Wednesday’s rugby news has the Brumbies bracing for a front row battle, the Tahs banning their opposing mascot, the Sevens team going poaching and an interesting claim from a South African sports scientist.
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Brumbies props face challenge
Brumbies director of rugby Laurie Fisher has challenged Scott Sio to step up against an experienced Waratahs forward pack in this weekend’s match-up. “Scotty [Sio] has developed into a Test player, but by no means is he the finished product,” Fisher said. “He needs to bring a real edge to his game on Saturday and that’s his challenge.”
The Tahs played off their set-piece dominance, cruising to a 39-8 win over the Brumbies less than a month ago. Fisher blamed the loss on the inability of the ACT forwards to match their opponents in physicality or work-rate. [/one_half]
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Tahs ban Brumby Jack
Brumby Jack, the ACT mascot, has been banned from the sidelines in this weekend’s match and will be forced to sit in the stands during the Australian derby. That means no clash between Brumby Jack and the NSW mascot Tah Man unfortunately.
Meanwhile, the Brumbies have dismissed the influence of their previous loss to the Waratahs, saying that the NSW tag of favourites will mean nothing when the two teams take the field. “The result won’t be determined by who’s favourite, the result will be determined by who plays best on the night,” Laurie Fisher said. [/one_half]
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7s going after top athletes
Australia’s new rugby sevens coach Geraint John is planning to poach players from the NRL, AFL and even track and field stars for the new Olympic format. The plan to convert prospective athletes may be too late for the upcoming Rio Olympics, with John affirming that he will stick to possible 15-a-side stars, but he said a wider scope of talent will definitely be in the works for the subsequent Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
“Things like this may come about more after the Olympics, than before, when people see what happens in Rio,” John said. “Tell any player – you’ve got an opportunity to go to an Olympics. It’s a big carrot for any athlete.” [/one_half]
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Travel worth five points
A South African sports scientist has scoured through many Super Rugby results to come to the conclusion that the Sharks start 10 points behind the Crusaders in Saturday night’s Super Rugby semifinal. “Looking over the results, simple home-ground advantage is worth about five points, while travel is worth about another five points,” Dr Ross Tucker said.
The Sharks arrived in Christchurch last night after beating the Highlanders, ready to play the Crusaders who have enjoyed a rest weekend. To make matters worse, the Crusaders have never lost a Super Rugby playoff match at home. [/one_half]
