Wednesday’s rugby news Daryl Gibson calling for Folau to move to the centres for the Wallabies, Mike Harris to return from injury, Aussie opponents named for Rio Olympics and Charlie Ngatai still sidelined.
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Folau to Centre: Gibson
Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson has called for the Wallabies to play Israel Folau in the centres as he has done for the Waratahs this season.
“In Tevita Kuridrani and Israel Folau, you have two excellent players who can play No. 13, and Australia has 12 Tests to play this year, Israel will get a shot there,” Gibson said.
“I think at some stage over that 12, it’s conceivable Folau will play up in the line.
“Particularly with the emergence of Dane Haylett-Petty, whose preferred position is fullback, I think after his performances against England (Wallabies coach Michael) Cheika will really trust him there.”
“The greater flexibility Australia will have on the wings will give Folau that opportunity.
“And I don’t think there will be any major outcry about that, I think it’s pretty sensible.”
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Harris to Return
Mike Harris is set to return to the Rebels line up following a hamstring injury which kept him out of the Wallabies squad.
Harris has had limited game time this season after a quad injury kept him out for 10 weeks earlier in the season.
Rebels prop Laurie Weeks could also return if he undergo’s a successful fitness test.
Weeks tore his hamstring in the Rebels Round 10 match against the Blues.
The Rebels take on the Stormers on Saturday.
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Pools Named for Rio
The opponents for the Australian Sevens teams at the Rio Olympics have been confirmed.
The Australian Women’s Sevens team (the top seeded women’s team) will face USA, Fiji and Colombia in their pool.
The Men’s team will need to get through South Africa, France and Spain before proceeding to the knockout phase of the tournament.
The Sevens competitions will run over the first six days of the Olympics, with the women’s tournament starting first on the 6th of August.
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Ngatai Still Sidelined
Chiefs centre Charlie Ngatai has continued to suffer from concussion symptoms which kept him out of New Zealand’s test series against Wales.
Negate did not travel with the team to Fiji for their match against the Crusaders and Chiefs coach Dave Rennie is not prepared to risk him anytime soon.
“He’s turned a corner but it’s been six or seven weeks since he played, so from that point of view he probably needs a couple of weeks of conditioning and getting back into things before being even considered,” Rennie said.
“When you get a lot of injuries you bring other guys in who get exposed and improve.
“That’s why we are in a pretty good state and there are guys who played well in that Welsh game who are going to get another crack.”
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