Brisbane, so we tossed a coin: heads we stay, tails we leave. It was heads. We ended up spending all our tour money. We all would have preferred to stay on the tour and play obviously, but that wasn't to be. Putting rivalries aside One of the biggest things I learned on Lions tours is how guys who hated each other become firm friends. The English hated the Scots and vice versa, and being from South Africa, I couldn't understand this hatred and the disdain from both sides. It's a game of rugby, lads. But there was this real hatred, they didn't like each other. But what I really love, and it's the beauty of our sport, is when they did come together as Lions, the Irish and the English, the Scots, the Welsh, they were all brilliant. Just flipping good people: good guys, hardworking, funny, proper tourists. Working with different guys you have a perception of, or only see when you're playing against them ... then to actually getting to know them and understand them, that was the real eye-opener for me. The other thing you come to understand in a Lions environment is just the massive challenge of it. You're working with the best of the best, everyone wants to be a Test Lion, and then you have to go to another country and have to quickly get together and become a team. That's tough. It's not easy. The other big thing that blew me away, especially in 2001, is the support. When we came out to Australia, I reckon the whole of Wales was here. It was the most incredible sight, anywhere you went. I still remember Brisbane for the first Test. You walked out the stadium, and all you saw was just red, everywhere. Why the Tahs won't rough up the Lions It has happened in the past, but there is no talk in the Waratahs camp about trying to bash up the Lions on Saturday. Everyone remembers the Waratahs-Lions game in 2001 (when Duncan McRae was sent off for repeatedly punching Ronan O'Gara). And midweek games in South Africa, they were pretty old-school. They were some tough, tough games. You just had to survive them. It was a different mentality. But that's not in the game anymore, to be honest. Those days are gone. It's too fast. You can't get away with it. Which Lions star are you going to rough up anyway? They have so many good players so they don't really rely on one person, do they? Embrace the challenge It will be the biggest game in some of the Waratahs players' careers so we have told the boys to savour the experience. Because it's a Saturday game, the Lions may opt to play their Test team. So it's going to be the best of the best. Waratahs coach Dan McKellar has mentioned a lot to the boys: just embrace it. Don't miss this opportunity to play your best footy, against the best of the best. Don't think it's just going to happen. It's a special day. You're probably not going to get this opportunity again. Suaalii and Jorgensen on another level Having coached them this year, I have been blown away by the talent – and potential – of Joseph Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. There's been a huge learning for Joseph. A lot of people forget how young he is, and he's had to try and find his feet and adapt to it. But the beauty with Joseph is that he's brought another level of professionalism. So there's professionalism, that people think is professionalism, and then there's Joseph Suaalii professionalism – as a 21-year-old. It's that real want from an individual to get better. And now. He doesn't want to wait two years, three years down the line. That's the mentality that I saw up north a lot. Loading For the youngsters here, having somebody like Joseph come in and show that real drive – that's a great example. He'll make his mark in this Test series, no doubt, just with just his physical presence in a Test match. He's a beast. Then you have got Max Jorgensen, who I think is proper special. If he keeps himself on the rugby pitch, he's another one that we could be talking about for years and years to come. He's got everything. Those two will only go to another level. They trust themselves. They believe that they're capable of playing at that level and they're going to go and get it. I love that. I love that mentality.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Those days are gone': Why Waratahs-Lions won't get punchy
I had a back injury before the tour but Graham Henry put a lot of faith in me and said, 'we really want you to come on the tour'. I knew in the back of my mind I would doing well to get a game in. It was a brutal tour from day one. We started going bone on bone, competing for positions really, really early. In the first session we went to, three blokes got split open and needed stitches. I missed the first three games but eventually played against Australia A, and tore my calf after 40 minutes. Dan Luger and Phil Greening also got injured that week, so we hired a car and did a roadtrip up to Brisbane. Stupidly they let us follow the tour, they said, 'we've booked your rooms and stuff, so why don't you just keep following'. Lawrence Dallaglio joined us as well. When we got to Byron Bay no-one could decide if we would stay or push on to Brisbane, so we tossed a coin: heads we stay, tails we leave. It was heads. We ended up spending all our tour money. We all would have preferred to stay on the tour and play obviously, but that wasn't to be. Putting rivalries aside One of the biggest things I learned on Lions tours is how guys who hated each other become firm friends. The English hated the Scots and vice versa, and being from South Africa, I couldn't understand this hatred and the disdain from both sides. It's a game of rugby, lads. But there was this real hatred, they didn't like each other. But what I really love, and it's the beauty of our sport, is when they did come together as Lions, the Irish and the English, the Scots, the Welsh, they were all brilliant. Just flipping good people: good guys, hardworking, funny, proper tourists. Working with different guys you have a perception of, or only see when you're playing against them ... then to actually getting to know them and understand them, that was the real eye-opener for me. The other thing you come to understand in a Lions environment is just the massive challenge of it. You're working with the best of the best, everyone wants to be a Test Lion, and then you have to go to another country and have to quickly get together and become a team. That's tough. It's not easy. The other big thing that blew me away, especially in 2001, is the support. When we came out to Australia, I reckon the whole of Wales was here. It was the most incredible sight, anywhere you went. I still remember Brisbane for the first Test. You walked out the stadium, and all you saw was just red, everywhere. Why the Tahs won't rough up the Lions It has happened in the past, but there is no talk in the Waratahs camp about trying to bash up the Lions on Saturday. Everyone remembers the Waratahs-Lions game in 2001 (when Duncan McRae was sent off for repeatedly punching Ronan O'Gara). And midweek games in South Africa, they were pretty old-school. They were some tough, tough games. You just had to survive them. It was a different mentality. But that's not in the game anymore, to be honest. Those days are gone. It's too fast. You can't get away with it. Which Lions star are you going to rough up anyway? They have so many good players so they don't really rely on one person, do they? Embrace the challenge It will be the biggest game in some of the Waratahs players' careers so we have told the boys to savour the experience. Because it's a Saturday game, the Lions may opt to play their Test team. So it's going to be the best of the best. Waratahs coach Dan McKellar has mentioned a lot to the boys: just embrace it. Don't miss this opportunity to play your best footy, against the best of the best. Don't think it's just going to happen. It's a special day. You're probably not going to get this opportunity again. Suaalii and Jorgensen on another level Having coached them this year, I have been blown away by the talent – and potential – of Joseph Suaalii and Max Jorgensen. There's been a huge learning for Joseph. A lot of people forget how young he is, and he's had to try and find his feet and adapt to it. But the beauty with Joseph is that he's brought another level of professionalism. So there's professionalism, that people think is professionalism, and then there's Joseph Suaalii professionalism – as a 21-year-old. It's that real want from an individual to get better. And now. He doesn't want to wait two years, three years down the line. That's the mentality that I saw up north a lot. Loading For the youngsters here, having somebody like Joseph come in and show that real drive – that's a great example. He'll make his mark in this Test series, no doubt, just with just his physical presence in a Test match. He's a beast. Then you have got Max Jorgensen, who I think is proper special. If he keeps himself on the rugby pitch, he's another one that we could be talking about for years and years to come. He's got everything. Those two will only go to another level. They trust themselves. They believe that they're capable of playing at that level and they're going to go and get it. I love that. I love that mentality.
RTÉ News
30-06-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Wallabies release Taniela Tupou for Waratahs clash with Lions
Australia prop Taniela Tupou has been released from the Wallabies squad to join the New South Wales Waratahs for their tour match against the British & Irish Lions on Saturday, leaving his hopes of featuring in the test series up in the air. The move means Tupou will not be selected for Sunday's test in Newcastle against Fiji, the Wallabies' last warmup before they face the Lions in the series-opener in Brisbane on 19 July. Tupou, who has 58 tests under his belt, had an inconsistent season for the Waratahs in Super Rugby but Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt included him in his initial squad along with tighthead options Allan Alaalatoa, Tom Robertson and Zane Nonggorr. With the Wallabies' match-day squad against Fiji likely to be close to Schmidt's first-choice team for the Lions, Tupou may need to produce something special for the Waratahs to be considered for the series. Once a ball-carrying dynamo ranked among the world's top scrummagers, Tupou's stock has fallen in recent years amid poor form and injury struggles. His release from the squad raised question marks about his test future but Wallabies teammate Fraser McReight backed the man nicknamed "Tongan Thor" to return stronger. "He's coming together and he's honing what he needs to do but I have no doubt that he will come back and be firing, ready to go," McReight told reporters on Monday. "But obviously his first job is to put that light blue jersey on and go against the Lions for the 'Tahs." The Lions kicked off their tour of Australia on Saturday with a thumping 54-7 win over Western Force in Perth. They next face a Queensland Reds team featuring nine Wallabies, including centre Hunter Paisami and hooker Matt Faessler, at Lang Park in Brisbane on Wednesday. Former New Zealand prop Aidan Ross, the Reds' new signing, will also start against the Lions. Some of the Reds' best are being kept on ice for the Fiji test, though, including flanker McReight and halfbacks Tate McDermott and Tom Lynagh. Under Eddie Jones, Australia were stunned 22-15 by Fiji on the way to exiting at the group stage of the 2023 World Cup. While the Lions series-opener looms, McReight said the players were not treating Fiji as a warmup. "It's a test match against Fiji, who are a bloody good side," he said. "We're not worried so much about trying to get revenge (for the World Cup) or anything like that .... Two years ago was a long time, it's a completely different squad." Though focused on Fiji, the Wallabies players will be keeping close tabs on the Lions' tour matches, which include further fixtures against the ACT Brumbies and an invitational Australia-New Zealand XV. Reds and future Wallabies coach Les Kiss on Monday named the first four New Zealand players for the Australia-NZ squad to face the Lions on July 12 at Adelaide Oval. Former All Blacks enforcer Shannon Frizell is the headliner, with support from Canterbury Crusaders centre-captain David Havili, livewire fullback Shaun Stevenson and test scrumhalf Folau Fakatava.
