Wednesday’s Rugby News features Ben McCalman and his fractured scapula, the Aussie sevens naming their training squad for a pre-Rio camp, more commentary on Steve Hansen’s comments and Michael Cheika discussing his long-term strategy.
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Ben McCalman Injured
Western Force and Wallabies n0. 8 Ben McCalman has fractured his scapula, putting him out of contention for not only the final England test on Saturday but also for the rest of the Super season. Given 6 – 8 weeks to recover, there’s a chance McCalman will have recovered in time for the Rugby Championship and beyond.
He injured himself not long after replacing starting no. 8 and heartthrob Sean McMahon in the game at AAMI Park on Saturday.
In his place, Leroy Houston has been called up, with Houston and Wycliff Palu now the only specialist no. 8s left in the squad. Those two, along with Liam Gill, are in the running to replace McCalman.
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Sevens Training Squad
Aussie Sevens coach and GAGR pal Andy Friend has announced a 16-man list for a week-long training camp in Darwin. The 16 names will probably be dropped down to 12 for the Olympics, with six trial games in Japan, scheduled for next month, to help Friend make decisions.
There are some big names missing from this squad, with a nasty bout of knee injuries sidelining a lot of players. According to Rugby News, Greg Jeloudev has injured his foot, while Pama Fou, Tom Lucas, as well as big-name stars Henry Speight and Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins all have problems with the hinge on their getaway sticks.
In Friend’s own words: “I’ve made it clear to the group that it’ll be tough to make the squad for Rio if they haven’t been selected for Darwin.” (If the Honey Badger doesn’t make it, hold out hope that he’ll get a spot on the commentary team.)
Training Squad for Darwin: Cameron Clark, Tom Cusack, Allan Fa’alava’au, Sam Figg, Con Foley, Lewis Holland, Henry Hutchison, Ed Jenkins, Boyd Killingworth, Tom Kingston, Nick Malouf, Pat McCutcheon, Sam Myers, Jesse Parahi, John Porch, James Stannard
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Hansen’s comments “shallow”
Michael Cheika has caught wind of New Zealand coach’s Steve Hansen’s comments, as reported on GAGR news the past couple o’ days.
“That’s a really shallow sort of view I suppose on what’s really involved in coaching and he knows better than that.” said Cheika.
“It’s easy to kick blokes when they are down, so we are down, but we’ll be getting back up, don’t worry about that. I think that’s a place where sometimes a lot of people like to see us, especially in rugby. Australia is down, we’ve been down before and we’ve got back up and we will be doing the same again right now.”
When asked why he didn’t get into a shit-flinging contest, Cheika replied: “If I thought it would have made us play better, yeah I would have got into it…it’s nice to circle around that idea and go `yeah that makes a difference,’ but anyone who knows the game will understand it has no bearing whatsoever on the end results.”
“If they are not big on the way I’ve taken on the media campaign then that’s their problem”, the Wallabies coached roared, “I’ve done what I think is best for the team and I still believe it’s the best for the team.”
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Running Rugby Forever: Cheika
Cheika has also had his say on how he wants Australia to play. Decent lineouts? Holding on to the ball? No more overall disappointment?
“When I sit back and look at the way the games have panned out, there’s a couple of things that are clear,” Cheika said on Tuesday. “One, we are going to continue to play running footy. That’s something that we want to do. It’s part of how we play.
“And we obviously have to improve the quality so that we can do it consistently.”
Cheika is intent on forging an Australia reputation for attacking, running rugby in the long-term, and isn’t so worried about the short-term pressure:
“It depends if I am just coaching to keep my job or if I am coaching to have Australian rugby to play the type of football that we want to play, and go through the difficult bits when that happens, and stick at it,” the Wallabies coach said.
“That’s what I am committed to. Yeah, okay, a few losses and all that stuff happens. But I feel like I have big enough shoulders to carry that because I know the way we want to play footy … is the way we can be our absolute best.”
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