Thursday’s rugby news has Cheika’s long-term plan, some hometown bias calling the final, Speight with an untimely injury and some All Blacks considered for Rio.
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Cheika aiming for ‘dynasty’
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has laid out his plan for building a NSW dynasty approaching the Super Rugby final this weekend. Cheika said that the team’s attacking spirit and winning culture will breed success long into the future. “We need to go through another couple of years of being competitive, so our young players in our Under-20 team are seeing the sacrifices you have to make playing for the Waratahs going forward,” Cheika said.
As for Saturday’s match, the Tahs coach said that he would be following the same build up that worked in 2009 when Cheika guided Ireland’s Leinster to the European Cup, allowing the team to relax earlier in the week to maximise match performance. [/one_half]
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Pundits debate pack battle
Former internationals have weighed in on the pack contest in Saturday’s Super Rugby final, with both former New Zealand Test prop Craig Dowd and former Wallaby Phil Waugh predictably giving the edge to their relative countrymen. Dowd singled out the Waratahs pack as the team’s “soft underbelly”, adding that the Crusaders are “just that little bit better” than their NSW rivals.
Meanwhile, Waugh said of the Tahs, “I think they’ll be looking to dominate rather than be level with the Crusaders.” The 136-capped Waratah also believed that any perceived scrum weakness was merely the product of mental lapses that will be fixed by the final. [/one_half]
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Speight’s debut under threat
Henry Speight’s long-awaited Wallaby debut is still on track but the Fijian-born winger will have to recover from a torn hamstring suffered during the Super Rugby semi-final against the Waratahs last week. Speight has been ruled out for a month, prompting Wallabies coach Ewen Mckenzie to call Peter Benthem into the squad as cover for the first three Tests.
“It’s disappointing for Henry but I’ve got no doubt that he’ll go back and work hard during the rehab process to get his injury healed before he becomes eligible,” McKenzie said, with the winger expected to take part in the September 13 Test against Argentina. [/one_half]
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Kiwi Sevens looking to Super Rugby already
New Zealand sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens has already started inviting a number of All Blacks to compete for a spot in the 2016 Olympics. Tietjens’ plans have been brought forward by the silver medal won by New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games, the first loss since Sevens was introduced into the Games.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has emphasised that the Olympics will take priority in 2016, which is important as it is likely that players included in the Rio-bound team will need to forgo that year’s Super Rugby season. The first names off the board have been Liam Messam, Cory Jane and Julian Savea. [/one_half]
