Tuesday’s rugby news has Hunt missing more games, the Force struggling, a massive Six nations win for Ireland and a study into SANZAR coaching.
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Hunt ruled out
Reds coach Richard Graham has definitively ruled out Karmichael Hunt for Saturday’s match against the Waratahs. Hunt’s availability will not be affected by the outcome of his Tuesday court appearance, with Graham emphasising that the Queensland fullback has not been able to train with the team recently.
“There’s no need for ‘what ifs?’ in selection in a week this big when you are preparing to play NSW because the fact is Karmichael can’t train with us,” the Reds coach said. The Waratahs clash will be the third consecutive match which Hunt has missed.
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No excuses for Force
After being flogged 42-13 by the Hurricanes last week, Western Force coach Michael Foley has emphasised that his side’s poor performances should not be blamed on the continuing injury absence of captain Michael Hodgson.
“Hodgo’s not going to be there for the next five weeks so we need to get the breakdown right,” Foley said. “There are 15 guys out there and they are good enough to win those areas if we get the detail right.” The Force were also without flanker Gus Cottrell, who succumbed to an ankle injury 12 minutes into the match, although the team will be boosted by the return of Chris Alcock this week.
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Ireland victorious
Ireland have pushed to the top of the Six Nations Race, winning their third consecutive match of the tournament with a 19-9 defeat of England. Ireland scored the only try of the match while capitalising on a field position advantage and poor English discipline with four Jonathan Sexton penalty goals.
The win placed Ireland third in the World Rugby rankings, pushing 1.27 points ahead of England. Australia, meanwhile, remain at fifth position with a very slight lead over Wales.
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Study probes SANZAR coaches
A Canterbury University study into the rugby coaching practice and philosophies of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand has unveiled a number of interesting points of difference.
In general, South African coaches believed that they needed to position themselves above the players as a strong leader with an emphasis on discipline. New Zealand coaches, meanwhile, created a more equal environment and tried to foster club belonging. Australian coaches felt they had to man-manage teams after several discipline issues in the national team.
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