Wednesday’s Rugby News has a optimistic Michael Cheika, more info on that coaching summit, the Scotland squad for June and Cooper Cronk back where he belongs?
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Cheika Upbeat
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika isn’t totally glum about Australian rugby, which is easy for him to say – he’s good at his job.
“I can understand why people might think it’s all doom and gloom – a hundred per cent. But it’s not from my perspective,” Cheika told AAP. “I know the Super Rugby form from our teams hasn’t been brilliant. No one can argue with that.
“But there’s been some good performances. We’ve been watching players individually in a lot of detail, not just the established guys but the new ones too, and there’s plenty to like.”
When quizzed about his own teams average win rate last year, Cheika put a positive spin on it.
“We started this last year and copped a bit of grief with our mixed results, about 50 per cent (of Test-match wins), but with the experience they’ve gained and a little bit of hardship, I think they’ll be better.
“I know people will say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ but we’ve got a good bunch of young guys in this (World Cup) cycle. Now it’s all about creating that competition and putting the squeeze on the older, established guys.”
And Cheika says his work will start now(ish)
“And that starts this weekend,” he said. “We have to change a few things, change attitudes and mindsets, but I still believe strongly in the guys we’ve got.
“June is going to be so important for us. There’s some big Test matches and we could be playing three teams in our (2019) World Cup group.
“I’ve been in teams where something just clicks and we’ll make sure we find what we need to make it click so that the guys will be ready to pull on the gold jersey and do it proud.”
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Coach Coach Coach
Cheika, skills coach Mick Byrne, World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer and Dick Marks will all be part of the coaching summit that was reported on yesterday. It’ll take place sometime late May.
Ben Whitaker, the ARU’s high performance manager, told rugby.com.au the following:
“It was probably more about how to coach and not what,” Whitaker said. “We’ve probably become all about what and not how. It’s a real art and a skill, teaching and changing behaviours.
“We just want to touch base and explore (different opinions) and what we think is there’ll be certain things that are in place now but there’ll be things that are quite different.
“It’s four pretty knowledgeable, important people that will investigate and probably come up with more questions – we’ll actually answer a couple – but probably come up with more.
“The next stage of development is how do we best consider and answer these questions?”
And guess who else is going to be there? GAGR’s own Bob Dwyer!
“A long time ago we were in the same situation and then we caught up and went past them (New Zealand) for a short period of time in the 90s and the early 2000s and now we’ve fallen way behind again, we need to do something about it,” he said.
“They learned a lot from us, they didn’t learn everything – they’ve obviously long been a big rugby nation since way back beyond.
“Nevertheless, took lessons from us and that ‘le vive difference’ they took out was worthwhile, they’ve applied it to their game and we’ve let it slip.”
“We need to see if we can identify where we let it slip and how we can indeed get back what we’ve lost and grow still further loads of stuff we can take from them and other sports around the world.”
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Scotland Scuad
Gregorrrrr (if written correctly in Scottish brogue) Townsend has named his squad to take on the Wallabies in June. Scotland also play Italy (in Singapore) and Fiji.
“We’re looking forward to what will be a challenging tour of three different countries, playing three quality sides,” said Townsend, according to the Daily Telegraph.
“This tour is all about learning and competing. As a coaching group we will be learning more about our players and how they perform in a different environment against three sides with contrasting styles of play.
“We have assembled a strong squad and this is an opportunity for them to work with us for the first time.”
Scotland have usual captain Greig Laidlaw, winger Tommy Seymour and fullback Stuart Hogg away on Lions duty. In Laidlaw’s stead will be John Barclay.
Scotland’s Squad:
Forwards: Alex Allan (Glasgow), Allan Dell (Edinburgh), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow), Gordon Reid (Glasgow), Fraser Brown (Glasgow), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), George Turner (Edinburgh), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Jonny Gray (Glasgow), Tim Swinson (Glasgow), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), John Barclay (c, Scarlets), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh), John Hardie (Edinburgh), Rob Harley (Glasgow), Josh Strauss (Glasgow), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow)
Backs: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh), Ali Price (Glasgow), Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow), Pete Horne (Glasgow), Finn Russell (Glasgow), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow), Nick Grigg (Glasgow), Matt Scott (Gloucester), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh), Ruaridh Jackson (Harlequins), Lee Jones (Glasgow), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Tim Visser (Harlequins)
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CoopTah Cronk
Turns out everyone’s been reading GAGR’s Facebook page, cos people are going nuts over the idea that Cooper Cronk could play for the Tahs.
This is what the Daily Telegraph says:
“Rumours of a Cronk code defection gathered momentum last weekend in the wake of the Waratahs’ 40-33 loss to the Auckland Blues in Sydney. Blues players are convinced Cronk is being targeted by the Waratahs. The whispers reached the ears of Auckland coach Tana Umaga…who has told rugby identities the Waratahs are keen to sign Cronk.”
It also adds: “His new life in Sydney next season, coupled with a reluctance to play against the Storm in rugby league, has opened the door for the Waratahs.”
NSWRU board member John Morrison:
“Cooper is an impressive fella and would fit into a rugby team, especially given his proven background in the sport,” Morrison said. “We have a strategy to develop our own, that is our first preference. There are some financial restrictions with the position we are in but our overall principle is to focus on bringing talent from within our own systems to Waratah level.
“But we’d talk to any player who is interested in playing rugby, particularly league players who have played for their state or country. We’d consider it, but until there is a definite approach, it remains speculation as to who would possibly come.
“He has the values and qualities that come with recruits that we would look at,” Morrison continued. “But in terms of the overall rugby league player, if they are interested in playing rugby, they have to come for the love of the game and that’s what we’re looking for.”
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