Rugby

Numbers right and Izzy should start for Wallabies

Spiro Zavos IT'S probably a journalistic instinct to preserve a thought but I often find myself scribbling notes as the rugby play surges on before me.

Comments 10

Rugby

Lions to kick against their revered heritage

Spiro Zavos Not long after the 2013 British and Irish Lions squad was announced, I received this email from a well-informed England supporter: ‘‘The two best players in their position left behind [Andrew...

Comments 25

Flawless Smith sure to get Test tick as bungler Cooper stays in the cold

Spiro Zavos A FEW days before NSW played their first rugby match against a British rugby side, on June 2, 1888, a Probables- Possibles match was contested in Sydney to work out a starting XV.

Comments 13

Rugby

Beale must concentrate on tackling his demons

Spiro Zavos IT seems a blink in the mind's eye, but several years ago the ABC presented a live telecast of Joeys playing Riverview in the GPS rugby tournament.

Comments 5

Rugby

When the music stops, McKenzie may go Irish

Spiro Zavos THERE is no doubt that by announcing the end of his association with the Queensland Reds at the end of the Super Rugby season, Ewen McKenzie is stating he wants to coach the Wallabies.

Comments 13

Rugby

Ewen whose army saying front-rowers can't coach?

Spiro Zavos THE following statement by a senior and influential figure in the ARU, reported on ESPNscrum, has to be the most stupid comment ever made: ''As long as my backside is pointing to the ground, Ewen...

Comments 2

Campese out of order but Robbie still rankles

Spiro Zavos YOU KNOW when you've put both your rugby boots in your mouth when Wendell Sailor tweets this to you: "Well good morning to u Campo & I have to say u are on your own with this comment it's 2012 champ.

Comments 8

Spiro Zavos

Deans cops backlash of Jekyll and Hyde season

Spiro Zavos THE tendency of the Wallabies to lose Tests after some convincing performances is driving fans mad. A poll this week on Rugby Heaven showed that 75 per cent of 12,000 voters supported David Campese's...

Comments 17

Spiro Zavos

Cup chances on the line in northern festival

Spiro Zavos ABOUT 7am on Sunday, Sydney time, the Wallabies run on to the Stade de France to play the hosts. The Test is one of 10 to be played during the weekend, starting with a double-header in Wales, where...

Comments 5

All Blacks' brilliance likely to ensure winning streak is unbroken

Spiro Zavos ONE way or another, rugby history is going to be made tonight. The moveable feast of the Wallabies faces an unstoppable All Blacks force at Suncorp Stadium.

Deans's Third XV faces a monumental battle but with a live chance to triumph against the odds

Spiro Zavos HOW about this line-up for a Wallabies side to play the Pumas at Rosario?

Comments 18

Spiro Zavos

Democratic or dictatorial, best coaching system is a winning system

Spiro Zavos There has been a fierce debate this week about the good rucking Richie McCaw has given his former coach, Robbie Deans, in his rugbiography The Open Side.

Comments 32

Henry in Pumas' corner shows coaches transcend nationality

Spiro Zavos THE main Wellington newspaper, The Dominion Post, had a killer photo on its main sports page this week.

Rugby union

Myopic Deans bashers reveal the ugly head of xenophobia

Spiro Zavos THIS week a xenophobic antagonism towards Robbie Deans has emerged in mainstream media. It is being asserted publicly that a New Zealander - and an All Black to boot - can't be trusted to coach the...

Spiro Zavos

McKenzie's blunder raises questions over his tactical nous

Spiro Zavos In the 20th minute of the engrossing qualifying final between the Reds and the Sharks, Ewen McKenzie made a fateful and wrong decision.

Spiro Zavos

Will the real Waratahs please stand up … only with a new coach and playmaker

Spiro Zavos INSIDE the Waratahs is a good team waiting to come to life. If this team, the good Waratahs, manages to emerge tonight for 80 minutes at Allianz Stadium, the rampant Hurricanes could be in for a...

Comments 7

Spiro Zavos

Deans cruelled by Test scheduling and critics' short memories

Spiro Zavos WE were a miserable group, dripping wet, cold and shattered, coming back from Newcastle on the train after the agony of watching the Wallabies snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Scotland.

Comments 25

Spiro Zavos

Mr Carlton, please note: the Wallabies are not the Waratahs

Spiro Zavos READERS of last Saturday's Herald might have been surprised to find in the news section of the paper a self-described ''traitorous'' rugby opinion piece by Mike Carlton.

Comments 6

Best-laid plans great for creating a surprisingly different result

Spiro Zavos THE Wallabies coaches have access to technology that analyses Tests so minutely that 500,000 pieces of information can be evaluated.

Comments 2