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Call in the cavalry: RA to rubber-stamp spring return for Skelton, Arnold
The Wallabies want Will Skelton, Rory Arnold and Tolu Latu to join their squad on the spring tour and Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan has all but thrown the door open to the trio.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Rugby Australia to tweak the current eligibility criteria - which states overseas-based players are only eligible for Wallabies selection if they have played 60 Tests and seven years of Super Rugby - to allow coach Dave Rennie to make two exceptions to the rule in his match-day squad.
https://www.watoday.com.au/sport/rug...26-p58uwg.html
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Wallabies Matches for Spring Tour
Opponent Venue Date Time Broadcast
- Japan Oita Sat Oct 23 2:45pm Nine, Stan Sport
- Scotland Murrayfield Stadium Mon Nov 8 1:15am
- England Twickenham Stadium Sun Nov 14 4:30am
- Wales Principality Stadium Sun Nov 21 4:30am
Last edited by .X.; 27-09-21 at 19:20.
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
Not sure I’ll be watching to many live at those times! 10.30 is a struggle these days 😂
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
The trio pretty much confirmed now.
Returns continue with Skelton’s five-year stint in Wallabies wilderness set to end
The Sydney Morning Herald
By Sam Phillips
October 7, 2021 — 4.37pm
Will Skelton will join a Wallabies squad for the first time in five years when Dave Rennie’s group travel to Europe for the final three Tests of the season.
After weeks of speculation about the potential return of Skelton, Rory Arnold and Tolu Latu, the Herald can reveal the Wallabies will have the three European-based stars at their disposal when they face Scotland at Murrayfield on November 7.
The full spring tour squad is expected to be revealed on Friday, but the trio will be named for the European leg.
They will not be available for the first Test of the tour, against Japan in Oita on October 23, as it falls outside the World Rugby international window.
But the return of Skelton, who was nominated for the European player of the year award in May, is a significant boost for a Wallabies team desperate to fill a void in the second row ahead of testing battles against Scotland, Eddie Jones’ England and Wales.
He will be joined by Arnold and Latu, who were last capped in the Wallabies’ quarter-final loss to England at 2019 World Cup.
After years of staying silent on the subject, Skelton spoke to AFP about a Herald report regarding his potential inclusion last week.
“Obviously, not being eligible is tough, not being able to put your hand up to play,” Skelton said.
“If the opportunity does come along I’ll definitely put my hand up. You can see how well they’re playing at the moment, and you miss that environment, the international field.“You almost ask yourself if you’ve still got it and good enough. You want to test yourself against the best. It would be awesome to link up. If it happens, it happens.”
Sources with knowledge of the situation told the Herald Kurtley Beale, who also played alongside Arnold and Latu at the last World Cup, will not be named in the squad.
Beale may be called upon if the Wallabies suffer injuries at fullback, where they are already missing first-choice option Tom Banks.
The other position with a selection dilemma is inside centre.
The Wallabies are sweating on an update on Samu Kerevi’s availability from medical staff.
At the very least, sources with knowledge of the situation said Kerevi will be available for the clash with England on November 13.
But the Wallabies are hopeful he will be able to return in time for the Test against Scotland, six days earlier.
If that timeline is too tight, Hunter Paisami will likely be named in the squad.
If Kerevi and the medical staff are confident he will be fit for the clash with Scotland, Paisami will stay at home to spend time with his young family.
Elsewhere, sources with knowledge of the situation dismissed talk Noah Lolesio and Harry Wilson have fallen out of favour with Rennie after strong debut seasons.
Wallabies selectors were forced to weigh up whether players would benefit more from a full preseason or very limited game time on tour, and decided Lolesio, Wilson, and a handful of other regulars would appreciate the former.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-u...07-p58y6d.html
Three Force players to make spring tour
Feleti, Tom and Isack included on Spring tour:
Wallabies squad for 2021 Spring Tour (Test caps, Club side and age)
Allan Alaalatoa (50, Brumbies, 27)
Rory Arnold (26, Stade Toulousain, 31)
Angus Bell (12, NSW Waratahs, 21)
Quade Cooper (74, Kintetsu Liners, 33)
Filipo Daugunu (6, Queensland Reds, 26)
Pone Fa’amausili* (uncapped, Melbourne Rebels, 24)
Folau Fainga’a (21, Brumbies, 26)
Lalakai Foketi* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 26)
Jake Gordon (10, NSW Waratahs, 28)
Reece Hodge (53, Melbourne Rebels, 27)
Michael Hooper (c) (115, NSW Waratahs, 29)
Len Ikitau (9, Brumbies, 23)
Feleti Kaitu’u (3, Western Force, 26)
Andrew Kellaway (9, Melbourne Rebels, 25)
Samu Kerevi (38, Suntory Sungoliath, 28)
Marika Koroibete (42, Panasonic Wildknights, 29)
Tolu Latu (19, Stade Francais, 28)
Rob Leota (2, Melbourne Rebels, 24)
Tate McDermott (11, Queensland Reds, 23)
Connal McInerney* (uncapped, Brumbies, 26)
Sean McMahon (27, Suntory Sungoliath, 27)
James O’Connor (57, Queensland Reds, 31)
Hunter Paisami (11, Queensland Reds, 23)
Izaia Perese* (uncapped, NSW Waratahs, 24)
Jordan Petaia (14, Queensland Reds, 21)
Matt Philip (19, Melbourne Rebels, 27)
Tom Robertson (26, Western Force, 26)
Izack Rodda (30, Western Force, 24)
Pete Samu (15, Brumbies, 29)
Will Skelton (18, Stade Rochelais, 29)
James Slipper (110, Brumbies, 32)
Darcy Swain (9, Brumbies, 24)
Lachlan Swinton (6, NSW Waratahs, 24)
Taniela Tupou (35, Queensland Reds, 25)
Rob Valetini (14, Brumbies, 23)
Nic White (43, Brumbies, 31)
Tom Wright (5, Brumbies, 24)
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
Looks a reasonable squad. McInerney is a weird one - even assuming BPA is unavailable for, I don't really understand how he could possibly be ahead of Mafi or Uelese. Also surprised they're persisting with Gordon.
Would've been nice to see Luke Morahan included while they're adding players based in Europe to address the problem at fullback.
It'll be interesting to see whether the hype about Skelton playing in Europe is deserved
And whether Latu can stay off the sauce long enough to play a game
C'mon the![]()
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So now it looks like we'll be without Koirebete, Hodge, Cooper, Kerevi & McMahon.....and it also looks like the 3rd amigo will get a phone call.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-from-uk-tests
At this stage, the only coverage of the Spring Test matches is with Amazon Prime. They hold worldwide TV Rights
I inquired to StanSport -
"will Stan be broadcasting the Wallabies European Tests next month?"
"Hi Simon, no news at this stage but we'll pass this along to our team for you."
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
I read somewhere that the rest of the Spring Tour would be on Kayo??
Well that's a bastard. I was taking it for granted Stan had rights - I thought their broadcast crew had said that on air??
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
You'd assume Rugby Australia would have the info available on their website but I guess keeping fans informed as to where to watch the games but apparently that's too hard.