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Rebels ready to get the job done without star halves

By Online Editors
Quade Cooper (Photo by Getty Images)

Melbourne Rebels vice-captain Sam Talakai says his Super Rugby side didn’t skip a beat when told star halves Will Genia and Quade Cooper weren’t starting against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.

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Despite the clash being a last-gasp chance to secure a maiden finals berth, Genia will miss the match under the Wallabies Test rotation policy while Cooper will start off the bench for the first time this season.

Even without finals riding on the result, the Crusaders present a formidable challenge as defending champions, runaway competition leaders and unbeaten at home in their past 27 games.

But Talakai said his team had full faith in their new halves combination with Wallabies recruit Matt Toomua getting his first crack at the Rebels No.10 jersey alongside Michael Ruru.

“We’ve got Matty Toomua in and Michael Ruru has played a lot of Super Rugby so we don’t lose that much belief in our team,” the prop said.

“We talk about having a squa d mentality – whoever gets a call on the team list has to step up and we believe in that next guy.”

The Rebels acknowledge they were out-muscled and out-smarted at the breakdown by the NSW Waratahs in their disappointing five point loss last round.

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Talakai said the Crusaders, who have veteran All Black Matt Todd returning at openside flanker, presented a slightly different challenge but one that they were ready for.

“They push the boundaries a lot, like all good Kiwi teams do,” Talakai said.

“We’ve worked on small tactics that we can hopefully put on them to get some clean ball for our backs.”

With two games remaining the Rebels must win at least one to keep their play-off hopes alive but Talakai said his team wasn’t feeling the pressure and rather felt privileged to be in such a position.

He said that rather than talking about results they were focused on playing well.

Despite their commanding lead on the overall Super Rugby ladder the Crus aders have only won two of their last five matches.

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Talakai said the Rebels couldn’t be pointing any fingers that their opponents were vulnerable.

“They’ve had a few slips but we are looking in our own backyard – we’ve had a few slips too so we are working on our own game and how we can be better.”

– AAP

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Jon 8 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 11 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.

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