Rugby World Cup 2015: Wallabies rusty? No, they’ll be better for the rest says James Slipper
A HANDFUL of Wallabies stars won’t have played for five weeks but rustiness won’t be a problem for their World Cup opener, according to James Slipper.
A handful of Wallabies stars won’t have played for five weeks but rustiness won’t be a problem when the Wallabies kick off their World Cup campaign next week, according to James Slipper.
Australia’s heavy loss to New Zealand on August 15 in Auckland was the last time several leading Wallabies took the field, after Israel Folau, Stephen Moore, Michael Hooper, David Pocock, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Quade Cooper were all rested for the match against the USA earlier this month.
Fiji will be in full-flight next Thursday morning in Cardiff having already played a match but Slipper said there should be no issues arising from the stars having not played. In fact, he sees a five-week break as a positive.
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“Sometimes I reckon it is good,” Slipper said.
“Before that Springbok game I had five weeks off and I felt really good going into the game. A rest, especially for guys like Hoops who play a lot throughout the year, it can only benefit them to have a couple of weeks off.
“People like Hoops and Pocock, they don’t lose their fitness. they’re just that professional and they’re that fit anyway, sometimes it is for their own good that they have that rest and they come in firing.”
They won’t go in cold, with Wallabies’ physical training sessions simulating game intensity. But Hooper after missing the USA game he starting to get a bit antsy about getting the chance to tackle people other than his teammates.
“We are all just keen to get out there now,” Hooper said.
Whether Hooper and Pocock both start alongside each other again remains to be seen, and like his coach, the former flanker was giving nothing away this week.
“We have been training hard and in different combinations, so we don’t know if it is going to be seen again as players. I don’t know if Cheik has an idea yet,” Hooper said.
“If we start playing that combination we will run with it and be really excited about getting that better, considering we have only had one shot, and a couple off the bench.”
Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2015: Wallabies rusty? No, they’ll be better for the rest says James Slipper