Wednesday’s Rugby News sees the Rebels look to returning Wallabies, Kafer’s look to the future, Foley looking forward to his 100th and rookie Reds looks towards his debut Wallaby cap
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Rebel Reinforcement
Rebels fans can breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to a late finals push with the return of key Wallabies around the corner. Captain Tom English spoke with rugby.com.au and rated star halfback Will Genia a 50/50 chance to line up this week.
“Willy, I think it’s a 50/50 – he’s out there now, he’s just got a few more things to tick off with his running and fitness, by the looks of it, he’s been kicking well and been running well in rehab…I think it’s more of an issue of if and when.”
Genia is most likely to be rested with Fox Sports suggesting that he is little chance to be risked with crucial Super Rugby and international games still to be played.
Despite this, it is a welcome sign for all Rebel and Wallabies fans with the injury initially feared to Genia out for the upcoming test series against Ireland. News of this return will therefore, be music to Cheika’s and Wallabies fans ears and cause nightmares for the Irish.
English also revealed that flying winger Dale Haylett Petty is ready to return to the side for their upcoming clash. “Dane’s looking really well…I have full confidence that Dane will be back playing”.
The wave of returns and positive news has come at a perfect time for the Rebels as they look to push for their maiden finals appearance. They face a significant challenge this week in the form of the Sunwolves and their apparntly demi-god fly half to come out of New Zealand in Hayden Parker.
English was confident in his sides ability stating that he “had full confidence in the boys and the performance we’re putting in at the start of the year… we’d regain that form, it was just looking for ways to get back into that type of form”. He also believed that the high tempo style of rugby that the team was playing would suit their flyers such as Maddocks, Koroibete and Haylett Petty (fingers crossed) ensuring the match will be a perfect display of rugby at its finest.
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Kafer’s fate with the Future
It has become a common practice within certain rugby circles to constantly bash the skill level of the current crop of Australian talent after each passing defeat. Well, Rod Kafer is looking to ensure that this does not occur for future generations.
Speaking with The Australian, Kafer outlined the need to inject the necessary skills into the future of Australian rugby.
“How do we bring everyone into the tent and give them the skills to deliver this nationally?” Kafer asked. “What does the Player of the Future need to look like? To me, it’s a player who has got all the skills to play any game at any time.”
Kafer has looked to address this question through the creation of The Player of the Future summit meetings. These will be held iniatially on the June 20 and will look to design what the player of the future will need in order to succeed in their development of their rugby skills. He noted during commentary, the fluidity of ball skills and positioning that the Waratahs possessed during Cam Clark’s try against the Crusaders, as a perfect example of what he was trying to achieve with the creation of the summit.
It will look to bring together Australian’s rugby equivalent of Mensa (with far greater knowledge in my opinion) to develop the program which will include coaching royalty such as Rod Macqueen and Bob Dwyer, members of the National Coaching Panel, along with looking to include the current national and Super Rugby coaches.
A secondary, wider summit will be staged on July 2-3, to look at how these teachings can be passed down into the greater rugby community.
Kafer does not wish to “lay down the rules” on how to clean out or set a lineout, rather “focus on the skills, so that we can play any game at any time. So that whatever a coach wants to do, put his own secret sauce around it, he’s got options to do that.”
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Iceman turns milestone man
After his heroics in last weeks win over the Highlanders, Bernard Foley hopes to build off the performance with a win in his 100th Super Rugby match against the Chiefs. Speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald, Foley was focused on the task ahead and was trying to allude away the upcoming milestone.
“It’s quite a significant milestone and it definitely won’t sink in,” Foley said. “It’s something we can reflect on post the game or at a later date.”
“It’s always been great fun for me to get to play in this Waratahs jersey and I’ve loved every minute of it. The objective is to play and win games of footy, it’s not individual accolades.”
Foley made his debut for the club over 7 years ago and has consistently been one of the Waratahs high performaning flyhalfs, famously kicking the winning penalty in the 2014 Super Rugby Final.
With the excellent return of form (some would question if it was ever there) that the Waratahs have shown over the past three weeks. They have come within minutes of winning all 3 matches against their NZ rivals, and Foley believed that the team was capable of making a serious push for the title.
He told Fox Sports “If we keep turning up and doing the work … winning the competition is not out of our reach.” He referenced the efforts of their championship performance in 2014 believing that this experience has given their squad the belief that they can do it again.
Whilst these thoughts may have been outlandish and premature considering they have only just broke the winning drought against NZ teams, if they can repeat their performance against the Chiefs on Saturday, there is no doubt they will turn a lot of doubters into believers.
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Paenga-Amosa looks to solve hooker problems
As the Wallabies hooker options continue to fall faster than the Crusaders props, a bright prospect of Queensland and Australian rugby has put his hand up to take the role. Brandon Paenga-Amosa has burst into contention according to the Courier Mail after a strong season for the Reds.
With the retirement of Stephen Moore and the overseas departure of Tatafu Polota-Nau (so he can continue tackling people with his head), it has left Cheika with open positions in the hooker position, both starting and on the bench. An injury-ravaged season for the perceived first option Jordan Uelese has bolted Paenga-Amosa firmly into contention after his strong start to the season.
Panega-Amosa has thrived under the hard-nosed approach of coach Brad Thorn in becoming a solid and reliable lineout thrower, with the Reds’ functioning at 86 percent efficiency this season. Panega-Amosa has also impressed with a strong scrummage presence, his development evident in the rare domination of the Lions scrum in April.
Thorn has been able to polish the raw potential of Panega-Amosa during his brief tenure as coach and has set the youngster up as a long-term Wallaby candidate. His strong season has ensured that he is one of the brightest bolters heading into the team selection for the Irish series on May 30.
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