Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Wallabies and Rebels star Matt To'omua commits to 2023 World Cup

By AAP
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Melbourne will kick off Super Rugby Trans-Tasman on a positive note with playmaker Matt To’omua committing to the Rebels and the Wallabies through to the 2023 World Cup.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 31-year-old was the Rebels’ best player through Super Rugby AU, which ended in disappointment with the team missing the finals.

The Rugby Union Players Association president, To’omua stepped up into the captaincy role with regular skipper Dane Haylett-Petty sidelined with ongoing concussion symptoms.

Video Spacer

The Spirit of Rugby | Episode 1 | RugbyPass

Video Spacer

The Spirit of Rugby | Episode 1 | RugbyPass

Haylett-Petty is considering his playing future after the return of headaches last week following his first match in six months.

Melbourne saw To’omua as a priority signing, particularly with some uncertainty at the club with the resignation of coach Dave Wessels following the completion of Super Rugby AU.

Assistant coach Kevin Foote has taken over the reins for the six-week Trans-Tasman competition, with the Rebels hosting the Blues at AAMI Park on Saturday night.

While the 54-test Wallabies ace could have commanded far more money shifting his career overseas, the Rebels’ business connections have helped keep him in Melbourne.

ADVERTISEMENT

He is being mentored by Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley.

With a number of his own business interests including a cafe and armed with a MBA, Toomua this week joined the board of Tenpin Bowling Australia.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

N
Nickers 2 hours ago
The changes Scott Robertson must make to address All Blacks’ bench woes

Hopefully Robertson and co aren't applying this type of thinking to their selections, although some of their moves this year have suggested that might be the case.


The first half of Foster's tenure, when he was surrounded by coaches who were not up to the task, was disastrous due to this type of reactionary chopping and changing. No clear plan of the direction of travel or what needs to be built to get there. Just constant tinkering. A player gets dropped one week, on the bench the next, back to starting the next, dropped for the next week again. Add in injuries and other variations of this selection pattern, combined with vastly different game plans from one week to the next and it's no wonder the team isn't clicking on attack and are making incredibly basic errors on both sides of the ball.


When Schmidt and Ryan got involved selections became far more consistent and the game plan far simpler and the dividends were instant, and they accepted bad performances as part of building towards the world cup. They were able to distinguish between bad plans and bad execution and by the time the finals rolled around they were playing their best rugby as a team.


Chopping and changing the team each week sends the signal that you don't really know what you are doing or why, and you are just reacting to what happened last week, selecting a team to replay the previous game rather than preparing for the next one and building for the future.

12 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'This is the most significant season in Premiership history' Mick Cleary: 'This is the most significant season in Premiership history'
Search