Friday’s top rugby news sees another new Lion, O’Connor under fire, Wallabies squad members released and Ranger’s contract dilemma
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Twelvetrees the latest Lion
Injury concerns hanging over the heads of a number of key Lions has forced coach Warren Gatland to call up another player, this time English centre Billy Twelvetrees. There are currently concerns around the fitness of Tommy Bowe, George North, Brian O’Driscoll, Manu Tuilagi and Owen Farrell. Except for Bowe’s broken hand, none of the injuries are particularly serious. However with so many backs in the wars, it is understandable that Gatland wouldn’t mind an extra as cover.
The extra player will also help in the ongoing management of veteran O’Driscoll’s workload throughout the tour, with Gatland saying that they had “spoke(n) about that with him specifically before the tour, saying that we didn’t really want him to play more than one game a week”. As such it appears that Twelvetrees will be called into the starting line-up for the Lions against the Brumbies on Tuesday night.
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Wallabies squad members released
It looks like the ARU are getting serious about bolstering the provincial squads for their matches against the Lions. Yesterday morning it was announced that Wallabies squad members Rob Horne, Dave Dennis, Peter Kimlin and Scott Sio would all be released to play against the Lions for their respective Super Rugby sides. This comes on the back of Bill Pulver stepping in to ensure that Sevens squad members Bernard Foley and Matt Lucas would similarly be able to line up against the Lions.
Horne and Dennis have already left camp to join the Tahs before tomorrow night’s clash, whilst Sio and Kimlin will return to the capital tonight to prepare for the Brumbies match on Tuesday. Surely it is a good thing to have the Lions face some stiffer competition from the provinces, especially if these four are not going to see much game time in the tests.
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Barnes rubbishes O’Connor at 10
Appearing on Fox Sports last night, former Lions fly half Stuart Barnes derided the prospect of James O’Connor lining up in his former position in the first test. Barnes went as far to say that if Deans made that selection, the “Lions will definitely win” the first test in Brisbane.
In making the case for O’Connor being a “massive weak link”, Barnes highlighted his sheer lack of experience as a fly half in the test match environment and the fact that as a result he didn’t believe the Rebels star would be able to stand up to the pressure the Lions will bring and moments of adversity throughout the game. Something that Barnes said Wallabies greats Steven Larkham or Michael Lynagh were able to excel at throughout their careers. The man that Stuart Barnes believes should be lining up at 10 for the Wallabies? That would be Quade Cooper.
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Ranger contract drama
Exactly when to pull the trigger on a big money European contract is a growing issue for the top Southern Hemisphere players, as Rene Ranger is discovering. The balance between ensuring your international career is as long as possible and maximising career earnings is not always an easy one to achieve. Ranger signed a deal worth more than $1 million over three seasons to play for Montpellier in France earlier this year. However Ranger’s stellar Super Rugby form has seen him selected for the All Blacks in their test series against France.
Ranger is now looking to negotiate a release from his Montpellier contract to continue his career in New Zealand. At this point however, Montpellier are holding firm, saying that if he wants a release he has to pay half the value of the contract – around $500,000.
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