Thursday’s Rugby News

REBELS TEAM NEWS

The Melbourne Rebels have made four changes to the side that put the Sunwolves to the sword with three of their regular starters out due to ‘niggles’.

Hooker Anaru Rangi, Lock Matt Phillip and Winger Jack Maddocks are all being rested due to minor injuries, with replacement Prop Pone Fa’amausili missing out Sam Talakai who comes back into the starting line up.

Robbie Abel replaces Rangi (rolled ankle) at No. 2, Ross Haylett-Petty comes in for Phillip (bruised heel) and Semisi Tupou comes from the bench and into the starting line up for Maddocks.

When asked about the resting of Maddocks, Rebels coach Dave Wessels had this to say:

“Jack’s got a bit of a grumbly knee with tendonitis in his patella, so we’ll just settle that down and he’ll be right to go next week,” Wessels said.

“Those decisions are made a lot easier when a guy like Semisi (Tupou) trains as well as he does and also plays well in the minutes he got against the Sunwolves, so he’s an exciting young prospect for us (and) we’re excited to see what Semisi brings.”

Wessels is adamant that despite the teams win and position in the Australian conference that they are not taking the Stormers lightly.

“I don’t think the Stormers played particularly well against the Reds last week and I think they’ll be frustrated by that, which is dangerous for us.

“They very nearly beat the Hurricanes and I thought they played well in large parts against the Blues, so they’re a good side.

“We haven’t given much thought to the Waratahs yet, we’ve got a huge game this weekend.

“We were disappointed with our performances in South Africa, we obviously lost on the hooter against the Lions at Ellis Park and then really didn’t play well against the Sharks in Durban.

“We haven’t beaten a South African team yet this year and I think that opportunity is a marker for us – a mini-milestone in our season – so we’re very keen to  make a statement with our performance.”

The Rebels have been able to play an up tempo game against recent opposition but Wessels believes that the Rebels will be up for the challenge, hence the plan to bring Sam Talakai back after he was rested.

“The Stormers do provide some challenges that maybe we haven’t had in our last two games,” Wessels said.

“I think we’ve got to get those things right.

“They’ve got a really world class front row, so that’s a huge challenge for our pack and I think one that our guys will be up for.

“Probably to combat some of their strengths at set piece time we’ve chosen a slightly heavier front row to go into this game.

“I thought Jermaine Ainsley played very well, probably his best game for us in a while, starting last week against the Sunwolves, and then Hugh Roach made a real impact when he came off the bench.

“So we’ll look to up the tempo towards the back end of the game.”

Rebels to face Stormers:

1 Tetera Faulkner 2 Robbie Abel 3 Sam Talakai 4 Ross Haylett-Petty 5 Adam Coleman 6 Luke Jones 7 Angus Cottrell © 8 Isi Naisarani 9 Will Genia 10 Quade Cooper 11 Marika Koroibete 12 Billy Meakes 13 Tom English 14 Semisi Tupou 15 Reece Hodge

Reserves:

16 Hugh Roach 17 Matt Gibbon 18 Jermaine Ainsley 19 Esei Ha’angana 20 Rob Leota 21 Richard Hardwick 22 Michael Ruru 23 Campbell Magnay

SUPER W COACHES JOIN HIGH PERFORMANCE ACADEMY 

Five prominent women in High Performance roles in Australian Rugby have been given the opportunity to attend World Rugby’s High Performance Academy in Stellenbosch in South Africa this May.

Two Buildcorp Super W Head Coaches from Queensland, Moana Virtue and Melbourne Rebels Women’s Head Coach, Alana Thomas, will travel alongside Match Offical Amber McLachlan, Strength and Conditioning coaches Sophie Pidcock and Emma Lincoln Smith from the NSW Waratahs Women’s side for the week-long Academy.

The Academy will focus on personal and professional development of all the coaches involved as they look to expand womens rugby around the world.

This is a strong step forward for Womens rugby in Australia, after a second strong season of Super W, the success of Womens sevens and the latest report regarding an increase in female participation in sevens and XVs.

World Rugby General Manager, High Performance Peter Horne said: “One of the strategic priorities of World Rugby is the growth and development of the Women’s game.

“Over recent times we have seen unprecedented levels of interest in Women’s High Performance Coaching, Match Officiating and Strength & Conditioning.

“This edition of the World Rugby HP Academy will be the first time that the programme will focus solely on talented women in these High Performance roles to grow their capability and build a supportive global network of the future leaders of our game.”

Rugby Australia Head of Women’s Rugby, Jilly Collins, was impressed and delighted to have five women from Australia selected for the academy. 

“We are delighted that five candidates have been selected from Australia to attend World Rugby’s Academy in Stellenbosch.” She said.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for them to develop and meet other women from around the world with similar Rugby aspirations.

“It is important that more women recognise what’s available to them in Rugby and the various career pathways.”

“This is a very exciting opportunity to gain professional development on the global stage and meet with fellow coaches from around the world,” Moana Virtue said

“It’s really important in coaching that you are constantly striving to improve and understand the game better and this will allow us to learn not just about our roles within the game, but the wider machine that is important to the growth of Rugby.

“It’s also humbling to be representing the next generation of women coming through the system in Australia and I look forward to working with my colleagues when we get to South Africa.”