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Five Australians to look out for in the Heineken Cup
With the 2018 Heineken Cup looming and RugbyPass providing live coverage in Australia, we look at five of the best Aussie talents in the competition.
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MATT TOOMUA – Leicester
Wallabies playmaker Matt Toomua found himself back in the spotlight after leading the national side to victory over South Africa during this year’s Rugby Championship.
The 28-year-old has plied his trade with Leicester and will resume his partnership with England flyhalf George Ford upon his return to Welford Road.
The former Brumby has 38 Tests to his name, and his Leicester side are the only English team to have qualified for every iteration of the Heineken Cup.
WILL SKELTON – Saracens
Towering former Wallabies lock Will Skelton remains an on-pitch terror for opponents.
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After slimming down from 148kg to 135kg, the hulking Skelton will be looking to add to his trophy cabinet with a Heineken Cup win in 2018. He won the Premiership in his first season with Saracens, coming off the bench in last year’s final.
READ MORE: Skelton drops 18kg
Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall lovingly described the 26-year-old as the biggest human he has ever seen.
HENRY SPEIGHT – Ulster
Fijian-born winger Henry Speight joined Ulster after seven seasons and over 100 matches with the Brumbies.
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Possessing a perfect blend of pace and power, Speight heads north with 19 Wallabies caps to his name.
Speight will be around for the first two months of Heineken Cup competition before re-joining the Brumbies before the new year in hopes of a World Cup berth.
JOE TOMANE – Leinster
Former Brumbies utility and cross-code star Joe Tomane joins reigning champion Leinster after two years in France.
A background in rugby league makes Tomane a hard-hitting mercenary in the midfield or on the wing, where he will play outside the likes of Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose.
The addition of Tomane makes Leinster’s already devastating attack even more dangerous, giving Leo Cullen’s side a player of international quality they can turn to when their seven Ireland backs go into camp.
SCOTT FARDY – Leinster
Scott Fardy has achieved cult hero status since joining the Irish province in 2017.
The 39-Test Wallaby already has a PRO14 and Heineken Cup title to his name, and last year was a nominee for European Professional Club Rugby Player of the Year honours.
Capable of playing at lock or in the back row, Fardy is part of a star-studded forward pack featuring Irish internationals Devin Toner, James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong, Sean O’Brien and Dan Leavy.
At 34 years old, Fardy will be one of the elder statesmen in the pack as he tries to lead his side to another pair of titles.
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
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