Quade Cooper has been omitted from Michael Cheika’s extended Wallabies squad ahead of next month’s Bledisloe Cup opener against the All
Kyle Clifford Youth Jersey Blacks, although the coach indicated the decision would not spell the end of the flashy but often unpredictable playmaker’s international career. The move leaves Bernard Foley as the only specialist flyhalf in the extended squad picked by Cheika for a series of training camps starting north of Sydney next week. Kurtley Beale, a utility back who recently returned from England, was recalled to the squad for the first time since the 2015 World Cup and is only other potential No10 in the initial group. Under-prepared Wallabies need match-hardened Brumbies for Bledisloe Cup Read more Cooper’s omission is his first based on form since former Wallaby coach Robbie Deans left him out of the 2013 British and Irish Lions series. “One of the big things is for him to look like he’s enjoying his footy and getting out there and really being a competitor for that 10 jersey,” Cheika said. “We have had a talk about the reasons why and obviously a lot of that is around trying to get him back into the space where he can be that player that is going to get us around the park and do the stuff we want him to do. I don’t feel like that has been happening. I really want to
http://www.officialkingsteamstore.com/Luc_Robitaille_Jerseygive him a clear picture of how to get back into the scene and put himself out there for selection.” Eleven uncapped players were named in the initial 40-man group, which excludes ACT Brumbies players set to contest a Super Rugby playoff against the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday. Backrower Scott Higginbotham, who has played 34 Tests for Australia, was one of the other notable omissions. Western Force props Pek Cowan and Tetera Faulkner were rewarded for their Super Rugby form and are back in the national frame for the first time since their last tests in 2014. The Test squad will be chosen in the first week of August. “We have a lot of work to get done between now and 9 August when we play New Zealand in Sydney,” Cheika said. “That work started in June, we tried to maintain some of that throughout the last rounds of Super Rugby and now we start to take it up a level.” Australian train-on squad: Forwards: Jermaine Ainsley, Adam Coleman, Pek Cowan, Jack Dempsey, Kane Douglas, Sef Fa’agase, Tetera Faulkner, Ned Hanigan
Norichika Aoki Womens Jersey Richard Hardwick, Michael Hooper, Sekope Kepu, Adam Korczyk, Tolu Latu, Sean McMahon, Stephen Moore (captain), Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson, Izack Rodda, Rob Simmons, Lopeti Timani, Taniela Tupou, Jordan Uelese. Backs: Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Karmichael Hunt, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Campbell Magnay, Billy Meakes, Eto Nabuli, Sefa Naivalu, Izaia Perese, Nick Phipps, Curtis Rona only one Australian team in the Super Rugby playoffs, the Wallabies are in real danger of being badly under-prepared when they face the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney on August 19. The Brumbies are Australia’s sole representatives in the playoffs, while four of the five New Zealand teams have reached the top eight as well as three South African sides. Wallabies coach Michael Cheika lamented the lack of fitness in the Australian squad during the June Tests against Fiji, Scotland and Italy, but the situation is about to get a lot worse. When the Wallabies kick off their Bledisloe Cup/Rugby Championship campaign, the vast majority of the squad will not have played a game for over a month, which means the players will be severely lacking in match fitness. Cheika has organised three training camps for the Wallabies in Newcastle, Cessnock and Penrith and no doubt will work them hard, but there is no substitute for playing games. Even if Cheika holds inter-squad matches, it will not be the same as the real thing. Move an Australian Super Rugby club to Japan and solve ARU problems Bret Harris Read more Conversely, the All Blacks will be well primed after a highly physical and intense Test series against the British and Irish Lions, and you would have to think Kiwi teams will be involved in every stage of the Super Rugby playoffs. This very worrying problem for the Wallabies could be alleviated to an extent if the Brumbies somehow managed to reach the Super Rugby final, but realistically how likely is this to occur? Australian teams have lost all 25 regular season games against New Zealand opposition this season. It would be asking a lot for the Brumbies to upset the defending champions, the Hurricanes, in their quarter-final in Canberra on Friday night. The vagaries of the Super Rugby conference system, however, give the Brumbies an unlikely chance to at least advance to the semi-finals. If playoff places were determined by overall competition points, the Brumbies would not have made the top eight. They would have been in ninth place with 34 points. But because the Brumbies finished on top of the weak Australian conference - which included four of the seven last-placed
http://www.officialmarinershop.com/Randy_Johnson_Jerseyteams on the combined table - they gained automatic entry to the playoffs and home-ground advantage in the quarter-final.
