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Forgotten Wallabies wing on Rennie's radar after Koroibete withdrawal

By Alex McLeod
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

A former Wallabies wing could be in line to make his first test appearance in five years following the withdrawal of Marika Koroibete from Australia’s end-of-year tour squad.

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Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie announced on Sunday that Koroibete, and prop Pone Fa’amausili, won’t tour with the Australian national side to Japan, Scotland, England and Wales due to family reasons and a calf injury, respectively.

The loss of Koroibete is particularly significant given his status as one of the key Wallabies players, as well as the fact that he has now played his last test as an Australian-based player before joining the Saitama Wild Knights in Japan on a four-year deal.

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However, Rugby Australia’s [RA’s] recent relaxation of the Giteau Law – which has enabled the return of Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi, Sean McMahon, Will Skelton, Rory Arnold and Tolu Latu this season – could allow Koroibete, who has 42 test caps to his name, to be part of future Wallabies squads.

For the time being, though, Rennie will be forced to make do with Koroibete’s absence as he looks for replacements from within his current squad, which has now shrunk to 35 players.

“Marika didn’t play the last game [against Argentina],” Rennie said from his side’s training base in Oita on Sunday ahead of this weekend’s clash against Japan.

“Jordy [Jordan Petaia] got a start, it gave Tom Wright a sniff. Off the bench, he played really well, so it is a position we’ve got a bit of depth in.

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“Marika’s an unbelievable player, massive work ethic and physicality, so big shoes to fill, but we’ve got good depth there.”

That hasn’t stopped Rennie from searching abroad for potential replacements to fill the void left by the 29-year-old.

RA’s new-look eligibility rules could prove to be helpful in Rennie’s quest to bring in extra players overseas as he pointed to three-test Bristol Bears wing Luke Morahan as a possibility to link up with the Wallabies squad in the United Kingdom.

It has been almost a decade since Morahan, the former Reds and Western Force flyer, made his debut for the Wallabies in Scotland’s famous 9-6 victory over the Australians in Newcastle in 2012.

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Morahan went on to make a further two outings for the Wallabies, both of which came in 2016 against England in Melbourne and France in Paris.

The following year, the 31-year-old relocated to England and has gone on to establish himself as a regular at Bristol under the tutelage of Pat Lam.

Given his fleeting appearances in the test arena, his age and the conditions of the Giteau Law, a test rugby comeback may have seemed beyond the realm of possibility for Morahan, but that could very well be on the cards under the current circumstances.

Having already revealed in recent weeks that he has kept an eye on Morahan’s progress in English and European club rugby, Rennie again outlined that the veteran speedster remains a chance at being called into the squad.

Working in Morahan’s favour is the fact that Rennie has ruled calling up Australian-based players as he made note of his commitment to providing those he omitted from his touring squad a full Super Rugby pre-season to continue their development.

“Yeah, possibly,” Rennie said when asked if Morahan could join the squad following Saturday’s test against Japan.

“Obviously we were watching him, as we’ve been looking at lots of players around the globe, so we’ll see how we come out of this tour.

“We’ve made a real commitment to the guys who were left behind to go straight on leave and come back in November to have a decent off-season, and we’re very focused on maintaining that, which will mean we won’t look back at home to try and bring someone over.”

It wouldn’t be the first time Rennie has called on an exiled player for international duty this year, as he gave Cooper and McMahon their first tests in four years against the Springboks and Los Pumas, respectively, during the Rugby Championship.

Similarly, McMahon’s Suntory Sungoliath teammate Kerevi made his first test appearance since the 2019 World Cup against the All Blacks in Perth, a feat set to be matched by French-based pair Arnold and Latu on the upcoming tour.

Skelton, meanwhile, will join 38-year-old prop Greg Holmeswho became the oldest Australian international since World War Two against Los Pumas earlier this month – in making his first outing in test rugby since 2016 in the coming weeks.

Regardless of whether or not Morahan is called into the squad, Rennie maintained that a decision on who will replace Koroibete, or Fa’amausili, won’t be made until the Wallabies arrive in the UK.

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J
Jon 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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