Here’s our daily round-up of the hot Oz and international rugby news.
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Wallabies Injury Update
France bound winger Digby Ioane is now in doubt for the first Lions Test after returning from South Africa to undergo minor surgery on his knee.
In case you missed it, scan results for injured Brumbies George Smith and Pat McCabe have revealed that the duo are some hope to play a part in the upcoming Lions tour. Smith is looking at six weeks on the sidelines, with McCabe hopeful of returning for the Brumbies on May 31 against the Hurricanes. Both players injured their knees in the Brumbies six point loss to the Waratahs on the weekend.
In other McCabe news (McCabe watch?), the powerful Brumbies centre also re-signed with the ARU and the Brumbies this week for a further two years.
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McKenzie slams TMO
Following on from yesterday’s piece concerning Graham Henry’s slamming of the TMOs in Super Rugby (amongst other things), Ewen McKenzie has now also raised some concerns with the effectiveness of the television officials. Whilst rather more measured in his comments than Henry, McKenzie has raised concerns at the close to 20 tries that his charges have had disallowed this season. The Reds Coaching Director has highlighted opposition tactics of getting as many players around the ball when it is over the line to obscure the view of the TMO as a major issue behind the Reds lack of success on referred tries.
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Fagan to interview for Doggies.
Because we just can’t seem to get enough of code switches, tt’s been confirmed that Brumbies chief Andrew Fagan will indeed be a contender for the Canterbury Bulldogs vacant chief executive role.
Fagan, who has been at the Brumbies since 2002, has overseen many changes in the clubs history. He endured a ton of controversy to get ACT government approval for a $30 million 130-apartment complex to be built at the club’s headquarters.
Fagan was also instrumental in securing current head coach Jake White, the man responsible for a complete overhaul of the franchises Rugby program.
It’s understood that although his Brumbies contract is up at the end of 2013, Fagan did not directly apply for the Bulldogs role, instead he was contacted by the NRL club and asked for an interview.
Could Fagan be the Folau of back room staff code hoppers? Only time will tell.
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A new leaf for Cipriani?
Former Melbourne Rebels international recruit Danny Cipriani has given an emotional interview to UK’s Daily Mail about his notorious immaturity. Describing himself as “spoilt,” the 25 year old Cipriani has a catalogue of past alcohol and attitude related misdemeanours which have set his career backwards, the latest coming three weeks ago when he was hit by a bus in Leeds on a pub crawl.
Cipriani voiced his frustration at not playing to his ability with the Rebels. He now knows what it felt like for Rebels fans to watch his season-long impression of a turnstile. Cipriani was statistically the worst defender in the Super 15 tournament and, while playing for the Rebels was meant to reignite his England Test prospects, his career has continued in a downward spiral with poor performances at Sale.
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