Tuesdays Rugby News sees Hockings suspended, Kepu heading abroad, a big payday for NZ Rugby, and a Rebels noble cause.
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THREE WEEKS FOR HOCKINGS
Reds lock Harry Hockings has a three-week stint on the sidelines ahead for him after he was found guilty of stomping on Sunwolves opponent Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco.
Hockings was red carded in the dying minutes of the Reds victory over the Sunwolves when he put his boot to the head of Warren-Vosayaco, who was holding onto his leg at the bottom of the ruck. Warren-Vosayaco was yellow-carded but not cited.
A SANZAAR Judicial Committee Hearing found Hockings guilty of contravening Law 9.12: stamping or trampling on Monday night.
Judical Committee Chairperson Nigel Hampton QC deemed the act worthy of a six-week suspension but due to Hockings remorse and clean record it was reduced to three.
“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, including from the player and submissions from his legal representative, Mark Martin QC, the Judicial Committee upheld the Red Card under Law 9.12,” Hampton said in a Sanzaar statement.
“With respect to sanction the Judicial Committee deemed the act of foul play merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks due to the World Rugby instructions that dictate any incident of foul play involving contact with the head must start at a mid-range level.
“The actions of the player were deemed reckless although the contact made was found not to have been made with significant force.
“Taking into account mitigating factors including the player’s clean judicial record, his youth and good reputation, his acceptance of responsibility and his expressed remorse, the Judicial Committee reduced the suspension to three weeks.”
Reds coach Brad Thorn defended Hockings actions in the post match press conference.
“I’ll just sound like a coach defending his player but you get grabbed by the foot – I don’t think he was looking at him – and he’s tried to pull out of it, goes to stand there and he might have nicked his cheek or something and they gave him a red card,” Thorn said.
“Probably the message is: ‘Don’t hold his foot’.”
It was a strange match of Friday that saw six cards handed out including two reds. Sunwolves winger Semisi Masirewa was shown a red after receiving two yellows. He will miss one week for his tackle on Jock Campbell.
Caleb Timu is eligible for selection after a five week stint on the side for throwing a punch in club rugby.
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KEPUS POST WORLD CUP EXIT
Wallabies and Waratahs prop Sekope Kepu will leave Australia after the World Cup in Japan after it was announced he will be joining the London Irish.
With Nick Phipps and Curtis Rona already signed with the London Irish, Kepu is the 3rd Waratah to join the franchise.
Kepu has played a major role in Australian Rugby over the past decade, making 135 appearances for the Waratahs and 103 test matches.
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson acknowledge the massive hole that Kepu’s departure would leave at the Waratah’s but is thankful for the role he played in preparing the next generation.
“Sekope has become a real leader for the team and will leave with a reputation of strong scrummaging and a running and passing skill-set that rivals a centre. He is an absolute gentlemen of the game and will be missed,” he said.
“He will also leave a legacy for young aspiring props who have benefitted from his knowledge and willingness to nurture the next generation. I hope to see him back one day and serve the sport as a coach.
“Being a longstanding member of the Waratahs, his influence I’m sure will be felt for many years yet.
“There are many of our younger blokes who have benefited from training and playing alongside Sekope and while we will be sad to lose him, it will make way for the next generation to step up,” said Gibson.
This is not the first time Kepu has tried to play outside of Australia, after the last World Cup he had a small stint in Bordeaux before returning to Australia for family reasons.
Kepu believes the move comes at a good time for him and his family, but is prepared to leave it all on the park for the Waratahs and Wallabies.
“It’s great opportunity for my family to try something new and I think it’s the right time for us to move. My family is very important for me,” he said.
“I’m excited to be able to go to a club with a lot of history and play in a different competition.
“But right now I’m in the middle of the Super Rugby season and I very much want to give everything I have to the Tahs.
“I’ll be doing my best over the next few months, whatever I can do to contribute to the team on and off the field.
“I’ve only ever played for one Club in Super Rugby and I’ve had the most enjoyable time with the Waratahs.”
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$1M TRAINING CAMP
New Zealand Rugby are set for a massive pay day prior to the World Cup.
ANNOUNCEMENT | The All Blacks and @NZRugby welcome the City of Kashiwa and Japanese partner Mitsui Fudosan on board. The #AllBlacks will be based in Kashiwa City ahead of #RWC2019. pic.twitter.com/zHjuG6Vb7J
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) June 4, 2018
The All Black have added a new training camp to their World Cup preparations in Japan after making a deal with officials from Kashiwa City, 50km North of Tokyo.
It is being reported that New Zealand Rugby will take in in excess of $1M NZD for the four-day training camp that will most likely involve plenty of promotional work.
This is a strong commercial opportunity for the All Blacks, who themselves are a brand in Japan with many players involved in advertising campaigns over the years.
The All Blacks will be hoping to go into this World Cup more focused, after their first round scare against Argentina in 2015, when the Pumas stayed in the fight for the large portion of the match, before the All Blacks ran away with it 26-16.
The All Blacks will travel to Kashiwa two days after their warm up match against Tonga, and will head on to Tokyo approximately a week before their clash with the Springboks.
The Wallabies have chosen Odawara as their base of operations during the World Cup, a small castle town that historically was occupied by Samurai.
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THE CAPTAINS CAUSE
He may have lived in Australia for 20 years and worn the gold jersey, but his connection to South Africa has lead Rebels skipper Dane Haylett-Petty to lead his new charity initiative.
Though he calls Australia home, he still remembers falling in love with Rugby back in 1995 when the Springboks won the World Cup.
“I think of Perth as home now, but I’ve always had that connection to South Africa because a lot of my family have been back there for a long time,” he said.
“I have a lot of fond memories growing up there.
“Probably my love of rugby started there – like my early memories are going to a couple of games of the ’95 world cup and then South Africa winning it and the whole country going rugby mad.”
Haylett-Petty makes regular trips back to South Africa, for work and for holidays, and it is through these trips he has become more involved in protecting the beautiful animals the are currently endangered.
Rhinos, elephants, lions and cheetahs are some of the iconic African animals that are currently in danger of being wiped out by poachers. Haylett-Petty believes that attitudes are changing but it is hard in nation like South Africa with such poverty to turn down the money and demand that comes out of Asia for these animals.
“I think in a third world country, it becomes a little bit harder where people are more worried, like a huge percentage of the population are surviving day to day,” he said.
“Some might need to feel the need to go poach or whatever. I think then corruption comes into it and all sorts.
“You’ve got all these amazing animals in a very poor place with all sorts of political issues going on.
“With the support and education, people realising the issues, I’m sure it will change and there are a lot of organisations doing a really good job to make a difference I suppose.”
It was on a holiday in 2016 that shocked Haylett-Petty into wanting to do more.
“When I went back there for that trip, there were places where there are just rows and rows of rhino skulls from murdered rhinos, who have been poached and there’s just no end in sight with that,” he said.
“You see both sides of it – you’re on safari and you see these amazing rhinos, very calm and majestic, almost prehistoric, and then you go to another area and there’s just rows and rows of skulls and they just can’t really stop the flood of poachers coming in because of the demand from Asia for their horns.
“It’s a bit of a juxtaposition, it’s a shocking image and that’s why I wanted to try and do something.”
DHP teamed up with his cousin, Cole Du Plessis and Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) to help prevent the animal death toll rising. Dane and his cousin plan to build a safari company which would allow them to put money back into South African conservation.
It was on the Rebels recent trip to South Africa that Dane got his club, his teammates and Rugby Australia on board with the cause when the team visited the Madikwe Game Reserve.
“They loved the safari side but then getting up close and personal and feeling like they were helping, it was pretty special to kind of see some of the boys’ faces and some have come to me since and said “how can we do our little bit to help out” they all kind of get involved with the fundraising and just try to spread the message a little bit,” he said.
The partnership and raffle was launched this week, with a first prize of a trip to Johannesburg, tickets to the Wallabies-South Africa game and a safari thrown in as well.
https://www.rafflelink.com.au/wallabies
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