Thursday’s Rugby News sees Coleman chatting, some troubles in Samoa, some talk from James Tuttle and some surprisingly worried Kiwis.
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Lions are a-waitin’
With the Wallabies landing in Wales earlier this week, thoughts now turn to the upcoming competition against the men in red. And Adam Coleman believes that it will be a different side to the one the Wallabies romped last year in Cardiff, with the end result of the Lions series feeding on to some good Wales form.
“They’ve spent more time playing together (because of the Lions series),” he said to rugby.com.au.
“I’m not sure of the number of Welsh players in the Lions but the more time you play with your teammates, the better the combinations are going to be week in week out.
“Definitely I feel like it will have a knock-on effect and I’m sure Wales will be red-hot this weekend.
“They’re going to come with a high line defence.
“We’ll have to make sure we’re on top of our attack to mitigate that.
“I think you can’t shy away from it. You’ve got to be hard and direct and play footy from there.”
For him personally, Coleman can’t wait to take on one of Wales most legendary players: Alun Wyn Jones.
“I watched him in the Lions series play very well and I’m sure he’ll sure up the forward pack for Wales,” he said.
“That’s one of the things you enjoy the most is that you get to play against the best player in your position in any given country.
“That’s something every weekend when you run on the paddock, you walk off the field thinking that was a good experience.”
The Wallabies squad is set to be made within the next twenty four hours, with many players including Bernard Foley expected to return to the starting lineup.
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Talkin’ with Tuttle
Ahead of the NRC Grand Final on Saturday, much talk has been made about the rise of Queensland Country from cellar dwellers in the first three years to grand finalists in 2017.
James Tuttle had been playing in the Country side since 2014, and the big turn around this year came about from spending lots of time with the same blokes, and building up consistency after years in the Country jumper.
“Each training session, each game, we wanted to put ourselves in the position to be here during this week and to play Saturday night,” said Tuttle to rugby.com.au.
“The group is very similar over the last few years and especially last year.
“A lot of the boys progressed again to this year and coming last, last year, to now being in a grand final, in the space of a year – it’s pretty special.”
One particular person has really made a lot of this happen in the eyes of Tuttle: a certain Brad Thorn.
“The boys have worked really hard under Thorny as head coach and we have reaped the rewards of that hard work,” he said.
“Thorny has been exceptional as a head coach and we have some young players that have come through.
“Liam Wright – who is now on the Spring Tour with the Wallabies – we are able to progress players like that and we are reaching for higher honours now at the end of the year.”
It seems almost fitting that the final match of the NRC will be the exact same fixture in the exact same location as the very first match. In that event, Canberra Vikings ended up taking out the victory, winning 48-40. And Tuttle is keen to serve them up some revenge.
“It’s been a while since we played them,” Tuttle said.
“Both sides will have progressed throughout the season and they’re probably the form side of the competition so far.
“We’re happy going down there with the underdog tag – we’ve liked having that all the way through the season.
“We can go down this Saturday night and try to get some revenge, so to speak.”
It would be an ultimate Cinderella story from wooden spoon to competition champions if Country take it out. Hope all in Canberra get down there to the final this weekend.
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Samoa bankrupt, says PM
If you think money problems are bad in Australian rugby, spare a thought for Samoa. According to their prime minister, the Pacific Nations governing body has officially been declared ‘bankrupt’ ahead of their tests against Scotland and England this month.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi (who is also the chairman of the Samoan Rugby Union), made an unbelievably frank submission about the state of rugby on the island nation. You can read it in full here.
“In other words we are insolvent. It means the Union cannot continue to pay off our debts with the banks. We also need money to pay the players so they can continue to play,” he said.
The situation is apparently so bad, that when the SRU was asked if they have no money to pay for the insurance of their players preparing against Scotland this Saturday and the salary of their Head Coach, Fuimaono Titimaea Tafua, Tuilaepa confirmed it was true.
SRU has effectively gone cap in hand asking for donations to many of the larger unions. However, the SRU is also reportedly in an administrative dispute with World Rugby for reasons outside of financial concerns.
The RFU has already made it clear that it wants to make a contribution to the SRU, citing many Samoan-descent players who have played for England in the last few years as proof it needs to be done. However, progress has been slow, as the RFU is reportedly very concerned about making a donation due to the Samoa-World Rugby dispute.
“We’ve had a letter from the Samoan Union,” RFU chief executive Steve Brown told the BBC.
“What’s tricky about that letter is that it expresses a complex dispute that it has with World Rugby, and is linking that with a request for funding.
“One of the things that we do when Samoa is here, is we cover all of their costs whilst they are in the country, so that will happen naturally.
“[But] this appears to be about something else which we wouldn’t want to get involved in.”
“We know we are one of the richest unions in the world, and we have done a lot for the global game,” he later added.
“But we are aware that some nations find their existence quite difficult, and we are always aware cognisant of that and always listen.”
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Nervous Kiwis
As mentioned yesterday, Australia claimed their third pre-season cup in a row when they took out the Silicon Valley Sevens on Monday in San Jose. And it’s some form that is starting to perk the attention of the Kiwis.
New Zealand sent a development team to San Jose, and didn’t live up expectations after crashing out in the tournament. But the end result of Australia winning has perked up the interest of Kiwi skipper John Curry, who is thinking ahead to the bigger picture of the Sevens series this year.
“We sent a development team – a lot of young boys over to that tournament – and so they would have learnt a lot from that,” he said to rugby.com.au.
“We watched how the Aussies went over there and they definitely went really well.
“Coming here to Oceania, obviously it’s different teams, but as a squad, you thrive off how other players are going in your squad.”
The Kiwis sent their stronger squad to the Oceania Sevens this weekend. Australia has sent a development squad of our own here, so it’ll be interesting how they will go against the Kiwi outfit.
“Last year we finished fourth in the World Series and we’re obviously not happy with that,” Curry said.
“We have got a new coach – Clark Laidlaw – and he has brought a lot of new ideas and new things which is really good and the boys are excited for a new World Series.”
Meanwhile, the Kiwi Womens team are also competing preparations for the start of the Womens Leg, starting in three weeks. They won back the Number One ranking last year after Australia won in Rio in 2016, and will be looking to back up this year.
“We always look out for every team and wearing a black jersey, you’re always being hunted anyway,” NZ skipper Sarah Goss said.
“It’s going to be a great year and a great competition knowing we have a Comm Games, a World Series and a World Cup to look forward to.
“It’s been really good being able to play against Australia,” Goss added.
“They are, I suppose, the next dominant team in the world at the moment and to have quality competition is always good for us.”
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