Wednesday’s Rugby News has Cheika saying there’ll be a new XV for France, McMahon’s back from injury, and loads of news about Fiji including a potential Super team.
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New XV
Like always, Michael Cheika has a fiendish plot in his mind. This time, according to the SMH, it will involve a squad switcheroo for the game against France this weekend.
“I don’t think we played as well against Scotland as we did against Wales and I think that some other players should have the opportunity to get in there and have a go at it,” Cheika said.
“I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to pan out, whether it’s one or three or four [new players], I don’t know. But I’ll have a look at a few different things – at the demands players have had over the whole season as well. We’re right in the middle of this tour now and I’ll just see how that pans out.”
And drumroll for the pariah of the Wallabies wing, because the SMH reports that Luke Morahan is one of those new players who might find himself in a starting jersey.
“[Morahan] hasn’t got himself a start as yet [this year ]… he had one game off the finishers and I’m sure he’s eager,” Cheika said. “When I asked him about the possibility of going to Baabaas and then coming here, he was very keen on that idea because I think he’s still very hungry to play for Australia.”
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McMahon is Back
Tatted up Rebels flanker Sean McMahon is back, baby, and he intends to smash up the Wallabies backrow and the opposition, in no particular order. Ever since Lopeti Timani came into the side, the backrow has been looking fiercer that a sassy tiger, and McMahon knows it.
“It’s always been a hotly contested spot so really it’s just doing what I do and training as hard as I can at training and if I get the opportunity to break that then I have to prove that it’s my worth and I deserve to be out there because it’s a great back-row at the moment,” McMahon told Fox Sports.
“Timani is playing exceptionally well and it’s going to be a tough place to crack back into that backrow now.”
Now he’s back from “boring” rehab (“Training on your own sucks”) but he’s now ready to rip up the Wallabies training sessions. “It’s been looking good, I was back into the full swing last week and I was feeling really good so pretty excited to be back with the boys and training again to be honest.”
With the news that Cheika’s looking to put Morahan in the side, the Stade de France could be the venue for McMahon’s comeback.
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Fiji Super
The London Telegraph has an exclusive, it says. There’s plans afoot to create a Fijian Super rugby team, hopefully not in place of a team in Perth.
“It is understood that more than four global companies and two leading kit manufacturers have pledged to fund the proposal to create “the best club side in world rugby” on the island,” the article begins, noting that this plan has £20m worth of backing.
“The new team, which could be operational by 2018, would be based in a new 20,000-seat stadium included in plans to develop the Port Denarau Marina in Fiji, close to the island’s airport in Nadi.”
Ben Ryan, coach of the Fiji Sevens team, is in London at the moment and will be at the England vs Fiji game on the weekend. He’s been in the ear of anyone who would listen, selling the idea of a Fijian Super side.
“I believe the impact of this plan would see Fiji win the World Cup one day,” said Ryan, who is spearheading the initiative. “We have shown in sevens what we can do. And if you just look at the impact the Fiji players are having on the tier one countries, they are their star players in New Zealand, Australia, England and France.
“That generation has gone but the future players are there and we have to make sure they stay on the island and they get the right resource, the right coaching and the fundamentals around it, like we did with the sevens, so there is no reason why we can’t dominate.”
As always, the best bit will be when they decide a name (if this goes ahead).
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Fiji & Money Woes
Speaking of Fiji, and speaking of England, Fijian-born backrower Nathan Hughes will start for England against his native country on the weekend. What’s more, Hughes has come out and admitted he chose to play for England for the money.
“I would love for Fiji to have more resources, but it is the way it is,” he said, according to Planet Rugby. “They just have to deal with it and live on whatever they have got. There is a big difference and that is why people want to play rugby and how they survive. It is their bread and butter.
“That’s the decision I made – I play my rugby to support my family and put shelter over their heads. Back home it has all been positive comments, everyone happy and proud of the decision I have made. Last week was exciting for me and my family.”
English players have brokered a new deal with the RFU, and will now earn £20,000 ($32k) a game. Fijian players, by contrast, will earn only £400 for appearing against England.
So reports the Daily Mail, who add that despite the fact the RFU look to make up £10m from the game, they rejected the Fijian Union’s request for a cut of £150,000 of the proceeds. Moreover, the RFU last reported a turnover of £407.1m, with a profit of £102.3m.
“It’s fine for the big nations like South Africa because they get their pay day when England go back to play in Durban and Johannesburg,” a source apparently told the Daily Mail. “These guys rarely come to play in Fiji so there’s very little revenue there. It’s not reciprocated.”
“The Fiji players are only getting pocket money. They’re disappointed. A £150,000 allowance would have gone a long way because Fiji Rugby are working on a shoestring. They have a limited amount of kit because of things like excess-baggage costs.” [/one_half]
GRAND SLAM CRAFT BEER
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