Skip to main content

Australia's Rebels SupeRugby's 15th team in 2011

Rugby's newest team in the SuperRugby tournament in 2011 are the Rebels, representing the Australian state of Victoria, and more specifically, the city of Melbourne. The three nations making up SupeRugby's 15 teams (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) now have five teams each in the competition.


Australia's Rugby Union teams in the SupeRugby competition are in a different position than their counterparts in South Africa and New Zealand. Australia does not have a domestic professional championship like South Africa's Currie Cup and New Zealand's ITM Cup. The alternate code of Rugby League is the more popular version of Rugby in Oz.


The Rebels are led by former Wallaby captain Sterling Mortlock. And, judging by their first result, a 43-0 loss to the Waratahs, it may be a long SupeRugby season for the newbies from Melbourne. The coach of the Rebels is Rod Macqueen, a former Wallaby coach who led Australia to the Rugby World Cup title in 1999.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Invictus a movie worth watching

Go out and rent Invictus , the movie about the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Starring Matt Damon as Springbok Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as then-President Nelson Mandela. It is an inspirational movie along the lines of what Miracle did to magnify the accomplishments of the US Olympic Ice Hockey team in 1980. However, as Pienaar points out in this Times UK article , the Springbok team portrayed in the movie was quite different than in real life. That South African side was very capable of winning a World Cup, and though a surprise, it was not as earth shattering as the US hockey team gold medal in Lake Placid. However, politically, the Springbok victory was enormous for the emerging nation. Clint Eastwood's film does an outstanding job of highlighting Mandela's 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island, and Freeman, who always seems to play the wise man in a room of fools, expertly charts the course of unity by testing his relationship with his cabinet and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Direc TV offering Rugby bliss for free

Direc TV has stepped it up here in the United States and is offering SupeRugby games for free for current subscribers and starting in February. The games continue today on channel 490. The satellite provider also has coverage of the 6 Nations Tournament on BBC America (Channel 264). Rugby needs television coverage if the USA is to see what a great game it is. I would never be able to see the matches on my local cable provider.
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on SupeRugby action 4/9/2011

I'm watching the second half of the Sharks-Lions game on TV here in the United States. This marks the first weekend ever that I was able to see some or parts of every game on the SupeRugby calendar for the week. I have the following observations, in no particular order: --The Crusaders have been fantastic against South African sides the Sharks and the Bulls. In fact, they've played so well it seems that the only team capable of beating them are the Crusaders' own replacments. --At some point, SANZAR is going to notice Sonny Bill Williams' penchant for high and dangerous tackles. He did it again in the first half against the Bulls, throwing the high shoulder to a stood-up player. To me, it's similar to the "high-low" tackle in American football. --I don't know if the Reds will win the SupeRugby title, but their performance against the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town just was their finest moment this season. --The Reds' Quade Cooper had enough h...
Post a Comment
Read more