Thursday’s Rugby News: Commitment to 7’s required, Silence from the Brumbies, Another year, another England Jersey and Referee Poite exiled to Eastern Europe.
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O’Connor wants serious sevens commitment
Sevens coach Michael O’Connor has made it clear that in order to be eligible to represent Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, players will have to commit 12-18 months prior to this.
In O’Connors opinion, filling the side with Wallabies in the year of the Olympics is a recipe for failure. For players who had previous sevens experience, the 2015 RWC would be the cut-off date.
All quiet in Canberra
Despite what has been said about the contest for the head coach position at the Brumbies being a two-horse race, some are wondering whether both runners have thrown a shoe in the straight run to the position.
Brumbies management have stated that either Larkham and Fisher are the preferred candidates for the position, however it’s understood that around 20 applications have been received, including that of Damien Hill following his departure from the Melbourne Rebels.
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New season, new jersey
Who else could we be referring to but England? Having gained something of a reputation as quick change merchants (who could forget the ‘Royal Purple’ strip which got a single run against the Wallabies before being consigned to the bin), the RFU has gone for a radical new strip for the 2013-2014 Test season. Shock and awe raced through the assembled press when it was announced this years jersey would be ..White! Who could have imagined it?
Referee Poite in exile
Following his poor showing in the Springboks-All Blacks Test where Bismark Du Plessis was given a red card, Romain Poite has been punished by removal from the list of officials involved with the higher profile November Tests.
The Frenchman’s only outing in November will be officiating a Test between Georgia and Samoa in Tbilisi in eastern Europe on November 23. One day a rooster – the next a feather duster.
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