Thursday’s top rugby news has Toomua targeting Cruden, Faingaa out of Wallabies squad, Nonu looking to patch things up with the Hurricanes and a Super Rugby final sell-out.
[one_half last=”no”]
Toomua out to target Cruden
One of the features of Matt Toomua’s season for the Brumbies has been his defence, in particular his ability to put big hits on his opposite number. Morne Steyn of the Bulls definitely found this out over the weekend. Speaking yesterday, Brumbies assistant coach Stephen Larkham said that they will be looking for more of the same in this weekend’s final when Toomua lines up against Chief’s flyhalf Aaron Cruden.
While encouraging Toomua to lay a hit on his opposite number, Larkham is also encouraging Toomua to be wary of his opponent’s fancy footwork saying ‘you have to pick your moments. You have to make sure you know what is coming at you before you fly out of the line’. Larkham was very complimentary of Cruden in general, believing he dominated Dan Carter last week and is the form flyhalf in New Zealand rugby.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Nonu keen on Hurricanes
Ma’a Nonu is in a bit of a James O’Connor-like situation at the moment. A very talented player, and a current All Black, Nonu finds himself with only one team even considering signing him up for next year’s Super Rugby tournament – the Hurricanes. It would appear the New Zealand Rugby Union are keen to keep the powerful centre at home and as such are attempting to facilitate talks between Nonu and his former franchise.
Current Hurricane Conrad Smith seemed to sum up the issues that surround Nonu when speaking yesterday, saying ‘in terms of playing ability I’d love to have him there, but I appreciate there is a bigger picture and a lot of other things to go through.’ Much like O’Connor, it is not his on-field quality but rather his off-field issues that find Nonu in his current predicament.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
Faingaa out with shoulder injury
Ewen McKenzie’s 40-man Wallabies squad is down to 39. Reds centre and veteran of 23 Tests Anthony Faingaa has been ruled out with a shoulder injury. The injury will see Faingaa out of action for at least six months.
It is not a new injury for Faingaa, who revealed he has been carrying the injury throughout the entire Super Rugby season. Rather than risk any further injury from training and possible additional games, Faingaa has elected to undergo a full shoulder reconstruction to repair any damage. The player believed it was not in his or the Wallabies’ best ineterests to continue pushing the injury. Faingaa is hopeful that he will be available when the Reds kick off their Super Rugby season next year.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Super final sold out
In some good and unsurprising news, this weekend’s Super Rugby final showdown between the Chiefs and the Brumbies is officially a sell-out. With keen fans lining up the night before, all 25,000 seats at the Waikato Stadium quickly sold-out yesterday morning.
It is the second straight final to have been played at Waikato Stadium and the home side will be hoping history repeats itself. In the 2012 Super Rugby decider, the Chiefs defeated the Sharks 37-6 to claim their first ever title in the competition. With a victory, the Chiefs will also be looking to join the illustrious group of teams to win two Super Rugby crowns in a row.
[/one_half]
