Tuesday’s rugby news has an interesting ACT government proposal, the Wallaby openside battle, Foley missing Rio and Premiership expansion talks.
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ACT looking into multi-sport tickets
The ACT government is investigating a proposal for multi-sport tickets to bring back the Canberra crowds. Greater Western Sydney chief executive David Matthews had previously suggested the idea of such tickets, which would allow access to Giants, ACT Brumbies and Canberra Raiders games. At the same time, there are concerns that the population of the ACT simply isn’t large enough to facilitate three codes, leading to further proposals to co-ordinate home games.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr also commented on the scheduling issues of the respective Anzac Day clashes. Both the Brumbies and Giants want their Anzac games to become permanent fixtures, with the Raiders dissappointed to miss out on a home crowd this year. “No one owns it, but no one should be denied the opportunity to try and bring something special to Canberra,” Barr said.
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No.7 battle gearing up
The Brumbies and Waratahs will square off this weekend with a massive battle expected between the leading candidates for the Wallaby openside flanker role, with incumbent and captain Michael Hooper facing a resurgent David Pocock. The showdown could go a long way in helping Wallabies’ coach Michael Cheika’s decide on his best option for the World Cup.
Hooper remains cemented as the frontrunner though, with Cheika commenting after the Waratah 7’s man-of-the-match performance against the Rebels, “He is one of the most consistent footballers I have ever encountered.” The performances of both will take on added scrutiny though with the fresh availability of Wallabies legend George Smith, with Cheika emphasising that he probably couldn’t accommodate three specialist No.7s in his 31-man World Cup squad.
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Foley rules himself out of Rio
Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley has conceded that he will not join the Australian Sevens team in the 2016 Olympics. ARU boss Bill Pulver said last week that potential candidates would have to choose between a chance at joining the Rio team and playing Super and Test rugby next year. “I’d really love to do something back in the sevens, but in saying that I don’t know if logistically it’s going to be possible or commitment-wise,” he said.
Foley also praised the new ARU initiative of allowing Wallaby eligibility for overseas-based players who had played professionally in Australia for seven years and accumulated 60 Test caps. “For Australian rugby I think it’s in really good stead,” Foley said.
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14 team Premiership a possibility
Discussions are currently in progress over increasing the number of teams in the English Premiership to 14, with an accompanying temporary freeze on promotion and relegation. The proposal has support of the Premiership clubs but would also need the approval of the RFU council, which in the past has advocated the retention of the relegation system with a large gap between the two competition tiers.
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter has warned against the move due to the future restrictions on clubs moving up to compete in the top league. “I would be very uncomfortable if we established a set of rules whereby a team that was successful on and off the pitch could never have the ambition of being in the Premiership,” he said.
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