ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

The Stormers walloped the Blues last night 51-23. The Blues started off okay and at the end of the first quarter they were up 11-5. The next 20 minutes was horrendous for them though as the Stormers scored 6 tries. They were so quick I was beginning to think I must have been watching replays... Shocking stuff for the Blues, but the Stormers played very well.

'Woeful' accurately describes the Queensland Reds' performance last night against the Bulls. The first half saw them up 12-6 at half time, but when they came back out for the second half it was as if the Reds had forgotten how to play. It was very sad to watch. The visitors got up 23-17 by full time - don't know how a team can blow a game when they score more tries than their opposition - especially two weeks in a row!! Honestly!

And I ALSO blew my Sharks/Chiefs tip - the Chiefs 34 over the Sharks 27 in Durban.

I give up!!

Heading into Round 9 tonight of the Rugby Super 12 2004 comp... it's tipping time again :)

It's still kind of early in the morning here <--- my accuracy disclaimer in advance

Tonight I'm tipping the Blues over the Stormers in Auckland
The Reds over the Bulls in Brisbane - I figure the Reds have to win another game at some stage, but Daniel Heenan has been ruled out so I should probably have the tip the other way around.
Tomorrow I'm tipping the Sharks over the Chiefs in Durban
Phil Waugh over the Hurricanes in Sydney - my attempt at humour :)
and last but not least, the Crusaders over the Cats in Jo'burg

So there you go - enjoy Round 9 and for those of you playing rugby this weekend - have a win!

Bob Dwyer - famous Australian coach who guided the Wallabies to their first RWC win in 1991 is to coach the Barbarian side that will tour the UK in late May. The three matches should be good ones to catch on the tube. Joe Roff, Chris Latham and Matt Burke are apparently going to be playing in the Barbarian side - cool! Well, I'm very happy for Chris Latham - I doubt that Dwyer will leave him sitting on the bench for the matches. Here's a pic of my son with my favourite Reds player last week :)



Just one more thing to say today - I'm sick to death of hearing about the marital woes of a certain soccer player and his wife. WHO CARES what they do in their own time? Talk about boring!

Later!

The ARU is apparently going to make Stephen Larkham a counter offer to try and keep him from taking up the Worcester offer - pretty hard to turn down $2.5m though. Guess we'll see what happens!

Seems that there's bit of a kerfuffle going on between David Nucifora and Joe Roff. Roff is the Brumbie's player representative on the ACT board, and Nucifora believes that Roff should have excused himself from the meeting where the board decided to oust Nucifora at the end of the season. It's a moot point now though isn't it??

Meanwhile, the Waratahs will be happy - Phil Waugh is back and ready to play this weekend after recovering from injury. Here's hoping his presence makes all the difference for the Tahs!

Over and out!

At the end of Round 8 the Brumbies sit comfortably on top of the Super 12 2004 ladder on 30 points, their closest rival being the Sharks sitting on 24. The Brumbies have a bye next week though so if the Sharks beat the Chiefs next weekend and grab a bonus point they'll be sniffing right up the Brumbies shorts.

The Reds are second last on the ladder :/ The points table is updated and you can find it here.

Later!

The Cats finally notched up a win last night - coming back in the second half of the game to keep the Chiefs out 23-21. There were 'some' fine phases of play by the Cats - loved the try by Jorrie Muller the big Cats winger in the second half. The Cats win means that I only got 3/5 on my tipping for Round 8. Oh well!

Hey it's Easter Sunday! I'm chocolated out already...

Later!

The Stormers broke the hearts of Reds' fans tonight in Brisbane winning by just one point 21-20. The Reds had a shocker! And that's them OUT of contention for 2004 :/

The Sharks got up over the Crusaders 29-25 in a fast paced game in Durban...

and.. it's half time in the Chiefs-Cats clash. The Chiefs are up 8-3. Fa'atau scored for the Chiefs in the first half - I'm off to watch the second half.

Later!