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Discarded Wallaby Jock Campbell backed for international revival
He was cast aside by Eddie Jones after making his Wallabies debut last year, but Queensland fullback Jock Campbell has been backed by Reds coach Les Kiss to return to national honours.
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The 28-year-old will play No.15 for the Reds against Japanese side Saitama Wild Knights at Ballymore on Saturday, and Kiss has backed him to again be in national selectors’ calculations after he played four Tests under former coach Dave Rennie.
Campbell came off the bench to replace Tom Banks in the 16-15 win over Scotland, then had his first run-on start against France, before playing Italy and Wales.
He was in Rennie’s Wallabies squad in January, but when Jones took charge Campbell was overlooked for Tests and the World Cup, playing for Australia A against Tonga in July.
Kiss said Campbell was “not kicking stones” and had the mentality and talent to get back and play for Australia.
“Jock is a driven young man. I don’t think he has a ‘me versus them’ mentality about this,” the coach said.
“He just wants to get better every day and really welcomed the fact that (assistant coach) Brad Davis has come in now and we are going to put more detail in our backs play.
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“He is hungry, as they all are, but he’s very determined to do what he can to get back into those (Wallabies) reckonings for sure.”
Kiss has named 11 debutants in the squad to play the Wild Knights.
Centre Lawson Creighton will captain Queensland for the first time and will be at the helm of a squad that boasts 10 players with Super Rugby experience.
Kiss, who said he inherited a squad in great shape from former coach Brad Thorn, said the clash with the Japanese outfit would provide a glimpse into the style of rugby he wanted the Reds to play under his stewardship.
“I want to become a team that’s very, very hard to beat and that’s very hard to work out … so that we’re creating options all the time, and I want a team that’s brave to pull the trigger,” he said.
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“I want my boys to play a progressive, aggressive style of rugby, while understanding the tenets of the game – the set piece and defence, and those things that set you up – but I want us to chance our arm a bit more and find out how good we can be.”
Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans believes his side will perform well against the Queensland Reds.
“This is a fixture we have reignited,” Deans said. “The first was in 1994. Last year the Reds came up and we …came second by some distance.
“This opportunity to travel, particularly for this group of players, is fantastic.
“We are using this time of the year to expose and develop the next tier, the next generation.
“We will be better for it and we hope to present better than we did last year.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Men should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
4 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
4 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
208 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
20 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
20 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
208 Go to comments“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
2 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
4 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
20 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
208 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
20 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
4 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
208 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
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