Eddie Jones defends Cooper's form while Hooper is a 'long shot' for Bledisloe I
Wallabies co-captain Michael Hooper appears a long shot to face New Zealand in the opening Bledisloe Cup clash while coach Eddie Jones has defended the contribution of some of his stars.
The Australians are winless in their first two matches under returning coach Jones and face a mammoth task at the MCG next Saturday night against the unbeaten All Blacks.
With the second Test in Dunedin early next month, the Wallabies are looking to lift the prized trans-Tasman trophy for the first time since 2002, when Jones was in his first stint as coach.
Veteran flanker Hooper is still battling a calf injury that ruled him out of last weekend’s loss to Argentina, with a decision to be made on him over the weekend.
“He wasn’t able to train today and we’ll need to make a medical assessment of him over the weekend and see whether he can participate in the game or not,” Jones told reporters on Saturday.
“We’ve still got a week to go and calf injuries we tend to be more careful with their rehab than other injuries so medical staff are being pretty careful with him.”
Jones revealed that star prop Taniela Tupou had returned from the Australia A clash in Tonga unwell and could only manage his first run with the Wallabies on Saturday.
“If he can get through some some good training early in the week then he may be available for selection,” Jones said.
With Quade Cooper and Nic White in their 30s Jones was questioned about the lack of pace in his halves and also from inside centre Samu Kerevi.
He defended Cooper and Kerevi, saying they were tracking well for the Rugby World Cup, which gets underway in early September.
“We’ve got a number of players coming back from long-term injuries and then we know those players, as much as we like them to be at their best now, they’re not going to be their best until the World Cup,” the coach said.
“We’ don’t know where Quade’s going to end up – he’s still four games into returning from an Achilles tendon and Samu Kerevi is three or four games back from an ACL and they’re serious injuries.
“So with better exposure, the quality training and rugby training over the next period of time, they’re going to get a lot sharper.”
Jones dropped fullback Tom Wright from his squad following the losses to South Africa and Argentina with Andrew Kellaway and Jordan Petaia in the mix to wear the No.15 jersey.
Utility back Reece Hodge and backrower Pete Samu were also selection casualties.
“We need to improve the team, we haven’t been good enough in the first two games so I’m still searching for what our best team is, that’s quite obvious,” Jones said.
“I’ve only had the players for a short time and I need to find out what our best combinations are so Kellaway and Petaia are definitely options at 15 and both have trained there this week.
“These games, as important as they are and certainly against New Zealand and the Bledisloe Cup we treat them with the utmost importance, but I’ve got to find out who the best 33 is for Australia and this is part of the process.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Sorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
7 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to comments