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England clarify the wait-and-see Joe Cokanasiga situation
Kevin Sinfield has explained the England situation regarding Joe Cokanasiga, the winger who was deemed surplus to requirement in early August but is now back in the training mix in recent days.
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The 25-year-old was a starter in the opening Summer Nations Series match versus Wales on August 5, but he was excluded from the squad of 33 confirmed for the Rugby World Cup two days later.
He went back to Bath to continue his training there and has now been called back in by England and was present at Twickenham on Friday when they held their captain’s run ahead of Saturday’s final warm-up versus Fiji.
It was Thursday when England confirmed they had lost Anthony Watson for the duration of the finals and with Jonny May named to start against the Fijians, he is in pole position to fill that particular vacancy ahead of the August 28 World Rugby deadline for the final confirmation of the 33 for France 2023.
However, there are other injury concerns affecting England’s back three with Elliot Daly, a starter on successive Saturdays versus Wales and Ireland, now troubled by a knee issue. Henry Arundell, another starter in that August 12 home game versus the Welsh, is also currently unavailable with what was described on Thursday as “freak back spasm”.
This game of patience regarding the health of Daly and Arundell resulted in Cokanasiga rejoining the England squad this week and defence coach Sinfield described him as “the next one in” should another replacement be needed outside the likely May-for-Watson swap.
“Joe was in camp with us early on and did a wonderful job. At the minute until I suppose selection is confirmed and we get through tomorrow [Saturday], Joe is the next one in. He has been outstanding for us, and having him in the last couple of days has been great.”
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England have called on the services at training in the recent weeks of some players who didn’t make the World Cup squad, with May, Jonny Hill and now Cokanasiga amongst that group.
Sinfield paid tribute to the efforts this fringe has put in, setting aside their personal disappointments to ensure the chosen squad is as prepared as possible for a finals campaign commencing with the September 9 clash with Argentina in Marseille.
“They have been outstanding all of them,” he stressed. “Some of that has been the communication between Steve and the individual players as they have left camp.
“Often those conversations can be difficult but how Steve and those players involved have handled it has been exemplary and it’s great to see some of them back.
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“I’ve missed working with Joe and there are a number of others that have come back in. They are helping prepare the team for what is to come, which should never be forgotten.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
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