Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says Tom Banks’ decision to leave Australia at the end of the season could have an impact on his thinking when he selects teams from now through to the World Cup next year.
Banks is leaving the Brumbies to play in Japan after the Brumbies’ Super Rugby campaign ends and is expected to play some role in the England series. A squad of 30 plus will be named next Sunday or Monday after the Super Rugby semis.
Last week Banks said he’d spoken to Rennie about his international future and the coach was “upbeat” about his prospects.
But in an interview with Code Sports Rennie has suggested that loyalty to the local game could be the deciding factor if faced with a choice between Banks and another fullback this year.
“Each week we pick a team with an emphasis on beating England,” said Rennie.
Tom Banks taking on New Zealand in Bledisloe 1 (Yeung/Getty Images)
“If we feel that there’s not much between say Tom and someone else then we could potentially pick the other guy knowing that Tom’s heading away.
“He’s had a great season so far. If he plays really well for us this year and goes to Japan and looks after himself, who knows, there could be an opportunity for him to go to a World Cup.
“We fully understand why he’s leaving. He wants to be here but he’s got a great opportunity and he could be back in a couple of years to take on the Lions. That’s not lost on us. He’s still an option this year obviously and next year for the World Cup.”
Rennie said he considered Banks to be the incumbent despite missing the end of last Test season with injury.
“Tom started every Test until he got injured and after that we used Hodgey and then he got injured, we used Kell, and Kurtley got in late,” Rennie said.
“And all those men actually played really well. And we got Jordy Petaia and Jock Campbell and even guys like Jake Strachan’s had a really good year for the Force.
“We’ve got some options there. Kurtley’s been injured for a big chunk of the past three months with a hamstring injury and that sort of thing so he’s got a race against the close so he’s ready to do.”
While the loss of Banks could have an impact, Rennie said the retention of others such as Nick Frost, Nic White and Noah Lolesio was “really important.”
“It’s a challenging time from a players perspective because you’re talking about massive sums of money. I don’t begrudge any of the guys leaving, but we’re talking to them all,” said Rennie.
” You can’t promise these guys. But we’re trying to create an environment that they want to be a part of and the lure of the Wallaby jersey. So, some of those guys are staying because they want to go to a World Cup and they want to play more Tests and their opportunity to go overseas will come at a later date.
“It’s important, we’ve already got a lot of players playing overseas and to keep our team strong and competitive we need a lot of these quality players and we’re talking about young blokes really outside of Nic [White] and it’s massive for the future of the game. We’re rapt.”
Rennie was asked what he thought the hardest positions to pick would be when it comes time to settle on a team for the first Test against England.
“I think we’ll be as strong as anywhere at 9,” Rennie said. “If you look at all those nines we used last year, Nic, Tate [McDermott] and Jake [Gordon], they’ve all been in excellent form. You’ve got Ryan Lonergan behind that whose an excellent nine and I reckon going to be a really good Test player in time.
“There’s genuine competition at nine. That’s the position we’ve got the most depth in.”
Rennie said his goal this season was to improve on last year.
“Last year was really good for us. But in the end we want to be better then how we performed last year because in the end we won seven and lost seven and finished with three losses,” Rennie said.
“What’s positive is the Waratah boys will take confidence out of beating the Kiwi sides, so will the Brumbies boys.
“The Reds have been there and thereabouts. They started really well but they’ve lost some big moments and haven’t been able to apply pressure in the second half when it counts. So hopefully those players take out a bit of confidence.
“But what it’s doing is it’s creating more depth and competition for places and that’s key – there’s going to be some good players miss out.”
‘More maturity and experience’
Wallabies legend George Gregan says the Wallabies are improved on their World Cup campaign three years ago and can give next year’s tournament a shake.
The Wallabies haven’t won the tournament since 1999 and the 2019 edition ended with a quarter-final exit to England.
“There’s some really good young players who were part of that 2019 squad, but have more maturity and experience now,” Gregan told the Daily Mail.
“It’s just a matter of consistency in international rugby and the margins are always very small.
“A World Cup sometimes isn’t about what you’ve done previously. South Africa, for example, won in 2019 but if you track their form before, you wouldn’t have put them down as a world champion.”
Blues skipper missing finals
While the Brumbies face a couple of nervous days waiting for the judiciary verdict on Len Ikitau’s red card, the Blues have confirmed their in-form skipper Dalton Papalii
The Blues final four push will come without influential captain Dalton Papalii is out for the rest of the tournament.
Papalii was rushed into surgery on Friday for an emergency operation with his appendix.
“He came in and spoke to the boys before kickoff which highlights how passionate he is around this group,” said coach Leon MacDonald.
“We want him back as soon as possible but we’ll be guided by the doctors and I don’t know how long that’ll be unfortunately.”
The Brumbies had to dig deep, down 14-3 and a man when Ikitau was marched.
“I’m just really proud … we spoke about resilience and it’s a big part of our club,” said coach Dan McKellar.
“It’s one of our pillars, words on the wall don’t mean a whole lot but actions that we saw tonight mean so much.
“14-3 and a red card, it’s easy to get rattled and plenty of teams do but I could tell at halftime that they were fine.”
McKellar compared next weekend’s trip to Auckland with a previous assignment, and said he felt his team could match the Blues after going down to the wire with them in Canberra last month.
“We’ve been here before … we had to go to Argentina a couple of years ago and play a semi over there, we go to Auckland really confident,” he said.
“We felt we should have won that game a couple of weeks ago, there’s an enormous amount of respect for them.
“They’ve got threats across the park, we feel we’ve got the game that can challenge them and we’ll prepare for that.”
Red-faced Rassie
He’s no stranger to eye-catching social media posts but Rassie Erasmus was left red-faced when a retweet of a hardcore porn clip was sent from his Twitter account on Saturday.
Erasmus, famed for a much long video, was apoplectic as he tried in vain to have the tweet deleted for many hours after his account was apparently hacked.
Poco Loco
Roar Rookie
AB, while Banks is adequate, he has not shown he really is the goods. JP is more likely to cement 15 given the opportunity. Cheers.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
You still have nothing to back up your claims. There are no facts when it comes to evaluating one player vs another. Everything is subjective excepts for maybe who is faster, who is older/younger but everything else is opinion. You have a good night and enjoy your life as a troll on internet comment sections
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
Yawn...............the only facts u present are yours...get it?
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
Just like I thought you would say something that is a deflection from the facts. I’m going to assume you are a fancy member of banks because no one else seems to defend him in the nation.
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
Wow thought you didn't have the time or patience. Grasping at straws on all points, better have a have rest champ before you blow a gasket.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
I'll start with his positives so you don't just think i am here to bag him. he kicks 1. He usually has good field position which is needed for a 15. 2. he is very fast 3. He hits attacking lines great and if the whole created for him is good he will make good yards. 4. he can kick great into touch. 5. Great support player 6. High work rate. Most of these only apply to super level where he is a proven quality 15. Reliable and you know what you are going to get. However these are the negatives in his game that I see and i'm sure there are a lot of other on this site who will agree. 1. He is poor in contact - Can hit that hole/run a good line all day but is usually stopped fairly quickly and easily. 2. has not ability to step - He runs fast and hard - maybe a goose step here or there but that is about it. 3. General kicking game is lacking - Yes he can do a decent clearance kick but is not the greatest. His mid field bombs on counter attack are generally poor but he does give a good chase to his own kicks which is a good asset to have. 4. while he is a good defender i think his tackling technique is poor. As we saw from his red card earlier this season that seems to be how he hits people. 5. his attacking game is very one dimensional. apart from no ability to beat a defender one on one he is rarely in a position to make an off load, draw a defender or make a defender think he is going to anything else apart from run hard and fast. Ball is always under a wing and never in two hands. 6. He takes his sweet time to kick a ball weather it be for touch or in field bomb. 7. He is good for 3 or 4 brain farts a game - Poor catch on a pass, drop a sitter of a kick. Kick directly to touch, try and run it out and get isolated. While most of his strengths work well at super level they are minimized immensely at test level as the gaps for him to run into are not as big, defenders are making contact with him sooner so his run meters are not as big, kick chases are are better so he has less time for his clearance kicks forcing more errors, is out of position more, gets run over by bigger defenders has his technique is poor. I can go on but time is catching up with me so in conclusion I say this. He had a shot and did not take it with both hands. I love his passion and his drive, but he is not an international 15. Maybe Australia does not have one but we need to keep looking. Now, I have to get back to work, but if you want proof of this just watch all his international games again. I will admit he was looking better in his last game or two before his injury, but he has had ample opportunity to do anything and have not on a consistent basis. Is Jock Campbell the answer? I don't know. But we can either Play Banks more and waste time looking at other options or try the standard Aussie rugby way of falling back on bad habits like Latu falling out of his parked car by using Hodge or Beale. Thank you for your time and I await your rebuttal good fir.
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
Great response....I don't have time or evidence. You also have no idea why Banks chose to go OS, but you think you do...jog on champ.
The Ferret
Roar Rookie
Hi Aussie Bob… I don’t have the time or patience to give you a complete break down on why Banks is not an international 15. The obvious response is to look at his career and see for yourself that he has done nothing at that level. Sure he is decent super rugby player, but just not at international standard for a 15. Even he knows it. If he knew he was the best 15 in the county and had that position locked down he sure would not be going to Japan and skipping a world cup.
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
Love it, you need a wildcard. How many times has Aust tried that and failed.
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
Wow you are really scraping the barrel to find issue with Banks. Such in depth analysis which amounts to random opinion.
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
How do you know that champ you got the speed gun on him?
AussieBob
Roar Rookie
I say this often, please watch the game. Your reasoning makes no sense, he makes great contact metres, breaks tackles, quality defence and has scored at least 4x more tries than his fullback competitors.
numpty
Roar Rookie
You mean the one Wright caught between his knees and nearly fell forward catching? Not the best example.
Chris
Guest
What has Dave Rennie done ? From his poor results, the wallabies have gone backwards since he took over. The Wallabies are ranked the lowest they have ever been. They lost half their tests last year and the most horrendous result was them losing 3 tests on the trot to Scotland England and Wales on the EOYT. The first time in Wallaby history. He has done nothing but fail since he took over. He is not a test class coach.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
He is used well by the Brums attacking in wide channels and also off inside balls close to the ruck. He is good under the high ball and he kicks well out of hand. He doesn't make many mistakes and defends well. We don't have a lot of quality at 15. I like Campbell too but think Banks is generally better. If the competition beyond these two is McIntyre/Strachan, Hodge/Jooste, Petaia, or Donaldson then I'd say he has been the best 15. It's my opinion only of course
Charlie Turner
Guest
You had every right to be nervous. I can’t recall if it was the Blues or MP match where Lonergan came on with 20 to go and made complete mess of it. It was uncharacteristic but gee he was bad.
Khun Phil
Roar Rookie
Dean,shows you we all see matches differently.I was very nervous when White came off(not that I support the Brumbies,but wanted an Oz win),but thought Lonergan did very well.He clears the ball much quicker than White,although doesn't have White's kicking abaility.
Wigeye
Guest
Very much not thinking Chris more so hopeing he hasnt been promisedhow could you guarantee that. Maybe it suits back to Oz,steppng stone,and perhaps try make a go of it. ITS gotta be in my opinion a backward step for wallabys
tuohyred
Roar Rookie
Hope U are right. Hasn't announced himself as decisively as did Te_Nug and TJP. Bit hard playing 2nd fiddle to Nic. Aaron Smith @Te_Nug · Jun 5 To my bro @Tj_Perenara congratulations on hitting 150 SR games! Next target top try scorer ???? #9Gang
Chris
Guest
You think Beale would have come back to Australia if he wasn`t guaranteed a Wallaby jersey. Rennie will pick him no doubt about it.Rennie said players who play in oz will get preferential treatment. As far as im concerned Rennie is Chieka 2.0 as his results have been the same, actually they are worse than Chiekas first two years.