The injury ravaged Australia Rugby team have called up the services of loose forward Ben Mowen for the upcoming tests against Scotland and Wales that will take place in the first week of June itself after it was revealed that number 8 Ben McCalman will not be able to participate after suffering a shoulder injury which has ruled him out of action for at least a month.

However, the Western Force back row forward McCalman is likely to be retained in the squad in spite of his injury where he will continue with his rehabilitation process, a source close to The Wallabies said. This year has not gone good for Australia Rugby as they have not been able to show good form and still looks blighted by the poor form that plagued their stats in 2011 and furthermore, the number of injuries that the side has suffered in the last 4 or 5 months has not helped their cause either.

James Horwill with a hamstring injury, Kurtley Beale, a full back converted to a fly half with a shoulder injury and utility player at the back James O’Connor with a live problem are already on the treatment table and with McCalman now injured as well, Mowen will join up with a much depleted wallabies side that will take on the mighty Scotland and Wales.

Australia are the winners of the Tri Nations and they will take on Scotland at Newcastle for the test on the 5th of June after which, they will meet the Six Nations champions Wales for a series of three tests that kicks off on the 9th of June. And with such might awaiting them in the upcoming weeks, it waits to be seen what team Australia Rugby announces for the test against Scotland which will be clear on Sunday.

Australia rugby team was ranked sixth in the HSBC Sevens World Series ranking in Tokyo. They were placed in the Pool B along with New Zealand, United States and Hong Kong.

Even though the team was better ranked than two other opponents, Coach O’Connor was not ready to underestimate any of the teams.

In the Hong Kong series, USA had played very well only to be defeated by Kenya. Hong Kong played well as well and New Zealand was the champions. Australia started out well against Hong Kong but in lost their focus in the match against England.

Australia rugby team had a good start to the season but they were hampered by injuries. They started the series on a winning streak with the Day 1 match against France and a Day 2 win against Scotland. However Day 2 saw them defeated in the ands of Fiji and they finished second in the Pool matches.

The team had recuperated from their injuries right in time for the Tokyo series, and for the first time in the year they play with an unchanged side, which is going to do a lot to boost the team spirit because the injuries had forced O’Connor to play 22 players until now. The Tokyo series helped the team form a coercive side. This was very helpful as they had a strong line up of teams on their pool games with Hong Kong, USA and New Zealand, whom they had to defeat to advance further.

The Australia rugby team defeated Samoan in the Tokyo Seven series and won their sixth HSBC Sevens World Series title. This was their first series win since 2010, when they had defeated South Africa in London. With this win, Australia rugby team has silenced their critics and has overcome the ghost of past injuries that has haunted them the whole year.

The Wallabies may be looking in good condition after a third place finish in last year’s World Cup but the domestic game in Australia is hardly looking world beating.

Three Australian sides suffered defeats to overseas sides in the last round of games with the only Aussie side to taste success being Western Force who overcame fellow Aussies and reigning champions Queensland Reds.

With all five Australian sides struggling so far in the campaign it looks unlikely that there will be back to back Aussie winners. Last year’s Champions Queensland seem in the worst form of all, being hammered by the Western Force 45-19 this week. Only the Brumbies sit in the top half of the table as things stand and they themselves have only played one game away from home thus far.

In a dreadful round for the Australian sides the common issue was a failure to take opportunities when they were available to them. With all the losing sides having chances to score tries that they just couldn’t finish off. The second common issue was the injuries to key five eighths. Brumbies inside centre Matt Toomua has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and Western Force’s fly half James Stannard picked up an ankle injury which will keep him out for at least a week.

Ill discipline has also been a constant thorn in the side of the Aussies with Cooper Vuna, Lloyd Johansson and Phoenix Battye all being disciplined for dangerous tackling.

With these issues and a lack of form it seems unlikely that Australian sides will be causing too much bother to the South African and Ireland Rugby sides come final’s time. In fact as things stand the only reason any Australian side anywhere near the top is the adoption of the new ranking system for this season.

Under the old system the Brumbies would be sitting sixth in the lowest play-off position and the prospect of a play off without any Australian participation would be a real possibility.

The two famous Australian rugby stars, Stirling Mortlock and George Smith have been awarded the ‘Officers of the Order of Australia’ during yesterday’s Australia Day honourings.

Mortlock is a former captain of the Australian rugby team. He has scored over 500 test points for the Wallabies and was also skipper for Australia and Brumbies. He now plays for the Melbourne Rebels, where he has also been appointed as captain.

Smith is currently a flanker for the Toulon rugby team. He played 110 matches for the Wallabies, before retiring from the Australian national team on February 5, 2010. George is the Wallaby forward with the most appearances and the highest capped flanker in Rugby Union’s history.

Mortlock and George shared almost 90% of their international caps. They are both from Sydney and total a staggering 190 caps for the Wallabies. Reports confirm that they are delighted by the award. We also want to congratulate them once again for a great career.

The two stars also expressed their public desire to witness the 2012 Australian Open Final from Rod Laver Arena. Who knows, perhaps we will see them on Sunday in the stands.

There have been numerous speculations going on regarding the vacant post of the coach of the Australia Rugby team.

With the retirement of the New Zealander Robbie Deans, the doors are open for the Wallabies and they are expecting Ewen Mckenzie of the Queensland red to come and coach them.

Mckenzie is quite a well known personality when it comes to the rugby circuit as he has made a huge impact by improving the game performance and the victory counts for the Queensland Reds.

Mckenzie however has probably decided to continue and extend his contract till 2014 as he seems to be quite happy with his current club. The Australia rugby team however are leaving no stone unturned and are making use of all possible situations where they can convince him into coaching their team.

Mckenzie has been opted as a future mentor for the Wallabies for quite some time and they will not give up until the final verdict takes place and they realize that there are no expectations further on.

The doors for the Wallabies are still open and they hope that they manage to get someone who is capable of making an impact and improving their performance and ranking on the leader board.

The Australia rugby team need to find other alternatives to help them have a more professional approach to their game so that they can improve on their weak areas and excel in them so that they can face the real champions in the years to come and beat the best at their game.

The transfer windows open up every year and teams keep trying their level best to hire some of the finest coaches and players through these transfers. Not all of them end successfully though and alternative strategies need to be implemented.

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.

Phil Waugh has today confirmed that he will be retiring from professional rugby with immediate effect. Waugh is the most-capped player in the history of NSW Rugby, and he has also captained his state on almost twice as many occasions than any other player.

His 79 Tests place him twelfth on the Wallabies all-time list, and he has also had the honour of leading his country.

Waugh said that while he still feels physically and mentally capable of playing at the highest level for a few years yet, he believes now is the right time to move into a career in business.

Scientists have requested Australian rugby players to donate their brains in order to help in studies. They got the idea to study the brains of rugby players after Shaun Valentine, a former player with North Queensland in Australia, revealed that he regularly suffers from vomiting, nausea, and dizziness. Valentine is one of several retired players who are wondering if their health has been put at risk after all the years of taking hits to the head.

Chris Nowinski, who’s the president of the Sports Legacy Institute, is setting up a meeting with Valentine and is hoping he will be the first Australian rugby league player to donate his brain to it.

If he does donate his grey matter he definitely won’t be the first athlete to as the institute already has a bank of over 1,000 brains which were donated by boxers, wrestlers, football, ice hockey, and soccer players.

The 32-year-old Nowinski himself is a Harvard graduate who used to wrestle in the WWE and had to retire when he was just 25 after suffering from repeated concussions. He said that today’s generation of athletes who engage in contact sport is suffering all over the world due to a huge problem which has to be solved.

Canterbury rugby icon Todd Blackadder has said that he is in love with rugby and cannot think of any other game that will rekindle his senses.

Under immense pressure to boost morale in the wake of Christchurch’s devastating earthquake – and already responsible for honouring the memory of the Pike River mine victims in this fixture at Trafalgar Park – the Crusaders achieved both aims with a heart-warming performance.

“It’s a massive pressure release,” he said after surveying an exhausted though elated dressing room.

“You can see it in the sheds right now in the faces of the players.

“I’ve never been more proud as a coach in my career to walk in there.

“With everything that’s been going on … to get the win for our people, it’s just hard to describe.

“It’s just a game of rugby, but hopefully the people feel really good and take some pride.

“This is their team. Everyone owns this team, the guys play for our community. We’re going to fly our flag very proudly.”

Australia’s most successful team, the Brumbies has been left without a company. Super Rugby organisers focused on scheduling derbies in the opening round of the expanded competition.

Last night, expansion franchise, the Rebels, hosted NSW Waratahs, fuelling the traditional Sydney-Melbourne rivalry, while the go-getting states of Queensland and Western Australia pair off in Brisbane tomorrow.

Which left the Brumbies on their lonesome, at least in terms of a local derby.

The Brumbies have been set up with the Chiefs, who could not find a partner in New Zealand where the Highlanders travelled to Wellington to tangle with the Hurricanes last night and Blues host the Crusaders in Auckland tonight.