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Pump up Lote!!! Give us the trophy now, we are so winning it.
Fired-up Lote warns rivals
Article from: The Daily Telegraph
By Peter Jenkins
July 25, 2007 12:00am
CHASTENED wing star Lote Tuqiri fears for the Japanese rival he plans to monster on his Test return when the Wallabies open their World Cup quest.
The morning after the 30-man squad for the campaign in France was named, Tuqiri revealed the dual motivations fuelling him in the tournament countdown.
The hurt of a two-match suspension which forced him to miss the Bledisloe Cup decider, combined with the arrival of the global titles he has waited four years to revisit, has the dreadlocked dual international itching to make a memorable comeback.
The date, barring injury or a selection shock, will be September 8 against Japan in Lyon.
"I feel sorry for the first bloke playing me," he said. "I'll be ripping in that game for sure.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit cut about what went on with the suspension. I love those big games like the Bledisloe Cup. But it's time to move on and the World Cup is the biggest stage of anyone's career.
"I've got the chance now to do it again and I'm really pumped. I can't wait to get over there."
The season has been forgettable to date for arguably the game's highest-profile player.
There was the sending home from a pre-season camp for below par fitness, the infamous on-field shove of NSW teammate Sam Norton-Knight, a stand down from the first two Tests to sharpen his speed and the recent ban for an off-field indiscretion.
But Tuqiri admitted the lure of the 2007 World Cup is what kept him in the game when he first came off contract with the Australian Rugby Union in 2005.
"In my head I wanted to go to another World Cup and win it," he said. "We came close in 2003 and when you look back on your career, these are the tournaments you want to win.
"I've got another opportunity now and the first game, hopefully Japan, is going to be massive for me."
The tournament is also looming as an unforgettable experience for two other potential World Cup Wallabies awaiting their call-up for the campaign.
Veteran back-rower Matt Cockbain - whose last Test was in the 2003 World Cup final - only returned to Australia this year after a lengthy stint in Japan but is now one of three shadow players for doubtful back-rowers Wycliff Palu and David Lyons.
Cockbain, contracted to the Melbourne Rebels for the upcoming Australian Rugby Championship, will join the Wallabies in training next week along with fellow stand-bys James Horwill and Jone Tawake.
"When Knuckles rang me I was stunned, but who wouldn't want to do it," Cockbain said.
The other prospective recruit is rugby league great Andrew Johns, with Connolly admitting he was keen for the retired NRL sensation to link with the Wallabies as a kicking consultant.
Johns will be committed to the Channel 9 commentary team for the rugby league finals until the end of the World Cup pool rounds.
"But Andrew is very keen to go to the World Cup and he's trying to look into that at the moment," Connolly said.
"He's always been keen if it fits in and we've always been keen, so communication is going on."
While ARU official Pat Wilson told The Daily Telegraph two weeks ago there would be nothing happening on the Johns front because of his TV commitments, Connolly said: "It's never been off the agenda. It's a matter of working out what we can."
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