Connolly to name initial World Cup squad
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November 27, 2006 - 2:10PM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/...476115981.html
John Connolly will name a preliminary 2007 Rugby World Cup squad of up to 50 players next week but he can't guarantee everyone from the Wallabies' tour of Europe will make it.
The players will assemble at the AIS in Canberra from January 3-5, when the Wallabies' coaches and management will outline their grand plans for the World Cup year.
Players will also undergo fitness checks to ensure they're ready to start a jampacked 2007 season, which kicks off with the Super 14 in February and concludes with the World Cup in France in September-October.
In between, the Wallabies will cram in seven Tests in nine weeks - two against Wales, then Japan and an abbreviated Tri Nations tournament involving two matches against both South Africa and New Zealand.
Every player at the three-day Canberra camp will also be given 15 minutes to talk privately with the coaches.
"And away we go," Connolly said. "It's then back to their states before we see them again in June."
Thirty-nine players featured on the spring tour, with the Western Force's Scott Fava and Queensland's Mitchell Chapman joining the party late as replacements for Reds back-rower Hugh McMeniman and NSW second-rower Dan Vickerman, who returned home injured.
Brumbies prop Nic Henderson gained a late inclusion when Test player Greg Holmes was ruled out three days before departure with a neck injury.
With Holmes, McMeniman and Vickerman, Connolly also considers halfbacks George Gregan and Sam Cordingley, hooker Jeremy Paul, back-rower Daniel Heenan and five-eighth Berrick Barnes - who were all unavailable to tour - integral to his World Cup plan, while NSW second-rower Al Kanaar and Waratahs prop Adam Freier are also in the mix.
The inclusion of several players who didn't tour is likely to come at the expense of at least "a couple" who did.
It is believed Henderson, Waratahs halfback Brett Sheehan, Brumbies midfielder Gene Fairbanks and veteran hookers Brendan Cannon and Tai McIsaac, from the Force, are under most pressure to retain their places in the Wallabies fold.
"That doesn't mean we'll have drawn a line through the names of anyone who doesn't make this squad," Connolly said.
"A lot depends on what their states do with some of them and how players perform during the Super 14."
Interestingly, Connolly plans to fly to Perth next week "to have a chat" with Force coach John Mitchell.
No doubt Matt Giteau will be a hot topic of conversation.
Giteau proved a revelation at halfback on the European tour but Mitchell is keen to play him at inside centre for the Force, which, if he did, would also mean Scott Staniforth, after making a strong debut at 12 for the Wallabies against Scotland on Saturday, will be denied a chance to line up in that position during the Super 14.
Where Giteau slots into the Australian backline next year is proving to be one of the selectors' biggest conundrums in the countdown to the World Cup.
Connolly said rugby league recruit Ryan Cross and boom five-eighth Kurtley Beale were unlikely to make the preliminary squad but were still in contention for a World Cup berth.
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