Who’s Who of Australian rugby descend on Roma

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By ROGER DESAILLY

WITH a comprehensive 32 – 7 win over the NSW Waratahs at the Santos Festival of Rugby held in Roma, the Queensland Reds and new coach Les Kiss may well have taken the first important step on the road back to redemption for grassroots rugby in Queensland, delivering a much needed sip from the well of success for many thousands of parched festival attendees.

All roads last weekend led to Roma which effectively become the epicentre of the rugby universe for a weekend, as everyone from the new Rugby Australia President Dan Herbert, new CEO Phil Waugh and new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt all finding themselves in town for the festival.

Add to the mix a sizeable mob of Wallabies and Wallaroos of years past, rugby sevens teams from across the state and the who’s who of the country rugby fraternity all rubbing shoulders and sharing a drink at the Roma Echidnas Gallas Fox Park home ground.

WATCH: Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss speaking in Roma

The whistle blew with the sold-out long lunch on the Friday tightly controlled as usual by ‘Mr Country Rugby’ himself, World Cup-winning Wallaby, Reds legend and all-round multimedia commentator Tim Horan.

The Roma Sevens began Friday afternoon and a full day of Sevens and trial matches were held the Saturday, culminating in the Reds v Waratahs Super W and Super Rugby Trail Games on Saturday evening.

Notables in the crowd included almost everyone who has ever pulled on a Roma Echidnas jersey, a contingent of grey maned and slightly worn Charleville Brumbies Rugby Club players in town for an impromptu 30-year reunion and thousands of success starved country rugby supporters, with hope for the return of the golden years of rugby still visible in their eyes.

Immediate past president of the Roma Echidnas Richard Bright was heavily involved in the planning of the festival.

“Having the Queensland and NSW Super Rugby teams playing trial matches in Roma, combined with the Roma sevens, coaching clinics and the long lunch corporate fundraising event was a real boost to the town and region, both in terms of economic and social impacts and promotion of the sport,” Bright told the Caller.

“I commend the QRU, NSWRU, Rugby Australia, Santos, the Maranoa Regional Council, the Roma Echidnas rugby club and the local community for supporting this event, now in its fourth year of operation.

“The Reds to Regions initiative is a great way for the QRU to demonstrate that the Reds are the Qld Reds and not the ‘Brisbane Reds’, and Roma is the ideal location for a festival that caters for the full spectrum of the rugby family.

“It also reminds everyone that grassroots rugby really is the bedrock of the rugby pyramid in Australia and it needs to be nurtured or risk its foundations begin to shake.”

Brisbane bayside based Wynnum Bugs Rugby Club stalwart Riley White, who made the trek out to Roma for the weekend to support family and friends playing in the sevens competition, agreed.

“The drive out was a small price to pay for a weekend of fun, family catch ups, and to witness what will hopefully become the first of many more Queensland Reds wins in season 2024,” White said.

Long standing Echidnas Rugby Club players and members, and local livestock producers Grant Maudsley and Michael Stanford, were certainly enjoying the evening under the stars watching the Reds run in several classy tries as they put the Waratahs to the sword and catching up with players past, present and future. 

Speaking at the festival, CEO of Rugby Australia Phil Waugh commented that it was an all out terrific event.

“It’s been great to get out into the heartland of regional rugby in Queensland, to show Rugby Australia’s support for the grassroots of the sport, to speak to the local rugby community about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the sport in the next decade, and to watch the cream of our women’s and men’s super-rugby and seven’s teams play running rugby in Roma.”

The Santos Festival of Rugby certainly served up a feast of football, frivolity, fun and fundraising and a serious economic sugar hit to the local Roma economy, with a bed in town harder to find than a winger with mud on his jersey, as 5,000 plus people descended on the town and the pubs, restaurants, cafes and shops buzzing with a vibe that was very welcomed by the local business community.

All positive signs that the beating heart of the sport that is local, regional, club and community rugby is still strong in spite of some recent body blows to and some serious challenges ahead for the national body, and a strong belief by the new administration that Rome can be rebuilt in time for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.