One Percenters: Rugby dynasties

Some rugby dynasties added more silverware on Saturday, with the finals of the Queensland and New South Wales women’s XVs competitions. 

North of the border, Sunnybank downed Redlands 24-10 to win a third-straight women’s Premier Rugby title.

Warringah ended Sydney Uni’s undefeated 2017 run in the Jack Scott Cup final in Sydney’s north earlier in the day.

The Rattetes held off a late charge from the competition leaders to claim a record 11th Jack Scott Cup.

Reds’ look for S&C reinforcements

The Reds will be looking for a new conditioning head after the departure of Damian Marsh from the Queensland set-up.

Marsh is the latest Aussie to join the Fiji national team under head coasch John McKee, taking over their athletic performance department, after 17 years of working with the Reds and the Brumbies at different times.

Cherry on top of 2017 for Sevens star

This week’s Uni7s launch gave Aussie Sevens star Emilee Cherry to finally celebrate a major life milestone.

Cherry finished a Bachelor of Health, Sport and Physcical Education at UQ last year, but Sevens duties meant she never had the chance to actually attend her ceremony.

With mortarboards on hand at this week’s launch, the 24-year-old took the opportunity to grab a snap for her own graduation celebration.

Not all hard work for the Wallabies in ‘Newy’

They’ve been pushed to their limits this week in Newcastle, but there was a sliver of time off for the Wallabies, between hill sessions and bear crawling in harnesses.

As it turns out, there’s a bit to do in ‘Newy’, with some players going go-karting, some taking the local cycles-for-hire for a spin and others hitting the golf course during the week.

Smith sticking around . . .  sort of

Toby Smith has signed with the Hurricanes for 2018 but Melbourne fans haven’t seen the last of the Wallabies prop this season.

The 28-year-old will feature in next month’s NRC for the Melbourne Rising before joining his new club in New Zealand when those commitments finish.

Smith is returning to New Zealand to be closer to his young son.

Rookie flyhalf heading to Europe

It seems the emergence of Mack Mason in Sydney has cost the Waratahs squad flyhalf Andrew Deegan.

The Randwick No. 10 has struggled for an opportunity at the top level at the Tahs and has opted to take his rugby to Irish side, Connacht, joining Brumbies flanker Jarrad Butler in a switch to the Pro 12.

Tutaia locks in across ditch

Eagle-eyed sports fans may have noticed an interesting signing across the ditch this week, with Silver Fern Maria Tutaia committing to Auckland’s Northern Mystics netball team for two more years.

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If you don’t already know, Tutaia is Israel Folau’s fiancee and the pair have been working things out long distance, with international eligibility restrictions stopping either from moving across the ditch.

Folau’s 2018 contract talks will already be among the most closely-watched, and whether this latest news adds a new twist will be intriguing.

The shuffling continues . . .

It emerged this week that ARU chief financial officer Todd Day is moving on from the ARU, but his exit is unlikely to be the last executive resignation in the short-term.