Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
Nonsense. Vickerman has been one our best locks ever, against all opposition.
Tri Nations Game 3 New Zealand v Australia - Saturday 6 August 2011 - 3N2011
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Nonsense. Vickerman has been one our best locks ever, against all opposition.
T
tranquility
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Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
Burgess cleared to play
Burgess boost for Wallabies
August 2, 2011
AAP
HALF-BACK Luke Burgess has been cleared to return to action for the Wallabies and may come off the bench against the All Blacks on Saturday night.
Burgess fractured a hand ahead of the NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby playoff against the Blues in Auckland five weeks ago, but finally looks set to get his chance to play at Eden Park.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans confirmed yesterday that the 27-year-old was fully recovered and back in the selection mix for the Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup encounter as back-up to the influential Will Genia.
Deans will name his 24-man travel party today before announcing the team on Thursday after their first training session in Auckland.
Burgess, capped 32 times, is expected to replace rookie Nick Phipps in the only change to the 22-man squad that beat South Africa 39-20 nine days ago, as all indications are the selectors will reward the incumbents.
Deans admitted discarded veteran back Matt Giteau had the experience to also cover at No. 9, but wasn't being considered as a half-back option against New Zealand, who thrashed the Springboks 40-7 in Wellington on the week- end.
Giteau trained briefly at half-back last week in camp on the Gold Coast but has spent most time at five-eighth and inside-centre.
In positive news for this Saturday's crucial Tri Nations and Bledisloe Test, full-back Kurtley Beale declared himself fit and ready to go after overcoming an ankle injury sustained against the Springboks.
Beale returned to team training last Friday and reported he'd pulled up well over the weekend.
AAP
Burgess boost for Wallabies
August 2, 2011
AAP
HALF-BACK Luke Burgess has been cleared to return to action for the Wallabies and may come off the bench against the All Blacks on Saturday night.
Burgess fractured a hand ahead of the NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby playoff against the Blues in Auckland five weeks ago, but finally looks set to get his chance to play at Eden Park.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans confirmed yesterday that the 27-year-old was fully recovered and back in the selection mix for the Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup encounter as back-up to the influential Will Genia.
Deans will name his 24-man travel party today before announcing the team on Thursday after their first training session in Auckland.
Burgess, capped 32 times, is expected to replace rookie Nick Phipps in the only change to the 22-man squad that beat South Africa 39-20 nine days ago, as all indications are the selectors will reward the incumbents.
Deans admitted discarded veteran back Matt Giteau had the experience to also cover at No. 9, but wasn't being considered as a half-back option against New Zealand, who thrashed the Springboks 40-7 in Wellington on the week- end.
Giteau trained briefly at half-back last week in camp on the Gold Coast but has spent most time at five-eighth and inside-centre.
In positive news for this Saturday's crucial Tri Nations and Bledisloe Test, full-back Kurtley Beale declared himself fit and ready to go after overcoming an ankle injury sustained against the Springboks.
Beale returned to team training last Friday and reported he'd pulled up well over the weekend.
AAP
Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
Barnes calls Deans - says he is ready
Hold the phone: Barnes puts in late-night call to say he is back in the mix for Test selection
Greg Growden SMH August 2, 2011
BERRICK BARNES last night contacted Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to say he is again available for Test football. The Waratahs midfielder had chosen to have a break from representative football following serious head knocks that saw him sidelined during the recent Super Rugby season, and had alerted the Wallabies selectors several weeks ago that for the time being he was unavailable for Test selection.
However, after two full matches with Sydney University in the Sydney grade ranks, Barnes, who has played 31 Tests and can fill the five-eighth and inside-centre roles, again believes he is ready for Test football, and, hopefully, the World Cup.
''It has been great playing for Uni, and I have got my confidence back,'' Barnes said last night. ''I feel really good again. So I got in contact with Robbie tonight and told him that I am again available. The ball is now in their court, and in the meantime I will continue playing in the club ranks.''
Benn Robinson is also hoping he can get back in the frame for World Cup selection, despite suffering a knee injury that threatened to end his season just a few weeks ago.
After an apparently innocuous incident during a Wallabies training session at Coogee Oval, many thought the prop faced surgery and at least six months out of the game.
However, a decision to delay surgery has given Robinson, recently rated the best loose-head in international rugby, a slight hope of making the 30-man World Cup squad to be announced on August 18. Robinson joined the Wallabies camp on the weekend and was a conscientious water boy during training for the Wallabies forwards on the Gold Coast yesterday.
But his unlikely hopes of World Cup selection had already received a boost when he passed the first of many tests in his rehabilitation, running about 1.5 kilometres in front of the team's medical staff. If that was pleasing enough in itself, so too was his recovery after the session.
''The doctors were expecting some swelling after that, but there wasn't, which is encouraging,'' he said yesterday. ''The big one will be backing up after I've done a fair bit of work on my knee.''
Robinson will remain with the Wallabies in Surfers Paradise until tomorrow, when they head to Auckland and then Durban for back-to-back Tri Nations Tests against the All Blacks and South Africa. He will return to Sydney and train with the Waratahs physiotherapy staff.
''This is really a day-by-day, week-by-week proposition,'' Robinson said. ''I have never done a knee before, so I don't really know what to do and how far I can push it. At the moment, it is just small steps. But I am pushing as hard as I can.
''When I first did it, I was pretty down and did it tough for the first week. Since the Monday when I found out that I could play, it has been a roller-coaster ride. To get up and train is no problem if it involves having a shot at the World Cup.''
But Robinson knows there is a big difference between training and the real thing, and he will have to return to playing sooner rather than later if he is to make the final squad.
''You can run up and down as much as you want, but in the end it all revolves around playing and scrummaging,'' Robinson said.
Whether that happens or not, coach Robbie Deans admires Robinson's determination, saying: ''History would suggest the odds aren't great, but he has made a great start and he's excited by that. It's just a matter of keeping going and how he responds to each level as he ups the ante. There's a long way to go.''
Greg Growden SMH
Hold the phone: Barnes puts in late-night call to say he is back in the mix for Test selection
Greg Growden SMH August 2, 2011
BERRICK BARNES last night contacted Wallabies coach Robbie Deans to say he is again available for Test football. The Waratahs midfielder had chosen to have a break from representative football following serious head knocks that saw him sidelined during the recent Super Rugby season, and had alerted the Wallabies selectors several weeks ago that for the time being he was unavailable for Test selection.
However, after two full matches with Sydney University in the Sydney grade ranks, Barnes, who has played 31 Tests and can fill the five-eighth and inside-centre roles, again believes he is ready for Test football, and, hopefully, the World Cup.
''It has been great playing for Uni, and I have got my confidence back,'' Barnes said last night. ''I feel really good again. So I got in contact with Robbie tonight and told him that I am again available. The ball is now in their court, and in the meantime I will continue playing in the club ranks.''
Benn Robinson is also hoping he can get back in the frame for World Cup selection, despite suffering a knee injury that threatened to end his season just a few weeks ago.
After an apparently innocuous incident during a Wallabies training session at Coogee Oval, many thought the prop faced surgery and at least six months out of the game.
However, a decision to delay surgery has given Robinson, recently rated the best loose-head in international rugby, a slight hope of making the 30-man World Cup squad to be announced on August 18. Robinson joined the Wallabies camp on the weekend and was a conscientious water boy during training for the Wallabies forwards on the Gold Coast yesterday.
But his unlikely hopes of World Cup selection had already received a boost when he passed the first of many tests in his rehabilitation, running about 1.5 kilometres in front of the team's medical staff. If that was pleasing enough in itself, so too was his recovery after the session.
''The doctors were expecting some swelling after that, but there wasn't, which is encouraging,'' he said yesterday. ''The big one will be backing up after I've done a fair bit of work on my knee.''
Robinson will remain with the Wallabies in Surfers Paradise until tomorrow, when they head to Auckland and then Durban for back-to-back Tri Nations Tests against the All Blacks and South Africa. He will return to Sydney and train with the Waratahs physiotherapy staff.
''This is really a day-by-day, week-by-week proposition,'' Robinson said. ''I have never done a knee before, so I don't really know what to do and how far I can push it. At the moment, it is just small steps. But I am pushing as hard as I can.
''When I first did it, I was pretty down and did it tough for the first week. Since the Monday when I found out that I could play, it has been a roller-coaster ride. To get up and train is no problem if it involves having a shot at the World Cup.''
But Robinson knows there is a big difference between training and the real thing, and he will have to return to playing sooner rather than later if he is to make the final squad.
''You can run up and down as much as you want, but in the end it all revolves around playing and scrummaging,'' Robinson said.
Whether that happens or not, coach Robbie Deans admires Robinson's determination, saying: ''History would suggest the odds aren't great, but he has made a great start and he's excited by that. It's just a matter of keeping going and how he responds to each level as he ups the ante. There's a long way to go.''
Greg Growden SMH
Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
lol
That's two lots of good news and who knows - it could be three lots if Fat Cat comes right - though that would have to be a long shot.
We are all apprehensive about Barnes and not only about the rugby but if he is fit - and if McCabe passes the All Black examination - it means that there are then 3 guys who can play 10 and 3 who can play 12 - albeit with only 4 names involved.
The news on Burgo being fit before his time is good also. Phipps has done well but he is a couple of seasons away yet methinks from reaching his top level - and why wouldn't he be? I just hope that his coaches get to him early and teach him one thing: releasing the ball ASAP above everything else. He is showing signs of Gregan/Burgo ball hatching and it has to be rubbed out of him.
On TV I saw Hipwell in the crowd watching Uni the other day and I wish someone of his ilk could give Phipps a master class - or Catchy - (saw him a couple of weeks ago looking fit enough though he's porking up a bit). These blokes were masters of dispatching crap ball because they had so much practice and it's a pity that the skills of this arcane art have not been handed on.
.
That's two lots of good news and who knows - it could be three lots if Fat Cat comes right - though that would have to be a long shot.
We are all apprehensive about Barnes and not only about the rugby but if he is fit - and if McCabe passes the All Black examination - it means that there are then 3 guys who can play 10 and 3 who can play 12 - albeit with only 4 names involved.
The news on Burgo being fit before his time is good also. Phipps has done well but he is a couple of seasons away yet methinks from reaching his top level - and why wouldn't he be? I just hope that his coaches get to him early and teach him one thing: releasing the ball ASAP above everything else. He is showing signs of Gregan/Burgo ball hatching and it has to be rubbed out of him.
On TV I saw Hipwell in the crowd watching Uni the other day and I wish someone of his ilk could give Phipps a master class - or Catchy - (saw him a couple of weeks ago looking fit enough though he's porking up a bit). These blokes were masters of dispatching crap ball because they had so much practice and it's a pity that the skills of this arcane art have not been handed on.
.
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
I was speaking of the specific skill in counter maul, if he has displayed skill in this area above the usual poor showing we get from Oz forwards provide the matches they featured in. The Sharpe & Mumm combo successfully defended mauls from all comers in 2009. Something that has been absent again this year.
I wont even deign to comment on your assertion.
R
Rev Spooner
Guest
Who's the ref this Saturday?
Lance Free
Arch Winning (36)
Wallaby 24 man squad for NZ named:
The additions from the Bokke test are the Waratahs quartet of halfback Luke Burgess, winger Lachie Turner and second rowers Dan Vickerman and Sitaleki Timani. No Sharpie (or Phipps) this time. No Giteau as expected.
Ben Alexander
Adam Ashley-Cooper
Kurtley Beale
Luke Burgess
Quade Cooper
Pekahou Cowan
Rocky Elsom ©
Anthony Fainga'a
Saia Fainga'a
Will Genia
Scott Higginbotham
Matt Hodgson
James Horwill
Digby Ioane
Sekope Kepu
Pat McCabe
Ben McCalman
Stephen Moore
James O’Connor
David Pocock
Rob Simmons
Sitaleki Timani
Lachie Turner
Dan Vickerman
The additions from the Bokke test are the Waratahs quartet of halfback Luke Burgess, winger Lachie Turner and second rowers Dan Vickerman and Sitaleki Timani. No Sharpie (or Phipps) this time. No Giteau as expected.
Ben Alexander
Adam Ashley-Cooper
Kurtley Beale
Luke Burgess
Quade Cooper
Pekahou Cowan
Rocky Elsom ©
Anthony Fainga'a
Saia Fainga'a
Will Genia
Scott Higginbotham
Matt Hodgson
James Horwill
Digby Ioane
Sekope Kepu
Pat McCabe
Ben McCalman
Stephen Moore
James O’Connor
David Pocock
Rob Simmons
Sitaleki Timani
Lachie Turner
Dan Vickerman
Joe Blow
John Hipwell (52)
Unfortunately that second row, which was our best available at certain times, lacked any authority whatsoever save for the lineout.
If we are serious about the RWC then we need some big angry locks who will not take a backward step.
Take nothing away from either of those blokes. They have always been there for Australian rugby.
But seriously, they just don't stack up against the Bothas, Matfield, Thorns etc.
It is possible that Sharpe could slot in nicely alongside Horwill but I would prefer to see another second rower that is considered more aggressive than Big Kev.
We need some serious forward firepower if we are going to get anywhere near the RWC final.
J
Jay
Guest
Craig Joubert.
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
My guess for the 22:
Sekope Kepu
Stephen Moore
Ben Alexander
James Horwill
Rob Simmons
Rocky Elsom ©
David Pocock
Ben McCalman
Will Genia
Quade Cooper
Digby Ioane
Pat McCabe
Adam Ashley-Cooper
James O’Connor
Kurtley Beale
Saia Fainga'a
Pekahou Cowan
Dan Vickerman
Matt Hodgson
Scott Higginbotham
Luke Burgess
Anthony Fainga'a
I know some here don't like the Sharpe exclusion but I'm really encouraged that Robbie seems to be making the tough decisions.
Sekope Kepu
Stephen Moore
Ben Alexander
James Horwill
Rob Simmons
Rocky Elsom ©
David Pocock
Ben McCalman
Will Genia
Quade Cooper
Digby Ioane
Pat McCabe
Adam Ashley-Cooper
James O’Connor
Kurtley Beale
Saia Fainga'a
Pekahou Cowan
Dan Vickerman
Matt Hodgson
Scott Higginbotham
Luke Burgess
Anthony Fainga'a
I know some here don't like the Sharpe exclusion but I'm really encouraged that Robbie seems to be making the tough decisions.
A
antipodean
Guest
I find it astonishing that Vickerman and Timani can make a squad of 24 before Sharpe. For all the talk of Vickerman, he's been out of first class rugby for a number of years, has shown nothing in his guest appearances yet to demand selection and doesn't have a record against the All Blacks (winning a quarter of the tests he's played) to be hailed as a saviour.
I wasn't a fan of Sharpe when he first came on the scene, he was lazy and ineffectual, but he's developed into a lock with a high work rate. He certainly can't be considered lower in the ranking than Timani, surely.
I wasn't a fan of Sharpe when he first came on the scene, he was lazy and ineffectual, but he's developed into a lock with a high work rate. He certainly can't be considered lower in the ranking than Timani, surely.
waratahjesus
Greg Davis (50)
thats a pretty good stat in the current aussie set up isnt it?
there is the possibility that robbie is resting sharpe in this and having a loot at others to finalise his cup squad. But it really just illustrates when a few months ago sharpe didnt get offered a contract top up that he wasnt actually in favour the way many of us thought he was.
qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Hasn't he? I thought a lot of people on here commented on his effectiveness at ruck time and his physicality. The only problem is match fitness and he had a 80 min club hit out on the weekend. Not a lot but he'll be from the bench most likely.
It appears that Vickerman and Horwill are there as TH lock cover, while Simmons and Timani are there as the more mobile & athletic LH lock.
I am surprised that Sharpe has missed out, to me, Timani is all potential, athleticism and animal, bit little polish.
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