Whitaker will coach alongside head coach Daryl Gibson, who had his contract extended, and former Norths coach Simon Cron, while 2018 assistant coach Chris Malone will move on.

Whitaker’s return to Sydney follows two years as Co-Head Coach of French club Montauban, and stints with Stade Francais and Irish club side Leinster.

He played in 118 games for NSW, including 107 for the NSW Waratahs, 48 internationals for Australia between 1998 and 2005, and also represented the Barbarians and Leinster.

Speaking from France, Whitaker said he was relishing the opportunity to return to NSW and be part of the State’s coach development pathway.

“The knowledge and experience you gain overseas is great but it is time for me to come home and contribute to the game and a State that has given so much to me and my family throughout my career.”

“Rugby in Australia is improving and I couldn’t pass on the chance to help further develop and grow the potential we have here,” Whitaker said.

The post Chris Whitaker added to Waratahs coaching staff appeared first on Rugby News.

From 2019 onwards, southern hemisphere nations will no longer host a Test series in June, allowing Super Rugby to be played continuously from mid February to early July.

This means non-international Super Rugby players will be available to play the majority of the back end of club competitions as well as the entire finals series.

While the Shute Shield and Premier Rugby draws for next season are yet to be confirmed, based on this year, those players could be available to play as many as eight regular season Shute Shield matches and six regular season Premier Rugby matches before finals begin in August.

While this is clearly a boost for both competitions, it will have dramatic implications. Both the Shute Shield and Premier Rugby have had four different premiers in the past 5 years and have been considerably closer competitions than in years gone by, when Super Rugby stacked teams were dominant.

Based on this year’s squads, Norths, Sydney Uni and Easts will be the big winners in Sydney with six non-Wallaby Super Rugby players each, while in Brisbane UQ could have six players return for the back end of next year, while Bond, Norths and Easts each have four players that could return.

It’s not yet known if administrators will attempt to evenly spread talent around the clubs following the change.

The post New Super Rugby format set to dramatically affect Sydney & Brisbane club rugby  appeared first on Rugby News.

Holloway came off the bench against the Chiefs in Hamilton last week. His selection means that Tom Staniforth is on the bench alongside young tighthead prop Shambeckler Vui, who replaces Paddy Ryan.

NSW Waratahs Coach Daryl Gibson said Holloway’s call-up was a great opportunity for the 25-year-old.

“He is getting his first start in the second row, which is a great chance for him. He is athletic and his ability to carry the ball is an asset for us.”

Gibson said Saturday’s return match against the traditional rivals will be fierce.

“We are both passionate about our States and the jersey and that will come through again. (Reds Coach) Brad Thorn is known to set up his team to be physical, like we saw in the game at the SCG in April, so we expect that to be the case again on the weekend.”

NSW Waratahs team to play QLD Reds

Tom Robertson (39)

Damien Fitzpatrick (43)

Sekope Kepu (119)

Jed Holloway (35)

Rob Simmons (10)

Will Miller (11)

Michael Hooper (Captain, 92)

Michael Wells (27)

Nick Phipps (68)

Bernard Foley (Vice Captain, 99)

Taqele Naiyaravoro (44)

Kurtley Beale (122)

Curtis Rona (12)

Cam Clark (18)

Israel Folau (84)

Reserves:

Tolu Latu (47)

Harry Johnson-Holmes (12)

Shambeckler Vui (2)

Tom Staniforth (12)

Brad Wilkin (1)

Jake Gordon (23)

Lalakai Foketi (12)

Bryce Hegarty (25)

The post Gibson shuffles Waratahs side ahead of Reds clash appeared first on Rugby News.

19-year old Harry Hockings returns to the starting side while Izaia Perese has been named on the wing after scoring a match winning try for Easts in Premier Rugby last weekend.

“We’ve kept a pretty similar side to last week,” Thorn said.

“Kane (Douglas) had a good game last week and he has been in strong form, but we felt the time was right to give Harry (Hockings) an opportunity to start. He has been making great strides in his development and this is the next step for him. Kane will provide good impact off the bench.

“Izaia (Perese) has been working hard to get back to the form he showed us in the pre-season, before his knee injury. He has had some chances off the bench and now he gets another crack in the starting side.

“It’s good to see Caleb (Timu) return from injury too. He was in damaging form before that setback and hopefully he will bounce back quickly.

“It’s another tough challenge this weekend. The Highlanders are a good side and they’ll be hurting.

“We have shown we can be competitive. Now we need to take it to the next level.

Queensland Reds team to play Highlanders

1. JP Smith – GPS

2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa – Sunnybank

3. Taniela Tupou – Brothers

4. Izack Rodda – Easts

5. Harry Hockings – University of Queensland (run-on debut)

6. Angus Scott-Young – University of Queensland

7. George Smith – Brothers

8. Scott Higginbotham (C) – Wests

9. Ben Lucas – Sunnybank

10. Jono Lance – University of Queensland

11. Jordan Petaia – Wests

12. Duncan Paia’aua – Norths

13. Samu Kerevi – Souths

14. Izaia Perese – Easts

15. Hamish Stewart – Bond University

16. Andrew Ready – Easts

17. Sef Fa’agase – University of Queensland

18. Ruan Smith – GPS

19. Kane Douglas – Norths

20. Caleb Timu – Souths

21. Liam Wright – Easts

22. Moses Sorovi – Wests

23. Aidan Toua – Easts

The post Young guns return to Reds side to play Highlanders appeared first on Rugby News.

There has been plenty of debate about the future of Super Rugby, SAANZAR and rugby as a whole in the southern hemisphere as the next round of broadcast negotiations approach in 2020.

Many think South Africa may soon look north to Europe, others suggest Japan and Argentina must go and some believe Australia should tear the whole thing a part and go it alone.

Before we get into that though, it’s worth looking back at how the whole thing started.

Earlier this year, I caught up with former ARU Chairman Bruce Hayman, one of a handful of men who essentially created Super Rugby or Super 12 as it was then known.

It’s worth a read if you’ve got the time but one of the main things I took from the conversation was that Super Rugby was a competition built for TV, as all three major southern hemisphere rugby nations looked to compete against deep pocketed rugby league clubs in the midst of the Super League war.

READ: Super Rugby founder gives his thoughts on the competition and its future

A lot has changed since then, but at the moment it’s difficult to see broadcasters around the world paying much more to broadcast Super Rugby than they did a few years ago.

So change in some form is fairly likely.

One option being thrown around is for Australia to leave Super Rugby and set up its own domestic competition.

Personally, I’m not a fan and I think the Waratahs 2018 campaign is a perfect example of why we must compete against at least New Zealand at a provincial level to remain competitive on the international stage and be relevant in the Australian sporting market.

As we head towards the June Test break, the Waratahs lead the Australian conference and have won six of their 11 games.

Had the Tahs been playing in a domestic competition in 2018, they’d be heading towards a June Test series, Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Championship and eventually a World Cup full of confidence, having won their fair share of matches to start the year.

To be fair, their isn’t a whole lot between the Tahs, Reds, Rebels and Brumbies this year and a number of results in our hypothetical domestic competition could have gone either way, but that’s irrelevant for this discussion.

The point I’m making is that our Wallabies would not be properly prepared to play the world’s best sides.

Imagine flying to Auckland to play in your first Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park, having never played a New Zealand side before, or at least in the last 12 months.

I get scared watching the haka on TV, I can only imagine what it would feel like to stand in New Zealand and face it.

A month ago, the Waratahs had lost just two of their first nine matches.

They were dreadful against the Lions in Sydney, then blew a number of chances to beat the Blues a week later.

They then headed to Christchurch to play the competition’s most successful side of all time and produced their best performance of the season.

Sure, the end result wasn’t great but from that game, the Waratahs started to truly believe that they were good enough to not just compete against the Kiwis but to beat them.

A week later, they ended Australia’s 40-game Super Rugby drought, albeit with the help of some flying Highlander feet.

Similarly in 2014, the Tahs defeated the Chiefs in New Plymouth at a similar point of the season and went undefeated from that point on to win their first ever Super Rugby title.

They face that same challenge this weekend.

I’m not suggesting that Australia are going to start dominating New Zealand because we won a single Super Rugby game, but I know for a fact that any Waratahs player that ends up in a gold jersey later this year will be better for the experiences of the past month.

The same goes for Australia’s other Super Rugby sides, like the Reds who almost knocked off the Hurricanes over there last week.

No one in Australian rugby will be happy until we win back the Bledisloe Cup and start doing so consistently.

Based on that alone, we need to play New Zealand sides at every opportunity.

It’s a terrible, terrible cliche but if you want to be the best, you need to beat the best and that couldn’t be truer for Australian rugby going forward.

The post Waratahs season proves Australia might not need Super Rugby but we need to play New Zealand appeared first on Rugby News.

Adams has been named on the bench in a new look Rebels side. Wallabies back Reece Hodge will start at flyhalf and Dane Haylett-Petty at fullback, while Billy Meakes and Jack Maddocks will also start in a reshuffled Rebels backline.

Matt Phillip, Sefa Naivalu, Ben Daley and Jordan Uelese also return to the Rebels match day 23.

“We’ve picked a side with a nice balance of youth and experience. It’s good to have Dane back in the starting XV – he’s a real leader in the group and everyone will take confidence from having him around,” Rebels coach Dave Wessells said.

“It should a great game. The Sunwolves played some fantastic attacking rugby to beat the Stormers and Reds in the last two weeks, so we know they’re arriving Melbourne full of confidence.”

Melbourne Rebels team to play Sunwolves 

1. Fereti Sa’aga
2. Anaru Rangi
3. Sam Talakai
4. Matt Philip
5. Adam Coleman (capt.)
6. Angus Cottrell
7. Colby Fainga’a
8. Amanaki Mafi
9. Michael Ruru
10. Reece Hodge
11. Marika Koroibete
12. Billy Meakes
13. Tom English
14. Jack Maddocks
15. Dane Haylett-Petty

Reserves

1. Jordan Uelese
2. Ben Daley
3. Pone Fa’amausili
4. Geoff Parling
5. Lopeti Timani
6. Harrison Goddard
7. Tayler Adams
8. Sefa Naivalu

The post Taylor Adams named for potential Super Rugby debut appeared first on Rugby News.

Wallabies No.9 Nick Phipps will start ahead of Jake Gordon at the base of the scrum, while outside centre Curtis Rona returns to the starting XV, forcing Lalakai Foketi to the bench.

Gibson said he will look to give each halfback opportunities throughout the next few weeks of competition.

“They’ve got lovely contrasting styles and I think that Nick’s strengths for this game are really important in the way he does speed up the game up with his fitness, and that strength will be an important factor going into this game,” Gibson said.

“We decided a couple of games ago how we are going to take our two halfbacks through this New Zealand period. I want to give both of them the opportunity to be at their best and put in a performance for the NSW Waratahs which could then put them in line for higher honours.”

Young prop Shambeckler Vui is in line to make his second appearance in the sky blue, coming in for NSW stalwart Paddy Ryan in the No.18 jersey.

NSW Waratahs team to play Crusaders

Tom Robertson (36)

Damien Fitzpatrick (41)

Sekope Kepu (116)

Ned Hanigan (24)

Rob Simmons (7)

Will Miller (8)

Michael Hooper (c – 89)

Michael Wells (25)

Nick Phipps (65)

Bernard Foley (vc – 97)

Taqele Naiyaravoro (42)

Kurtley Beale (119)

Curtis Rona (9)

Cam Clark (16)

Israel Folau (81)

Reserves:

Hugh Roach (39)

Harry Johnson-Holmes (9)

Shambeckler Vui (1)

Tom Staniforth (9)

Jed Holloway (34)

Jake Gordon (20)

Lalakai Foketi (9)

Bryce Hegarty (23)

The post Gibson makes changes to Waratahs team to play Crusaders appeared first on Rugby News.

Israel Folau will start at fullback in his return from injury, with Lalakai Foketi and Cam Clark also set to return to the starting side.

In the forwards, Will Miller will play alongside Michael Hooper in the Waratahs back row for the side’s first match against a New Zealand team this year.

“We are entering a really competitive phase of our year and I really want to share that around and give guys opportunities to contribute,” Gibson said.

“We’ve kept largely the same team, been very fortunate with injuries this season and I don’t want guys to be disheartened because they’re not getting a run.

“I’m making a real strong commitment to them that things are going to be different over the next few weeks.”

Coming off the bye, the conference topping Waratahs will start as favourites against the struggling Blues, but Gibson said he still expected a difficult challenge.

“I’m not buying into that rubbish,” he said.

“Everyone’s got their challenges, the Blues are going through theirs.

“I look at us, we’re coming off a belting, 29-nil, we’re still working out how that happened, learning the lessons from that and still seething from it.

“We want to make sure we respond well and we’ll get that opportunity this week.”

NSW Waratahs team to face the Blues

1. Tom Robertson

2. Damien Fitzpatrick

3. Sekope Kepu

4. Ned Hanigan

5. Rob Simmons

6. Will Miller

7. Michael Hooper

8. Michael Wells

9. Jake Gordon

10. Bernard Foley

11. Taqele Naiyaravoro

12. Kurtley Beale

13. Lalakai Foketi

14. Cam Clark

15. Israel Folau

Reserves

16. Hugh Roach

17. Harry Johnson-Holmes

18. Paddy Ryan

19. Tom Staniforth

20. Jed Holloway

21. Nick Phipps

22. Curtis Rona

23. Bryce Hegarty

The post Gibson makes several changes to Waratahs starting XV to play Blues appeared first on Rugby News.

NSW Rugby has been in talks with several clubs and the council for months to plan a blockbuster day of rugby on the Northern Beaches, that was set to include a school game, followed by a Shute Shield match and the main Super Rugby fixture.

The Waratahs also lobbied SANZAR and broadcasters to move the match from 3pm to 7:45pm to avoid a clash with several other Shute Shield matches in the area.

Initially, Warringah were set to play Southern Districts. However when those plans fell through, Northern Suburbs attempted to move their match against West Harbour to Brookvale from North Sydney Oval.

It’s understood Northern Beaches Council will still allow a schoolboy match to be played prior to the Super Rugby game.

The post Northern Beaches Council cancels Waratahs’ Shute Shield curtain raiser appeared first on Rugby News.

After two weeks of having the same conversation and reading the same articles about Israel Folau, isn’t it time to move on and start talking about the rugby.

It seems fairly clear that the majority of the rugby community strongly disagree with Folau’s views. But the reality is, Rugby Australia chose not to sanction their star player for his comments.

Folau isn’t going to change his beliefs and Rugby Australia aren’t going to punish him.

So why are we still talking about it?

If anyone was particularly hurt by the 29-year old’s comments, then surely recycling the issue over and over again isn’t making it any easier on them.

It’s time to move on and the best way to do that, particularly for Waratahs fans, is to focus on Friday night’s clash against the Lions, a match Folau will miss through injury.

Last year, NSW won just four games. It was a disastrous year for Australian rugby as a whole but things have started to turn.

The Waratahs have won five of their first seven matches this year and are playing a style of rugby that must even be exciting the most fickle sky blue supporter.

Yes, they’ve had one of the easier starts to the season and are yet to face a New Zealand side, but up until this point, things have looked really promising.

On Friday night, the Tahs get their first opportunity to prove that they’re the real deal this season.

The Lions have played in the last two Super Rugby finals and are as big and brutal as they are fast and electric.

They’ve also won five matches this year, sit two spots ahead of the Tahs in second and have the best attacking record in the competition (Lions average 36.5 points a match, Waratahs average 35.4 points per match)

And if that’s not enough to get you to the SFS on Friday night, you’ve got the Super W grand final on before and when it’s over, you can jump next door and watch the final quarter of the Swans match against the Crows. It’s not a bad night out.

The Lions clash is the first of five major hurdles the Waratahs will face on this side of the June Test window, with Saturday’s match to be followed by four straight clashes against New Zealand sides.

If they are the real deal, we’ll know about it in six weeks time.

And that’s what we should really be talking about at the moment.

The post Opinion: Can we please move on and start talking about the rugby appeared first on Rugby News.