Update – Wallaby team named v Gloucester: 15. Kurtley Beale 14. Lachie Turner 13. Ryan Cross 12. Tyrone Smith 11. Drew Mitchell 10. Quade Cooper 9. Luke Burgess 8. Richard Brown 7. Matt Hodgson 6. Mitchell Chapman 5. Dean Mumm (Capt) 4. Dave Dennis 3. Salesi Ma’afu 2. Tatafu Polota Nau 1. Sekope Kepu Reserves: 16. Pek Cowan 17. Matt Dunning 18. Mark Chisholm 19. Wycliff Palu 20. Richard Kingi 21. Matt Toomua 22. James O’Connor
Gloucester Rugby: Freddie Burns; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Tim Molenaar, Tom Voyce; Carlos Spencer, Dave Lewis; Paul Doran-Jones, Darren Dawiduik, Pierre Capdevielle; Will James, Adam Eustace; Jake Boer (captain), Akapusi Qera, Dan Williams Reserves: Ben Phillips, Rupert Harden, Dave Attwood, Apo Satala, Jordi Pasqualin, Jonny May, James Simpson-Daniel
Veteran Jake Boer, who has recently returned from South Africa for another stint at Kingsholm, has been named captain of the Gloucester side to take on the Wallabies tonight.
The team is a mixture of First XV, ‘A’ team and Academy stars. The pack is reasonably experienced and includes Firsts selections (mainly bench players) Pierre Capdevielle, Will James, Akapusi Qera, Paul Doran-Jones and Adam Eustace.
The backline features a group of Academy youngsters backed up by Carlos Spencer, Tom Voyce, Charlie Sharples and Tim Molenaar. Ben Phillips, a hooker signed only this week from Birmingham and Solihull, has been named on the bench.
Original Post
The Wallabies don’t have a great touring record when it comes to winning mid-week matches and it’s likely that Tuesday’s Gloucester confrontation won’t be any pushover either.
Anything less than a convincing win against ‘provincial’ opposition will aggravate the disappointment and frustration that the Tokyo leg engendered: same shit, different day.
However, the Cherry and Whites will probably front with a mixed squad of youth and experience having just played a Guinness Premiership match against Sale last Friday and with another game due next weekend.
The Gloucester squad contains plenty of players you’d know including internationals like Mike Tindall, Lesley the Volcano, James Simpson-Daniel, Greg Somerville and Carlos Spencer.
Other players in their squad who’ve represented include Tom Voyce, Alex Brown, Andy Hazell, Luke Narraway, Ollie Morgan (England), Scott Lawson, Rory Lawson (Scotland), Akapusi Qera (Fiji), Olivier Azam (France), Nicky Robinson and Gareth Delve (Wales).
A number of these are out injured with Tindall (who is back in the England squad) and Hazell adding to the toll during Friday’s loss.
It’s unlikely that all of these players will be made available for the game considering they also have a winnable Anglo Welsh Cup match to play next Sunday against Cardiff.
Carlos Spencer is likely to be the backline general, although he isn’t the player he used to be and has spent most of the season on the bench subbing for Nicky Robinson.
I’d expect a mixture of First XV, bench Firsts players, ‘A’ team and Academy stars to feature. With a ground capacity of 16,000 it looks like it could be a sellout at Kingsholm with 13,000 tickets sold to date.
For the Wallabies, it’s crucial they get off to a positive start to the United Kingdom leg of the tour having failed again in their first up match against the All Blacks.
The saving grace is that with the possible exception of Ireland, none of these Grand Slam sides are up to All Black class.
This Wallaby team is no world beater either, neither is England next week. Deans will be looking for his first win since Brisbane and for some players to challenge the accepted order.
In my view Tyro Smith, Dick Brown, Tucky, QC and Portly fit into this category.
The Tuesday squad has been telegraphed and should include Kepu, Cowan, Ma’afu, Dunning, Dennis, Chapman, Hodgson, Brown, George Smith (a tragedy), Burgess, Kingi, Toomua, Cooper, Tyrone Smith, Mitchell, Turner and Beale.
Gloucester have had a poor start to the season with only two wins from seven Guinness Premiership matches. They’ve also had one win from two Heineken Cup European tournament games.
They’ve been heavily defeated by Wasps, London Irish and Special K’s new club Biarritz.
It will be the first time an Australian national team has played at Kingsholm, home ground of Gloucester Rugby, since the inaugural Wallabies beat county side Gloucestershire 16-3 during their 1908-09 tour.
Attempts by the British media of the time to label them the ‘Rabbits’ led to a players’ vote and majority support for the Wallabies name ahead of other contenders including the Waratahs, Wallaroos and Kookaburras.
The Gloucester Club was actually formed in 1874 and have a proud record at the top levels of rugby in the United Kingdom.
Their close geographical location to South Wales has provided them with rugby opportunities that other English clubs (apart from Bristol) just don’t have.
In the amateur era it was democracy in action at Gloucester. The forwards were generally working class lads, described as ‘rough hewn local sons with a thirsty humour’.
On the other hand, the backs were predominantly public school types (private in our lingo), aye-what old boy? Doctors, schoolmasters and even clerics.
Notwithstanding the stiff upper lip, rugger was played at a ferocious level at times. A number of their stars have died playing rugby during the past 135 years.
As a snapshot, in the 1921/1922 season a total of 28 players were dismissed from the field of play: 14 for fighting, six for obscene language, one for foul play and seven for arguing with the referee! Not much has changed since……
Gloucester were always renowned for their tough forward play. In the past 25 years they’ve produced quality England forwards like Phil Vickery, Mike Teague, Trevor Woodman, Phil Blakeway, Phil Greening, Malcolm Preedy, Steve Mills and John Orwin.
Centre Richard Tombs, a member of the 1999 World Cup Wallaby squad, was one of Gloucester’s first overseas signings in the professional era while long-serving Test stars Jason Little and Jeremy Paul have also had stints at the club.
Hopefully, the Wallabies will pull a ‘Rabbit’ out of the hat and don’t end up on the dining table like they did the last time they played a club mid-week match over here.
