Friday’s Rugby News features the return of Big Dig, a renewed friendship, a focused Waratah defence, and Eddie Jones at it again.
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Digby’s Back
The Big Dig is back.
The Crusaders are handing a debut to Digby Ioane – against his alma mater, the Queensland Reds.
It’ll be a bit of a nostalgia fest on Saturday night, with a lot of the players from the 2011-winning Reds side coming back to replay that year’s grand final fixture.
Meanwhile, Reds coach has taken the angry red pen to the Reds teamsheet, furiously scratching out the names ‘Kane Douglas’, ‘Adam Korczyk’ and ‘Chris Kuridrani’. In their place, between the lines, he’s scribbled the names ‘Izack Rodda’, ‘Hendrik Tui’ and ‘Izaia Perese’.
“None of us were happy with last week’s performance,” Stiles told the SMH.
“We addressed it and moved on and are looking forward to the opportunity to test ourselves against a difficult opponent this weekend.
“The setback isn’t as important as how we respond to it. The changes to the starting team reflect the depth we have in the squad at the moment.
“As coaches, we want guys challenging for starting spots every week. There are no guarantees when it comes to selection.”
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Brumbies, UoC Best Friends
After a bit of a falling out last year, what with legal threats and all that, the University of Canberra have kissed and made up with the Brumbies.
“It’s great to have Deep [Saini, UoC vice-chancellor) so supportive and the university so supportive,” Brumbies CEO Michael Thompson said.
“We see great opportunities for us to work together, drive mutual benefit and grow both brands and both organisations. So, yes (it’s a step forward).”
Meanwhile, Saini had this to say.
“I never saw the past as any problem between the two organisations,” he said. “It was an issue between some individuals essentially and there was no issue between Brumbies and the University of Canberra.
“We are on a continuum of building a relationship and that has never stopped. We may have gone into a it of a silence for a moment but nothing beyond yet.”
This news is rather timely, given that SANZAAR are planning to have Big Meeting about the Big Cut today.
“We’re the most successful Australian team, we’ve been in the finals the last four years, we’re developing a lot of Wallabies, we’re developing a lot of high level coaches and we’re financially viable,” Thompson thumped.
“We have no intention of going anywhere.”
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Tim Tam Tahs
Tahs defence coach is very angry at himself and his charges for shipping 55 points to the Lions last weekend, and is vowing to make everything not as bad against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
“Patrick Lambie is a very good goal kicker and we have away 16 penalties against the Lions, so if you give that many opportunities to a quality goal kicker like Lambie they are going to accrue points really easily,” Grey said.
“We have to make sure our discipline is a significant step-up from last week. We will still try and force turnovers and push the line but we have to be really accurate.”
Grey was also quick to not make the high altitude of the Highveldt an issue.
“Both teams are playing at altitude and guys who haven’t played there before, you certainly go through a period where you struggle and it is very taxing on you. We are certainly not looking at that as an excuse but that just was one of the factors that went into it,” Grey said.
“A lot of defensive misses were technique things, our position and our squeeze and our lead drive. All of those things are things our players can control. But at the end, missing 30-oidd tackle is unacceptable from our point of view.”
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Eddie Jones Mindgames?
Scotland are going to play, and hopefully beat, England this weekend.
Other than the big Braveheart-rivalry thing they’ve got going on, if England win this game they’ll equal the ABs hotstreak of 18-in-a-row.
With heat on like that, Eddie Jones seems to have possibly got up to his old mind game tricks – this time deliberately revealing his teamsheet to the media by conspicuously leaving it out in the sun at a training session.
“Billy Vunipola returns? Has Eddie Jones accidentally revealed his England team?”, reads the Guardian headline.
“Vunipola and Joseph, along with Ben Youngs and Jack Nowell, who also appear poised to return to Jones’s XV, were listed on a whiteboard in what seemed to be England’s planned lineup to play Scotland on Saturday, during a training session at their Bagshot base on Tuesday,” the report reads.
“The whiteboard features lineups for two training matches, one of 13 v 15 players, the other of 10 v 12. In both of them the stronger combination shows four changes from the side who defeated Italy with Vunipola, Youngs, Joseph and Nowell, who scored two tries from the bench, all returning.
“England have become increasingly guarded over team selection as the Six Nations has progressed and it would not be the first time Jones has used smoke and mirrors to distract from his intentions. But the indications on the whiteboard would appear to reveal his plans for Saturday’s match when England will attempt to secure a record-equalling 18th consecutive victory.”
Hmm indeed.
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