Rugby Confidential: Melbourne set to host 2022 Bledisloe Cup clash
RUGBY CONFIDENTIAL: The owner of the French club of Tolu Latu has laid bare the ex-Wallaby’s alcohol problems in the wake of massive ban for a horror tackle.
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Tolu Latu’s alcohol problem has been laid bare by his French club owner, after the Wallabies hooker was suspended for a staggering 11 weeks after a horror tackle last weekend.
Stade Francais owner Hans-Peter Wild told L’Equipe: “Latu is a problem … mostly an extra-sporting problem with alcohol. You have to admit it, otherwise you will never solve the problem.
“Latu spends more time off the field than on it and, with regard to young people, it is not a good example.
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“He has to heal himself, reorganise his life. We can help him, but as with any addiction, Latu is like an elephant in your living room. To solve the problem, you have to take out the elephant and not take out the objects that break.”
Latu is no stranger to suspensions or alcohol-related issues.
In 2019, while playing with the NSW Waratahs, he was stood down after police found him drunk and asleep at the wheel of his car around 1am in Surry Hills’ Cleveland Street.
Latu was also spotted drinking and smoking after midnight in Auckland on the eve of a Bledisloe Cup Test.
He’s previously been suspended for abusing referee Wayne Barnes, and served a six-week suspension during the 2018 Super Rugby season.
Since moving to France, the 29-year-old has had mixed fortunes, but was called up to Dave Rennie’s Wallabies squad during the Spring tour late last year.
But his latest indiscretion – ploughing into the legs of Racing 92 lock Baptiste Chouzenoux while he was in the air catching a ball, sending him dangerously crashing head-first into the ground – reinforces what a liability Latu can be.
It would take a raft of injuries for Rennie to reconsider Latu for big matches leading up to next year’s World Cup.
Brumbies hooker Folau Fainga’a, who is joining Western Force next season, will get first crack at the Wallabies’ No.2 spot.
Former Queenslander Brandon Paenga-Amosa, who has joined French club Montpellier, is likely to be called in ahead of Latu should Rennie require an overseas-based lock.
Word is that Rennie will be allowed to pick five or six overseas-based players in his World Cup squad next year, up from three this year.
WHY SYDNEY, BRISBANE MISSED OUT ON BLEDISLOE CUP
The world’s most locked down city is about to nab another massive sporting event from its rival states with this year’s Bledisloe Cup clash heading to Melbourne.
After being kept indoors for so long, Victoria’s sporting public are quickly making up for lost time – turning out in record numbers for last weekend’s Formula One Grand Prix then landing the hosting rights for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Although an official announcement remains under wraps for the foreseeable future, Rugby Confidential’s moles in Bleak City have already let it slip that Melbourne is a lock to host the Wallabies and the All Blacks at Marvel Stadium on September 17.
It will be just the fourth time the Bledisloe Cup has been played in Melbourne and the first since 2010 but could not come at a better time for Victoria with the state government pushing its claims to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup final and one of the three Tests against the touring British and Irish Lions in 2025.
With officials on both sides of the Tasman agreeing to reduce the annual series from three matches to two, Melbourne will be the only city to host the New Zealanders this year, with the return match taking place at Eden Park in Auckland on September 24.
VUNIVALU BACK IN ACTION
Former NRL star Suliasi Vunivalu is set to make his long-awaited return to the rugby field by starting for Queensland against Melbourne on Friday.
Plagued by multiple hamstring injuries since switching codes from the 2020 premiership-winning Melbourne Storm, Vunivalu’s performance will be closely watched.
He is off contract at the end of the year and is already in the sights of league master coach Wayne Bennett, who is compiling his roster for the new Dolphins team set to enter the NRL next year.
Vunivalu also has overseas clubs interested, but further injury could affect his worth.
The 26-year-old flyer suffered a hamstring injury playing against the Blues last June, then aggravated it again during a Wallabies training camp, preventing his Test debut last year, and then suffered further damage in the pre-season.
Nevertheless, Vunivalu was still included in the recent Wallabies’ training camp on the Gold Coast.
TAHS LURE LAMBERT HOME
NSW Waratahs have lured 21-year-old prop Tom Lambert back from Scotland.
Lambert played in the same Trinity Grammar schoolboys side as South Sydney NRL player Lachlan Ilias and NSW playmaker Tane Edmed, but decided to head to Scotland three years ago and played for Scotland’s under-20s team before getting a professional contract with Glasgow Warriors.
The young front-rower can play both sides of the scrum and is a handy addition to the Tahs’ forward stocks.
Edmed, meanwhile, is being pursued by Western Force and Melbourne Rebels after impressing for the Tahs this season. The youngster is off contract, while NSW have deals in place beyond 2022 with playmakers Ben Donaldson and Will Harrison, while they will welcome back Kurtley Beale in 2023 on big money.
NSW Academy star Harry Wilson – son of former Wallabies captain David – has signed a two-year extension with the Tahs.
Originally published as Rugby Confidential: Melbourne set to host 2022 Bledisloe Cup clash
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