Monday’s rugby news has Hooper at full fitness, Graham on the way out, the Australian Sevens slipping and England ruling out overseas players.
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Hooper’s injury worries quashed
The Waratahs have received some good news in their run into the finals, with openside flanker Michael Hooper declared “fine” after limping off during his side’s 18-11 defeat to the Western Force on Saturday. Hooper appeared to sustain a knee injury in the 69th minute of the clash after which coach Michael Cheika commented, “I don’t know how bad it is but it doesn’t look great.”
Five-eighth Bernard Foley has emphasized that the team’s finals hopes were not buried by an abysmal performance against the Force over the weekend. “We’re very confident, definitely,” he said. “If we turn up we can beat any side, it’s just that inconsistency that’s hurting us.” With five rounds to go in the regular season, the Tahs sit just outside the crucial top six in the overall table and in second spot in the Australian conference, with the Rebels breathing down their necks in third.
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Graham’s tenure under threat
While Reds coach Richard Graham has seen his coaching job consistently questioned, it appears his position has been more overtly precarious with the appointment of John Connolly at the Super Rugby franchise. Connolly was given the title “consultant” and is understood to be slipping into a broadly involved director of rugby role. While Connoly is contracted until the end of 2016, Graham has no deal finalised beyond the final round on June 13.
“The last two seasons’ results have been very disappointing for the team and for all of our fans. It is also simply unacceptable to the organisation,” Queensland Rugby CEO Jim Carmichael said in announcing the new role for Connolly, who led the Wallabies in 2006 and 2007. The Reds have a dire 26 per cent winning rate (seven-from-27) over the past two seasons under Graham.
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Aus 7s disappoint in Glasgow
Losses to the US and South Africa have left Australia’s Sevens Rugby team in seventh place at the Glasgow Sevens, making a Rio Olympics berth a tough ask. Australia lost its Cup Quarter-Final to the USA (14-7) before succumbing to South Africa (21-12) in the Plate Semi-Final.
Now 16 points behind England in the standings with one round of the World Series remaining, it is now virtually impossible for Australia to secure a top four berth that ensures automatic qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. If Australia do finish the season in its current position of fifth, they will play in the regional Oceania Rugby tournament in Auckland on November 14-15, with the winning nation securing qualification for Rio.
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Armitage definitively ruled out
England coach Stuart Lancaster will reportedly deny any exceptions to the team’s exclusion of overseas players, ruling out the selection of last year’s European player of the year Steffon Armitage. The England coach will announce his initial 45-strong World Cup training squad on May 20, but he has already commented that he is unwilling to jeopardize team unity by picking overseas players.
The RFU’s rules stipulate that players based outside the Aviva Premiership can only be picked for England under ‘exceptional circumstances’. English hooker Ben Youngs voiced his concern of any relaxation of the policy last month. “Stuart has built a culture within this group of players so it is a very tough decision for him,” Youngs said. “Does he want to disrupt it? Personally, if he brought someone in to compete with me I would be pretty annoyed.’
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