Wednesday’s top rugby news sees the return of Fat Cat, John Connolly blasting Wallaby selections, Graham Henry calling for Argentina in Super Rugby and Tuilagi’s prank
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Return of Fat Cat
Along with the return of captain James Horwill, the recall of Benn Robinson was the big news to come out of Ewen McKenzie’s touring party being named yesterday. The coach has urged Fat Cat to grab the opportunity with both hands and make one of the prop spots his own. ”He has to make hay while he can” McKenzie said ”He has to find a point of difference where he can contribute, and say ‘I have got to be in the team because of this’”.
Link went on to pinpoint the scrum as one of the strengths of Robinson’s game and a place he can make a real difference given the Wallabies’ recent struggles. What do you guys think, how should our starting front row line up in the next test?
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Connolly blasts Wallaby Selections
Former Reds and Wallabies coach John Connolly has taken aim at some of the selections made in recent weeks by Ewen McKenzie, in particular the treatment of those from the Reds franchise. One such selection that appears to have Connolly particularly riled is the benching of scrum half Will Genia. Of his replacement, Connolly had this to say: “Nic White is a good player but every Super Rugby club has a Nic White”. In comparison he believes that Genia is the Wallabies best player and must start.
Another player Connolly had sympathy for after the name of yesterday’s touring party was Liam Gill, describing the omission of the Reds flanker as “baffling”. One solution Connolly provided to improve the Wallabies dire recent form was a new assistant coach. He believes that Brumbies assistant Stephen Larkham must be brought in to the Wallabies realm to help improve the quality of play.
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Henry wants Super spots for Argentina
The future makeup of Super Rugby is an ongoing discussion, with one of the major questions being pondered being the introduction of sides from Argentina. Former All Blacks coach and now Argentinian Technical Advisor Graham Henry believes that not one but two sides from the country need to be introduced.
Henry believes that the move would help alleviate the issues the Pumas currently have around sourcing their best players. Currently the test side comes from a mix of European based players and those based at home, in a country with no professional competition. Without the experience of Super Rugby, which Henry describes as “ideal preparation for Test rugby”, the Pumas find the step up to Rugby Championship standard all the more difficult. Henry identified however that the financing of the two potential franchises could prove quite difficult.
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Tuilagi apologises for Downing Street Prank
Like basically every British side that beats Australia in sport, the British and Irish Lions were recently invited to meet with the British Prime Minister. England centre Manu Tuilagi figured it would be a good time to get his primary school on and promptly gave Prime Minister David Cameron the ‘rabbit ears’. Whilst making for a rather humorous photo, the prank has not gone down too well. Tuilagi has already tweeted an apology for his actions and will also write to the PM to ensure that no offence was caused.
Tuilagi’s coach at Leicester Tigers Richard Cockerill described the prank from Tuilagi as “daft” but also said that he believed no disciplinary action was required. Tuilagi has also come in for criticism from current and former players Ben Youngs, Matt Dawson and Brian Moore for a joke that has been seen as disrespectful in some quarters.
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