Tuesdays Rugby News sees a Significant Wallabies announcement, TPN heads back north, A new Wallabies coach rumour and 7As looking to return this weekend.
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SIGNIFICANT WALLABIES NEWS
Many readers would have seen that at 9:30am on Monday the 18th of March the Wallabies would be making a significant announcement. There was plenty of speculation going on, is it a new attack coach? was a certain head coach fired? Did RA discover the almanac from Back to the Future 2 so we don’t have to worry about the financial troubles anymore?
It was none of those.
What it was was the announcement that the Wallabies will be playing Samoa in Parramatta on September 7th before they head off to the World Cup.
It will be the first time in eight years that the two teams have faced off against each other, since the night that shocked the Rugby world when Manu Samoa physically took it to the Wallabies to cause and upset win.
It was a night that neither team would forget, even with the Wallabies going on into the semi-finals in New Zealand.
Interestingly that test was set as a final hit out before the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the same as this years test.
Michael Cheika sees the benefit in playing a Pacific Island team in a warm up a head of the match against a much improved Fijian side in the opening round of the World Cup.
“To play a team like Samoa in our take-off game for the World Cup will be perfect. They have a mix of razzle-dazzle and physicality which will be exactly what we need before stepping out against Fiji in Sapporo. In front of our home crowd in a brilliant new stadium in Western Sydney it should double as plenty of fireworks as well as plenty of fun for everyone,” Cheika said.
“With the World Cup in our sights this year we really want to build some momentum to help take our game up a level or two, I think that’s really important for us. We will have a few new tricks up our sleeve this season so we might look a little different to what most people may expect.” Cheika added.
“I’d say we’ll be going into this season’s tournaments – the Rugby Championship, the Bledisloe Cup and the World Cup – as underdogs but we will be doing everything we can to make 2019 our year.
The Samoans are also excited at the chance to hit it out with a top 10 nation prior to heading to the World Cup.
Samoa Rugby Union CEO Vincent Fepuleai said: “On behalf of the SRU and the people of Samoa, we would like to thank Rugby Australia for this wonderful opportunity to participate in this Test Match. We are very excited about playing at the new Bankwest Stadium in Western Sydney and we encourage all of our Pacific Island families to come and support the Manu before we depart for our campaign in Tokyo. I would also like to extend a warm gesture of gratitude to our principal partner the Grey Investment Group for their ongoing support.”
You can read the reactions from Wallabies and Waratahs, Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps and Israel Folau here if you feel like it.
This will be the third confirmed home test for the Wallabies with them playing New Zealand in Perth and Argentina in Brisbane.
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TPN RETURNING NORTH
Tatafu Polota-Nau is heading back to the UK after playing only two matches for the Waratahs whilst on loan from Leicester.
TPN was brought in as injury cover for the Waratahs a fortnight ago for their clash against the Reds.
At the time of his return the specifics around how long he would be in Australia were up in the air, but it is believed he was only given until the end of the month, but now the Tigers want him back.
TPN played a total of two matches for approximately an hour of Rugby.
Injured prop Shambeckler Vui is expected to make his return against the Crusaders if he continues to tick boxes at training, and rookie hooker Andrew Tuala is expected to become the back up to Damien Fitzpatrick.
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson thanks Leicester and praised the efforts of Polota-
Nau in fitting back in with the tahs so easily.
“Our team is very grateful to Tatafu and Leicester Tigers for helping us fill a short term injury cover,” he said.
“We entered a loan arrangement always knowing Leicester would want him back in England in the near future.
“Tatafu slotted back into the squad with such ease and was a big contributor for the squad. It also gave Tatafu the chance to show Aussie selectors how he’s progressing ahead of the World Cup.
“Shambeckler Vui is working his way back to full fitness and Andrew Tuala will also come into the squad. Tuala had two great games with our Emerging Waratahs side and has been working hard at our training sessions.”
Waratahs will take on the Crusaders on Saturday night at 7:45pm.
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RENNIE’S THE WORD
There have been many names thrown around as potential replacements for Michael Cheika, Some have been rumours, others like Jake White that were leaked and subsequently lost the opportunity.
The end of the Six Nations means the end of Scott Johnsons time with Scotland and his return to Australian Rugby is imminent, and thus begins the search for the new head coach. A few departing Northern Hemisphere coaches did themselves no harm to their resumes should they want the job.
Well now the Sydney Morning Herald are reporting that former Chiefs coach and current Glasgow coach Dave Rennie is tipped to be Rugby Australia’s choice to replace Cheika, with Scotland’s defence coach Matt Taylor eyed up as his deputy.
This issue probably wont be tackled until Johnson has himself set up at Rugby HQ, and wont be the first thing he has to deal with. Finding a replacement attack coach for Cheika will most likely take top priority. Followed by establishing a strong relationship in the test selection panel and working with Raelene Castle to establish what RA and the Wallabies will look like post Cheika.
The Herald also makes a case for Eddie Jones as a potential candidate, along with England assistant coach Scott Wisemantel being sought by RA.
One name that has been thrown around has been that of Warren Gatland, originally tipped as Steve Hansen’s replacement but with Ireland’s Head Coach Joe Schmidt heading by to NZ it might be time for RA to swoop in on Gatland.
Tho according to the Herald, Gatland is being sought after by the RFU to replace Jones after the World Cup this year.
Good luck to anyone who can accurately predict which coach will go where by the end of this year.
One thing is all but guaranteed is that miracle or not at the World Cup, Michael Cheika’s time with the Wallabies will be over.
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ALAALATOA HOPING TO BE BACK FOR REDS
Brumbies prop Alan Alaalatoa is hoping to return to Super Rugby this weekend after missing out on his teams win against the Waratahs due to a wrist injury.
After running the water on the weekend, Alaalatoa is hoping to pull the jersey on against the Reds but knows he is not certain of a return.
“I’m on track. I’m just focusing on this week. I think it’s more of a day by day thing, see how it pulls up closer to Sunday,” he said.
“I’m happy the boys went out there and put on a good performance.
“It’s backed up with good prep today and we have to refocus now, on the Queensland Reds, who showed lot of spark, showed a lot of guts to come back and win against the Sunwolves in Japan.
“They have a lot to prove and they probably have the boys like Rodda and Taniela Tupou looking at coming back and playing this Sunday.
“They have big threats across the park but as long as we get our prep right this week, we should be in good stead.”
Despite coming off early in the Waratahs match with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, Alaalatoa’s front row partner Scott Sio is expected to be back in the fold for the Reds match.
“Just copped a stinger and had a bit of trouble with my right shoulder last year so it was a bit precautionary,” Sio said.
“I guess it highlighted the importance of signing Slips (James Slipper), the luxury we have to have another world-class loosehead on the bench to trust in.
“We made a call on the field and I just thought the team would be better to have Slips come on instead of me holding my shoulder around and potentially making it worse.
“We’ve got a great S&C staff here, medical department and we’ll make sure we get it right for the weekend.”
Up and coming back rower Rob Valentini is set to miss the match with a knee injury that he sustained during the Waratah’s clash, but David Pocock is in line to return from the calf injury he picked up against the Rebels.
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