Wallabies return over for Ashley-Cooper

[jono]

Beth Newman


Adam Ashley-Cooper will not play any further part in the Rugby Championship, with the Wallabies veteran set to return to France this wee

The 116-Test Wallaby will fly back to Bordeaux in the coming days to line up in the Top 14 in the next fortnight.



Ashley-Cooper had been given a release from Bordeaux for part of the Rugby Championship, though the winger has said in recent weeks that his availability was an ongoing negotiation with Bordeaux

At the airport ahead of their trip to Wellington last week, Ashley-Cooper said his availability would be ‘reviewed’ after the weekend

“For the European-based players like myself that's an ongoing conversation that I'm having with my club president back in France and Cheik here,” he said at the time

“So we'll review that after this weekend.


“From the start, the initial discussion was with Cheik that I was coming back for the first two Tests and then it's an ongoing conversation.

“So, it was pretty open from the start.”

Bordeaux president Laurent Marti had expressed his frustration at the ARU in having to release Ashley-Cooper, who signed with the French club before the introduction of the “Giteau Law” that allowed players with more than 60 Test caps to return to the Wallabies from overseas clubs.

"Yes, I'm annoyed. Adam had told me that he would stop playing for the national side. He had the power to say no to his coach and his federation... he should have told me when we were carrying out our negotiations," Marti told Sud-Ouest at the time.


Ashley-Cooper had cited the Bledisloe Cup as his main motivation for returning to Australia and with that now out of the Wallabies’ reach, it is unclear whether he will add to his current Test tally.

His and the other European players’ availability for the final Bledisloe was never guaranteed, with the Eden Park Test falling outside of the Regulation nine window for Test release, coming after the Rugby Championship.

Ashley-Cooper is not the first returning player to head back to France - Matt Giteau has already returned to Toulon to recover from an ankle injury, lasting just 11 minutes of this series.

Winger Drew Mitchell is yet to play a part in the Rugby Championship, still working his way back to fitness.

Will Genia has proven to be the bright spot for the European Wallabies, showing solid form in the two Bledisloe Tests, and the only player to make it through both matches unscathed.


http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2016/09.../aac-departure

[Kalahard]

Time to shift focus towards building a team for the 2019 RWC. Pick players in their best positions. Pick a 8 who is actually an 8. Pick one openside. Pick a 10, 12 combo that can manage a game. Anyone over the age of 27 who isn't an absolute must starter should be replaced by the best guy we have 23 and under and lets build a test team.
Sadly i don't think Cheika has the ability to build a team. He won the Irish league with basically the whole Irish national team playing for him, he parachutes into the Waratahs job full of talent and sneaks in a Super Rugby title but has he ever built a team? Since the World Cup where we beat some average teams and got lucky against Scotland, there has been little evidence to suggest Cheika knows anything about moulding a team other than being a flash in the pan who thinks being a bully boy makes you tough.
There is 3 and a half years until the next World Cup. The time to develop a team capable of winning big matches consistently is now.

[yungfen]

I agree 100% with Kala it is time to build a team for the next World Cup and as he pointed out get specialist players in the one position.
It most probably will have a few bad results to begin with but at least it would be a team learning the ropes together. And also we have lost all of our games this year so cant get much worse!

[GIGS20]

I think the issue is deeper than Cheika's inability to build. I think it strikes at the deepest heart of Australian rugby and the cause is rooted deeply in the system, beginning at the grassroots.

Hopefully Mick Byrne will be the catalyst for a revival. He knows the inside view of the most successful international rugby player factory in the history of the game and (should he be allowed to have input) will be able to see the differences and act upon them.

Unfortunately, the biggest difference between the yardstick and us is the unity of thought in the entire nation. Everybody seems to get the idea that club rivalry goes out the window when the NZRU asks for something to occur...that probably works because NZRU is seen as capable, or impartial, or fair, or a mixture of all three. In contrast, we have clubs (at every level of the game) in Australia who are delighted to shit on the bigger picture in order to protect their own little kingdom.

(for those of you who think that's a dig at club rugby, you're wrong. I have been told repeatedly that I don't know enough about club rugby to comment, I was talking QRU and NZRU in that instance)

[jargan83]

Have you played Club Rugby in NZ GIGS?

[travelling_gerry]

Yup, All Black trialist

[Alison]

I agree 100% with Kala it is time to build a team for the next World Cup and as he pointed out get specialist players in the one position.
It most probably will have a few bad results to begin with but at least it would be a team learning the ropes together. And also we have lost all of our games this year so cant get much worse!

I totally agree too. Cheika is like the emperor's new clothes!

[shasta]

Yup, just another All Black trialist

Fixed that for ya Gerry.