Wednesday’s rugby news has no offer for Hayne at Waratahs, Cheika approving the appointment of Nick Stiles, Bill Meakes into Wallabies squad and Angus Gardner to referee semi-finals.
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Hayne Plane Grounded
The Waratahs have announced that they will not pursue Jarrad Hayne despite Hayne’s interest in switching codes once again.
“We’re not going to pursue Jarryd at this present point in time, and I think it’s a bit of a watershed moment for the organisation,” said chief executive Andrew Hore.
“We feel with the fact that we’ve combined both NSW and Waratahs rugby that our first priority has got to be making NSW a great rugby state again and that’s got to be our primary focus.
“Now, is a quick fix going to do that? We don’t think it is.
“We think the issues in our game are that broad and deep that we want to focus on resolving those, and when you’ve already got 10-plus Wallabies — plus Israel Folau in our team — we feel that there’s enough star-power there at this stage.
“Maybe it’s about utilising their skillset more, while at the same time increasing investment into the things that are going to make us a great rugby state once again.”
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Cheika Approves
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has supported the appointment of Nick Stiles as the new head coach of the Queensland Reds.
“We’ll be giving Nick the support where he needs it to make his program the best it can be, not telling him how to play because he knows that,” Cheika said.
“He is an Australian coach with lots of experience and this is the natural step forward.”
Meanwhile, Stiles is hopeful of obtaining the signature of Quade Cooper following his decision to hold off until a coach was appointed.
“I’ve been talking to Quade for some time so hopefully we get it sorted and he commits to the Reds,” Stiles said.
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Meakes into Squad
Western Force recruit Bill Meakes has reportedly been revealed as a member of the Wallabies training squad despite not playing any Super Rugby matches.
Makes played club rugby in Sydney before moving overseas and eventually playing for Gloucester under former Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher.
Meakes can play inside and outside centre but spent most of his time at Gloucester at outside centre.
The Wallabies are currently in camp in Sydney without the Brumbies players who played last Friday night against the Highlanders.
Meakes is not expected to be retained once the squad is cut on August 5.
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Gardner Appointed
Australian referee Angus Gardner has been appointed to referee in this weekend’s Super Rugby semi-finals after coping criticism from Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham last weekend.
Gardner will referee the Hurricanes clash with the Chiefs in Wellington on Saturday.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Jaco Peyper will be in charge on the Lions match against the Highlanders in Johannesburg.
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