Friday’s rugby news has Brad Thorn going to the Reds, Ben Alexander and Sam Carter returning for the Brumbies, Brodie Retallick out for up to four weeks and Men’s Sevens squad named for Glasgow.
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Brad Thorn Recruited by Reds
Former All Black Brad Thorn has agreed to help Queensland rugby’s emerging forwards. Thorn, 40, will retire from rugby next month but clearly wants to stay in the game as a mentor for younger players coming through the ranks.
It is hoped that Thorn encourage hard work and controlled aggression (what he is known for) which will be a huge positive for the struggling Reds.
The Queensland Rugby Union has not made any official announcement just yet and it is believed that the appointment has been made regardless of whether or not Richard Graham is coaching next season.
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Carter and Alexander Return
Wallabies Sam Carter and Ben Alexander have been named in the starting side for the Brumbies ahead of their clash with the Waratahs tonight. Carter missed last week’s win over the Highlanders after being given personal leave while Alexander started from the bench. Meanwhile James Dargaville has made an early return from injury to return to the match day 23, forcing Rodney Iona out of the squad.
Stephen Larkham said he was looking forward to the challenge of playing the Waratahs.
“We’re really looking forward to this match on Friday, the Waratahs have managed to win the last three encounters against us, but we have done everything right this week to change that trend,”
“We always have a fiery battle with them, historically there’s always a lot of passion in these games and I’m sure Friday will be no different.”
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Retallick Out for Four Weeks
All Black and World Rugby’s 2014 international player of the year Brodie Retallick has been ruled out for up to four weeks with his second shoulder injury this season. He sustained the injury last week in the Chiefs win against the Force.
Retallick also missed five weeks earlier in the competition after being dumped on his other shoulder against the Crusaders at Waikato Stadium on February 28.
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie was confident the team could still succeed without Retallick.
“He’s the best player in the world so he’s pretty important to us, but we’re pretty fortunate that we’ve got guys like [Mike Fitzgerald] and Matt [Symons] and [Michael Allardice] in behind them,” Rennie said.
“And we’ve played a fair bit of footy without Brodie this year as he missed four or five games earlier in the season, but never mind, we’ll get him right and get him back for the business end hopefully.”
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Sevens Squad Named for Glasgow
Australian Men’s Sevens Head Coach Geraint John has named an extended 14-man squad for the penultimate leg of the 2014/15 HSBC Sevens World Series in Glasgow. Alex Gibbon has been recalled to the squad for the first time since the Port Elizabeth leg in December, while Lewis Holland and James Stannard return after recovering from muscle injuries that ruled them out of Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Australia are currently sitting fifth in the World Series and need to make the top four to automatically qualify for the Rio Olympics. The team will face England, France and Russia on May 9.
Squad (two to be omitted): Cameron Clark, Tom Cusack, Allan Fa’alava’au, Con Foley, Pama Fou, Alex Gibbon, Lewis Holland, Greg Jeloudev, Ed Jenkins, Tom Lucas, Nick Malouf, Sam Myers, Jesse Parahi, James Stannard.
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