Big Dean Mumm needed no convincing when Robbie Deans asked him how he’d feel about captaining the Wallabies in their mid-week tour match against English Premiership outfit Gloucester on Wednesday.
“I said ‘bloody oath I would’. It was pretty exciting,” Mumm told AAP before Australia’s touring “Possums” departed London for the six-hour round trip to the south-west of England for the wintry night-time fixture.
“Leading the Wallabies at any stage is a massive honour and that’s what I’ll take away.
“You look at some of the guys who have done it before and it’s quite inspiring. So to be given an honour like that, it means a lot.”
Mumm, who will partner Sydney University’s tour bolter David Dennis in the second row, will lead a team of six Wallabies debutants in total.
Along with Dennis, fullback Kurtley Beale, centre Tyrone Smith, flanker Mitchell Chapman, prop Salesi Ma’afu and reserve halves Matt Toomua and Richard Kingi will don the gold Australian jumper for the first time.
Mumm, 25, says he’ll apply a simple approach to the captaincy.
“Obviously there’s a lot of new guys to the environment so it’s all about having a good show and not worrying if things go wrong,” the NSW Waratahs utility said.
“It’s just pulling it together and then we keep going forward. I don’t think it’s rocket science or anything.
“It’s just making sure the team stays composed to its maximum and then just going from there.
“Obviously it’s a very important game for us and it’s significant for us to get a win going forward.”
Coach Deans says the match will provide priceless experience to his emerging stars and also give his fringe Wallabies a chance to stake their claims for Test spots.
“We’re very much looking forward to it,” Deans says.
“It’s great for the whole group to have rugby, which is unusual these days, so it’s kept the boys connected in the preparation and we’ve also got another opportunity at the far end of the tour against the Cardiff Blues.
“So it’s great from our perspective. It’s good insofar as they get rugby and there’s also the development opportunity that they get.
“It will be an education. We’ve got no doubt about that for some of these blokes playing in Gloucester.
“They’re not really club sides anymore over here, as they were more in our playing generation.
“I think Gloucester have something like 24 internationals in their squad so it will be a fair workout and it’ll be great.
“It’s likely to be bucketing down and we’ll all be better for it.”
Mumm, who was on the bench for Australia’s tour-opening 32-19 loss to New Zealand in Tokyo on Saturday night, knows the Gloucester game is an opportunity to push for a Wallabies starting berth.
“If I can do a good job at it tomorrow night, it’s certainly going to be a good thing rather than a bad thing,” he said.
“Whether it impacts – obviously you’ve got to be doing your job around the field as well – but certainly my aim is to do it well to put my hand up to get a start.”
The match was to kick off at 7am Wednesday (AEDT).
ilikedahoodoogurusingha
Guest
I know ONE HD in Aus advertised that they were showing the Grand Slam Tour....but obviously not the club games.
Derm
Roar Guru
Obviously the match was a big hit with NH media - couldn't find a blinking thing on it anywhere - even BBC Radio Gloucestershire. Pretty ironic that only an Australian website has details. Or maybe not. Anyway, first stage in the attempt on the grand slam sweep is successfully passed. 5 games to go.
Armchair-critic
Roar Pro
36 - 5 fulltime. Sounds like Quade may have done enough to push for a starting spot. http://rugby.com.au/news/wallabies_2009/qantas_wallabies_vs_gloucester,134816.html/section/21893
Armchair-critic
Roar Pro
24 - 5 after 65 minutes
Colin N
Guest
Sorry '17-5' to Australia.
Colin N
Guest
17-5 at half-time. The only place I could find updates was on rugby.com.au.
Knives Out
Guest
'The game isn’t being televised in the UK, Chris. If you want to know what games are in future go to the Paddy Power website and check out the Rugby Union prices. If a game is being televised it will have a small TV icon to the left of the prices. If you drag the cursor over the icon then it states what channel the game is being played on. If it is a UK channel then try the net links JustinTV or p2p. http://www.paddypower.com/bet/rugby-union' I wrote this in response to somebody else.
Derm
Roar Guru
Ah that answers a query I had about Glaws. they have a match on Friday night so I couldn't figure they'd put any of their front-line players into the match. Not sure how much that does to the game, or will it have a similar dynamism as the Munster/NZ match last year? Don't see it on the TV schedules anywhere. Is it on radio or web anywhere?
Knives Out
Guest
Gloucester: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Tom Voyce, 10 Carlos Spencer, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Dan Williams, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Jake Boer (c), 5 Adam Eustace, 4 Will James, 3 Pierre Capdevielle, 2 Darren Dawiduik, 1 Paul Doran-Jones. Replacements: 16 Ben Phillips, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Dave Attwood, 19 Apo Satala, 20 Jordi Pasqualin, 21 Jonny May, 22 James Simpson-Daniel. Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross , 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Dean Mumm (c), 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Sekope Kepu. Replacements: 16 Pek Cowan, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Wycliff Palu, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Matt Toomua, 22 James O'Connor The Gloucester side selected is basically their 2nd/3rd string team, with only a handful of players featuring regularly for the first team. First appearances indicate that the Wallabies will smash Gloucester BUT the weather in the Gloucester region is wet and it will be dark and cold. How many Wallabies will be used to conditions like this, especially when being barracked by the notorious Shed? How much time has this team spent as a unit? The Australian side has some star names in it but a weak looking front five. Conversely, the Gloucester front five looks hearty and durable. If the home pack can get an advantage here and turn the game into a wrestle then who knows how the game could finish? Beale, Cooper, Cross, Burgess and Mitchell are hardly the most reliable of players. Regardless, I'd expect Australia to win by more than their allocated handicap of 15. I'd be very surprised if this turned into another Ospreys debacle.