{"id":351938,"date":"2023-12-05T23:23:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T00:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=351938"},"modified":"2023-12-06T02:01:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T02:01:28","slug":"i-found-light-team-giving-hope-to-aussie-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=351938","title":{"rendered":"'I found light': Team giving hope to Aussie rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

It's been a while since I've had the energy to lay down rugby words here at Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

Evidently watching your beloved Wallabies go 2-9 in a Rugby World Cup year isn't good for the 'inner you.'<\/a><\/p>\n

I thought I'd got past the worst of it recently and set about writing an article praising Angus Bell as our Between Two Posts<\/em> player of the year.<\/p>\n

Watch the World Rugby Sevens on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every round exclusive, ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"McLennan<\/p>\n

Mid-story, his coach walked out, a boardroom spearing followed and all my positive chi left again.<\/p>\n

Evidently watching your governing body blow itself up isn't good for the rugby soul either.<\/p>\n

I've found some light though team… my stars have I found LIGHT!!!<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Twist in ugly feud as Johnson cut from key role<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Devastated': Former Mr Universe dead aged 57<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Players 'fuming' over NRL grand final star's looming exit<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

The re-branded and re-energised SVNS series got moving again last weekend in Dubai and the Aussie women were, for want of a better word, incredible.<\/p>\n

It was a weekend of milestones for our girls – how's this for a run.<\/p>\n

– Became the first women's side to win four straight titles at a venue.<\/p>\n

– Sharni Smale (nee Williams) become the first woman to play in every single Dubai event. That's 12 years of play in the UAE. History maker.<\/p>\n

– Maddison Levi was in year two at primary school when Sharni debuted, but made history herself with a record 12 tries across the weekend's play. At times it was unfair watching opponents try and put her down.<\/p>\n

– Sister Teagan was crowned player of the final and was presented the award by World Rugby hall of famer Bryan Habana. The kids call it game recognising game.<\/p>\n

\"Teagan<\/p>\n

Finally, our women took down New Zealand in the decider, who up until that point, were on a 41-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

I've been covering the women's circuit for a decade now and this was as good a tournament as they've ever delivered.<\/p>\n

Under coach Tim Walsh the skill level and pace in the squad has gone to a new level.<\/p>\n

\"Maddison<\/p>\n

NSW Waratahs centurion Tom Carter heads up strength and conditioning and has the squad supremely tuned.<\/p>\n

Complementing the flash and dash was the brutal midfield defence of hitwoman Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea.<\/p>\n

One unfortunate opponent in pool play got hit so hard you could hear the air leave her lungs through our effects microphone.<\/p>\n

\"Faith<\/p>\n

So, it was a first up series win in an Olympic season for our Aussie women.<\/p>\n

They've got Cape Town this weekend which will really test them.<\/p>\n

Going back to back ain't easy and they stumbled in 'the Mother City' last year.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1731901301607338061?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

This version looks a different beast though.<\/p>\n

I've got them framed for the final again.<\/p>\n

Over on the men's side, John Manenti's squad had a tough time of it last weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/p>\n

They got through to the quarter-finals but ran into Dubai juggernauts South Africa who went on to win a fifth straight title in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

There were a couple of tiny mistakes which cost them huge and those same slips won't be repeated in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

One big tick was debutant Henry Palmer who had some handy touches and looks a good find.<\/p>\n

\"Angus<\/p>\n

Finally, let's circle back to Bell.<\/p>\n

The hulking Wallabies prop took out our 'Posty' as the best Wallabies player of 2023.<\/p>\n

After every Test, Morgan Turinui, Stephen Hoiles, Andrew Mehrtens and I would offer up a 3, 2, 1 to find their best.<\/p>\n

\"Wallabies<\/p>\n

Bell edged out Will Skelton.<\/p>\n

His ball running, scrummaging and handling was world class.<\/p>\n

His presence off-field exceeds his years and his teammates tell me he's a champion bloke in the squad too.<\/p>\n

Alrighty, I feel better after penning that. It's good to be back.<\/p>\n

Evidently a talented and likeable group of women along with a stand-up young prop is good for the rugby mind, body AND soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It's been a while since I've had the energy to lay down rugby words here at Wide World of Sports. Evidently watching your beloved Wallabies […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=351938"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351941,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351938\/revisions\/351941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/348105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=351938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=351938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=351938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}