Aussie sevens squad decimated for Delhi
Aussie sevens squad decimated for Delhi
By Jim Morton, AAP August 5, 2010, 2:10 pm
Just two months out from the Commonwealth Games, the carefully-laid plans of the improving Australian rugby sevens squad have been ruined by injuries and passport dramas.
Coach Mick O'Connor is coming to terms at being without up to nine of his leading players and is desperate for the reinforcement of some fringe Wallabies.
O'Connor must name a 12-man team for the Delhi Games next Thursday after a four-day training camp in Canberra but only eight of his initial 14-man squad are fit and available.
Key men Ed Quirk, Kimami Sitauti, Jacob Taylor, Clint Sills and Brian Sephania have just joined pivotal forward Henry Vanderglas on the injured list.
Back-up Ed Stubbs, who helped Australia to third in this year's IRB World Sevens Series, is also sidelined while officials are working overtime to see Brumbies back Brackin Karauria-Henry doesn't become the second to miss out due to his Kiwi passport.
Melbourne Rebels signing Richard Kingi, a star in Australia's 2009 sevens campaign, has already been barred due to the more stringent Commonwealth Games eligibility regulations.
The Australian Sports Commission is understood to be working on Karauria-Henry's behalf but O'Connor isn't overly confident of his citizenship being fast-tracked.
The former dual international is already eyeing off a trio of Super 14 players in Brumbies winger Pat McCabe, Western Force flyer Nick Cummins and Waratahs flanker Chris Alcock to fill the void.
The biggest hole is in the big man area with Vanderglas and Quirk, both sidelined by shoulder surgery, two of the best on the IRB circuit last season.
O'Connor will speak to Wallabies coach Robbie Deans on his return to Australia on Sunday and ask for a release of Test players he doesn't require for this month's two-week trip to South Africa.
"We're hoping to get one or two of the fringe Wallabies to shore things up," he told AAP. "We've just been hard hit by injuries.
"It's going to be a case of who's left standing.
"In saying that we'll still have a strong squad. We just have to get through the next few weeks."
Among O'Connor's fit troops are leading contributors Pat McCutcheon, James Stannard, Nick Phipps, Liam Gill, and Bernard Foley plus overlooked Wallabies Lachie Turner and Luke Morahan.
Defending gold medallists New Zealand, joint favourites with IRB champions Samoa, have named four All Blacks in their squad in Adam Thomson, Hosea Gear, Zac Guilford and Ben Smith.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...ted-for-delhi/
