Tuesday’s rugby news has David Pocock praising Michael Hooper, Bernard Foley finding his own path, Kyle Godwin ready to make test debut and All Blacks slam niggling Wallabies.
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Pocock Praises Hooper
Wallaby backrower David Pocock has defended fellow backrower Michael Hooper after many have called for the ‘Pooper’ to be dismantled.
“I really enjoy playing alongside Hoops,” Pocock said before the team’s first training session of Test week.
“His workrate his huge and just the metres he gets through and the ground he covers are pretty impressive.
“On selection issues, you’ll have to talk to the people who make the decisions.
“As a player, I really enjoy playing beside him and we’ll keep working hard on combinations and improvements.”
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Foley’s Own Path
Bernard Foley is determined to play his own game at inside centre rather than trying to play like someone else.
“I did have a good chat to Matt Giteau, who was around in the early part of that week and [about] playing alongside Quade as well but I haven’t really sought outside knowledge, I’m just playing my own game,” he said.
“I’m not out there to try and be a Nathan Grey or a Matt Giteau.
“I’m still adjusting to number 12 and this week will give us more understanding of how Quade and I are going to play it.”
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Godwin Ready
Kyle Godwin says he is ready to earn his first test cap after being called into the Wallaby squad as an injury replacement.
“It’s definitely great to be back in camp,” Godwin said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve last been here and I’ll be pushing my case to see how it goes and just enjoying being back in the camp and really striving to hopefully, potentially, get that debut.”
“I’ve been very unfortunate but [like] a lot of other players, that’s the nature of the beast, playing rugby, you get those injuries but I’ve had great physios sorting me out and I’ve tried to manage my body as well as I possibly could and at the moment [I’m] feeling really fresh and fit.
“So, hopefully I can push my case in the next couple of weeks and really train well.”
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AB’s Slam Wallabies
All Blacks backrower Sam Cane says the Wallabies niggle played into their hands particularly in the second Bledisloe Cup match.
“We knew they would come out a lot more physical and potentially with a bit of niggle,” Cane said.
“The way they went about it was probably what caught us off guard just a fraction, but we acknowledged it pretty quickly that that was how they were going to play.
“In a funny way it’s a good thing when you realise the opposition are playing like that because it means they’re not really focused on their footy as much.
“And as long as we worry about playing footy and executing our stuff right, then there should be some answers and I suppose that’s how the game played out.”
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