Wednesday’s top rugby news sees Ioane fit, Canberra Stadium issues, Larkham backing Toomua and England to face Wales in Junior World Cup
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Ioane fit for first Test
It appears that if picked, Digby Ioane will be ready to go for the Wallabies this weekend. The Queensland winger has managed to recover just in time after undergoing an arthroscopy following flying home early during the Reds South African tour. While Ioane’s availability will be music to the ears of Robbie Deans, there will be question marks over his match fitness and sharpness given he’s been out for five weeks. Ioane yesterday pointed to the fact he had been in similar situations in the past, such as when he returned from a shoulder injury to face the All Blacks.
While he will more than likely line up on the opposite side of the field, Ioane also heaped praise on Lions winger George North. “I love challenging myself against the best and George North is one of them. He’s played some great rugby” Ioane said of the giant Welsh winger.
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Lions visit highlights Canberra Stadium issues
While most of the talk from last night will focus on the Brumbies’ famous win, bringing the Lions to the Capital was a logistical nightmare. The ARU held concerns in the 12 months preceding last night’s game in terms of the increased overseas media and fans. So bad is the situation at Canberra stadium that the ARU had to hire out the AIS Arena for post-match media commitments and decrease capacity in the Meninga Stand to allow for more media access. Two temporary television broadcast facilities also had to be set up so the game could be beamed out properly.
Don’t go getting too excited though, current ACT government plans won’t see a new rectangular undercover stadium being built until 2020. Seven years is a long time in politics, especially when $220 million proposed sports stadiums are involved.
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Larkham backs Toomua
Echoing the thoughts of quite a few rugby fans, including a number on this site, Brumbies Assistant Coach Stephen Larkham has endorsed Matt Toomua as the Wallabies’ best option at fly half. Speaking before Toomua helped guide the Brumbies to an upset win over the touring Lions, Bernie began “I don’t know why he hasn’t been given a chance” before highlighting his defensive game in particular as his strength. Larkham also believes that the young fly half has improved immeasurably over the past two years, and his continued improvement in addition to the “smarts, control and understanding” that he already has, make him the logical choice.
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Under 20s Cup Final set
The Final of the Junior World Championship will be an all Northern Hemisphere affair with England to meet Wales this weekend. Wales edged out South Africa after a late try and a clutch conversion from out wide by Sam Davies seeing them through at the expense of the defending champions. The young Springboks team would be disappointed after leading 17-11 with only five minutes left on the clock. England did it slightly more comfortable with a 33-21 over the so called ‘Baby Blacks’, defeating the Kiwis for the first time in their history. The English cause was massively assisted by their fly half Henry Slade nailing 4 penalties and 3/3 conversions.
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