Monday’s Rugby News

Monday’s rugby news has Matt Hodgson’s season in doubt, Ayumu Goromaru’s shoulder injury, Men’s Sevens team finish tenth in London and Manu Tuilagi expected to miss England’s tour to Australia.

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Hodgson’s Season in Doubt

Western Force captain Matt Hodgson is likely to miss the rest of the season after suffering a shoulder injury in the Force’s 17-13 loss to the Blues.

Force coach Michael Foley lamented Hodgson’s injury.

“Hodgo’s got a dislocated shoulder and at this point in time he’ll get a scan, but there’s a reasonable chance he won’t play again this year,” Foley said.

“That’s a real kick in the guts for us but there’s an opportunity there for other guys who have been leaders in the team for a long period of time to step up and fill those pretty big shoes.

“Without a doubt our players will want to deliver for Matt in the last games of the season next week in Melbourne, and the final three in Bloemfontein, at home and then across in Canberra.”

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Goromaru Injured

Ayumu Goromaru may have played his last match for the Reds after sustaining a season ending shoulder injury.

Goromaru will undergo surgery this week to repair his AC joint which will be followed by at least a three month recovery period.

Goromaru injured his shoulder in an attempted try saving tackle on Sunwolves forward Liaki Moli.

French club Toulon are expected to announce the signing of Goromaru for next season after he revealed the Reds have not made him an offer for a second season.

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Men’s Sevens Finish 10th

The Australian Men’s Sevens team have finished tenth at the London Sevens but finish fourth in the overall World Sevens Series.

Losses to Fiji and England on the opening day saw Australia move to the Bowl competition where they came up short against Wales in the final.

Coach Andy Friend highlighted some positives and negatives from the event.

“Obviously the Bowl competition is not where we want to be though there were some positives to come out from the weekend.

“To get Pama [Fou] back on the field doing what he does well – taking restarts and scoring tries – was a plus. He had a solid tournament and Henry Hutchison proved himself once again to be a world-class talent. It was also good for Jesse [Parahi] to get another tournament under his belt.”

“I was really disappointed with the game against Portugal. We didn’t play smart and we weren’t physical enough even though we managed to get the win. I was happier with the display against Samoa and we were certainly more clinical with the ball but we simply couldn’t hold of the footy against Wales which, in the sixth game of a tough weekend, really hurt us.”

Meanwhile, Fiji coach Ben Ryan has questioned the fitness of Jarrad Hayne after having a mixed tournament.

“This isn’t just a random side, this is the best side in the world in the last two years.

“A Fijian side that plays a very high-tempo, high-risk game that requires enormous amounts of skill and he has that, and enormous amounts of fitness, and he hasn’t got that at the moment.”

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Tuilagi Out

England centre Manu Tuilagi is set to miss England’s tour of Australia after tearing his hamstring in the Aviva Premiership semi-final.

The British Press Association has reported that Tuilagi has suffered a grade two tear, which requires a six-week recovery, however, Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill was unwilling to confirm the extent of the injury.

“Manu has pulled his hamstring,” said Cockerill.

“I don’t know how bad it is, but it’s not great … We don’t know if he’s out of the tour, we’ll see how he gets on in the next 48 hours.

“It’s not ideal because he came off pretty quickly … It doesn’t look brilliant.”

Meanwhile, Eddie Jones has announced the England squad to tour Australia in which Tuilagi is included but he is expected to be replaced.

Former NRL player Ben Te’o has also been included in the squad.

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