On Rugby: Australia A vs Tonga

This afternoon I went up to North Sydney oval to watch Australia A play against Tonga as part of the Pacific Nations series. It was a style of game to the games we have been watching recently. Looser, less set play. A competitive rugby score could be something like 20-14, today's was a walkover with Australia A beating Tonga 80-7. Tonga's single try was well deserved, a ten metre pushover try, however the Australian backs were too fast and strong for the Tongan side. Timanu Tahu and Drew Mitchell earned their stripes bulldozing/slicing (respectively) through the opposition backs.

The Australia A team is essentially the 'seconds' team for rugby Australia and, as a result of Robbie Dean's decision to focus on creating a deeper player base for the Wallabies, is full of names that last year were playing first grade tests. It will be a great year when Tahu, Mitchell, Norton-Night et al graduate to the first rank (again).