Tuesday’s rugby news has some big names returning for the Brumbies, Hunt given the nod at 10, a second place finish for the Women’s Sevens team and Wales criticised for their concussion protocols.
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Pocock and Moore set for comeback
The Brumbies will be boosted in their Super Rugby season opener as coach Stephen Larkham has announced that “everyone is available for selection,” including former Wallaby captains Stephen Moore and Davis Pocock.
Moore was surprisingly named fit to make his long-awaited return from an ACL injury suffered in his first Test as captain against France in June last year. Moore has progressed “ahead of schedule” and surpassed expectations that he would miss the first few rounds of Super Rugby. Larkham has not revealed whether the 92-Test stalwart will start in the No.2 jersey, or on the bench behind Josh Mann-Rea.
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Hunt given 10 jersey
The Reds will start the Super Rugby season with the code-hopping Karmichael Hunt at the five-eighth position, with Richard Graham preferring Hunt to 2013 Wallabies No. 10 James O’Connor and rookie Duncan Paia’aua. “Karmichael was very clear in his communication, was decisive and as a consequence we got on the front foot,” Graham said of Hunt’s trial match against the Crusaders.
While Graham prefers his prospects on the wing, O’Connor was also a full participant in training and he appears to have recovered from a knee injury he sustained in France in late December.
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Women’s Sevens lose close final
The Australian Women’s Sevens team has suffered a narrow loss to New Zealand (17-10) in the Cup Final at the Brazil Sevens. The Aussie team put in a spirited second half display with two tries but could not overcome a 10-0 half-time deficit.
“We had our chances and we can only learn from these losses,” said coach Tim Walsh. “Despite I think being the better team, we did not get the result we deserved.” With two legs of the six round series gone, Australia are second in the World Series standings – with the top four securing automatic qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
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Welsh treatment criticised
The continued play of George North after two obvious incidents of concussion during the Welsh loss against England has once again raised questions of the implementation of the mandatory concussion assessment.
“I am afraid it is very difficult to come to any other conclusion than it is not the state of the players’ brain but the state of the game that is determining a lot of these cases,” former IRB medical advisor Barry O’Driscoll said. “If George North had been in a boxing ring then the fight would have been stopped.” World Rugby has since asked the WRU for clarification over their handling of the North incident
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