Tuesday’s Rugby News has the good stuff on the bad Adam Coleman news, the new names brought into the WBs, David Pocock chatting about France, and Charlotte Caslick being our new number one.
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Coleman Out
The news is in about Adam Coleman, and it ain’t good. rugby.com.au says that the Raging Tasmanian has been ruled out of the rest of the tour after injury his knee in the victory against Scotland.
Scans have confirmed that Coleman has a “grade two” medial ligament strain. Reds lock Rob Simmons will come into to take Coleman’s place in the starting lineup and as the lineout caller.
Michael Cheika has his bit to say. “It’s bit of a shame for him because he’s had a really good start to the year and he’s worked his way through since June but in saying that it gives someone else an opportunity,” the Wallabies coach wept.
“I think it’s a grade two medial strain so we’ll get him home and get him healed and then he can have a holiday before next season starts.”
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Quarante des Wallabies et moi, et moi, et moi
If Cheika has any legacy, it is that of extended squads. He’s amped up the frequent flyers even more with the addition of eight more players to the Wallabies squad.
Toby Smith, Andrew Ready, Paddy Ryan, Sam Carter, Nic Stirzaker, Luke Morahan and Taqele Naiyaravoro, who were all in the Barbarians squad, will now join the Wallabies in France. Jono Lance, of Western Force/Perth Pigs fame, will be also flying in.
According to the SMH, “a handful of these players stand a chance of playing against France [as well as the French Barbarians on Thursday next week] in order to give some other Wallabies a rest on a long tour at the end of a tough year.” (The Wallabies, by the end of the year, will have played 15 tests).
The SMH also reckons that Stirzaker, Lance and Ready are outside shots to make the squad for the France game. On another note, Carter is also a handy pickup given Coleman’s injury.
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France Face Up
David Pocock says there’s no chance the Wallabies will be taking France lightly. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, this is what he said.
“Every game in the Wallaby jersey, you want to be at your best,” the Wallabies pilferer-at-large began, humming the French bit from “Psycho Killer” as he went along.
“There’s great competition in the squad, the guys who haven’t been pulling on the jersey on Saturday afternoon have been working incredibly hard, so there’s a bunch of guys that are jumping out of their skin to play.
“We’re certainly not going to let our guard down, we’ll be working hard this week and trying to put in a really good performance leading into the last two. As players, the match 23 have been working very hard and the other boys are probably working even harder, training every day, they were out there doing fitness on Saturday morning [before the Test].”
“Whoever pulls on that jersey over the next week or so will do us proud,” Pocock said, before adding that he hopes the Wallabies play “fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better” against France than they did against Scotland.
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Caslick #1
Charlotte Caslick, the superstar who guided Australia to a World Sevens title and Olympic gold, has been awarded the World Women’s Sevens Player of the Year award. Taking to Twitter, the pony-tailed menace announced she was “incredibly honoured” to win the award, before adding a very well-placed jazz hands emoji.
Incredibly honoured to be named Player of the Year! ???? https://t.co/QjCz7j40Jw
— Charlotte Caslick (@CharlieCaslick) November 13, 2016
World Rugby also gave out awards to far less important people. Beauden Barrett took out Player of the Year award, beating the much-fancied Jed Holloway to that gong. Steve Hansen took Cheika’s Coach of the Year award, while his All Blacks team won Team of the Year.
Maro Itoje won Breakthrough Player of the Year, while Seabelo Senatla won Male Seven’s Player of the Year and England’s Sarah Hunter won the (XVs) Women’s Player of the Year.
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