Monday’s rugby news has Tatafu injured again, the Wallabies promising to win back their fans, Genia set to return to the Wallabies and Nonu out for the season.
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Tatafu Injured Again
Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is set to miss the rest of the Rugby Championship after suffering an ankle injury in the Wallabies win over Argentina. Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie expressed his frustration with the injury.
“Taf did a great job for us off no football. The issue now is to avoid surgery because we don’t want this (injury) clashing with the end of year tour,” McKenzie said. [/one_half]
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Wallabies Promise to Win Back Fans
The Wallabies match against Argentina on the weekend saw Australia’s lowest home crowd this century after just 14, 281 supporters attended the match. Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has hinted that if the Wallabies are not getting numbers to the Gold Coast then they may have to play elsewhere.
“There’s lots of factors going on there but in the end we want to be playing in front of the biggest crowds we can find. It’s a great venue and it would be nice to have a full stadium; that’s the objective, to fill stadiums. It’s up to us to do our bit as a team, we have to try and get people coming back and watching.” McKenzie said.
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Genia Set to Return to Wallabies
After performing well in Brisbane City’s win over the New South Wales Country Eagles in the NRC, Will Genia is expected to be included in the 28 man squad to tour South Africa and Argentina. Genia trained with the squad as an unofficial member at the Gold Coast last week. Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is happy with the depth they have at halfback.
“We bring back guys like Will into camp for a reason … Nick covers a lot of territory. He has a good balance with his attack and defence and his understanding with Bernard Foley is well established … Halfback is a position we do have depth (with Nic White also to tour). The curse is just with hookers and wingers where we seem to have changes every Test.” McKenzie said.
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Nonu out for the Season
All Blacks midfielder Ma’a Nonu will miss the rest of the international season after breaking his left forearm in New Zealand’s clash against the Springboks on Saturday. Nonu has already undergone surgery to have a plate inserted into his arm.
Ryan Crotty, Malakai Fekitoa and Sonny Bill Williams are all likely candidates to replace Nonu for the All Blacks this year. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has ruled out replacing Nonu with Ben Smith despite filling in for Nonu after he went off injured.
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