Thursday’s Rugby News sees the Reds turning to the future, the Brumbies not getting complacent, Staniforth keen to make his mark, and another Kiwi heading overseas.
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Look to the Future
The Reds have unveiled their squad to take on the Brumbies on Friday night.
I’ll definitely agree with Rugby Reg here when he says that it looks like a bloody young squad, particularly the bench.
The big inclusions in this squad is rookie back rower Liam Wright, who has been drafted into the starting lineup following his debut last week against the Rebels.
The other inclusion is a name that many fans would be familiar with, backrower Angus Scott-Young, who has been named on the bench. He is the son of Sam Scott-Young, who featured heavily in the Queensland representatives sides from the late Eighties to the early Nineties.
The other inclusion is Harry Hockings, who has impressed in the Queensland system off the back of several years for QLD Country in the NRC.
Liam Wright has been on the radar of many a coach, including Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
“Australian rugby has a great tradition of out-and-out (ball) fetchers but Liam has more to his game as a lineout operator who is also good on the ground and with the ball,” he said after the announcement of his inclusion in the Reds squad.
Wright himself seems to have calmed a lot of nerves since his debut.
“I was a bit nervous waiting on the sidelines but once I got on in Melbourne I was fine … it was fast, physical, full on, but I had a blast,” Wright said.
“I’ve worked with Thorny and Squab (assistant coach Paul Carozza) for a few years and knowing they back your ability is a huge factor in being confident you’re ready.”
Brad Thorn has his work cut out this weekend; the Reds really need to win this match to give their long suffering fans something to cheer about. But in these three selections, he sees a huge amount of potential and the future of the club.
“[Liam]’s a natural leader, very smart as a footballer and he showed some composure at a difficult time when he played his first minutes (against the Rebels) last Friday,” Thorn said of Wright.
“[Scott-Young]’s dad went hard and had some crazy eyes and Scotty does it his own way as a physical player.
“I know his family and they’ll be really proud.”
James Slipper will take over skipper duties on Friday. You can check out the Reds squad here.
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The Herd is on edge
My boys the Brumbies have been pretty chatty this week, following their arrival in Brisbane after their win over the Sunwolves in Tokyo last week.
The announcement of the younger Thorn squad might have some in the away camp excited, as it could be a brilliant opportunity to get some much needed revenge over an inexperienced Reds side that is without their skipper and one of their star forwards.
But the Brums were understandably on edge when they spoke to the media, and it’s kind of easy to see why. They’ve in this position before, when they lost against the Reds last year in a match they were favourites to win. After also being pushed by the Sunwolves last week, complacency seems to be the last thing on their mind.
Add to that they have plenty of issues of their own, with Rob Valentini joining David Pocock on the sidelines.
Dan McKellar made it clear that he was not underestimating this Reds outfit when he spoke to the Daily Telegraph yesterday.
“I don’t think you can (underestimate a team) in any week in this competition,” McKellar said.
“You saw that last week I think. A lot of people were expecting us to turn up in Tokyo and just roll over (the Sunwolves) and get five points, without too many concerns.
“The Sunwolves certainly challenged us. They’re a much better prepared side this year (with) a good coaching group and they improved their roster. They were a tough challenge and the Reds will be exactly the same.
“The nature of going from five to four teams, having to split the Western Force players, every team has stronger depth.
“After what was probably a disappointing result for them, they will certainly be up for this game. We haven’t read much into that result. They had a red card and a yellow card and up until that point, they were very much in the contest.”
“[The Reds may lose] lose Lukhan Tui, [but they] bring in Kane Douglas, who has won a Super Rugby competition and played I don’t know how many Tests. One thing Queensland do really well is they bring through good young footballers.”
The Brumbies also announced their squad for the match, with Rory Arnold being called up to the squad to partner with Sam Carter, while Lachlan McCaffrey will take of the role left by Valentini in the blindside flanker position.
You can view the Brumbies squad here.
The other big news out of Canberra is that the Brumbies have announced a joint ticket offer with the Canberra Raiders, with both sides having their first respective home games on March 17th (against the Durban Sharks) and 18th (against the Newcastle Knights) respectively. Members of either club will get free entry to the other codes opening match, while all other punters can buy a two-game pass for $40.
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Strivin’ Staniforth
With Rob Simmons out of the Waratahs tour team, many younger forward players will be looking to make their mark in the forward pack. One of them is Tom Staniforth, who will be one of the most senior members of the forward pack on the tour.
After earning 22 Super Rugby caps for the Brumbies, many could believe that he moved to the Tahs because he sensed an opportunity for more game time, with Dean Mumm retiring and Will Skelton heading overseas. But, speaking from South Africa to rugby.com.au, he admitted it wasn’t the reason at all.
“I was just really excited for a change,” Staniforth admitted candidly.
“I was pretty lucky that the Waratahs put faith in me and I’m excited to hopefully repay that faith over the next few years.
“I moved up looking for an opportunity and was lucky enough to be given one.
“All the South African sides have a massive set-piece focus and our job as a forward pack is to mitigate those strengths and try to play to our strengths.”
The Waratahs will be up against the Sharks this week, and many (including our lads on the podcast), have been a bit worried about how such a young Tahs forward pack will hold up. They struggled last week against the Stormers, and it does look to be a major Achilles heel for the team overall.
However, the Sharks themselves had several scrum issues in their first round loss to the Lions, which could even out the stakes a bit.
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Follow the $$$
All Black veteran Jerome Kaino joined the likes of Wyatt Crockett and Jamie Heaslip, announcing his retirement from international rugby at the end of the year yesterday.
Kaino has played over 81 tests for New Zealand, including being a integral part of winning the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.
While he will retire from international rugby, he has decided to follow the paycheck and go to play in France. Frankly, good on him. After the career he’s had, he’s earned it.
While it has not been confirmed which club Kaino is linked too, many have linked the 34 year old to Toulon, especially after Duane Vermeulen announced his departure from the club last month.
“He helped set the benchmark for modern loose forward play with his dominant performances over the years,” New Zealand Rugby (NZR) chief executive Steve Tew said in an official NZRU statement.
This will mean this year will be Kaino’s final season for the Blues, but coach Tana Umaga made it no secret that the veteran is still an integral part of the Blues game plan in 2018.
“We are just at the start of a very important Super Rugby campaign and Jerome has a big part to play in that,” he added.
At least we have another season to watch Kaino do what he does best.
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