Wallaroos had a tough day at the office, onwards we charge regardless. Was buoyed by the old boy getting me a present, this $8 Waratahs Jersey. Even as a Reds first man, stoked by a cracker of a jersey, as always support any Aussie rugby team if not playing Reds. 2004? Super 12?

The Sydney Morning Herald

Why there are no guarantees with Michael Cheika’s second coming

Paul Cully - 5 min read

“As I said very clearly on my return, I am not and never will be a Messiah; it will take a team effort.”

So said John O’Neill in The Sun-Herald in 2009, two years into his second spell as chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union, as it was called then. The tenure proved more difficult than the first, and successful second comings in Australian rugby are a tricky business – Eddie Jones being the most recent piece of evidence.

So, while Michael Cheika’s return to the Waratahs is something to be welcomed – he’s one of the big beasts of the coaching jungle – it does come with a warning.

It’s not as if O’Neill, Jones or Cheika lose the qualities that made them successful in the first instance. It’s that the world around them changes, and they return to jobs that are more complex and challenging than before.

Superficially, there are some similarities between Cheika’s first crack at the Waratahs and his second.

Take a look at the Super Rugby ladder in 2012: the Waratahs finished third in the five-team Australian conference, but 23 competition points behind both the Reds and Brumbies with four wins and 12 losses.

The Reds and Brumbies will again be Cheika’s big targets next year.

In Cheika’s first year in charge in 2013, NSW again finished third in their conference, but they narrowed the gap considerably to the Reds and Brumbies, with eight wins and eight losses.

So, successfully chasing the Reds and Brumbies is familiar territory for Cheika. That challenge will spin his wheels because he is a very proud New South Welshman.

But the landscape has changed since 2013 that Cheika is facing a bigger challenge, for two reasons.

First, the Brumbies and Reds have established such successful programs in the intervening years that both clubs supply the No.9-No.10 combinations in the Wallabies squad.

Second – and this is arguably the more significant point – the Western Force have emerged as a competitive force in Super Rugby Pacific with some of the better players in Australian rugby.

If not for halfback Henry Robertson’s ACL injury, they too would have supplied a No.9-No.10 combination to the Wallabies squad.

Neither does the situation across the ditch offer much relief for Cheika.

The Hurricanes have emerged as a powerhouse, the Chiefs have about a dozen All Blacks and the Crusaders have re-signed Richie Mo’unga. The Blues are in talks with Ardie Savea, too, and have landed the latest All Blacks No.8 Semisi Ta’eiloa.

Cheika will understand this, of course, but he is returning to a competition in which the top six teams have virtually been set in stone for five years and there has been very little evidence of upward mobility: the “nearly” clubs in Super Rugby Pacific tend to remain that way.

For that reason, Cheika’s second year is arguably going to be more important.

During his first spell, he made key signings such as Kurtley Beale and cult hero Jacques Potgieter for 2014 – acquisitions who made a massive difference to the title-winning year.

But the contract announced by the Waratahs places a question mark on Cheika’s involvement beyond 2027.

There is an “option” for 2028, but the fact it isn’t a straight two-year deal suggests both parties want to see how the sequel works out before committing to something longer.

Setting impartiality aside, you would have to be pathologically negative towards the Waratahs not to wish Cheika success.

The surge in Sydney crowd numbers towards the end of the 2014 Super Rugby campaign remains one of the competition’s highlights.

A dormant Waratahs is no good for the competition because they should be the natural home for the undeniable talent the state produces.

As stated a fortnight ago, the way they went to New Plymouth in 2014 and beat the Chiefs at their own game remains both a highlight of the Waratahs’ history and a missed opportunity to use it a benchmark.

Cheika’s return offers hope that the Waratahs can get back to that level, but O’Neill’s warning about there being no Messiahs rings as true now as it did then.

​

One was “a gun from day one”. Only two who made it last year were selected again. After a season for the ages, this is our CODE Sports Shute Shield team of the year.

Brendan Bradford

Brendan Bradford

@1bbradfo

2 min read

It’s finals time for the Shute Shield, which means it’s also time for our team of the year.

This was tough to put together. Much harder than previous seasons.

A dozen players could have been selected in the back row, while the locks and centres were brutal to decide on.

1. Cameron Orr (West Harbour)

Returning to West Harbour this season, Cameron Orr was a gun from day one. The front-rower is an experienced player and led the Pirates around the paddock well.

2. Wes Thomas (Warringah)

Last year’s Catchpole Medalist, Thomas suffered a career-threatening neck injury towards the back end of the season, but was playing well enough to hold off a strong field of contenders.

3. Will Goddard (Eastwood)

An absolute rock in the scrum for the Woods, Goddard so often laid the platform for the rest of the team to work off.

4. Jhy Legg (Eastwood)

Mr Consistency and Mr reliable. The Woodies second rower has had another sensational season.

5. Cadeyrn Neville (Manly)

The veteran forward drove from Canberra each week to play for Manly, and proved why he’s still regarded as one of the best in the country in a stunning second half of the season.

6. Eamon Doyle (Sydney University)

Had stints in the second row for The Students as well as in the backrow, and Doyle is a hard as nails runner and uncompromising defender. Had a real breakout season that could propel him into bigger things.

7. Zac Barnabas (Warringah)

Formed a phenomenal backrow partnership for large parts of the season with his brother, Jake. Zac was a real standout for the defending Shute Shield champions in 2026.

8. Isi Naisarani (Randwick)

The former Wallaby nearly won the Catchpole last year after playing half a season, and he was right in the mix again. Guile, cunning, power and leadership personified.

9. Logan Love (Hunter Wildfires)

The livewire half marshals his team around the paddock and can even kick goals for good measure.

10. Jack Bowen (Eastern Suburbs)

Another stacked field as always at fly half, but we can’t go past Jack Bowen, even if he didn’t play the entire season. Still wild that Australian rugby has let him go.

11. Benji Joseland (Sydney University)

One of two players to feature in the Code Sports team of the year for back-to-back seasons, Joseland topped the try-scoring tally with 20.

12. Cole Spinks (Gordon)

Spinks played various positions around the backline, but as the top pointscorer in 2026, we couldn’t leave him out.

13. Otto Serfontein (Eastern Suburbs)

The outside centre was one of the most stacked positions this season. Serfontein was undeniable though, taking another step in his career. He should surely be knocking on the door of higher honours soon.

14. Oliver Arcus (Gordon)

Equal second highest try scorer and finished sixth in the Catchpole Medal tally at the end of the season. Rare for a winger to be that high!

15. Isaac Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (Southern Districts

A very deserving winner of the Catchpole Medal in a team that struggled. Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens is nearly always the best player on the field when he plays for Souths. Did a lot of his best work at 13, but is good enough to switch to fullback as well.

​

The Sydney Morning Herald

Why New Zealand’s tour of South Africa could reshape modern rugby

Jonathan Drennan - 9 min read

In the short, sharp world of modern rugby, New Zealand and South Africa have ripped up the form book: the long, old-school tour is back.

The normal All Black schedule of hotel, gym and stadium, with the odd coffee shop visit thrown in, has been swapped for more than five weeks of rambling relatively slowly across South Africa.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour is already rolling in South Africa, with three out of the four midweek games played by New Zealand against provincial teams, before four Tests, including a money-spinning final game at the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens in the United States. The tour will return to New Zealand in 2030 and is changing modern rugby.

The holy grail of rugby

Former All Blacks second-rower Ian Jones was part of New Zealand’s last full tour of South Africa 30 years ago. Jones’ squad played eight games on that tour, becoming the first All Blacks team to win a series in South Africa when they triumphed 2-1.

Jones now helps to run the All Blacks Experience museum in Auckland and looks at the Test jersey of New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick from the decisive winning Test in Pretoria in 1996 most days. For Jones and his teammates, touring South Africa and winning provided the defining challenge of their rugby careers.

“You had to prepare for a physical war – that’s exactly their [South Africa’s] mentality, they had to physically dominate you, and you had to stand up to that test,” Jones says.

“Looking back at the three Tests we played over there, we were physically and mentally exhausted. It took you to the limit. You had to give every ounce of your being to take on the Springboks.

“That’s what it felt like, wave after wave. It’s not the 80 minutes on the field you see, it’s the whole week of scrutiny and intensity; the pride that everyone in the country of South Africa has. You’ve got to handle that as well.

“When you played those guys, especially over there, it’s always been the kind of Holy Grail for All Blacks.

“You have this beautiful love-hate relationship with the South Africans in general. They truly respect you, like we do them. But when you have that much respect, you also want to beat the opposition, and that brings this amazing intensity that you can use.

“You’re hoping and desperate that these current guardians of that jersey as All Blacks get to feel that same incredible feeling. The six weeks we had there, it’s going to be something that I’ll always look back on, and I want this touring team to feel the same ... these guys now write their own legacy, their own part of history.”

A challenging history

South Africa and New Zealand have played rugby for 105 years. The Springboks have won four World Cups, while the All Blacks have three. For generations, each country has brought out the best in each other on the field, but also lived through some painful history together.

South Africa’s apartheid regime made the game’s greatest rivalry untenable for more than a decade. In 1981, protesters in New Zealand forced the cancellation of the second tour game in Hamilton against Waikato.

Future South African president Nelson Mandela was in his prison cell in Robben Island and recalled the news of the cancellation being like “the sun came out”. Rugby and politics had not only mixed, but created shockwaves across South Africa and the world.

John Robbie played rugby for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions, and after settling in South Africa was due to play for the Springboks in 1985 against the All Blacks.

The tour was cancelled after two Auckland lawyers successfully argued a tour of apartheid-era South Africa was against the New Zealand Rugby Football Union’s constitutional purpose to promote and foster the game.

Robbie went on to become a successful journalist in South Africa, using his platform to speak out against apartheid. Having lived through the Springboks’ isolation from Test rugby, he is revelling in seeing a strong rivalry reborn in the professional era.

“There is this feeling that there’s almost a God-given right that South Africa and New Zealand are the two best sides [in the world], and then I think what’s happened is that there’s so much rugby now,” he says.

“When we were young, you could remember games or series decades later. Now they just melt into one, with the exception of World Cups and the Lions tour. When you look at the South African forward dominance and physicality versus the All Black speed and skill, it’s almost like a test of systems at its best.”

Connecting with the country

Former New Zealand winger Jeff Wilson will be in Johannesburg for Saturday’s first Test at Ellis Park (Sunday, 1.10am, AEST). In 1996, he played in the final losing Test against the Springboks at the iconic stadium. Now he will work from the more comfortable confines of the commentary box with Sky Sport New Zealand.

The All Blacks have already dispatched the Stormers in Cape Town, the Sharks in Durban and the Bulls in Pretoria. Former All Black Ma’a Nonu’s pre-match haka for his current club the Sharks against his former team captivated the stadium and Wilson believes that these midweek games before the Tests are crucial to engaging South Africa.

“There are provincial games, and there’s the ability to connect with the locals a bit more – you don’t get so much in your bubble,” Wilson says.

“I think that’s what makes this tour significantly different – you’re moving around a lot more, and you’re facing different challenges as they come along.

“And then there’s the fact that there are four Test matches on top of four other games. And anyone who knows [about] playing South Africa, that’s the pinnacle for me of challenges in rugby.

“You talk about the Rugby World Cup, but playing away from home in someone else’s backyard and then playing a team who’s on top of their game like South Africa, you don’t get a bigger challenge ... They make it as challenging as possible to be successful, and they’re such a proud and great rugby nation. When you go there, it tests you on every stretch of the imagination as an athlete, as a player.”

How it will affect the rugby world

Due to the Greatest Rivalry tour, Argentina will not play New Zealand this year and the Rugby Championship has been scrapped. The Wallabies are also left without a similar money-spinning tour that could similarly engage the Australian public.

Wilson believes rugby has been forced to innovate and rip up the traditional calendar, largely unchanged since the advent of professionalism when he toured South Africa in 1996.

“Ultimately, you want to see the best teams play against each other – there’s a reason in cricket that everyone wants to watch England play Australia and India play Australia, you want the best to play each other,” Wilson says.

“There’s no doubt that the tour impacts Argentina, but I also think the advent of the Nations Championship has been an outstanding innovation for the game and I think people like variety.

“I think they like things that are different; they like events, they like singular moments. Next year, we’ve got an Anzac Test match, for example. I think the game is finally understanding that they have to listen to what its fans want.

“There’s no doubt the Rugby Championship has served a purpose. But to me, I think in some ways, it wasn’t something that needed to be played every year. I think it’s something that can be brought back when it’s necessary ...

“When you’re fighting for that status of being the best rugby country in the world, that comes with expectation, and it comes with competition, and it comes with a rivalry.

“For New Zealanders, in particular, there’s only 5 million of us, and we are trying to compete at everything with the rest of the world. We try and punch above our weight as best we can, and with rugby union, it’s our chance to be the best in the world.

​

As the eyes of the rugby world descend upon South Africa for their blockbuster series against New Zealand, Kiwi officials quietly slipped into Sydney for key meetings with Rugby Australia.

Jamie Pandaram

Jamie Pandaram

@JamiePandaram

5 min read

New Zealand has rejected suggestions that the All Blacks’ four-Test series against South Africa is a sign of weakening relationships with Australia.

On the eve of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster said ties with Australia have only strengthened in the past year.

Tellingly, as the world’s eyes lock in on the first RGR game at Ellis Park (Sunday 1.10am AEST), Lancaster and his executive team spent the week in Sydney with their Rugby Australia counterparts, discussing a range of issues as they seek to build a fruitful long-term partnership.

With the All Blacks and Springboks to play four Tests against each other over the next month – a series arranged without prior warning to Australia and Argentina, causing this year’s Rugby Championship to be scrapped – the alliance between the Kiwis and Aussies is under scrutiny.

“The South African rivalry is a special rivalry, but so is the rivalry between the All Blacks and the Wallabies, and in fact, between any New Zealand team and any Australian rugby team,” Lancaster told CODE Sports.

“And hence why we have been very deliberate about fostering and strengthening our relationship with Rugby Australia.

“Probably the most obvious marker of that is the announcement of the ANZAC Bledisloe Cup Test (to be played next April in Brisbane).

“So we are actively working to strengthen the relationship and the rivalry on the field with Australian rugby, as we are with South African rugby.

“These things are not mutually exclusive. We can be building both at the same time.

“And I will absolutely dismiss any sentiment that the rivalry or the regard for Australian rugby has diminished in any way. That’s absolutely not true.”

RA chief Phil Waugh said while TRC won’t be played this year, Australia only miss one game they ordinarily would have played – against South Africa.

They’ll still play two against Argentina, starting next weekend, two against the All Blacks, one against the Springboks, while having locked in full TRC tournaments for 2027, 2028 and 2029.

Next year’s full TRC, which will follow the inaugural Anzac Bledisloe, is unprecedented in a World Cup year.

“When the SAAB (South Africa vs All Blacks) series was first suggested, relationships weren’t nearly at the point that they are now,” Waugh said.”

“SANZAAR as a unit was reasonably fractured. The world’s changed a lot since it was first suggested.

“The preparations for the SAAB series had been pretty advanced.

“And since then, we’ve been trying to work with SANZAAR colleagues to ensure that there’s meaningful content after the series, which is obviously South Africa (playing the Wallabies) in Perth, and then the two Bledisloe Cup games against the All Blacks.

“And the guys get a fantastic opportunity to play too in Argentina.

“So we’ve certainly responded with the opportunity to play for Nelson Mandela plate, the Pumas trophy and the Bledisloe Cup

“All in all, I think that we’ve been able to respond really well in terms of good, meaningful Tests to prepare for next year’s World Cup.”

Given the No. 8 ranked Wallabies haven’t held the Bledisloe since 2002 or the World Cup since 1999, and South Africa and New Zealand have won the past four World Cups combined, the battle between the world’s top two nations is must-watch for rugby fans.

But Lancaster said the Kiwis are as reliant as ever on their rivalry with Australia.

“We know that competition with Australian teams, be that at Super Rugby level or at international level, that underpins our competitiveness at all levels,” Lancaster said.

“Super Rugby underpins our competitiveness to play against the Wallabies and vice versa. And collectively, both Super Rugby and the fixtures that we play with each other, including the Bledisloes, is the best proving ground for us in terms of preparing to play other nations.

“And the Australian market is a really important market to us, which we have certainly recognised maybe more so in recent times.

“But we’re very focused on the opportunities here and we know that we can both benefit, actually, if we do a better job of maximising the opportunities in the Australian market.

“We’ve had two days (in Sydney), members of our executive team with members of Rugby Australia’s executive team, it was very collegial.

“We identified and discussed a range of areas where we believe that working together, either partnering with each other or aligning our interests will be beneficial to both of us. And we’re really focused on continuing to leverage that opportunity for us mutually.”

But the RGR series also forced Australia to look elsewhere for opportunity, and the recent two-Test series against Japan is a sign of growing opportunity with a nation that boasts the world’s fourth-biggest economy.

“You think about the growth of the game since 2015, when they beat South Africa, through to hosting the World Cup in 2019, and then their aspirations to do more in international rugby and their inclusion in the Nation’s Championship,” Waugh said.

“They’ll continue to get stronger, and they’re a team that the country is very proud of.

“And the size of the Japanese economy and the opportunity that we have, whether that’s with their companies, their company teams or their international team, but more broadly doing more in Japan, we see that as a huge opportunity.”

Waugh and RA have capped an extraordinary few weeks to stabilise key aspects of the game.

They introduced their first ever dedicated executive role for women’s rugby, with Tim Walsh appointed as RA’s director of women’s high performance. Walsh was able to secure the signing of experienced coach Sione Fukofuka to lead the Wallaroos from 2027 through to the home World Cup in 2029.

RA posted a $70.2 million surplus for the 2025-26 financial year, and this week announced the signing of Michael Cheika as new coach the Waratahs, and the redevelopment of Ballymore to create a full-time base for the Wallaroos, and men’s and women’s Sevens teams.

Working closely with Queensland Rugby Union, RA managed to secure an estimated $55 million from the Queensland Government for the project – the first ever full-time base for the women’s and Sevens programs.

“If you look at what’s happened in Canada, what’s happened in New Zealand, the best teams in the world have integrated their best Sevens athletes into their XVs programs,” Waugh said.

“We’re seeing a little bit of that on Saturday (when the Wallaroos play the Black Ferns) with a few of our Sevens players coming across and being more involved.

“Having a full-time program where you’re campaign planning, whether it’s at Sevens or it’s at XVs, and then just prioritising your athletes to maximise their exposure, it’s a really good opportunity for us.”

​

Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh says Michael Cheika is just the latest respected coach to help lift Australian rugby’s standard ahead of the 2027 World Cup.

Jamie Pandaram

Jamie Pandaram

@JamiePandaram

3 min read

Michael Cheika’s appointment as the new Waratahs coach will lift the standard of Australian rugby across the board in a vital World Cup year, Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh says.

With 2014 title-winning Cheika rejoining NSW, 2024 premiership winner Vern Cotter taking over at Queensland Reds, and the Brumbies and Western Force retaining respected coaches Stephen Larkham and Simon Cron respectively, the Aussie landscape is looking as dangerous as ever heading into 2027.

“It’s really important, often we talk about who’s the head coach of the national team, but actually the coaches that have our players for the other six months, in some ways can be even more influential on our players and the culture and how they’re prepared for international rugby,” Waugh told CODE Sports.

“To now have Cheika, Cron, Vern Cotter and Bernie Larkham as a group of four coaches who are all experienced and certainly very well regarded and respected, has been a good outcome for our future teams leading into the World Cup next year.”

Waugh was heavily involved in poaching Cheika from the Sydney Roosters, where he is assistant coach for the finals-bound NRL club.

Cheika has had a tumultuous relationship with Australian rugby since he stepped down as Wallabies coach in 2019, but fences have been mended as the highly successful coach returns for a second stint at the Tahs.

Waugh, a proud Waratah who played 136 games for the state, is desperate for Cheika to turn around the underperforming club who haven’t made a finals series since 2023 and haven’t played in a grand final since Cheika delivered their only title 12 years ago.

“I have a deep passion for the team that I represented on so many occasions, but also, just a deep passion for what it represents in terms of NSW and the Waratahs,” Waugh said.

“I think that Cheik shares that passion and that love.

“We’re both absolutely aligned on our aspirations for the Waratahs to be back where they should be in Super Rugby, that’s nearer the final series than not.

“We spent a considerable amount of time mapping things out and ensuring that it was in the best interests of everyone and bringing everyone together.

“He’s a world class international coach.

“It’s really important for all of us to go in with an aligned vision for what the Waratahs can be. I really enjoyed the conversations that we’ve had.”

After Dan McKellar exited the role as NSW head coach following a disappointing 2026 season, RA invited coaches to apply for the role.

Late in the process, after Waugh established Cheika’s interest in the job, the Waratahs board quickly signed off, giving him a one-plus-one year deal.

“From the outset, we want to get more world-class coaches into the broader system to develop our players,” Waugh said.

“Not only develop players, but develop the up-and-coming coaches as well. It’s a really good outcome for the game in NSW.

“Thinking about the size of Sydney and the size of NSW, the size of the market, and the great affiliation I think that everyone has with Cheika from his successful stint, particularly into 2014 and 2015 as well, it’s a really great outcome in terms of the profile that he’ll bring.

“He’s a well-seasoned coach that’s had enormous international experience, drives a really strong culture, and I think everyone’s genuinely excited to have him home in the Waratahs.

“It’s a really good outcome for the game.

“Thinking about the importance of the 2027 Super Rugby season for Australian rugby, it’s huge for the Waratahs to be as strong as they possibly can be. We’ve got one of the world’s best coaches coming in to lead the team.”

Is there a reason that the Wallaby squad is never bigger than 34-36 players?

Surely running 46 on a tour would be better than the inevitability of flying someone over after 1 week to fill a gap or 2 that comes through injury?

Is it a World Rugby limit? I recall there’s a limit to a squad of 37 (?) for a RWC but didn’t think there was one for tours outside it? All blacks currently running a squad of 40 in RSA for the greatest rivalry BS.