Pro D2 was the Aussie playground this weekend, with Alex Newsome and Angus Staniforth running riot with ball in hand and Paulo Pelesasa crossing for a try. In the NPC, James Ramm scored in a narrow loss while Harvey Cordukes and Rory Scott piled up the tackles. Plenty of good work went unrewarded, with a handful of one-score defeats across France and New Zealand.
Top 14 and Pro D2
In the Top 14, Darcy Swain, the former Brumbies lock, came off the bench for Clermont on 47 as they saw out a 20–6 home win over Castres, with the Clermont lineout finishing at 90 per cent. Lachlan Swinton, the ex-Waratahs flanker, started for Perpignan in their 38–25 home win over Bordeaux and put in a 10-tackle shift before Peceli Yato replaced him on 50. Racing 92 went down 17–20 at home to Bayonne, where Lehopa Leota replaced Joey Manu on 65 and made six tackles in 15 minutes.
Pro D2 is where the Aussies did the most damage. Oyonnax beat Nevers 56–35 at home, and Alex Newsome, the ex-Waratahs back, was the pick of the bunch, running for 153 metres and throwing four offloads. Feleti Kaitu’u, formerly of the Western Force, replaced Karkadze on 46 and made 12 tackles in 34 minutes, while Phoenix Battye put in a full 80 in the engine room. For Nevers, Efi Ma’afu, the ex-Reds hooker, replaced Jules-Rosette on 40 and worked hard in the loss.
Aurillac went down 24–20 away to Aix, but not for a lack of Aussie effort. Angus Staniforth, the former Brumbies man, ran for 100 metres at fullback and beat five defenders. Paulo Pelesasa, a Cavaliers Rugby Academy product, scored a try at number 8 and made 14 tackles in 62 minutes before Burduli took over. Aix’s Izack Rodda replaced Youyoutte on 55 and won five lineouts in his 25 minutes.
Grenoble edged Valence Romans 20–17 at home. Fergus Lee-Warner, the ex-Waratahs lock, made 12 tackles and stole a turnover in 62 minutes, though three penalties conceded is a few too many. For the visitors, Ryan McCauley won eight lineouts across the full 80 in defeat.
Biarritz beat Montauban 32–20 at home, with the scrum finishing on 86 per cent after Regi Churchward replaced Tapie on 55. Joey Walton, the ex-Waratahs centre, went the full 80 for Montauban in the loss. Soyaux-Angoulême beat Agen 36–22 at home, and Ollie Cummins, the ex-Western Force centre, put in 12 tackles across the 80 for the visitors.
Prem
In the Prem, Northampton put 59 on Newcastle at home (59–26). Josh Kemeny, the ex-Melbourne Rebels forward, was busy across his 72 minutes with 10 tackles and two turnovers won before Josh Taylor took over. Harlequins went down 17–33 to Bath at home, but Harry Johnson-Holmes, the ex-Waratahs prop, made an impact off the bench for Pedro Delgado on 50, winning two turnovers in 30 minutes.
URC
The official URC stats hub has the full numbers. Glasgow won 26–20 away at Munster, with three Aussies in the matchday 23. Bayley Kuenzle, the former Brumbies back, replaced Kyle Rowe on 61 for a 19-minute cameo. Sam Talakai replaced Murphy Walker on 45 and got through seven carries and seven tackles in 35 minutes. Callum Reidy was an unused replacement at scrum-half.
The Ospreys went down 41–24 away to the Sharks, though Liam Wright, the ex-Reds flanker, crossed for a try and stole two turnovers in 52 minutes. Ryan Smith, also ex-Reds, replaced him and added a lineout take across the last 28. Benetton and the Dragons couldn’t be split in a 19–19 draw, with Louis Werchon, another former Reds man, replacing Andy Uren on 60.
NPC
The NPC was the busiest hunting ground, with 20 Aussies across seven games.
Canterbury beat Southland 34–21 at home. Xavier Treacy started for the winners and made nine tackles before Torian Barnes replaced him on 46. For Southland, Jake Barrett, the ex-Waratahs loosehead, replaced Jack Sexton on 49 and made 12 tackles in 31 minutes. Wing Glen Vaihu beat five defenders off 10 carries.
North Harbour beat Otago 32–21 at home. Dane Sawers replaced Sam Tuitupou on 58 and made seven tackles in 22 minutes. Marley Pearce replaced Ben Lopas for Otago on 61.
Waikato were dominant away at Wellington, winning 34–10. Austin Anderson, ex-Brumbies, played the full 80 at inside centre with 10 tackles and a line break.
Northland lost 19–22 at home to Counties Manukau. James Ramm, the ex-Waratahs back, scored a try and beat seven defenders. Lachlan Hooper made 12 tackles across the 80, and Hudson Creighton got through 63 minutes before Nathan Salmon replaced him. Reesjan Pasitoa, formerly of the Brumbies, replaced Corey Evans on 65, and Daniel Botha replaced Marcel Renata at the same time.
Hawke’s Bay lost 14–50 at home to Taranaki, but Darby Lancaster, the ex-Rebels winger, was the lone bright spot with 89 metres and a line break. Nic Benn carried well on the other wing and added a turnover.
Manawatu won a 40–34 shootout away at Auckland. Harvey Cordukes, the ex-Brumbies lock, made 18 tackles without a miss in defeat. Titi Nofoagatotoa replaced Randall Baker on 57, and Issak Fines, the former Brumbies and Drua halfback, was replaced by James Arscott on 58. For the winners, Taini Roiri won four lineouts and a turnover in 48 minutes but conceded three penalties. Doug Philipson did 65 minutes at nine before Jai Tamati took over.
Tasman beat Bay of Plenty 45–26 at home. Rory Scott, the former Brumbies openside, made 18 tackles in 40 minutes with none missed before Leicester Fainga’anuku replaced him. Lopeti Faifua went the full 80 with a line break and a turnover.
Shoutouts from the Back Paddocks
In the Nationale, Baden Godfrey, the ex-Tuggeranong Vikings forward, scored two tries at number 8 as Mont-de-Marsan beat Marcq-en-Baroeul 38–23. Angus Wagner, formerly of the Western Force, played all 80 at loosehead for Carcassonne in a 12–23 home loss to Massy. Chris Talakai was an unused replacement.
In Champ Rugby, Liam Richman, the ex-Southern Districts fly-half, kicked five conversions for Chinnor in their 52–33 win away at Bedford. Bedford’s Ben Dufficy replaced Will Maisey right on the 80-minute mark. Cornish Pirates had a rough day, beaten 73–40 away at Coventry. Josh Radcliffe and Hugh Bokenham went the full 80, Jamie Clark replaced Alessandro Heaney on 65, and Luke Ratcliff was an unused replacement.
Ealing Trailfinders beat Richmond 36–19 at home. Will Feeney did 66 minutes at fullback before Hayden Hyde replaced him, and Jordy Reid went the full 80 in the back row. Worcester beat Rotherham 78–12 at home, with Tim Anstee doing 40 minutes before Ash Challenger took over. Doncaster beat Hartpury 29–15 at home. Aidan King went the full 80, and Alex Dolly kicked three conversions and a penalty before Ollie Fox took over on 65. Ollie Hearn replaced Matt Gallagher for Caldy on 48 and scored a try in their 28–24 win away at Blackheath.
The Aus-tracized XV
| Player | Club (Comp) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Barrett | Southland (NPC) |
| 2 | Feleti Kaitu’u | Oyonnax (Pro D2) |
| 3 | Harry Johnson-Holmes | Harlequins (Prem) |
| 4 | Ryan McCauley | Valence Romans (Pro D2) |
| 5 | Fergus Lee-Warner | Grenoble (Pro D2) |
| 6 | Liam Wright | Ospreys (URC) |
| 7 | Rory Scott | Tasman (NPC) |
| 8 | Paulo Pelesasa | Aurillac (Pro D2) |
| 9 | Issak Fines | Auckland (NPC) |
| 10 | Liam Richman | Chinnor (Champ Rugby) |
| 11 | Darby Lancaster | Hawke’s Bay (NPC) |
| 12 | Alex Newsome | Oyonnax (Pro D2) |
| 13 | Ollie Cummins | Agen (Pro D2) |
| 14 | James Ramm | Northland (NPC) |
| 15 | Angus Staniforth | Aurillac (Pro D2) |
Replacements
| Player | Club (Comp) | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Efi Ma’afu | Nevers (Pro D2) |
| 17 | Angus Wagner | Carcassonne (Nationale) |
| 18 | Sam Talakai | Glasgow (URC) |
| 19 | Harvey Cordukes | Auckland (NPC) |
| 20 | Lachlan Swinton | Perpignan (Top 14) |
| 21 | Josh Kemeny | Northampton (Prem) |
| 22 | Louis Werchon | Benetton (URC) |
| 23 | Reesjan Pasitoa | Northland (NPC) |
Aussies Playing Overseas Last Weekend
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| 1 – Loosehead Prop | Jake Barrett, Marley Pearce, Angus Wagner, Jamie Clark |
| 2 – Hooker | Efi Ma’afu, Feleti Kaitu’u, Ollie Hearn |
| 3 – Tighthead Prop | Sam Talakai, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Daniel Botha, Regi Churchward, Chris Talakai |
| 4/5 – Lock | Darcy Swain, Fergus Lee-Warner, Harvey Cordukes, Izack Rodda, Lopeti Faifua, Phoenix Battye, Ryan McCauley, Taini Roiri, Hugh Bokenham |
| 6 – Blindside Flanker | Josh Kemeny, Liam Wright, Ryan Smith, Dane Sawers, Titi Nofoagatotoa, Xavier Treacy, Tim Anstee |
| 7 – Openside Flanker | Lachlan Swinton, Lachlan Hooper, Rory Scott, Aidan King, Jordy Reid, Luke Ratcliff |
| 8 – Number 8 | Paulo Pelesasa, Baden Godfrey |
| 9 – Scrum-half | Louis Werchon, Doug Philipson, Issak Fines, Alex Dolly, Callum Reidy |
| 10 – Fly-half | Ben Dufficy, Liam Richman |
| 11/14 – Wing | Darby Lancaster, Glen Vaihu, Hudson Creighton, Josh Radcliffe, Bayley Kuenzle, Lehopa Leota, James Ramm, Nic Benn |
| 12 – Inside Centre | Austin Anderson, Joey Walton, Reesjan Pasitoa |
| 13 – Outside Centre | Ollie Cummins |
| 15 – Fullback | Alex Newsome, Angus Staniforth, Will Feeney |
For the Stats Nerds
Share of the 58 players we tracked, by position.
| Position | Players | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| 4/5 (Locks) | 9 | 15.5% |
| 11/14 (Wings) | 8 | 13.8% |
| 6 (Blindside) | 7 | 12.1% |
| 7 (Openside) | 6 | 10.3% |
| 3 (Tighthead) | 5 | 8.6% |
| 9 (Scrum-half) | 5 | 8.6% |
| 1 (Loosehead) | 4 | 6.9% |
| 2 (Hooker) | 3 | 5.2% |
| 12 (Inside Centre) | 3 | 5.2% |
| 15 (Fullback) | 3 | 5.2% |
| 8 (Number 8) | 2 | 3.4% |
| 10 (Fly-half) | 2 | 3.4% |
| 13 (Outside Centre) | 1 | 1.7% |
For the Stats Nerds 2
| Competition | Players |
|---|---|
| NPC | 20 |
| Pro D2 | 12 |
| Champ Rugby | 12 |
| URC | 6 |
| Top 14 | 3 |
| Nationale | 3 |
| Prem | 2 |
Nice one Ben.
Hope you have an AI agent pulling all that together for you!
It’s a process. AI does help. I screenshot every team sheet, sub sheet, and country of origin. which gives me list of players to monitor via AI, then I get a second seperate AI to check, as well as run my eye over for the pub check. Then screenshot every stat that I use, and now that I have a list of players to monitor, AI then only takes those names. Takes about 3 hours to do article/stat if I am sober, and not at work doing in between serving (which isn’t to bad as it is a lot of waiting).
Then the fun part of picking a team.
Isn’t it SI now?
Maestro Ben.
Nice one mate. That’s what I was thinking, once you compile the list of players to watch, you assign an AI to search for reports on them.
You could probably, if you haven’t already, get an AI to identify the individual club websites for all the clubs, the core competition sites and then have an agent scan that list for announcements both to identify new signings to add to your player list as well as capture the appearance iinfo match report comments.
Absolutely picking the team is the fun bit.
Cracking effort mate.
Yeah when time permits I check all.rugby for transfers, and I have a google search. From what I can tell, I might have been the first to say Petaia was going to Japan.
AI isnt at that point where I can trust it with transfer stuff, I spend more time checking then putting out info. It probably doesnt feel like it sometimes, but I do try and fact check what I put out haha
Don’t know how you do it Ben. Amazing and thanks.