Thursday’s rugby news has Wasps supporting Kurtley Beale, Michael Cheika slamming Wasps, Hayne left out of Fiji squad and Eddie Jones mocks Toulon’s owner.
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Wasps to Support Beale
Kurtley Beale’s new club Wasps have re-assured that Beale’s injury will not effect his deal with the club.
Wasps rugby director Dai Young has vowed to support Beale in his recovery.
“The first thing to say is our thoughts go out to Kurtley. You never want to see a player being injured,” Young said.
“So that was our first concern, making sure he’s OK.
“He’s not our player yet so we have got limited information of where he is.
“But the information that we have got, it is pretty much that it’s four to six months.
“It’s obviously not ideal but it’s not catastrophic for us, which means hopefully he’ll be playing for us in September.
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Cheika Slams Wasps
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has taken a shot at Wasps for their handling of Kurtley Beale’s deal.
Cheika revealed Wasps had dropped the press release without telling Beale and that they were pressuring him not to play test rugby.
“Kurtley had been speaking with me regularly and that’s a real credit to him because he was very honest … We’ve always had a very honest relationship,” Cheika said.
“I think the last little bit there. I wasn’t that keen that they dropped that press release without telling Kurtley. He would’ve been down that he wouldn’t have had a chance to talk to (Waratahs coach) Daryl (Gibson), he hadn’t had a chance to talk to me.
“I know they’ve been putting a lot of pressure on him not to play Test footy either, which is happening more with the English clubs now. A lot of our players are signing over there. So that’s a lot of pressure for a young bloke to take.”
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Hayne Left Out
Jarrad Hayne has been left out of Fiji’s 12 man squad named for the London Sevens this week – the last Sevens competition before the Rio Olympics.
The final lineup for the 12 man squad will be confirmed on Friday leaving a possibility for Hayne to still make the team.
It is unclear if Hayne was able to be registered in time for the team announcement.
Meanwhile, World Rugby has released a statement saying Hayne is eligible to play in London “subject to all other regulatory and registration matters being met” after their were previous doubts that he was not apart of the pre-Rio 2016 risk-based testing program.
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Eddie Mocks Boudjellal
England coach Eddie Jones has mocked Toulon’s billionaire owner Mourad Boudjellal.
Boudjellal claimed that Jones had been in contact with Steffon Armitage to play in England so that he would be eligible to play for England.
When asked if he had been in contact with Armitage, Jones denied the claims.
“Not that I know of.
“People have false Facebook posts and false Twitter accounts, so I suppose you can have a false phone call.
“I don’t control him. It’s got nothing to do with me. He is not eligible to play for England.”
“You’ve got to remember the bloke who makes the comments writes comic books. I will leave it at that,”
“I don’t know whether he writes them or sells them but he has made plenty of money out of them. Batman and Robin won’t be in the team.”
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BREAKING NEWS
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has agreed to a two year contract extension, making him in charge of the Wallabies through to the 2019 World Cup.
ARU CEO Bill Pulver was delighted to secure Cheika for a further two years.
“We could not be more delighted to have secured Michael’s services as national coach until at least the end of the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019,” he said in a statement.
“Obviously his record as Qantas Wallabies coach over the past 18 months speaks for itself, but it’s the wonderful culture and a renewed pride in the gold jersey that Michael has instilled in the team which has laid the foundation for continued success.
“The performance of the Wallabies at the World Cup put rugby back on the map in a huge way in Australia and you cannot understate the influence Michael has had, along with his fine coaching team, in igniting the passion of Australian rugby fans with the way the team performed both on and off the field during the tournament.”
