Author: isport

Australia’s Will Genia has stated that his team will aim to entertain on their upcoming tour of the UK. Following the pressures of the World Cup, which saw Australia finish third, the Aussies are looking to have some fun in their forthcoming games. On Saturday they take on the Barbarians in what will be a mouth watering experience if the Aussies live up to Genia’s promise.

“It is all about the spectacle” declared Genia, “We don’t want people walking away thinking it was boring…We are going out there to enjoy ourselves.”

If the Aussies do turn on the style it will no doubt be an attractive game, with the Barbarians likely to play in their traditional style of expansive Rugby. Tries will no doubt be scored and Genia will no doubt be involved in some way. His two previous visits to Twickenham have seen contrasting performances from the Queensland Reds’ scrum half. 2009 saw him dominate the English, inspiring the Wallabies to an 18-9 victory over their great rivals, whereas 2010 saw Genia underperform in a 35-18 defeat to England, with a dominant display from his opposite number, Ben Youngs.

Genia feels he is in better shape than 12 months ago and in his 30th match of the season he will aim to turn on the style with new half back partner James O’Connor. 21 year old O’Connor, will be playing at 10 for the first time at international level. Genia is looking forward to the pairing and has been impressed by his compatriot’s showing in this year’s Super Rugby campaign.

“He Can play the ball – he has shown that in Super Rugby… He really wants the opportunity and hopefully Robbie gives it to him,” Genia says of O’Connor. Saturday will be the first chance to see this half back pairing which has the potential to be Australia’s pairing for many years to come. If Genia and O’Connor both turn on the style, we are in for a real treat on Saturday at Twickenham.

Quade Cooper’s future in the Australian Rugby Union team will be decided shortly, it has been revealed. The in-demand Wallaby fly-half is in the midst of delicate contract negotiations with the Australian Rugby Union, which is trying to head off huge bids to coax him into the NRL. Apparently one of the clauses is for England Rugby Tickets.

Cooper, 22, is not expected to make a decision on his playing career before flying out with the Wallabies for South Africa on Friday for their two Tri-Nations Tests with the Springboks.

Reports said Cooper and his manager met ARU officials on Wednesday and progress was made between the parties.

The Australian Super 14 player of 2010, who is in the sights of NRL clubs Parramatta and Newcastle, could reportedly look to sign a one-year ARU deal which would keep him in a strong bargaining position for beyond the 2011 World Cup.

ARU boss John O’Neill said he will travel with the Wallabies to the republic and is likely to continue talking with Cooper in a bid to secure him from the advances of rugby league.

Deans said the two weeks in South Africa would benefit the ARU’s hopes of keeping Cooper on its payroll.

Australia Rugby Union Team are aiming for back-to-back wins and thus shed their inconsistency record. Wallabies back Berrick Barnes, set to take over from suspended Quade Cooper at five-eighth for the Etihad Stadium clash, says in the past Australia has been guilty of “believing its own press”.

“History has shown over the years, after a decent win, we get caught believing our own press,” Barnes said.
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“We’ll be focused pretty heavily this week on trying to rectify that and get back-to-back results.

He says it comes down to preparation and playing out the full 80 minutes of the Test match.

Australia Rugby Union is likely to appeal Cooper’s two-match ban for a dangerous tackle during their 30-13 win over South Africa in Brisbane, with an announcement expected later on Monday.

Australia coach Robbie Deans has talked up the return of flying Fijian winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca to international rugby ahead of their one-off test next week.

Caucaunibuca, who plays for French side Agen, is expected to make his first appearance for his country since November 2006 in Canberra Stadium on Saturday after saying he wanted to play in next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

“I’ve seen him do some remarkable things on the rugby field, things that no-one else in the world has ever done,” Deans told the Australian Associated Press on Sunday.

“He was a remarkable player in his time. I understand he scored 16 tries this year, so he’s still going pretty well.”

Australian World Cup officials left for FIFA headquarters today confident that they have solved a long-running dispute should the country win the right to stage the 2018 or 2022 event.

The rival codes of Australian rules football (AFL), rugby league and rugby union have been digging in their heels and squabbling over allowing their stadiums to be used for soccer but a compensation deal has now been struck over vacating venues and re-locating.

“This is great news for football and great news for the whole country as everyone will benefit if we win the right to host a World Cup,” said FFA chairman Frank Lowy.

The final touches to Australia’s bid have thus now been completed with the Bid Book ready to be submitted to FIFA on Friday (May 14).

The dossier, crucially, contains unqualified support of the other major sporting codes after the final agreements required by FIFA were signed over the weekend.

England manager Martin Johnson on Tuesday named the following squad for the tour of Australia and New Zealand in June:

Tour dates: June 8: Australian Barbarians (Perth), June 12: Australia (Perth), June 15: Australian Barbarians (Gosford), June 19: Australia (Sydney), June 23: New Zealand Maoris (Napier). Squad:

Forwards: Steffon Armitage, David Attwood, Dan Cole, Tom Croft, Paul Doran-Jones, Nick Easter, David Flatman, Hendre Fourie, Jon Golding, Dylan Hartley, James Haskell, Courtney Lawes, Lee Mears, Lewis Moody, Tom Palmer, Geoff Parling, Tim Payne, Chris Robshaw, Simon Shaw, Steve Thompson, Dan Ward-Smith, Rob Webber, Dave Wilson, Joe Worsley.

Backs: Delon Armitage, Chris Ashton, Matt Banahan, Olly Barkley, Danny Care, Mark Cueto, Toby Flood, Ben Foden, Shane Geragthy, Shontayne Hape, Charlie Hodgson, Ugo Monye, Joe Simpson, David Strettle, Mathew Tait, Mike Tindall, Dominic Waldouck, Richard Wigglesworth, Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Youngs.