Waugh fighting for place on Spring tour
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Phil Waugh is under significant pressure to retain his spot on the Wallabies Spring tour in November 2008. Waugh was did not play against the All Blacks in Brisbane started the season regarded as the equal of George Smith but is now clearly down the pecking order after Smith excelled at every opportunity.
Phil Waugh, 28, has been a tireless performer for the Wallabies and Waratahs over the years but his time is looking nigh as a brood of young players emerge to take his place. The Ruck and Maul posed the question only several weeks ago if we have seen the end of Waugh and it seems we may have been on the mark then.
Waugh will struggle to hold his spot with Western Force young gun David Pocock, 20, and Richard Brown, 24, the debutant that had a cracker of a game breathing down his spot. Both players could easily be included in the squad ahead of Waugh and backup George Smith as the Wallabies openside flanker.
THe 33 man squad will be announced soon before the Wallabies go into a series of training camps before the end of season tour.
Fava signs with Waratahs
Scott Fava has been released by the Western Force and has been signed to a vacant squad spot for the NSW Waratahs in the 2009 Super 14 competition.
Fava who previously played for the Brumbies and was the first try scorer for the Western Force when they joined the competition sought an early release to be closer to his family.
Palu in doubt for November tour
Wycliff Palu is in doubt for the Wallabies tour of the northern hemishphere in November. Palu suffered a grade two knee injury in the first half of the clash against the All Blacks in Brisbane.
If the grade two injury is confirmed then Palu is likely to be out for up to six weeks which would cast considerable doubt on his tour prospects in November. Richard Brown who had a sensational match last night would be a certain starter in Palu’s position at the back of the scrum.
Waratahs add Matt Burke to coaching ranks
In a major coup for the NSW Waratahs, Matt Burke has been signed as the kicking coach for 2009. The signing of Burke has finalised the Waratahs coaching squad.
Burke is a Waratahs legend and is one of the finest players the Tahs have produced. His international career for the Wallabies was outstanding and he had a firm grasp of the fullback spot virtually until the time he left Australia, keeping Chris Latham from the role for a large part of his career.
Matt Burke is still the Waratahs highest points scorer with 1172 points and the second most capped player with 115 appearances between 1992 and 2004.
Michael Foley joins Waratahs
Wallabies forward coach Michael Foley has signed with the NSW Waratahs on a three year contract as the Waratah forwards coach under Chris Hickey.
His signature is a key signing for the Waratahs who have been working with Foley over recent seasons with his duties for the Wallabies taking him to all the Australian Super 14 teams. The work Foley has done with the NSW Waratahs forward pack has been strong as the Wallabies side has shown a greater resilience in recent times and are no longer the pushover they were several years ago when they were demolished by the Andy Sheridan and the English pack.
Michael Foley will end his association with the Wallabies at the end of the northern hemisphere tour and then take up his coaching role with the Waratahs.
Southern Hemisphere look at tour alternatives
Australia and New Zealand are looking at alternatives to the northern hemisphere touring teams visiting Australia and New Zealand in June. This comes after the disregard shown by northern hemisphere teams who have sent understrength teams here for the last few years.
This year saw one of the weakest touring teams to tour the respective countries in a critically undermanned French side that sported a team of virtual unknowns. The northern hemisphere teams are in a tough spot as they are sending teams at the end of a long and tough domestic competition and often the sides that arrive in Australia and New Zealand are struck by injuries and stars looking for a end of season break.
This has resulted in touring sides being cannon fodder for the big southern hemisphere teams. The northern hemisphere recently made some commitments after pressure from the ARU and NZRU to send their best sides and had recently assured their domestic competitions would finish by the end of May. However, despite this the French will not conclude their competition until the 6th June so it makes the whole commitment a joke.
In response to this the ARU ans NZRU have proposed a possible southern hemisphere plan where the All Blacks would tour Australia in June and play the Waratahs, Reds and Brumbies. This would be followed by the Wallabies going to New Zealand to play the Hurricanes, Blues and Crusaders.
Should this proceed it will likely be a huge positive for the region as it will draw huge crowds and return the ARU budget to a better position after they have taken a loss in recent in recent times especially with the French team that toured this year drawing lacklustre crowds.
Currently planned fo 2009, France are scheduled to play two Tests in New Zealand and one in Australia while Italy are also scheduled to tour Australia.
ARU open door to Overseas Players
The Australian Rugby Union have opened the door for overseas players to join domestic rugby teams such as the Force, Waratahs, Red and Brumbies. This is a major change for the ARU as they aim to keep the game developing in Australia.
At the moment it is still a proposal but is being finalised by the local unions with it to be put to an ARU vote on 5th September. The proposal is one that is likely to proceed as it provides a mouth watering opportunity to splash out and lure some big stars to the Australian Super 14 teams.
The most likely teams to splurge would be the NSW Waratahs and the Western Force who have a strong corporate sector to bankroll the teams. South Africa and the European countries have all embrased foreign players and the standard and appeal of the game in those countries has improved on the interest shown towards overseas based stars.
The introduction of overseas players would also provide some flexibility towards the expansion of the game in Australia should the Super 14 expand and Australia increase to five teams in the future.
Stade Francais sign McKenzie
Ewen McKenzie has signed to coach Stade Francais on a 3 year contract. McKenzie, who was dumped by the NSW Waratahs after a poor start to the season will be keen to advance his chances with the French side in a hope of being a future Wallabies coach.
McKenzie who was a member of the 1991 World Cup winning Wallabies side was told his contract would not be extended at after the 2008 Super 14 after the NSW Waratahs started poorly. The Waratahs went on to make the final of the Super 14 only to lose to the Canterbury Crusaders 20-12.
Luke Burgess
Luke Burgess, 24, started the year as the third choice Waratah half back and just two weeks after the Super 14 final he has been anointed as the new Wallabies half back. For Luke Burgess the opportunity has been a long time coming after being in the Brumbies program for several years but ranked as the third choice half back behind George Gregan and Patrick Phibbs, the future for Luke Burgess looked bleak.
A move from the Brumbies to link with the Waratahs for the 2008 Super 14 season provided the chance Burgess needed to get the break that has lead him to the Wallabies half back spot. Burgess impressed early in the season with some good performances off the bench but when he grabbed his chance midway through the season he did not look back and made the position his own. The reward for Luke is the Wallabies No 7. jersey for the first test of the season.
Chris Hickey - Waratahs Coach
Chris Hickey was today announced as the NSW Waratahs Head Coach for 2009, on a three year deal that the Waratahs will be hoping will bring them their first elusive Super 14 title.
Hickey repleaces Ewen McKenzie who has lead the Waratahs for the last five years and taken them to two unsuccessful Super 14 finals. Hickey has had a distinguished coaching career having taken his teams in Canberra and NSW to 11 grand finals in 14 years. This has included five premierships most recently with Eastwood in the NSW competition.