Wednesday’s rugby news has key Brumbies returning, a new Wallaby jersey, three Sharks departing and the highest paid players named.
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Speight and Toomua back
The Brumbies have announced that they expect to have Wallabies duo Matt Toomua and Henry Speight available for this weekend’s crucial Super Rugby match against the Crusaders. Toomua missed last week’s match against the Western Force with an ankle injury while Speight rolled his ankle during the match and had to come off in the second half.
Half-back Nic White said that Stephen Larkham will most likely play Toomua at inside centre and keep Christian Lealiifano at flyhalf, adding, “We’ve got good depth, but both of those guys are world class and having them is a huge boost.”
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RWC jersey unveiled
The ARU have unveiled the Wallabies’ new 2015 World Cup playing strip, with scientists from ASICS head office in Japan coming to Canberra to conduct tests for the jersey
“They said two things: they wanted the jersey to be lighter, and secondly they wanted the jersey to be harder to grab, so they were the two things we wanted to deliver when we started developing the 2015 jersey,” said ASICS Australian general manager of marketing Sam Chew. The near-fluro yellow design has been hammered by fans though
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Carter tops rich list
To mark Rugby World Cup year, American website wealthwrapup.com has turned its sights on the game’s highest paid players. The top 10 earners are dominated by players appearing – or in Carter’s case, about to appear – in the French Top 14 club scene.
The five highest paid players named were; 1 Dan Carter (Racing Metro and New Zealand) $2million, 2 Matt Giteau (Toulon and Australia) $1.4million, 3 Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon and Wales) $1.2million 4 Sam Burgess (Bath and England) $1million and 5 Johnny Sexton (Racing Metro and Ireland) $1million.
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Trio leaving Sharks
South Africa’s Sharks have confirmed the departure of three of their key Springbok players at the end of the Super Rugby season as their rebuilding starts for the next campaign. The Du Plessis brothers, hooker Bismark and prop Jannie, as well as loose-forward Willem Alberts will all leave after Saturday’s final match of the regular season.
Their next destinations have not officially been made known, but it has been reported in local media that all will head for France’s Top 14 competition. The Du Plessis brothers are reported to be heading to Montpellier in France, while Alberts is likely to play for Stade Francais.
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