Payto & Panda: Matt Toomua in World Cup plans, Daryl Gibson set to stay at Tahs and Souths’ pride in new Wallaby
MATT Toomua back in Wallaby gold at the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year? Don’t rule it out, even with Toomua contracted to the Leicester Tigers until mid-2020. Check out all the rugby goss here!
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MATT Toomua back in Wallaby gold at the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year? Don’t rule it out, even with Toomua contracted to the Leicester Tigers until mid-2020.
We hear talks are bubbling away between Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, Toomua and his management about a deal that could open a door for the 33-cap Wallaby to play in the World Cup.
Toomua left Aussie rugby after the 2015 World Cup on a three-year contract with the famous Tigers club, and after extending the deal for another two seasons at the end of last year, it appeared his World Cup chances were gone.
Not so, or at least not in Cheika’s mind. The plan would be for Toomua to next year sign with a Super Rugby franchise for when his Tigers contract ends in 2020. That would, under RA guidelines, make him eligible for the Wallabies in the World Cup.
But unlike Dean Mumm, who came back from Exeter for good ahead of the 2015 World Cup, Toomua would return to Leicester to play out his final season.
And that is where it gets murky for RA. Given the global calendar kicks in 2020, Toomua’s English season would likely end at the same time as Super Rugby (end of June). So while he could have a contract starting in 2020, there’d be every chance Toomua wouldn’t play Super Rugby until 2021.
That sort of wrangling, while theoretically possible, may not go down well with some Australian-based players.
GIBSON WON’T SAY TAH TAH TO TAHS
Daryl Gibson is edging closer towards re-signing for another season as Waratahs coach. Gibson is off contract at the end of the year, and he told us recently he wanted to stay one more season with the Tahs.
NSW officials said they were in no rush and would judge the Waratahs’ performances this year. The team’s competitive month against the Kiwi teams — which was 1-3 but could have easily been more — and a big win against the Reds has Gibson in the box seat to get his wish and be retained.
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Impressive Tahs forwards coach Simon Cron, who is said to have made a big impact this season, and returning ex-skipper Chris Whitaker would be then lined up to succeed Gibson.
SOUTHS CHEER ON ONE OF THEIR OWN
A bye in the Shute Shield this weekend has come at the best possible time for a bunch of Southern Districts players — it means they can be Brisbane to cheer on Rebels teammate Brandon Paenga-Amosa as he makes his Test debut.
The very proud Souths club will add Paenga-Amosa to their honour board of homegrown Wallabies when he starts against Ireland. The 22-year-old hooker will be Southern Districts’ tenth Wallaby.
Those who can’t be in Brisbane will be down at the club to raise a cold schooner or three to Paenga-Amosa, whose rapid rise can be summed up best by the fact Souths coach Matt Barr still had him pencilled in during pre-season as his starting hooker for the 2017 season.
“He was really dominant in the Shute Shield. Geez, we miss him!” Souths president Ken McKay said.
“It’s great news for him, isn’t it? We will all get together and cheer him on. We are very proud of him. He is a lovely kid and he fully deserves that honour. We’re glad someone gave him a chance.”
Paenga-Amosa was a Sydney junior representative in 2012, his Wallaby call-up is a timely inspiration for all the kids playing in the Junior State Champs this weekend.
ANOTHER WIN FOR NSW
Poor old Queensland — it hasn’t been the greatest week. First the Reds got dusted and then the Maroons. But if you’re worried about too much Queensland rubbing off on the Wallabies this week, don’t stress. By our calculations, 13 of the 23 to take on Ireland grew up in NSW and only four grew up in Queensland. Phew.
FRIEND CHOOSES IRISH CHAMPAGNE
Chinese food or Guinness. That was the choice for Andy Friend recently when the former Aussie sevens coach took the next step in his career by signing on to coach Irish province Connacht.
Okay, so it wasn’t that simple but Friend told us he was approached to head to China to coach a leading province which — in a weirdly complex system — would become the national team if they won the national title.
It was interesting but the Connacht offer was far more compelling. The recruitment came via contact with Irish Rugby high performance boss David Nucifora, the former Brumbies coach.
“I didn’t make any secret of my love for sevens, I really enjoyed that. But when the decision was made to not keep me on there at Rugby Australia, I had to take a good look at my options and just for longevity of career and to get back into 15s, this was a brilliant opportunity,” Friend said.
“They flew my wife Kerry and I over there to Galway and we met with them for three days, and they were really great people and I liked the look of the program, so when they offered the job I said yes.”
Friend last coached 15s rugby in Japan prior to taking over from Geraint John as Aussie sevens coach in 2016.
The team was rebuilt and has shown enormous promise this season, but Friend was not re-signed by RA, who instead appointed Tim Walsh in the job.
Friend was wounded, no doubt, but he said he’ll leave Aussie rugby at the end of the month only holding onto the positives.
“I can’t control decisions other people make,” Friend said.
‘What I can control is what I did with that team for two and a half years, and on that, I am a) really grateful because I really enjoyed it and b) really proud of what we did.
“There was some real progress and with there are some terrific bonds and relationships made there I will take with me for life. You can take away the job but you can never take away those relationships.”
Friend believes the Australian mens team is a genuine chance to shock at the World Cup in July.
“If we get our best players on the field, at the end of the day we are capable of beating any of those top sides,” Friend said.
“They know it and I do believe honestly that they can head to that World Cup knowing if they play their best footy, that they can win it.”
AUSSIES ON STAIRWAY TO SEVENS HEAVEN
Still on sevens, the Aussie women’s team only need to make the final to win the 2017-18 world series title in Paris this weekend. Australia dominated the first half of the season with wins in Dubai and Sydney, before rivals New Zealand took over and won in Japan and Canada.
Throw in the Comm Games win, and New Zealand are strong favourites for Paris but if the Black Ferns win all their games, they may still lose the title.
Courtesy of New Zealand’s fifth placed finish in Dubai, Australia still hold a four-point lead.
The rivals are on opposite sides of the draw and if they both stay unbeaten, will only meet in the final. Which is a win for the Aussies.
So the Kiwis will either have to hope someone else beats John Manenti’s side before the final — or go do it themselves.
How would they do that?
By coming second in their pool, via a loss in the round-robin stage. Which New Zealand don’t often have. In their last 45 pool games, they’ve only lost 3.
And they’ve got a weak pool in Paris, so it’d be a very, very large shock to see them beaten.
CLASSIC STITCH UP?
FORMER Wallabies lock Garrick Morgan is on the team list to play for the Classic Wallabies when they play the Darlin Downs Barbarians on Sunday in Toowoomba — but the big unit is still undecided if he’ll run on.
“I am still not sure mate, I will wait and see how they’re going for numbers,” Morgan said. “Maybe see how many physios they’ve got too.”
At 48 and well over a decade since he retired, that’s understandable. Plus, Morgan’s most recent trot for an invitational team at a Tens tournament in Vietnam two years ago didn’t end well. Injury?
“I got a red card,” Morgan said. “Competitive juices kicked in and I threw a right hook.”
The Classic Wallabies — an organisation run by Steve Hoiles that not only serves as an old boys community for retired players but also does mountains of work promoting rugby to kids, at schools and in regional communities — should have plenty of numbers in Toowoomba.
Captained by Nathan Sharpe, the Classics game against the Darling Downs team at Gold Park will cap a day of community rugby tournaments and an U17 women’s round robin tournament.
RA boss Raelene Castle will also talk at a lunch.
The Classics team is Nathan Sharpe (c), Alex Gibbon, David Croft, Eddie Aholelei, Garrick Morgan, Gene Fairbanks, Julian Huxley, Justin Harrison, Lote Tuqiri, Luke Burgess, Mark Chisholm, Morgan Turinui, Moses Rauluni, Nick Gregorski, Sam Cordingley, Scott Barton, Stephen Hoiles.
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Originally published as Payto & Panda: Matt Toomua in World Cup plans, Daryl Gibson set to stay at Tahs and Souths’ pride in new Wallaby