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Australia Super Rugby's 'low-hanging fruit' that fans weren't happy to welcome back
By Online Editors
Rugby is finally back in Australia. After almost four months of inactivity, Super Rugby returned to Australia on Friday night in the form of the new Super Rugby AU competition.
The Reds finally put the sword through an 11-match losing streak against their local rivals and handed the Waratahs a 32-29 defeat. Six tries were scored in the contest and two yellow cards were dished out in a game that was laden with animosity. The players obviously missed being out on the park playing rugby - but they also appeared to miss the (sometimes) good-natured banter between opposition.
All-in-all, it was a grand occasion - and fans took to social media to welcome back the sport to Australia.
There was one aspect of the match that few seemed happy with, however - the commentary.
Phil Kearns has regularly faced vocal opposition due to his seemingly one-eyed narration while rumours that the former Wallaby might try to oust Raelene Castle as CEO of Rugby Australia were also taken negatively by the wider public.
Kearns' return to small screens around the globe on Friday night was certainly not received with open arms and fans vented their frustrations on Twitter.
Kearns actually just sounds like a fan who's a 5 beers deep making one-eyed offhand comments to his mate beside him
— Jake Schmidt (@JakeSchmidt7) July 3, 2020
Yes. Adds no analysis at all. Compare with the role Justin Marshall does in the kiwi derbies, viewer deserves more
— J.B. Claims (@jbclaims) July 3, 2020
A number of the FOX commentators were let go during the shutdown period which means Kearns could be appearing even more frequently in the commentary box than in the past. Fans will either have to put up with the man they've come to hate or turn the volume down on their TV sets because it's unlikely he'll be moved off the airwaves any time soon.
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Latest Comments
Australia definitely the game of the weekend. Wallabies by 3.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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