Thursday’s rugby news has a revised Wallabies squad, Higginbotham keeping his options open, a strange Sevens qualification situation and a confident Hurricanes side.
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Cheika revising Wallabies squad
With less than six months until Australia play their Rugby World Cup opener, Michael Cheika will be forced to revise his train-on squad in light of the opening six rounds of the Super Rugby competition. Cheika will have a preliminary 50-man squad assemble in Sydney next week before taking 30 players to the UK.
“The challenge is getting a good balance between giving some players who you know will be there some certainty so you can start planning and giving other guys on the fringes an opportunity to get a chance at going for the spot,” he said.
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Higginbotham ponders return
Although Scott Higginbotham is leaving for a stint in Japan after this year’s World Cup, the Melbourne co-captain has asserted that he would be keen to resume his Super Rugby career with the Rebels in a few years. “I’m still 28 so I’ve still got plenty of football left in me,” Higginbotham said, before emphasising, “I’ve grown fond of Melbourne and especially the playing group here.”
Higginbotham will celebrate his 100th Super Rugby appearance against the Hurricanes on Friday, having played 36 games for the Rebels and making 64 appearances with Queensland.
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Sevens coach questions qualifiers
National Sevens coach Geraint John has questioned the qualifications process for the 2016 Rio Olympics, worried that ineligible teams may take valuable rankings points away from the Australian side. In particular, with England designated as the representative of the Great Britain Olympic side, Wales and Scotland will not take part in the Games.
“I don’t know if there are any other sports who would have teams in the qualifying process who aren’t eligible for the Olympics,” John said.Australia are currently in fourth place in the Sevens series, with the eventual top four going straight through to Rio. If Australia slip in the rankings, they will have to win either the Oceania qualifier or a last-ditch world qualifier tournament.
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Hurricanes resting All-Blacks
The competition-leading Hurricanes have taken the bold move of resting three key All-Blacks for Friday’s game against the Rebels in Wellington. Coach Chris Boyd has chosen to rest wing Julian Savea, five-eighth Beauden Barrett and prop Ben Franks. Boyd and other Super Rugby coaches for New Zealand franchises have been instructed to rest Test players for at least two games this season, with the match against the 10th placed Rebels identified as a good chance to do so.
Another change will see former Rebel Jason Woodward replace Nehe Milner-Skudder at fullback. Woodward recently returned to his native New Zealand after two seasons in Melbourne but has struggled for playing time.
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