1
Wallabies forward pack primed and ready to 'dominate the World Cup'
Australian forward packs have previously relied on a combination of brains and brawn to get the better of their beefy rugby rivals, but not any more.
ADVERTISEMENT
Coach Eddie Jones said the heavy-weight Wallabies now had a forward pack capable of dominating the Rugby World Cup, which gets underway in Paris on Saturday (AEST).
Boasting the likes of prop Taniela Tupou and lock Will Skelton, who both weigh around 135kg, plus Angus Bell, Richie Arnold, Tom Hooper and Rob Valetini who are about the 120kg mark, it’s the biggest Australian pack assembled for a World Cup.
Jones said it changes the way the Wallabies can play, starting with forward specialists Georgia in their first pool game in Paris on Sunday (AEST).
“I never would have dreamt of coming to a press conference as a coach of Australia saying we’ve got a huge pack that could dominate the World Cup,” he said.
“We have, and we intend to use that to our advantage.
“We’ve got a really big, strong, fast pack that’s ready to take on the opposition and that starts with Georgia.”
Jones was excited by the platform the forwards could lay for Australia’s exciting backs.
“You get this almost like roller ball-type play and then you get an opportunity with your backs to take advantage of it,” Jones said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“(Samu) Kerevi coming back gives us another big running threat out wider, (Jordan) Petaia is starting to find his feet.
“We’re blessed with three great wingers, two will start and one off the bench that can win anything in the air.
“We look like a team that can score from a number of different places and a number of different sources.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Skipper Skelton has dropped around eight kilograms in the past three months to add more mobility to his game while No.8 Valetini said he was fighting fit.
“I don’t think we’ve ever trained as hard as we have,” Valetini said.
“We’ve been up to Darwin and done a couple of days up there and it was scorching and the past two weeks we’ve had here and in Saint-Etienne as well and we’ve been getting flogged out there so we’ve been doing all the hard yards.
“I think, as a team, our connection has grown through all the hard work that we’ve been doing which has been good for us.
“I feel like a lot of boys are in good nick and I feel like I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in, so I’m keen to go out there hopefully put in a good job for the boys and people can see the connection we’ve built and the hard work we’ve been doing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 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.
2 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
2 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?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments