Friday’s rugby news has the Rebels on the defensive, more Welsh stars heading overseas and a tough loss for the Aussie schoolboys.
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Rebels change tactics
Melbourne Rebels coach Tony McGahan is radically altering his team’s game-plan ahead of the 2014 season. At McGahan’s instruction, the Rebels will look to develop a smothering defensive style, following the lead of last year’s second place Brumbies. While the coach was confident in the Rebel’s attacking flair, McGahan asserted, ‘It doesn’t matter too much what we do with the ball if our defence and breakdown work is not up to standard.’
Renowned as a tough defensive-minded coach, McGahan has put his players on notice that tackles are expected to stick. ‘They’re fully aware this is a part of the game that is non-negotiable and a lot of the capacity of that isn’t talent driven,’ the Rebels coach said. [/one_half]
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Welsh stars join exodus
Richard Hibbard and Rhys Priestland are set to become the latest Welsh stars to join the exodus of talent after reportedly agreeing to deals with English clubs. Hibbard will reportedly move to Gloucester while fly-half Priestland may switch allegiances to the Wasps. Last month, Jonathan Davies revealed he would be playing for Clermont, joining stars Jamie Roberts, Dan Lydiate, Mike Phillips, James Hook, Luke Charteris and George North among others, who are already playing their rugby outside Wales.
Former Wales international Kingsley Jones said that the unfortunate trend will ‘go on for a long time,’ adding, ‘we haven’t got the finances to compete with France and the sooner we come to terms with it the better really.’ [/one_half]
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Aussie Schoolboys go down
England under-18s have defeated the Australian schoolboys in a hard-fought match 23-3. The game remained a defensive battle until the last ten minutes, as two tries to English No.8 James Chisholm and wing Will Haywood broke a 9-3 deadlock. Australia could never break England’s outstanding defence and were further hampered when fly-half Andrew Deegan was sent to the bin.
Meanwhile, Wales coach Warren Gatland has expressed his interest in coaching the Lions for their 2017 tour of New Zealand. The 50 year old led the Lions to their first series win in 16 years with their 2-1 series defeat of Australia. ‘It was an incredible experience,’ Gatland said. ‘For me to go to New Zealand would be a great opportunity.’ [/one_half]
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