Monday’s rugby news has Drew Mitchell putting his hand up for Wallaby selection, Matt Toomua in doubt for the England test series, Bernard Foley finds a loophole in the system and Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau urge the ARU to tap into Western Sydney talent.
[one_half last=”no”]
Mitchell Available
Toulon winger Drew Mitchell has put his hand up to be selected for the Wallabies when they take on the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup later this year.
Mitchell is the first overseas based player to confirm an interest in returning to the Wallabies set up.
“For me I was pretty upfront and said that going into last year’s Rugby Championship and World Cup campaign, I genuinely thought that was all I was interested in,” Mitchell said.
“But I was really excited by the atmosphere and the spirit of the group and I really enjoyed the time. It made me want to – if I can and if I deserve it – to go back again.
“Just the feel in the group. It was a real want to work hard, with the way Cheik has come in and instilled that in the group. Also just tapping back into why we play, and who we play for. All that kind of thing.”
[/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]
Toomua in Doubt
Brumbies centre Matt Toomua has had surgery on his knee and is expected to miss six weeks of rugby putting him in doubt for the Wallabies test matches against England.
Brumbies assistant coach Dan McKellar confirmed the news before the Brumbies win over the Bulls.
Coach Stephen Larkham was not prepared to put a time frame on Toomua’s injury.
“The time frame hasn’t been given to us yet … But we do, next week, we won’t have him,” Larkham said.
“The guys who are coming in for these injured guys are really stepping up and proving that they deserve to get this shot.”
[/one_half] [one_half last=”no”]
Foley Finds Loophole
Waratahs flyhalf Bernard Foley has revealed he will not hesitate to take a quick conversion to prevent the referee from going to the TMO to double check whether a try had been scored.
Israel Folau appeared to have scored on full time for the Waratahs on Saturday night but after Cheetahs captain Francois Venter spoke to the referee it was found that Michael Hooper had passed it forward to Dean Mumm and the try was disallowed.
“We were wondering if we should take the drop goal and have the conversion attempt and they can’t review it,” Foley said.
“I said to him “can I just take this quickly?” and then the ref was talking to Venter, and then he said “wait up”.
“We talked about it. The 12, Venter, was pretty adamant I couldn’t take that kick. He was standing there on the mark.”
[/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]
Western Sydney Talent
Wallabies Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau have urged the ARU to attract players from Sydney’s Western suburbs and compete against rival football codes.
“There’s enormous talent out there, a huge pool, and rugby can tap into it,” said Beale.
“It’s a matter of having the funds, going out there and doing it. We can say a lot of things but you have to put your words into action and while there’s been some improvements to expose [the western suburbs] to rugby it’s still a league-dominated area, the Western Sydney Wanderers are stepping up and they’re gaining a huge fan base for soccer while the GWS Giants [AFL] is also out there.
“It is just a matter of getting day-to-day exposure out there, it has to be ongoing and there needs to be a 10-year-plan. Rugby is a great game, it’s a worldwide game and as a player you get to travel to different countries and you’re exposed to other cultures; they’re opportunities that help you to better yourself as a person.”
[/one_half] [one_half last=”no”]
