Wednesday’s Rugby News sees Samu Kerevi honest with Schmidt about his form, The Predator stalking a crack team, gastric mayhem again for New Zealand and some alternative coaching history. It’s not as mad as Billy Slater on horseback interviewing the Melbourne Cup winner.
Kerevi knocked back Wallaby gig for time being
The SMH reports that 108kg centre Samu Kerevi told the Wallabies coach he needed to get fitter and stronger before wearing the gold jersey again.
“I spoke to him probably during the Olympics as the boys were about to come into camp,” Kerevi said. “Just about joining the Wallabies and I just felt I needed a pre-season still. [It] came off the back of the World Cup and I wasn’t really happy with how I performed. So I wanted to get the body right and feel like myself again. I think he was more appreciative of myself wanting to do that. I didn’t want to [just] come into the team because he wanted me, or the squad needed a centre or whatever.”
After suffering an ACL rupture at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Kerevi made it back for the World Cup but struggled to make the same impact seen in his prior Test career. He started in all the games until Eddie Jones dropped him for the last Test against Portugal. It was to be expected given the recent injury, but many still wondered if the 31-year-old’s best days were behind him. Kerevi played out the season with his Japanese club, Urayasu D-Rocks and hasn’t played a competition match since May.
“I’ve played over 40 caps now (49) at Test level – I know what it feels like to be in that arena and what your body needs, but also the mindset that you need,” Kerevi said.
Kerevi is short odds to win a recall to the Wallabies’ midfield against England after incumbent No.12 Hunter Paisami picked up a calf injury and didn’t travel with the squad last week. The other main option, Hamish Stewart, is with the Australia A team, who get in weekly adventures after being branded as war criminals for a crime they didn’t commit.
Tana Umaga: Ireland responsible for ‘breaking down All Blacks aura’ while the crack has since got bigger
Planet Rugby reports that Tana Umaga believes that Ireland played a key role in “diminishing” the All Blacks aura, which has enabled other teams to follow their example. Ireland currently sit atop the World Rugby rankings with the Springboks in second place, while the Kiwis are a further two points adrift in third.
“They (Ireland) are a very good side and have been for a long time. Everyone talks about their poor record at World Cups but outside of those they have been so consistent over a long time. Yes, their ranking is justified,” Umaga told Prime Casino. “We have talked about the aura of the All Blacks diminishing. Ireland has been a big part of that in breaking that down. When they first beat us and beat us in a series, they opened up the crack and others followed and the crack has just got bigger.”
Success usually follows success with the All Blacks but, for the first time in a while, they may have to accept short-term pain for long-term gain. They lost a core of genuine greats after the 2023 World Cup, including Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Aaron Smith, and that has harmed them this year.
“The All Blacks have never before talked about rebuilding. It was always a seamless transition from teams which maintained their success. Ireland are now in that position,” Umaga said.
Umaga also praised the work of Ireland’s head coach Andy Farrell, who has built a strong side. Farrell had his critics after he took over from Joe Schmidt, with the first 18 months a struggle, but since then the team has thrived.
Suzie the waitress hits University of Canterbury in World Cup warm-up
The Guardian reports that a mass outbreak of suspected food poisoning has caused “carnage” across two university halls in New Zealand, with reports of early morning queues for toilets, vomit dripping down building windows and students abandoning exams to dash to the loo.
More than 100 students reported being struck down with vomiting and diarrhoea at two University of Canterbury student residences on Sunday night, the university confirmed on Tuesday. The worst details of the story have been withheld in this tasteful publication, but click the article link above for more of a horror show. The cause of the illness was yet to be determined, but students at University Hall and Ilam Apartments – both run by UniLodge – said they began feeling sick on Sunday evening after eating the catered chicken souvlaki dinner.
Suzy the Waitress (of 1995 World Cup fame) was seen walking from the university, at first in a crippled manner, then normally, before stepping into a luxury car.
Eddie wasn’t England’s first choice
RugbyPass reports that Nick Mallett had two “sliding doors moments” (was he stuck in a shit film twice?) when it came to dealings with the RFU. Highly respected as a player and as a coach, the Oxford-educated 68-year-old has revealed how close he was to becoming the head coach of the country of his birth.
The RFU could’ve had the dream ticket of Mallett and Wayne Smith running the show at the home 2015 World Cup but chose Stuart Lancaster instead. And they could also have been spared the drama of the Eddie Jones regime had Mallett said yes to their offer second time around. However, by then, the timing was all wrong and the chances of appointing Mallett, who led the Springboks on a record 17-match winning run in his three-year tenure as head coach between 1997-2000, had gone.
“At the end of 2011, I was approached and I was interviewed for it, and that’s when they gave it to Stuart Lancaster. I actually thought I was in with a shout. I had Wayne Smith who was going to coach with me and I thought that we would have had a good four years. And then they asked when Lancaster didn’t get them out of their pool in 2015. My agent got a call to say they are offering you the job. They said, ‘you don’t have to interview for it, we feel we made a mistake last time’“.
“But by that time I’d had four years at SuperSport. I phoned up Wayne Smith and said, ‘what’s your story?’ and he said, ‘I am tied in with New Zealand and I wouldn’t look at it again’. Your assistant coach is very important, the guy you work with is very, very important, so I turned it down and that’s when they gave it to Eddie.”
Hereford-born Mallett ended up coaching Stade Francais in France before being appointed as head coach of Italy, a position which he held for four years, between 2007 and 2011. Other than the Barbarians and the World XV he hasn’t coached internationally since but Mallett doesn’t look back with any regrets at how things panned out, especially with the high level of scrutiny that Test coaches have to endure.
“I get really passionately involved with rugby so if I invest as much as that and suddenly there’s social media and there’s criticism and all the stress, it is just horrible. It’s like a boxer, when you start out you can take punches and then suddenly at the end of your career you can’t take them as well anymore.”
