Tuesday’s rugby news has Cooper confident in his Toulon plan, the ARU looking to expand the Sydney Sevens, Dennis injured and a Six Nations update.
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Cooper aims for Las Vegas
Quade Cooper is confident that he will be able to participate in the Las Vegas Sevens next month, hoping to expand upon his agreement with Toulon and the ARU. Cooper flew from France only to watch the Australian Sevens team put in a much-improved performance to narrowly come second.
The agreement between Toulon and the ARU has the timing of releases to the sevens program organised so that he can also play tournaments in Paris and London in May, as well as train in a four to six-week program before the Rio Olympics. While the ARU are confident Cooper will play three tournaments, there is some concerns about the agreement breaking down if Toulon lose fellow playmakers Matt Giteau and Frederic Michalak to injury.
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ARU to expand Sydney Sevens
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Dennis suffers concussion
Dave Dennis is in doubt for the Waratahs second trial match against the Chiefs on Friday after suffering a sickening head clash last weekend when going in for a tackle on Brumbies winger Nigel Ah Wong. Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said that Dennis has experienced a number of concussive symptoms and would be monitored with extreme caution.
“We certainly don’t want to push him into things he’s not capable of,” Gisbson said. “We’ll follow our protocols, but at this stage he’s unlikely to feature in trial two. He’s having some headaches and some symptoms and that’s a concern.” Meanwhile, Israel Folau has returned to Waratahs training for the first time since an ankle operation undertaken after Australia’s World Cup campaign.
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Ireland v Wales ends in draw
Six Nations champions Ireland have opened up their defence with a 16-16 draw against Wales. Ireland raced into a 13-0 point lead on Sunday with a try from Conor Murray, but Wales fought backthrough a try from Taulupe Faletau to trail by just three points at the break.
Ireland was trailing 16-13 with eight minutes remaining before a Johnny Sexton 40-metre penalty on 74 minutes gave Joe Schmidt’s men a deserved draw. “A draw is not a good result for anyone,” a frustrated Sam Warburton said. “It takes away the possibility of a Grand Slam or Triple Crown, and it means we have got to take another big scalp down the line to win the Championship.”
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