Wednesday’s Rugby News confirms the resigning of a young Wallaby prop, Rob Horne details his struggles with life after injury, Fiji’s place in the NRC confirmed for future and England’s injury curse continues.
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Young bull staying in green and gold pastures
As the Wallabies set to jet off on their Rugby Contiki across Europe, they have been boosted by the resigning of Allan Alaalatoa (commonly referred to as 7 A’s in the comments section) for the next 4 years.
Alaalatoa has signed on with Rugby Australia and the Brumbies until the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and saw the decision to remain in home paddocks as an easy one.
“I was already contracted for next year but when the opportunity came up to stay until the next Rugby World Cup, I discussed it with my family and the decision was a pretty easy one” he said.
“There was a bit of interest from overseas which is always something you consider but for me, first and foremost, was to stay with Australian Rugby and the Brumbies. There’s a great future ahead for the Wallabies. We have a young squad that’s developing each year so I’m just excited to hopefully be part of this group and what it can achieve”
Alaalatoa has been one of the best prospects for Australia and the Brumbies this year, fighting off centurion Sekope Kepu and Thor himself to lock down the number 3 jersey. The importance of him and the other tight 5 has been recognised as the Wallabies real strength ahead of the Spring Tour and World Cup by halfback Will Genia.
“We want to get the best out of the best players we have and our tight forwards in particular. That’s our biggest strength,” Genia said. “We’ve got some of the best carrying tight forwards in the game. Guys like Allan, Keps, Scotty, Folau, Tolu. We have spoken a lot about utilising that strength and then later on the variation coming by playing out the back.”
Whilst speaking about the Spring Tour, Genia has continued his optimistic outlook within the media, confident in the side’s ability to go undefeated in the tour.
“We go out there to win every game. Some blokes are afraid to say it but we go out there to win every game,” he said.
“We are going to Wales, we are going to England and that’s the mindset that we have. The difference for me is that I feel like there is growth in particular areas of our game that we have put a focus on and defence is one of those.”
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Horne facing a new opposition
Rob Horne has opened up about the damaging injury that cut short his promising career and the struggles that he now faces during his day to day life.
Horne was injured in his captaincy debut earlier this year when he collapsed on the field 14 seconds into the match after making a routine tackle against Lecister.
Further results showed that Horne damaged his brachial plexus (the network of nerves that conduct signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm and hand) so badly that all five nerves separated from his spinal cord, rendering him with full limb paralysis in his right arm.
Horne has returned to Australia to spread awareness about the freak accident and has been seeking a variety of treatments and coping mechanisms to deal with a pain that he describes as “10/10″ on a daily basis.
I have lived with a level 10/10 chronic pain since the day of my injury…With most nerve injuries, there’s constant, chronic pain, but you find ways to deal with that” Horne said during a headlining talk spreading awareness about chronic pain
“Part of the process has been speaking with people who have sustained the same injury, both from within, and external to sport. Sharing common experiences is a way of moving forward, which is why I’m honoured to be the national ambassador for the ‘taking back control of my chronic pain’ roadshow.”
The incident was heartbreaking to hear as a Waratahs and Wallabies fan as he always was a consistently solid performer who gave it his all game by game. The mark of his character is the fact that the old enemy was so infatuated by his character and performances that they played a testimonial match for him at the home of English rugby at Twickenham.
Hopefully, Horne can continue to progress in his rehabilitation and his management of his pain along with raising awareness about the issue.
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Drua guaranteed spot for (economic) life
After their scintillating performance during the 2018 NRC season, culminating in their victory over Queensland Country, the Fijian Drua have been guaranteed a spot for life in the competition, as long as they remain financially viable.
The Drua have become a vital part of the competition since their inception in 2017, making the finals in both years and Rugby Australia expects the side to be around for many competitions to come.
“We included them on the basis that they covered all costs associated with their involvement and that continues” Rugby AU high-performance manager Ben Whitaker said.
“I think you look at the quality of footy they’ve played this year and certainly on Saturday afternoon and that’s the type of rugby we want our players to be tested against.”
The Fijian side had been looking to get into either the revamped Super Rugby competition or the World Series Rugby competition, however, this is not expected to affect their future in the NRC.
“I know World Rugby are committed, Fiji rugby are committed and we’re committed (to having the Drua in the NRC),” Whittaker said.
“There are a few things happening in their world, which I don’t think will interfere with them being in the NRC, but they’ve got some offers to play in other competitions as we know – whether it be World Series Rugby or the new term for that (in 2019). Schedule-wise definitely, they could play both.”
Whittaker has ruled out any further expansion into the Pacific, on the back of expressions of interest from Samoa and Tonga in joining their Islander neighbours in the competition, something which should be considered for the future of rugby in the Pacific.
“Some of the Pacific nations aren’t at the stage that Fiji is in the evolution of their system,” he said. “We remain open to looking at ways of improving and enhancing but right now, Id’ say no.”
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The bed that wasn’t quite right
In one of the craziest injuries in recent memory, England Lock Courtney Lawes has been ruled out of their clash against South Africa due to a back injury.
The injury was suffered before Northampton’s defeat by Leicester in early October when Lawes was pulled out of the match during to suffering back spasms as a result of a bed that was too small for his 2m frame.
“Courtney had a walk-through on Wednesday and realised it wasn’t right,” England coach Eddie Jones said. “He was investigated here, we couldn’t get the required treatment here so had to send him back.”
“He missed two games for Northampton. He came back and played a game but it hasn’t really rectified itself. We’re hopeful he’ll do some light training on Tuesday.”
Lawes is a massive (literally) loss for the English side, who can’t afford to lose someone with his experience and quality so close to the Spring Tour
“He’s a 60 capper, a Lions player, great ball carrier, a good defender. A big loss, so we’ve just got to pick up the slack.” said coach Eddie Jones. He is expected to be replaced by George Kruis who will partner Maro Itoje in the second row.
This continues England’s terrible run with injury, who were already missing 16 players for their November internationals against the Springboks, New Zealand and the Wallabies, including Billy and Mako Vunipolo, Joe Launchbury, Chris Robshaw, Ben Teo and Sam Simmonds. Seems that the English have been cursed at the worst possible time for them, I’ll be looking in the comments sections for potential suspects.
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