The biggest scrum at Waratahs’ training yesterday was the media because Israel Folau was having his first session with his new teammates, and the guys with the cameras packed in.
It was simple stuff: a few knees up runs; short sprints, back drills and yarda yarda, but the best part was when Izzy was taught stuff about the ruck. The tackled guy on the ground with the ball they were hovering over was hands-on coach Michael Cheika (see slideshow at bottom).
Q & A with Michael Cheika
Q: Folau — he missed the start of the strength and conditioning; would he have a special training regime?
MC: We’ll make it a little bit different — the Wallabies are coming back in early January and there will be a split in training. He might do some things in one group and some in the other.
Q: Should he put on more weight for contact in rugby?
MC: I’m not the kind of coach who tells a player he has to put on more kilos. He’ll get his own feel for where he wants to go on that in contact work and when he’s running, He’s a smart guy.
Q: Where’s Folau at physically?
MC: We have to collect some data on him analyse it and set him some goals and make some subtle changes — but in his work today, he wasn’t too far off, I’ll tell you.
Q: Was he the type of player you wanted?
MC: We had one contract left and were looking for either an experienced set piece-orientated forward — we already had a lot of youth in our squad — or a player who had X-factor and could do something special.
Q: Even though Folau hasn’t played a lot of rugby?
MC: When you grow up playing rugby union or rugby league — once you’ve got that in your blood — you don’t lose that. You could see he has some natural knowledge. I’m not looking for him to save the team; I want him to add on. We’ve got a lot of good players; so like all of them, I want him to make the other guys better and himself better.
He’ll find out his way to play; he’ll naturally fit in; it’s more about learning about the team.
Q: How did the players find out that he was going to be a Tah?
MC: I told them before the announcement. I didn’t want them to find out from the press. The guys gave him support straight away because he was copping a bit of a hiding [from the press].
Q: What are your goals for the team?
MC: I want them to play the right style of football; I want them to be true to their identity. I want them to be tough and hard and be a dangerous team with the ball – I want them to be that, and not talk it.
If we can deliver those things, then we’ll start to pressure opponents and get them worried about us because we will be worth respecting.
If we can be like that, train like that and live like that, winning will come as a consequence.
(Click photo for pop-up)
This old blog is being used for Word Press tests
Here is a quick match review of the Wallabies v Fiji match at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
A full report will follow later.
The situation
Fiji was part of a thrilling contest against England in the opening game of the RWC five days before. The Wallabies hadn’t played for 18 days
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Most of the major teams at the Rugby World Cup except the Aussies and Scots have played a game as I write this. There has been a lot of fine rugby played and some astonishing passages of play; but some of the actions were not set pieces.
TMO Madness
Some early games of the 2015 Rugby World Cup [RWC] have been spoiled by the TMO being over-used.
Div (in Blocks) experiment; highlighted on line below only
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