Friday’s Rugby News sees more on the Super Rugby squads, other matches for the upcoming weekend, Maddocks aiming high and a whole lot of news out of (and about) Ballymore.
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Squads Out, Young Guns Out
The rugby gets back underway again tonight, and all of the Aussie teams have unveiled their squads for what should be an interesting weekend of rugby. Last week Aussie teams went two from two against international opposition, while the Rebels made light work of the Reds.
Starting out at Suncorp, the Reds will be looking to grab a much needed first win for the club, off the back of a very disappointing start to their campaign. With Higginbotham and Tui out, Brad Thorn has turned to some young guns from the Queensland system to produce the goods, with Liam Wright moving into the starting lineup, and Harry Hockings and flanker Angus Scott-Young coming onto the bench.
Personally, I think it’s a good move for Thorn to bring on the younger players. They were the shining light in the Reds loss last week, particularly in the scrum. Also, Hockings and Scott-Young were also part of Thorns premiership winning Queensland Country side, so they’d be used to being under Thorns guidance.
Meanwhile, the Brumbies have had their own issues, with Rob Valentini being ruled out for up to 6-12 weeks. He has been replaced by young gun Lachlan McCaffrey, while Richie Arnold will swap out of the starting lineup to make way for twin brother Rory.
Reds Squad: Aidan Toua, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Samu Kerevi, Duncan Paia’aua, Eto Nabuli, Jono Lance, James Tuttle, Caleb Timu, Liam Wright, Adam Korczyk, Kane Douglas, Izack Rodda, Taniela Tupou, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper (c). Reserves: Alex Mafi, JP Smith, Sef Fa’agase, Harry Hockings, Angus Scott-Young, Tate McDermott, Hamish Stewart, Filipo Daugunu
Brumbies Squad: Tom Banks, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Kyle Godwin, Chance Peni, Christian Lealiifano, Joe Powell, Isi Naisarani, Tom Cusack, Lachlan McCaffrey, Sam Carter, Rory Arnold, Allan Alaalatoa, Josh Mann-Rea, Ben Alexander. Reserves: Robbie Abel, Nic Mayhew, Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, Blake Enever, Lolo Fakaosilea, Matt Lucas, Wharenui Hawera, Lausii Taliauli
Personally, I reckon the Reds will show a lot more fight and restore some faith for the Ballymore faithful, but the Brumbies are looking the better team.
The second Aussie match of the round sees the Rebels head to Tokyo to face the Sunwolves, who nearly caused an upset last week against the Brums. The Rebels have been forced to make one injury change, with England lock Geoff Parling set to make his debut in place of Sam Jefferies, who has been ruled out with a minor knee injury.
The only other change is the inclusion of an extra forward in Colby Fainga’a on the bench, suggesting Dave Wessels will be out to instil dominance at set piece.
“I’ve been really pleased to see how the players have responded at training from our performance on Friday night,” Wessels said to Fox Sports.
“We acknowledge that we’ve still got plenty of hard work ahead of us but the attitude and intensity the players have brought to training this week — with a desire to get better — has been great.
“Our performance has to get better from last weekend.”
Rebels Squad: Dane Haylett-Petty, Jack Maddocks, Tom English, Reece Hodge, Sefa Naivalu, Jack Debreczeni, Will Genia, Amanaki Mafi, Angus Cottrell, Lopeti Timani, Adam Coleman (c), Matt Philip, Jermaine Ainsley, Jordan Uelese, Tetera Faulkner. Reserves: Anaru Rangi, Fereti Sa’aga, Sam Talakai, Geoff Parling, Ross Haylett-Petty, Colby Fainga’a, Michael Ruru, Billy Meakes
While Reg and Matt disagreed with me that the Rebels will win this, I think they’ll step up a gear this week.
Finally, we head over to the Republic, where the Waratahs will line up against a Sharks outfit coming off the bye.
There’s been a lot of shuffling around in the Tahs pack, with Jed Holloway replacing Robs Simmons, with Ned Hanigan and Michael Wells moving around the scrum. The big changes however are on the bench, with prop Kalivati Tawake, Will Miller and halfback Mitch Short all in line to score their first debut for the Tahs.
“We have reviewed the Stormers game and focused on some key areas of our game this week, including our ability to get out of our territory quicker while at the same time working on ways to negate the Sharks’ strength areas,” Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said.
“We are looking to build on the character and positive attitude that was shown last week.”
Waratahs Squad: Israel Folau, Andrew Kellaway, Lalakai Foketi, Kurtley Beale, Curtis Rona, Bernard Foley, Jake Gordon, Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper (c), Michael Wells, Tom Staniforth, Ned Hanigan, Paddy Ryan, Damien Fitzpatrick, Tom Robertson. Reserves: Hugh Roach, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Kalivati Tawake, Nick Palmer, Will Miller, Mitch Short, Bryce Hegarty, Alex Newsome
Where this game will be won and lost will be at scrum time. I hope I eat my words on this, but I think it’ll be too much for the Waratahs.
For more information on the squads, head to Fox Sports.
Hope everyone enjoys their rugby this weekend, and go the Brumbies!
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On the International Front…
Starting in Super Rugby, the Blues will kick off the round when they host the Chiefs, which looks set to be an absolute cracker. It might be a tough one for the home side, with five changes being made including an injury replacement for Sonny Bill Williams.
After the all-Aussie derby and the match in Tokyo, the Stormers will have a tough assignment on their hands when they head to Christchurch to take on the current champions. The Crusaders had five All Blacks in the casualty ward at the start of the season, and were joined by Matt Todd last week with a broken thumb. They still look the goods though, and will be favourites to win here.
Following the Sharks-Tahs match, the only South African derby will see a resurgent Bulls side host current top dogs (or cats) the Lions in Pretoria. I personally reckon this will be the match of the round, as both sides are looking bloody good.
Finally, we head to Argentina where the Jaguares will host their first match of the season against a Hurricanes side keen to avenge their loss against the Bulls.
That leaves the Highlanders, who will take the bye this weekend.
The other big news out of the Southern Hemisphere is that we finally know who the new Springboks coach is.
After sliding to sixth in the World Rankings and winning only 11 out of 25 tests since the World Cup, SA Rugby has announced that former Springbok Johan ‘Rassie’ Erasmus will be the man who will take the reins for the South Africans.
Many in the Republic have praised the decision, including Springbok legends Victor Matfield and Corne Krige. Erasmus has had a good record during his time in Ireland, steering Munster to the Pro 12 Final and the European Rugby Champions Cup semi-finals last season.
His first match in charge will be against Wales when they play a exhibition match in Washington DC., before returning home for a tough three match series against England.
Speaking of the English, the Six Nations also continues next week.
Currently, this season is a scrap between Ireland, England and Scotland for top honours, but it looks like it will all come to a head this weekend.
Starting in Dublin, the Irish will host Scotland. If the Irish win this, they will take a big lead and effectively have one hand on the Six Nations trophy (potentially both hands, barring another result in Paris), but if the Scots pull an upset they could (barring that same result in Paris), be in the mix to win the trophy in the final round.
The Scots have never won the Six Nations in it’s current form, so this will be the match that will define how far they can go.
Secondly, France will host England in what will be a typically brutal encounter between the two rivals. The French got back to winning ways last week over the Azzuri, and a win here will do much to put a smile on the faces of long suffering fans. Defeating England will also effectively end their chances to win the Six Nations.
If England win, it will effectively set up the decider for the trophy at Twickenham next week against the Irish.
Finally, Wales will be hosting Italy at Millennium Stadium, with both teams effectively playing for pride. the Welsh are still an outsider to win the competition, but they’ll have to hope the Scots can pull an upset on top of them thumping Italy to have any hope of making it. For Italy, it’s effectively all for pride.
The final big news out of the Northern Hemisphere has been the ugly fallout from the Scottish win last week. There was the issues of on-field foul play that were dismissed, the infamous video of the two teams coming close to trading blows in the tunnel, and now, Eddie Jones being verbally and physically attacked by fans while on the train from Edinburgh to Manchester.
British Transport Police said that no complaints were made, but Jones admitted he wasn’t keen to repeat the experience.
“For me to travel on public transport I thought was OK but I’ll make sure I won’t in future,” he said to The Guardian.
“It was shown on Sunday what happens when I do. That’s the world we live in. I try and do the right thing by the fans but if that happens you’ve got to have a look at your own safety.
“I’m a human being. I don’t consider myself any different from anyone else.”
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Maddocks setting the bar high
Melbourne Rebels and Rising prodigy Jack Maddocks has had a good couple of seasons down in Melbourne, and that has got the attention of Stephen Larkham when he was taken on as a development player on last year’s Spring Tour. Turns out, his time in the NRC has now convinced Bernie that Maddocks might be a future option for the Wallabies at flyhalf.
“I asked (Larkham) on one of my first days on tour what he thought of my game and he said he hadn’t seen that much,” said Maddocks to rugby.com.au.
“So he said he would go and watch my last three games of NRC and then he came back to me the next day and said I have all the attributes to be a 10.
“I trained there from that point on.”
Rebels coach Dave Wessels shares Bernie’s views that Maddocks would make a great flyhalf, and while Maddocks is currently filling the hole left by Marika Koroibete on the wing, it’s clear that he has bigger plans in mind.
“I always wanted to move back to 10 because I thought if I could combine my old game with the new physical attributes I have now, there’s no reason why I couldn’t be a good 10,” said Maddocks.
“When I went on tour I was pretty surprised they saw me that way but I really enjoyed it and it’s something I want to do in the future, for sure.”
On another interesting note, this match against the Sunwolves will see skipper Adam Coleman earn his fiftieth Super Rugby cap.
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Ballymore Makeover
Finally, a few weeks ago we got some indication that Ballymore could be up for a big redevelopment in the not-to-distant future.
Well, with a potential $30 million grant, it might be getting just that.
The plans are to redevelop the outside field into a hub flanked by high-performance facilities, gym-physiotherapy services and administration offices, on top of a rugby museum and a rebuilt McLean Stand.
You can check out what it might look like here, as provided by the Courier Mail.
There are plans to also share Ballymore with football, with the QRU’s Executive Director Richard Barker said that the focus was on a mid-range makeover rather than attempting to completely replace the main stadium in one go.
Brisbane City Football Club (not the NRC team) have been in talks with the QRU over the last fortnight, and they see Ballymore as a preferred home venue should they enter an expanded A-League in the 2019-2020 season.
“We are enjoying some pretty positive conversations with State Government so there are a few things moving around Ballymore,” Barker said.
“We are driving for a High Performance Centre with a revenue stream back to rugby so we are not still talking in 20 years about how Ballymore eats over a $1 million a year in upkeep.
“We are not asking for another major stadium to be built when Suncorp Stadium is one of the best in world sport.
“That said, if we are serious about attracting more events to Queensland, such as the women’s World Cups in rugby (2021) and soccer (2023), Brisbane probably needs to cater with another smaller venue.
“With a grandstand refurbishment, you could think of hosting tier-two rugby Tests, A-League soccer and maybe a Super Rugby game.”
The other big news out of Ballymore on the rugby front is Jono Lance is officially moving on at the end of the season, with the former Force player linking up with the Worcester Warriors on a two year contract.
As pointed out by rugby.com.au, Lance originally came in as a way of covering the Reds’ bases as flyhalf with Hamish Stewart still improving and Quade Cooper being not wanted. With Lance leaving, this could lead to even more interesting times at the Reds.
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