Monday’s Rugby News has injuries before the June series, Tom Banks being good and stuff, Michael Cheika being wise and stuff, and the preliminary results from the Canada 7s.
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Injuries, Sminjuries
Michael Cheika is set to announce the Wallabies squad on Tuesday night, but his announcement might be impacted by some injuries to some key players. Well, one key player, and one bloke who gets into the squad cos Cheika really respects a scrumhalf who can lob an opponent’s shoe more than 10 meters.
Sean McMahon, only 3 games back from an long injury layoff, dislocated his wrist and possibly broke his arm during the Rebels v Crusaders game on the weekend.
It isn’t known the extent of McMahon’s injuries – the medicos couldn’t relocate his wrist at the time – and he was taken to hospital immediately (according to The Age).
Nick Phipps is also under an injury cloud, after the scrumhalf, back in with the #9 jersey, injured his ankle during his side’s loss to the Highlanders.
“He’s due for an X-ray on Monday at this stage and we’re not sure whether that is going to be a week-long injury or longer,” coach Daryl Gibson said to the Sydney Morning Herald. “At the moment he’s walking around pretty freely. I don’t think he’ll be out for long, if at all.”
The first June test is on 10 June, against Fiji in Melbourne.
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Banks Banking Rugby $
Brumbies fullback Tom Banks by all accounts had a barnstormer against the Hags on Sunday morning, and the man himself has had a bit of a chinwag about it to the Canberra Times.
“I didn’t start the way I wanted to but [early errors] didn’t rattle us. It’s a good building block,” Banks said.
“We got some points on the board and I was stoked to overcome it. The players inside me give me confidence, when they believe in you it allows you to play with a lot of confidence.
“As a team we haven’t really been able to show everything, but the big thing for us and me now is coming back and facing up against the Rebels to chase that finals spot.”
Stephen Larkham, his coach, is also keen on the old Banksy.
“Banksy is actually remarkably composed, nothing really fazes him,” Larkham said.
“He doesn’t get emotional about much and you saw that against the Jaguares. He made up for errors, he’s got genuine speed and he’s got a really good combination out there.
“That combination in the back three [along with Aidan Toua and Henry Speight] seems to be working for us at the moment.”
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Cheika Wisdom
It might not seem like it, but Michael Cheika’s been doing some real hard yakka in the international off-season.
He’s gone off to Stanford University in the US to study an “Executive Leadership Course”, and while he was met some high-powered CEOs and junk.
“I have had a certain style that I suppose I will never give up, but I also want to be able to be adaptable to different situations,” Cheika told the Daily Telegraph. “We are getting smashed by so much new stuff, analysis, data and all this stuff. Just to be able to pick what’s useful and what’s not. I don’t want to be clouded.
“I genuinely think there are too many (lessons) to pick one. Maybe just understanding people a little bit more. Some of the things about how we work intuitively … how you are instinctively going to act and how humans do that. Putting shape behind decisions.
“They’re things that were maybe going on in my head already but I had never done any tertiary education, so it was putting some structure to that. Already I have been able to use a lot of the stuff, back on the ground. That’s the key thing.”
Cheika also admitted that he’s been really troubled by a radio segment he heard.
“The commentator guy, who I won’t name, said: ‘And in rugby … no one is interested but we’ll tell you what happened anyway’,” Cheika says. “I found that insulting.”
“Listening to that on the radio I thought to myself: ‘You know what? Even if it is just that one guy, I want him to watch the games in June and change that thinking.
“I want him to think: ‘These guys are getting stuck in, they’re playing good footy and you can see how proud they are playing for Australia’.
“My expectations are always high. And I want the public to have high expectations of us as well. Always.”
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Canada Sevens
The men’s sevens has finished for the season, but the women’s hasn’t. They’re in Langely, British Columbia, for their final tournament of the year.
Drawn in group A, alongside Spain, Ireland and Fiji, Tim Walsh’s charges have emerged unbeaten, if a little scarred from their 24-all draw with Fiji.
The other games were 21-0 against Ireland, and 26-0 against Spain. The team will now face the USA at a time that’s way past the Rugby News’ bedtime.
“We are not happy to be honest. We didn’t play our best Rugby and didn’t respect the ball when we had it,” Walsh told the Daily Telegraph. “When we did make the tackles, we did well but I think it was very uncharacteristic around our ball handling.
“There are good signs though in not playing well and topping the Pool but we are going to have to be a hell of a lot better tomorrow to beat the USA.
“We just need to make some slight changes, be a bit more clinical and we will be able to get some continuity and I think our attack will open up.
“I was very impressed with Cassie Staples. She came on and with her first touch she scored a try. She wasn’t just on the end of the pass, she had some work to do and did really well to score.
“it’s great to see someone work hard over the last six months and when she has got her chance she is making the most of it. She’s doing all the right things and I’m very pleased with her day one and how she is progressing. She’s a great find so far for the Aussie 7s.”
The Aussies are currently 2nd with 66 points on the overall table, 10 behind New Zealand. To overtake the Kiwis, they must come at least 6 places ahead of them to make up the gap.
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