The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Nation assured that All Blacks' captain will play
- France poised to hand kicking duties to Parra
- It's not just about the biff for the Wallabies
| Nation assured that All Blacks' captain will play Posted: 12 Oct 2011 06:49 PM PDT AUCKLAND: A nation obsessing over Richie McCaw's injured right foot was assured on Thursday that the All Blacks captain will play in Sunday's rugby World Cup semi-final against Australia. McCaw is regarded as the best openside flanker in New Zealand history and his absence, after the departure of the equally accomplished Daniel Carter, would be a potentially crippling blow for the All Blacks. Speculation about McCaw's fitness was fueled on Wednesday when another openside flanker Matt Todd trained with the All Blacks and on Thursday Zealand assistant coach Steve Hansen pre-empted the expected barrage of questions at a morning news conference when he announced: "Richie McCaw's foot is fine." "Matt Todd is in Auckland and it just made common sense to have him here," Hansen added. "Now that doesn't mean to say that Richie's foot is any worse than it was, it doesn't mean that Richie is not playing on Sunday. "It just means that Matt Todd was in Auckland and that we wanted to use him for training as opposition. "Matt Todd is part of our wider training group and trained with us in Christchurch as did other players down there. We've had wider training group players come in for training at all the venues." Hansen said McCaw had not trained on the pitch last week and would probably not train again on the pitch this week until Friday. The 30-year-old loose forward missed two months of this year's Super 15 competition after a screw was inserted in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. He sat out New Zealand's final group match against Canada after missing the Japan match with a back injury but played against Argentina in last week's quarter-finals. "I think he played pretty well last week. It was a tough game last week for loose forwards, I thought, because the Pumas were outstanding defensively and got a lot of numbers in the breakdown. It was a tough game and I thought he played well," Hansen said. "We're very happy where we are with our loose forwards. Our loose forwards have got niggles but I'd suggest the other three sides, they'd all have niggles. That's what tournament rugby is about, the fittest stay the strongest and longest." The All Blacks will annnounce their team for Sunday's match against their trans-Tasman rivals Australia on Friday morning and are likely to retain the halfback combination which served them well against Argentina. In Carter's absence with a groin injury sustained during kicking practice, scrumhalf Piri Weepu assumed the kicking duties. Weepu succeeded with seven penalties from as many attempts, failing with a conversion only. Aaron Cruden, New Zealand's third choice at flyhalf, played impressively after Carter's understudy Colin Slade left the field with a groin injury. Hansen said reserve loose forward Adam Thomson, who was scheduled to have a fitness test on an injured ankle, was the only injury concern. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| France poised to hand kicking duties to Parra Posted: 12 Oct 2011 06:47 PM PDT AUCKLAND: France would appear ready to hand kicking duties to Morgan Parra for their rugby World Cup semi-final against Wales, as Dimitri Yachvili struggles to regain fitness. Scrumhalf Yachvili took a knock on his thigh in the quarter-final win over England and is still not 100 percent. It seems unlikely France will risk aggravating his injury by allowing him to kick on Saturday. "We have been trying to rest him this week," French kicking coach Gonzalo Quesada told reporters on Thursday. "He needs to be 100 percent - that is the objective. "Without going into too much detail, he is still in a certain amount of pain and the muscle affected is the one he would use to kick. "It certainly didn't help that he was kicking last week against England after he had injured his thigh." Yachvili had said on Wednesday that there was a risk he would not kick, and on Thursday team mate Parra said he was ready to step up. "Kicking is an extra pressure in itself but I am already used to it at club level," the Clermont Auvergne player told a news conference in a central Auckland hotel. "I have done it during this tournament and so if I have to kick I will. "I started practising my kicking again this week to back Dimitri up in case he cannot. "We have experienced issues like this in the past ... really it is up to him - he'll have to decide whether or not he wants to kick." France face Wales in the first semi-final on Saturday at Eden Park. On Sunday hosts New Zealand take on Australia. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| It's not just about the biff for the Wallabies Posted: 12 Oct 2011 06:46 PM PDT AUCKLAND: Australia need to rediscover their attacking verve to complement the physical aggression they displayed in their victory over South Africa to beat New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final this week, coaching coordinator David Nucifora said on Thursday. Australia put in a Herculean defensive effort to tackle their way to a dramatic victory over the 2007 champions in Wellington last weekend and set up Sunday's date with the number one side in the world at Eden Park. The Wallabies came into the World Cup with the reputation of being one of the world's best attacking sides and Nucifora said the players were aware they would need to rediscover that part of their game if they were to upset the hosts. "I don't think they took any reminding of the fact that this is going to go up a number of levels," he told reporters at the team hotel. "Obviously it was a great defensive effort and the work around the contact areas was very good. But, yeah, there were areas in our game - our attack and our lineout - a couple of things that needed to improve." All Blacks loose forward Kieran Read said earlier this week that New Zealand would be looking to dominate the Wallabies at the breakdown, but Nucifora thinks the match will not be decided by brute force alone. "It's certainly not just physical aggression that's going to win the game," he said. "You saw that last weekend in our match against the Springboks. There was a lot of skill and thought and you need to be accurate in what you're doing. "People just biffing their bodies around won't necessarily give you the outcome you're looking for." One result of last week's physical encounter against the Springboks was the hamstring injury to fullback Kurtley Beale and Nucifora said the team were still unsure whether he would be fit for the weekend. "He's progressing," he said. "We don't really have a totally clear idea just yet on whether he's going to make it for Sunday. "We'll look at him again tomorrow when we train and obviously we'll be a bit closer to making a decision whether he's going to be fit or not." Australia have taken every opportunity this week to talk up the pressure on the host nation and Nucifora took his chance when he was asked to recall how the country had reacted to their quarter-final exit from the last World Cup. "It was glum," said Nucifora, who was coach of the Auckland Blues at the time. "It means a heck of a lot to New Zealanders, the game of rugby, so I think that just puts a lot of pressure on their team. "The players know and the players understand the expectation that sits on their shoulders to win a World Cup. How they deal with that will be really important. "You only have to walk the streets, it's everywhere around you at the moment. The pressure is mounting, the expectation is there, it's been a long time and people want to win it." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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