I’m a bit with Nutta here. Lots of rugby over the next few weeks but it’s all a bit meh! Nothing that happens in these games is going to be a real indicator of what will go down during the RWC and while useful in some sense for coaches to try things – a bit like the Rugby Championship ended up being for the Wallabies – they really aren’t giving a lot away. With some of the injuries that have occurred I’m wondering if coaches are happy the games occurred. However, life goes on and here is just some of the rugby news around at the moment.
Cooper out of Australian A team
In a surprise to many, including all those who were saying that Jones hasn’t killed off Cooper and they expect him available and able to play in France, it is reported here by Ian Patten that Quade Cooper has not been selected for the Australian A team. This means his time as a Wallaby looks like it is over.
The Australia “A” squad play a series of games, and remain in Europe over the same period as the World Cup. It contains No.10s Bernard Foley and James O’Connor, along with several other World Cup omissions such as Pete Samu, Tom Wright and Ryan Lonergan, but not Cooper. Informed sources said there were no conversations between Cooper and Rugby Australia about his availability for the Australia “A” game. Jones chose to take Foley and O’Connor instead. The absence of flanker Jed Holloway falls into the same category.
Cooper will now move back to Japan to begin preparing for the new Japanese League One season with Kintetsu. He could yet get to Europe as Toulouse have inquired about a short-term contract during the tournament.
It appears Jones does not rate Cooper and is not considering him as even an emergency backup. I do find the selection strategy of Jones odd and don’t understand what he is thinking. He appears to chop and change based on some sort of indiscriminate bias with no clear reason why some players miss out and why others are included. TBH he reminds me of a kid in a lolly shop, going from one to the other looking at the next best lolly without any planning or thought to a long term strategy. I hope the Wallabies do well in France but I am more and more resigning myself to a poor tournament and basket case of rugby similar to what England endured in the last 4 years. I hope I’m wrong.
France fly-half Ntamack out of Rugby World Cup after injury – reports
Reported here and in a huge blow for one of the favourites for the tournament, France fly-half Romain Ntamack has been ruled out of next month’s Rugby World Cup with a knee injury. Ntamack suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee during Saturday’s 30-27 warm-up match for the tournament hosts against Scotland.
Initial reports from France indicate that the injury may not be tournament ending. France coach Fabien Galthie, who will announce his World Cup squad on August 21, had seemed unworried after the match, saying the Toulouse player had suffered “a small hyperextension of the knee.” saying “We preferred to replace him. He was seen by the doctor, the physiotherapists, and we will decide on Sunday if there needs to be additional examinations,” Ntamack’s father Emile, a former France international who played in the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, said “We are still a little in shock, even if he felt it coming since his injury. It didn’t feel right. He had already taken blows to the knee and he felt it wasn’t as usual.”
Not a great start to the tournament and while France have a number of 10’s who can fill in, especially Matthieu Jalibert and perhaps Antoine Hastoy, neither of them have established the same level of cohesion with Dupont that Ntamack has. I wonder if France will be wondering if the warm up matches have been worth as much as they thought they would be. Let’s hope Eddie wraps Gordon in bubble wrap as losing him in a warmup match would hurt a lot.
Reds strike gold with All Blacks duo
As reported here, also in the SMH but this time by Micheal Atkinson, The Reds’ recruitment drive has been turbocharged with Queensland securing the services of not one but two All Blacks props as both Jeffery Toomaga-Allen and Alex Hodgman will call Ballymore home from next season until the end of 2025, as the Reds look to bolster their tight five under new coach Les Kiss.
It’s a major coup for Kiss, with Queensland’s engine room suffering significant haemorrhaging of talent following the departures of Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Angus Scott-Young, Taniela Tupou and Harry Hoopert over the past two years. Between the two of them they bring over top-level experience across Super Rugby, England’s Premiership and the United Rugby Championship.
Both men have played for the All Blacks – Toomaga-Allen with one test in 2013 and Hodgman with four in 2020. Also in a fortunate twist of fate, Hodgman, a loosehead prop, is eligible to represent Australia through his Australian-born father, and can be selected by the Wallabies after this year’s World Cup.
“I don’t want to talk about it too much,” Hodgman said with a wry grin on his face. “I’m always pushing to be the best that I can be, so if things fall in place and there’s an opportunity to play, I’d definitely love to take it.” Hodgman and Toomaga-Allen will complete an all-international front row, following recent Wallaby caps to hooker Matt Faessler and prop Zane Nonggorr,who are both on their way to France.
This is a good move by the Reds. While both players are closer to the back end of their game than the front, they come with a lot of experience and I think will provide more than even Tupou did for the Reds. Good luck.
NZ current NPC model isn’t ‘fit for purpose’ – Mark Robinson
Reported here in Stuff, New Zealand Rugby has signalled its intent to make significant changes to provincial rugby, with chief Mark Robinson saying the current NPC model is “not fit for purpose”.
The NPC started two weeks ago with minimal promotion, and crowds and interest have been patchy for years, especially in the five centres that already host Super Rugby teams.
Speaking in The Breakdown on Sky on Sunday night, Robinson reiterated that the current model simply wasn’t sustainable. “We’ve said that regardless of the Silver Lake injection of capital into the game, the model we’ve got at the moment is not fit for purpose,” Robinson said “So, we’re working really hard with all the different people involved to make sure we can try to address that, but it’ll take time.”
There is significant difference in opinion between the provincial unions in terms of how they view the competition, with the more ambitious PUs keen to elevate the competition’s standing in the rugby landscape and effectively set up a body to run a top-eight style competition. However, that clashes with NZ Rugby’s opinion that provincial unions should first and foremost concentrate on community rugby, with winning NPC titles no longer the priority. Robinson said “There were three key things in the game we were concerned about. One was the financial sustainability, two was engagement, and three was participation across the game.”
RA would do well to see how this pans out as the lack of a 3rd tier is one of the reasons that Wallabies aren’t performing to the level they need to. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.
