Thursday’s rugby news has Pocock deciding next year in 10 days, Kurtley Beale considering overseas rugby, Foley not worried about burnout and England’s fitness challenged.
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Pocock gives short deadline
Wallabies superstar David Pocock is expected to decide within the next 10 days whether to take a sabbatical from Australian rugby in 2017 to study, with ARU boss Bill Pulver saying that option is in the mix. The Brumbies’ back-rower is locked into an ARU contract until the end of this season, but is said to be weighing up a year-long move overseas to in order to study in England.
Brumbies CEO Michael Jones said Pocock has been concerned with post-rugby interests for some time but had been re-energised about the game during his stellar run in last year’s World Cup. “I think he’s got a bit of a conflict within himself about where he’s going and what he’s doing,” said Jones.
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Beale open to overseas rugby
Meanwhile, Beale has said that, for the moment, he wants to continue his playmaking combination with Bernard Foley in the frontline for the Waratahs this season. Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has spent the off-season toying with the idea of moving the versatile Beale back to fullback and shifting dual international Israel Folau to outside centre.
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Foley not worried about burnout
In demand five-eighth Bernard Foley expects he might get mentally drained during the coming Super Rugby season but believes that he will able to perform well throughout his demanding cycle of near non-stop rugby over two years.
Foley will have had only around four weeks off by the time he plays in the Waratahs’ final trial. “We definitely did speak of monitoring and having two-way communication throughout the season and Daryl has been very open discussing plans with me,” Foley said. “I think I know my body quite well. We haven’t spoken of a contingency plan, but I’ll be raring to go.”
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Eddie worried about England’s fitness
Eddie Jones insists England’s current level of fitness is adequate for the Six Nations but would be exposed on the tour to Australia unless improvements are made. The Jones era was launched successfully with Saturday’s 15-9 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield and continues this weekend against Italy.
When asked if the required conditioning can be achieved in time for the summer tour, Jones replied: “One hundred per cent. We need to work with the clubs and look at the strategy. We’ve got a couple of weeks lead-in to the tour.” Jones emphasised that he wants to see more attacking intent from his side in Rome this weekend.
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