Tuesday’s rugby news has Michael Cheika hitting back, new Wallaby finishers to replace Kurtley Beale, Brisbane City name their NRC squad and Wallabies stronger with Mick Byrne.
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Cheika Hits Back
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has hit back at All Blacks coach Steve Hansen after he said Cheika has “enough problems of his own”.
“I don’t know why he’s upset or what he’s upset about, that’s up to him,” Cheika said.
“For us, we know how we’re thought of; they think we’re no chance to do anything.
“And they’re validated, we haven’t beaten them for ages in the series, so it’s understandable they’d think that.
“That’s what they really think, our problem is that we’ve got nothing and we’re going up against the world No. 1, that’s what they really think,” Cheika said on Monday morning.
“I know that not many people are expecting us, as he isn’t, to do much.
“But we’ll prepare our best and see how we go.
“When they say we’ve got our own problems that’s what they’re referring to, that we can’t beat them.
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New Finishers
Michael Cheika says the Wallabies will have finishers to fill the void of Kurtley Beale.
Beale was one of the stars off the bench in last year’s World Cup but unfortunately suffered a serious knee injury earlier this year.
“We’ve got a few options in a bit of X-Factor that he brings,” Cheika said.
“There’s a few different players that we have in there that have been working in that role of being able to cover a whole lot of different positions.
“Obviously Kurtley’s a unique player but I think if he was coming into this series he certainly wouldn’t be hoping to be a finisher, he would’ve been looking to be a starter.”
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Brisbane City Name Squad
Brisbane City have named their 34 man squad for the upcoming National Rugby Championship.
The squad will feature 18 returning players from last year as they look for their third consecutive championship.
Halfback Nick Frisby is looking to impress after missing out on the Wallabies squad selection.
“We’re fortunate that the nucleus of the squad is from the previous two years, so we won’t be starting from scratch,” said coach Rod Seib.
Brisbane City will start their 2016 campaign against the NSW Country Eagles at Sydney University on the 27th of August.
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Stronger with Byrne
The All Blacks have admitted the Wallabies will be stronger with former All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne on their side.
“I’ve known Mick since I was probably 16-17 — he’s really good,” said All Black lock Sam Whitelock.
“Some of the skills stuff he does is world class, so I’m sure he’s passing his knowledge and helping out in that area.
“I think no matter what skill you’re working on, it takes a long time to break an old habit.
“But all professional rugby players are striving to get better, so they’ll be working on it pretty intently as we are.”
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