Monday’s rugby news has the inspirational comebacks of McCabe and Hoiles, Cooper chasing Lynagh and BOD’s home swan song.
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McCabe’s career revived
Despite staying positive throughout the process of recovering from two broken necks, Brumbies inside centre pat McCabe has admitted that he believed his career was over after injuring himself again against the Force. ‘It wasn’t a massive knock but there were strong symptoms I had which were very similar to the times I had broken my neck,’ said McCabe
The former international waited two hours before receiving news that his injury was only to a muscle in the same region which would heal in days. And after tearing apart the Hurricanes for a game high 129 running metres off the bench, a renewed McCabe will now have a chance to put his hand up as a Wallaby bolter against Kurtley Beale on Saturday. [/one_half]
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Cooper wants record
Quade Cooper is eyeing off Michael Lynagh’s all-time points-scoring record for Queensland, having surpassed Elton Flatley’s mark of 629 points over the weekend. The Wallaby five-eighth amassed 18 points in the crucial 43-33 win over the Cheetas and has said that his commitment to the success of the Reds will motivate him to aim for Lynagh’s tally of 1166 total points.
Although Cooper was influential in four of the team’s five tries on Friday, he also gifted the Cheetahs a runaway intercept with an errant cut-out pass. Despite this error, the Reds playmaker promised to keep rolling the dice when the opportunities arose. ‘We have to continue to try these things,’ he said. ‘Sometimes they are not going to come off but we want to improve our game and push our attack.’ [/one_half]
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Hoiles returns to Canberra
Former Brumbies skipper Stephen Hoiles has opened up about his release from the team, saying that he ‘felt helpless’ leaving the club in 2012 with a year left on his contract. But despite the ‘sour’ end to his Canberra career, Hoiles also concedes that Brumbies coach Jake White made the right decision to release him.
While it appeared that Hoiles’ career was over after missing three seasons with an Achilles injury, the former Wallaby will remarkably return to ACT as a Waratah on Saturday night. ‘I wanted to set an example for my kids, I would have had regrets if I didn’t try everything I could to get back,’ he said. [/one_half]
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BOD headlines 6 Nations
The big story from a weekend of Six nations action is the triumphant home farewell given to a teary-eyed Brian O’Driscoll in the team’s thumping 46-7 win over Italy on Sunday. The 35 year-old was instrumental in the team’s first three tries and added after the match, ‘I feel humbled by the reaction today. I have loved my time playing in this jersey, it has to come to an end at some stage and I am happy to go out with a big win.’
Ireland’s win will set up a likely Six Nations decider against France next Sunday. A ramshackle French side, with seven changes to the starting line-up against Wales, snuck past Scotland 19-17 over the weekend. [/one_half]
