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Test wingers Drew Mitchell and Lachie Turner return in the Wallabies’ train-on squad named on Monday ahead of the four-nation Rugby Championship starting next month.
Coach Robbie Deans’ 27-man train-on squad includes 13 NSW Waratahs and comprises players from all Australian Super Rugby franchises except the Queensland Reds who involved in the finals series beginning this week.
Mitchell and Turner were sidelined for much of the Super Rugby season, also missing the Wallabies’ June Tests against Scotland and Wales, due to long-term injuries and only returned to action with the Waratahs in recent weeks.
Among uncapped players in the train-on squad are Western Force winger Nick Cummins, Melbourne Rebels centre Mitch Inman and NSW Waratahs prop Paddy Ryan.
Veteran Test lock Nathan Sharpe, who has put his retirement on hold to play in the Rugby Championship, has been rested from the squad’s three-day camp in Sydney from July 24.
Among injured players not considered for the squad camp were Wallabies captain James Horwill, No.8 Wycliff Palu and utility backs James O’Connor and Christian Lealiifano.
Wallabies train-on squad: Kurtley Beale (Melbourne Rebels), Adam Ashley-Cooper (NSW Waratahs), Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs), Lachie Turner (NSW Waratahs), Nick Cummins (Western Force), Cooper Vuna (Melbourne Rebels), Rob Horne (NSW Waratahs), Mitch Inman (Melbourne Rebels), Pat McCabe (Brumbies), Bernard Foley (NSW Waratahs), Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs), Nick Phipps (Melbourne Rebels), Nic White (Brumbies), Ben Mowen (Brumbies), David Pocock (Western Force), Michael Hooper (Brumbies), Dave Dennis (NSW Waratahs), Kane Douglas (NSW Waratahs), Cadeyrn Neville (Melbourne Rebels), Hugh Pyle (Melbourne Rebels), Sitaleki Timani (NSW Waratahs), Sekope Kepu (NSW Waratahs), Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs), Ben Alexander (Brumbies), Paddy Ryan (NSW Waratahs), Stephen Moore (Brumbies), Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW Waratahs).
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July 16th 2012 @ 12:36pm
Sam said | July 16th 2012 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
Very happy to see Mitch Inman getting a nod from Deans. He’s been a great ball runner all season.
July 16th 2012 @ 12:51pm
formeropenside said | July 16th 2012 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Mitchell and Turner both looked badly underdone, and certainly not deserving of a Wallaby call up. Same for most of the named Tahs. Timani, still, really?
July 16th 2012 @ 4:09pm
pjbreck said | July 16th 2012 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
I agree, both looked well underdone. Timing was missing, they also looked a bit tentative.
July 16th 2012 @ 6:26pm
mark said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:26pm | Report comment
nonsense anout timani. his contribution in the last test against wales was excellent. you probably didn’t notice all the work he did at the breakdown and in defence.
July 17th 2012 @ 5:47pm
murph73 said | July 17th 2012 @ 5:47pm | Report comment
Er…what involvement? He had 3 Rick involvements, missed 5 of 14 tackle attempts and made 6 hitups. Dreadful. There’s a reason he doesn’t make the runon side for the Tards – he’s rubbish
July 17th 2012 @ 5:54pm
murph73 said | July 17th 2012 @ 5:54pm | Report comment
Interesting vid of Timani v Wales
July 17th 2012 @ 9:07pm
ncart said | July 17th 2012 @ 9:07pm | Report comment
That’s really insightful. Makes me wonder how on earth he ever got near Test selection based on those clips – either he can’t be bothered or he has no idea what to do – he really looked like someone who had been dragged into make up the numbers and was clueless about how what his involvement and positioning should be.
July 17th 2012 @ 9:18pm
The Werewolf said | July 17th 2012 @ 9:18pm | Report comment
oh come on anyone can make a clip and highlight the poor instances of almost every player.
I’d like to see one on Higginbotham for instance where you’d see far worse.
This didn’t show the very good pieces of play including some fine work in defence, at the breakdown and some very good offloads.
Not saying it was a performance of the ages but it was a solid performance less cherry picking snap shots.
July 17th 2012 @ 9:55pm
Red Kev said | July 17th 2012 @ 9:55pm | Report comment
If you actually read the analysis on G&GR you’d see it wasn’t cherry picking and was actually a fair critique.
It’s also disingenuous to try and turn evidence of Timani’s pathetic play into your pet project of insulting Higginbotham – the positioning of a loose forward is supposed to be different than that of a tight forward, especially that of a lock compared to the fastest of your three back rowers.
But you keep telling yourself that all Waratahs players are awesome and that “they’d never lose a game if they had Genia and Pocock” – AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
July 17th 2012 @ 10:18pm
eagleJack said | July 17th 2012 @ 10:18pm | Report comment
I think it’s a fair analysis of Timani. But why is this turning into a provincial bashing? Who cares where the players are from. I know the selectors certainly don’t. But alas the loudest cries are from those in QLD who are playing the hard done by card as usual
July 16th 2012 @ 12:57pm
jeznez said | July 16th 2012 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
Good to see Nick Cummins in there. Based on this we can assume that Slipper, Faingaa, Simmons, Higginbotham and Gill will be added to the forwards. While Genia, Cooper, Ioane, Harris, Faingaa, Shipperly and Morahan could be added to the backs.
Sharpe will be included after a rest, Palu will return if he recovers from injury.
I think Greg Holmes should be there as well but the addition of Sharpe and the Reds players above already brings the train on squad to 40 so one of the others would likely miss out – suspect it would be either Gill or Shipperly.
July 16th 2012 @ 6:42pm
biltongbek said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:42pm | Report comment
Yeah, I have always liked Cummins, he is a solid player and is a strong runner with ball in hand.
July 16th 2012 @ 7:40pm
Deez said | July 16th 2012 @ 7:40pm | Report comment
Agree-he was a little wasted out at the Force this year but he has good potential as a big winger or outside centre
July 17th 2012 @ 1:11am
bluerose said | July 17th 2012 @ 1:11am | Report comment
wheres Fardy? he was the only Brumbies player that stood out against the Blues and can cover both locks/flankers.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:08pm
Spot said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
Did Deans not watch the last 8 rounds of Super Rugby. 13 Waratahs really.
July 16th 2012 @ 4:10pm
pjbreck said | July 16th 2012 @ 4:10pm | Report comment
LOL i just shake my head…
July 16th 2012 @ 6:10pm
Hopperdoggy said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:10pm | Report comment
Indeed. Sigh.
July 16th 2012 @ 6:25pm
mark said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:25pm | Report comment
such a simplistic attitude.
i think the WW wrote a great article about how the tahs don’t have a quality 9 or 7 and that’s the two positions you can’t afford to not have quality players. hence the other 13 waratahs get selected. which of the waratahs players should not be selected?
July 16th 2012 @ 6:40pm
the Bone said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:40pm | Report comment
Dont have a quality #7 your kidding right. Chris Alcock outplayed Pocock in Perth, Hooper in Sydney last week and Gill the weekend just gone
July 16th 2012 @ 7:01pm
Red Kev said | July 16th 2012 @ 7:01pm | Report comment
Alcock didn’t come close to outplaying Gill.
July 16th 2012 @ 8:53pm
mark said | July 16th 2012 @ 8:53pm | Report comment
no i’m not kidding. alcock’s 1st half against the reds was the best 40min he played all year and it was satisfactory. he has been abasolutely dreadful for the tahs this year. hooper will make a huge difference.
if genia plays for the tahs the tahs would be almost unbeatable. if genia and Pocock/Gill/Hooper played for the tahs they’d be unbeatable.
July 17th 2012 @ 5:54pm
murph73 said | July 17th 2012 @ 5:54pm | Report comment
Hahaahahahahahaha!!!!
July 17th 2012 @ 6:01pm
Mantis said | July 17th 2012 @ 6:01pm | Report comment
Dont have a quality 9? Sarel Pretorious was arguably the best 9 in the comp last year, with Genia.
July 17th 2012 @ 8:18pm
biltongbek said | July 17th 2012 @ 8:18pm | Report comment
Yeah, back in SA we can’t understand what the story is there, does the coach not like him, or has his form deteriorated that much?
July 17th 2012 @ 9:08pm
The Werewolf said | July 17th 2012 @ 9:08pm | Report comment
His pass is poor for an u’13 half back let alone a super rugby player.
July 17th 2012 @ 7:43pm
murph73 said | July 17th 2012 @ 7:43pm | Report comment
Which Waratahs should not be selected? Where do we start?
Paddy Ryan – Pek Cowan and Rodney Blake are in far better form
Timani – absolutely woeful against Wales and only gets a run for NSW because Palu is injured.
Turner – has been injured and done nothing since coming back to justify inclusion. Terrible against QLD.
Horne – Worst tackle stats for any 13 in S15. Doesn’t pass. Runs into his winger’s space constantly. Good hairdo, though.
July 17th 2012 @ 8:11pm
Carnivean said | July 17th 2012 @ 8:11pm | Report comment
Putting Rodney Blake into any list like that is shooting yourself in the foot. Rodney Blake can’t scrummage at all. You are carrying a massive chip on your shoulder, whether you realise it or not.
July 18th 2012 @ 12:58am
murph73 said | July 18th 2012 @ 12:58am | Report comment
So you don’t agree with the statement about Blake? Ok. I’ll take that criticism. How about the others?
We don’t have chips on our shoulders. We are just utterly sick of seeing underperforming Waratah bigheads having the red carpet rolled out to them. Australian rugby has been massively damaged by the persistent selection of, mainly Waratahs, players on the basis “reputation” and “potential”, whilst in form players miss out. The rot started with the likes of Dunning whose PR machine (that Julian Assange would dream of) kept him in a Wallaby jumper about 50 caps too many. Now we have to put up with plodding oafs like Timani and ball hogs like Horne while much better players continue to miss out. It’s a disgrace.
July 17th 2012 @ 9:43pm
Ash said | July 17th 2012 @ 9:43pm | Report comment
Deans is frustrating me so much with his mediocre selections. It’s been going on long enough.
It’s beyond a joke now.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:19pm
Who Needs Melon said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
Look, I’m a big fan of Mitchell. I think before he was injured he had developed a really good read of the game and could sniff out the tryline as well as any in the business. But it’s clear he’s not got that back yet. And we need to pick guys with form rather than those that USED to have form and we THINK will be able to get it back.
Turner I’ve never been as impressed with. So the above opinion goes double for him.
I’m not pushing an agenda here but the obvious question is: If not Turner and Mitchell then who? I think guys like Shipperly, Tomane and Speight have shown they are better than the present-day Mitchell and Turner.
Nice to see Cummins in the squad though.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:21pm
Albo said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
I don’t think Speight is available for Wallaby selection. Happy to be corrected though.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:28pm
CraigB said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
agreed he’s fijian
July 16th 2012 @ 1:34pm
jeznez said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
I believe Speight only qualifies on residency grounds next year. Murphy in the Brumbies front row is under similar circumstances.
July 16th 2012 @ 2:43pm
Kuruki said | July 16th 2012 @ 2:43pm | Report comment
Yeah i think next year will be his third. I’m sure it was not that long ago he was playing for Waikato.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:50pm
Red Kev said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:50pm | Report comment
Agree WNM – Ioane, Tomane and Shipperley are our best wingers at the moment.
Mitchell doesn’t have it back yet (especially defensively, he made a couple of poor reads in the Reds game); Speight doesn’t qualify and O’Connor is injured.
And there’s Vuna … a complete joke of a winger, the guy with the tag line “if it weren’t for his defense he’d be a great player” which is kind of like saying “I’d be a Nobel Prize winner if I were smarter”. Vuna is just not good enough, period.
July 16th 2012 @ 2:02pm
Spot said | July 16th 2012 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
Shipperley has had a break through season, so should be the squad, but Tomane & Cummins (despite the Forces performance) has been playing well, but Deans will throw AAC in anyway, so pointless discussion. Shipperley is still very young 21, so I think we will see a lot more of him in the coming years. Furthermore, these guys will not see the ball if Deans continues to select a useless forward pack & Rob Horne, but when was the last time he selected on form over merit.
July 16th 2012 @ 2:23pm
Red Kev said | July 16th 2012 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
I forgot Cummins, would like to see him given a shot.
July 16th 2012 @ 4:11pm
pjbreck said | July 16th 2012 @ 4:11pm | Report comment
Yeah i like the look of the honey badger. He runs hard and has this wild look in his eyes.
July 16th 2012 @ 6:30pm
mark said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
shipperley? yeah right. change your blog name and then we might take you seriously. throwing a brumby in there doesn’t hide the fact that one eyed red fans that name themselves ‘red kev’ can’t be trusted in their opinions.
Shipperley is ok. nothing more than that. mitchell looked much dangerous the other night and turner is quicker and has the experience that shipperley doesn’t.
July 16th 2012 @ 7:24pm
Red Kev said | July 16th 2012 @ 7:24pm | Report comment
Neither Mitchell or Turner is fully fit. I would pick both ahead of Shipperley if they were in their best form, but Mitchell looked out of sorts against the Reds (still too hesitant in his 4th game back and misreading plays and hence his position a few times) and Turner was just quiet.
Ioane and Shipperley are the best fit wingers in the country at the moment (Tomane is also injured it appears – see Justie’s post further down).
Of course if Deans keeps playing McCabe and Horne in the centres it won’t matter as the ball will never reach the wing.
July 16th 2012 @ 8:57pm
mark said | July 16th 2012 @ 8:57pm | Report comment
shipperley is nowhere near good enough to be one of the top wingers in the country. wake up to yourself.
mccabe and horne are our only centre combination that can cut it at test level. no AAC as well.
July 16th 2012 @ 9:01pm
Red Kev said | July 16th 2012 @ 9:01pm | Report comment
The best centre in Australia is Tapuai. By about 17 country miles.
With Cooper fit, Barnes and Tapuai will be about 642% more effective in the midfield than the useless Deans favourites of McCabe, Horne and AAC.
And Shipperley is the second best eligible and fit winger in the country. There is an argument to be made for Cummins, but no-one else comes close to taking the spot opposite Ioane. There are better wingers, but they are all injured.
July 17th 2012 @ 8:19am
Adam-15 said | July 17th 2012 @ 8:19am | Report comment
yes he bloody is, on what grounds do you base him not so?
July 17th 2012 @ 12:24am
kingplaymaker said | July 17th 2012 @ 12:24am | Report comment
Nonsense, and soon you will be proven wrong.
Even better, don’t expect Shipperley to be added to the squad now Mitchell and Turner are here.
Good that paranoia over selection and a love of the plodder are being crushed.
July 16th 2012 @ 3:03pm
Who Needs Melon said | July 16th 2012 @ 3:03pm | Report comment
My apologies on the Speight front guys.
I still think there are (and have listed a few) guys out there better than Mitchell and Turner are at the moment though.
And I agree with Red Kev below in his assessment of Vuna. I’m probably showing my Brumby colours too much again here but I’d be happy to see Mogg tried on the wing too. Shades of Joe Roff in that guy. He ran around Cummins once or twice the other day… but then Cummins did get his own back by running over the top of Mogg once or twice too.
July 16th 2012 @ 4:02pm
DingoBob said | July 16th 2012 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
It would be nice to have someone at the back who has a big boot. But I will also be glad to see Moggie back playing for Wests in a couple of weeks.
July 16th 2012 @ 4:16pm
pjbreck said | July 16th 2012 @ 4:16pm | Report comment
for me vuna is a work in progress. He hasn’t had the best support down at the REbels in terms of inside defence. I would like to see him with some good coaching and quality players around him.
As with you, i might be showing my Brumbies colours, but Tomane is going to be a great asset at both the Brumbies and national level. For a guy in his first season of Super Rugby, he has made a good impression.
As for Mogg, like Vuna i would like to see him train and play with some Wallabies around him.
July 16th 2012 @ 6:33pm
mark said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:33pm | Report comment
i think you all need your heads read.
Vuna can break tackles at test level. That for a winger is pretty vital. Mogg is not big enough to break tackles at test level and he really has hardly made a break for 2 months.
July 17th 2012 @ 8:21am
Adam-15 said | July 17th 2012 @ 8:21am | Report comment
it’s also pretty handy if you can tackle
July 17th 2012 @ 12:26am
kingplaymaker said | July 17th 2012 @ 12:26am | Report comment
pjbreck and Mark good to see some maturity and understanding over Vuna instead of the hysteria over the smallest risk and the love of the steady plodder that bedevil so much thinking about selection in the Wallabies’ fan base.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:20pm
Albo said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Great to see Inman get the call up. I used to be a Horne fan, but I think that Mitch can do everything he can do now and runs better lines.
Not sure that I would have included Turner in the mix just yet. Certainly not two rare steaks in him and Mitchell anyway. Nothing against his ability but I think Schipperly has done enough to be considered on the same level and you certainly don’t need both of them.
Anyway, will be interesting to see how this plays out once Reds players become available.
July 16th 2012 @ 2:34pm
B-Rock said | July 16th 2012 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
How important is the length of the train on squad though? Better to include more than less, its not hte RWC squad where there was a limit of players (barring injury) that could be included.
Keep the established players who are coming back from injury training while also bring along the young blokes, more the merrier at this stage IMO
July 16th 2012 @ 3:30pm
Albo said | July 16th 2012 @ 3:30pm | Report comment
Totally on the same page B-Rock r.e. size of squad. My concern however is that unfortunately working with the current squad number limits some may undeservedly miss out.
July 16th 2012 @ 1:22pm
Johnno said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
No Quade cooper or will genia, wow some big shocks. But cooper has been injured and genia has been hot and cold this year , maybe not such a surprise. Oh well glad Mcabe is there .
July 16th 2012 @ 1:26pm
sittingbison said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
Johnno, none of the Reds are in this training squad, they are in the finals of S15
July 16th 2012 @ 1:44pm
Sailosi said | July 16th 2012 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Great to see Inman get a crack. Can we please give up on Lachlan Turner and Ben Robinson.
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July 16th 2012 @ 2:45pm
Kuruki said | July 16th 2012 @ 2:45pm | Report comment
A fit Drew Mitchell would go straight to number 2 imo behind Ioane. I rate Mitchell above all those other guys. But he needs to be fit.
July 16th 2012 @ 3:01pm
formeropenside said | July 16th 2012 @ 3:01pm | Report comment
and has not been for 18 months. may never be again. Ioane, Shipperley and Tomane can do the job, as can JOC. The Wallabies do not need Mitchell – or Turner for that matter.
July 16th 2012 @ 6:44pm
biltongbek said | July 16th 2012 @ 6:44pm | Report comment
Drew Mitchell for me looks like he is lacking in confidence totake the hard hit, is he totally over his injury?
I get the feeling there is some psychological barrier limiting him at the moment, I may be wrong but it is just my perception.
July 16th 2012 @ 2:56pm
Munter said | July 16th 2012 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Mitch Inman like, Paddy Ryan like, Cooper Vuna Rob Horne not so much!