Michael Cheika plans to secure services of giant winger Taqele Naiyaravoro for England clash

WITH Australia’s wing stocks at a critical low, Michael Cheika is planning to secure the services of a fleet-footed monster to unleash against England.

END OF YEAR 2015 TAHS V CRUSADERS

RAMPAGING winger Taqele Naiyaravoro is in line to play for the Wallabies against England in June, just months after his departure to Scottish club Glasgow Warriors.

We can reveal that Naiyaravoro is in the plans of Wallabies coach Michael Cheika for the series, given a surprising lack of depth in the wing position.

Despite signing a three-year deal with the Warriors, Naiyaravoro has a get-out clause in his favour once the Pro-12 season finishes in May. He will rejoin the Waratahs for the final rounds of Super Rugby and is expected to be back in Australia before Cheika names his squad for the three-Test series.

Could we see Taqele Naiyaravoro in a Wallabies jersey. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Cheika will not be recalling France-based duo Adam Ashley-Cooper and Drew Mitchell – who both started in the World Cup final – while Henry Speight and Nick Cummins are part of Australia’s sevens campaign and could be preparing for the Rio Olympics if picked.

Added to that, rising Fijian-born star Sefanaia Naivalu won’t be eligible for the Wallabies until September, and another wing option, Rob Horne, is likely to spend most of the Super Rugby season as NSW’s outside centre.

Peter Betham has gone to English club Leicester and is also out of contention.

Joe Tomane will head offshore after this season but should be part of the June squad, while Melbourne’s Tom English could be a bolter if he excels in Super Rugby.

Naiyaravoro recently won “player of the month” in the Pro-12 competition and in one match scored a hat-trick and racked up more than 300 running metres, showing that he remains a devastating force.

Cheika told us: “I’m very keen for Taqele to come back, and when he left I think he was keen to stay.

“He made a commitment [to Glasgow], he’s fulfilled that commitment now so we’re working very hard to get him to come back to Australian rugby.

“I think people like watching him play, the crowds like watching him, he is a unique talent, he’s got a certain way of doing things and we’ve got to put out as many types of those players in front of our fans.”

REDS PLAN TO SECURE GORO DEAL

QUEENSLAND will decide “within a month” if they’ll look to extend the one-year deal of Japanese star Ayumu Goromaru.

Reds coach Richard Graham confirmed this week that the Brave Blossoms fullback would be in contention to play in round one, and that talk this week about Goromaru joining Toulon later this year was off the mark.

“I don’t think there is any truth to the rumour,” Graham said.

Goro laps up the Queensland sun. Picture: Darren England.

“I think the world is a really small place full of opportunities and as soon as someone says something it becomes fact, but at this point in time having spoken to the player and his agent, we don’t feel there is any truth to it.”

Meanwhile, Lachie Turner has officially parted ways with the Reds after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with Exeter. Turner was on a medical joker contract at Toulon during the World Cup and impressed enough to secure a future in Europe.

THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY

TIGHTHEAD props are growing on trees in Australia these days.

That’s the only possible conclusion you can reach when you see West Harbour product Michael Alaalatoa finally making a massive name for himself - in New Zealand.

Alaalatoa, 24, will start for the Crusaders against the Hurricanes in their last trial today and looks set to be at least named as back-up to All Black prop Wyatt Crockett for the powerhouse Kiwi side in their Super Rugby opener.

This is the same Alaalatoa who was with the Waratahs for the past three years but only given a single Super Rugby cap off the bench.

The 135kg prop signed to play for Manawatu in the NPC and get experience, but Alaalatoa impressed so much he was quickly poached by the Crusaders on a one-year contract.

Strange days indeed.

The Crusaders could field four Waratahs offcuts this season: Alaalatoa, Ben Volavola, Nemani Nadolo and former Randwick flanker and Waratahs squad member Pete Samu, who was signed by Todd Blackadder after impressing for Tasman in the NPC.

WARATAHS BLEED RED

The Tahs have a distinct Crusaders feel about them this year. Pictured is new recruit Zac Guildford

ON the flip side, the Waratahs have a fair Crusaders influence and it is only getting bigger. Coach Daryl Gibson and winger Zac Guildford are both famous alumni of the Cantebury outfit, and the incoming chief executive officer is a former Crusader too.

The Waratahs/NSWRU are set to announce New Zealander Andrew Hore (not the All Black hooker) as the replacement for outgoing boss Greg Harris.

Hore, who is currently the CEO of Welsh club Ospreys, began his rugby administration roles as performance manager of the Crusaders between 1999-2002, alongside Robbie Deans and Gibson. Hore then held down a HPU role with the New Zealand Rugby Union before moving to Wales.

“GUYS WERE TALKING ABOUT JUSTIN BIEBER”

CLIFFY Palu felt every minute of his 33 years when he returned to the Waratahs over summer for an unexpected last season.

Palu was due to link up with Japanese club Toyota but a hamstring injury at the World Cup saw the deal mutually scrapped, and the No.8 re-sign at the Tahs for one more year.

The generational change at NSW struck Palu instantly.

“I walked into that pre-season and was just blown away. These guys were talking about Justin Bieber and stuff and I was going ‘what’s going on here?’,” Palu laughed. “But no, it’s been good. I have been enjoying it.”

Palu, who says he’d stick his hand up to play for the Wallabies again too this year if in good form, will shift to Japan at the end of this year.

Can’t leave this item without noting how popular the story was last week about Cliffy donating some shorts to a hot punter at the sevens. It was shared around various social media and attracted thousands of likes.

Overdue recognition for one of the game’s nice guys.

LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER

THE Sharks have suffered an enormous blow with new captain and five-eighth Pat Lambie ruled out for at least three months after dislocating his shoulder, while former Waratahs enforcer Jacques Potgieter will miss two months with an ankle injury.

Lambie suffered the injury during the Sharks’ pre-season win over Toulon in France last week, and he is the only frontline five-eighth listed on the Sharks roster. The injury is also a blow for South Africa, given they’ve already lost Handre Pollard for nine months due to knee injury and Lambie would have been his replacement for the June Test series against Ireland.

Potgieter was a key acquisition for the Durban side after his stellar two years with NSW, and his loss will hurt their forward pack.

YOUNG GUNS RIDE SUPER WAVE

IT got lost in the launch of the big boy competition at Wet’n’Wild but this year will see the first running of the Super Twenties competition.

Under 20s teams from each Australian franchise will compete in a round-robin series, which will run for six weeks and serve as curtain raisers for Australian Super Rugby matches. The Super 20s has seen professional under-20s programs bedded down in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth and will serve as a development tool and selection guide for the Australian under 20s, who have underperformed at the Junior World Cup for far too long.

ONE WILD LAUNCH

THE Wet’n’Wild launch was remarkably free of incident. It was free synchronicity, too, with best attempts to time the Super Rugby players’ run down a waterslide - so they’d all emerge at the same time for a photo- proved too tricky. Body weight was the issue, apparently.

Just ask the petite ARU staffer who had a quick slide after the launch ended. She got stuck halfway down.

Originally published as Michael Cheika plans to secure services of giant winger Taqele Naiyaravoro for England clash