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Rugby News: Swain ban length revealed, Quade out of second Test, Wallaby prop's warning to Poms

5th July, 2022
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5th July, 2022
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Wallabies lock Darcy Swain has been banned for the next two matches against England but will be free to return for the Rugby Championship.

Swain was sent off in the 34th minute of the first Test win over England for headbutting opposite Jonny Hill in retaliation.

Swain acknowledged foul play but argued that it did not warrant red. Although the red card was upheld the judiciary reduced his ban from the base level of six weeks to two.

“Having acknowledged mitigating factors, including the player’s acknowledgement of foul play, clean disciplinary record, conduct at the hearing and expression of remorse, the committee granted the player full mitigation of 50 per cent of three weeks,” the committee said in a statement

“The committee further determined that given the above off-field mitigating factors and that a three-week sanction would be wholly disproportionate given the level and nature of the offence, the sanction was further reduced by an extra week.”

Swain has the right to appeal.

Cooper out of game two, at least

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Quade Cooper has been ruled out of the second Test against England and is unlikely to feature in the third game either.

The Wallabies playmaker pulled up with a calf muscle issue in the warmup before Australia’s 30-28 win over England in Perth on Saturday night.

Cooper cut a dejected figure as he returned to the dressingroom then watched from the bench as Noah Lolesio stepped up to play strongly in the No.10 jersey.

Rugby Australia confirmed Cooper’s absence for the Brisbane Test on Tuesday, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. The Wallabies media department would not confirm the Herald report saying just that Cooper is ‘unlikely’.

Rennie has a choice between Lolesio and James O’Connor, a late addition to the bench in Perth.

“I probably think they might go with James at 10,” said Drew Mitchell on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly Podcast.

“Just the language from Dave Rennie saying James O’Connor was right and fit to play, but he wasn’t quite sharp enough. That to me [might suggest] he is going to have more of a significant role at some point throughout the series.”

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Bell sets high expectations

Wallabies prop Angus Bell says the Australians are set to bring more intensity to their scrum in the second Test and warned the tourists: “We’re not here to be even with England, we’re here to dominate them.”

Pre-tour expectations in England were that their scrum would be too hot to handle for the Wallabies, especially in the absence of Taniela Tupou, who is expected to return in Brisbane on Saturday.

The loss of Darcy Swain to a first-half red card scuppered the Aussies’ best-laid plans for forward domination in Perth, but they showed enough to concern the visitors, along with leaving town with a 1-0 series lead.

Bell said the Australians gave no thought to the pre-tour assessments of the team’s relative strengths and weaknesses.

“It’s about execution, our plays, that team execution,” Bell said on Tuesday.

“I was pretty unhappy with our set-piece. It could be better. We didn’t quite get that right in areas and certain things like the red card didn’t help, and we had players in different positions.

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“But now we’re going to bring another step up in intensity of the set-piece and we need to be better.”

Tupou has been sidelined for two months with a calf injury but could return at Suncorp.

“Taniela is a beast,” said Bell. “He’s one of the world’s best. In every single facet of the game to do with front rowers and forwards, Taniela has a massive impact on.

“If he does get picked he’ll do a job just like our other tight heads. We’ve got world class tight heads everywhere – the job doesn’t change.”

Bell said the players backed Swain, who faces a judicary hearing into his red card later Tuesday.

“That’s just part of rugby. Rugby is a physical sport, and you can get into altercations,” Bell said, ruling out any thought of payback.

“Sometimes you don’t really want to get into it. And sometimes someone will do something you don’t like and that’s just on the individual to deal with depending on what they do, legally or illegally.

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“It was a spur of the moment thing and Darcy’s obviously made the decision through frustration. Darcy’s an unreal bloke and doesn’t have that sort of streak in him at all and we’ll see what happens.”

Hodge recalls from PNC

Reece Hodge has been called back from the Australia A squad at the Pacific Nations Cup to bolster the Wallabies after Tom Banks suffered a broken arm.

Hodge played the A team’s loss to Samoa on Saturday ahead of the Wallabies Test win over England in Perth.

Hodge was one of the standouts in the loss with his booming, long-range kicking a feature. A true back-line utility, Hodge has played 51 Tests and gives Dave Rennie back up options.

The move also means Reds fullback Jock Campbell, who played on the wing against Samoa, should get the No.15 jersey for Aus A’s second match, against Tonga, on Saturday.

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Kerevi and Nawaqanitawase in 7s team

Wallabies ace Samu Kerevi and Waratahs and Australia A flyer Mark Nawaqanitawase have been named in the Australian team for the Commonwealth Games 7s tournament, which runs from July 29-31.

Kerevi was a member of the Tokyo Olympic team and man of the match in the Test win over England on Saturday, while Nawaqanitawase played for Australia A against Samoa.

Both men’s and women’s squads of 13 players each were named on Tuesday as Australia seeks a first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in the sport.

Australia’s men’s team won silver at the Delhi 2010 Games and claimed bronze medals in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Glasgow in 2014.

The women’s team won silver on the Gold Coast in the only women’s tournament so far – losing the final to New Zealand in extra time – and also claimed gold at the 2016 Olympics.

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Charlotte Caslick leads the team along with co-captain Demi Hayes.

The team features four players who were in the World Sevens Dream Team this year after Australia’s series triumph -Caslick, Maddison Levi, Madison Ashby and Faith Nathan.

Teams

Women: Charlotte Caslick, Lily Dick, Dominique Du Toit, Demi Hayes, Madison Ashby, Tia Hinds, Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Maddison Levi, Teagan Levi, Faith Nathan, Sariah Paki, Jesse Southwell, Sharni Williams.

Men: Ben Dowling, Matthew Gonzalez, Henry Hutchison, Samu Kerevi, Nathan Lawson, Maurice Longbottom, Nick Malouf, Benn Marr, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Henry Paterson, Dietrich Roache, Corey Toole, Joshua Turner.

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Whitelock ruled out of second Test

All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock has been ruled out of the second Test against Ireland with “delayed onset concussion”.

Whitelock was impressive as the hosts rolled Ireland 42-19 win in the first Test at Eden Park but must observe a 12-day stand-down period.

Fellow lock Tupou Vaa’i has contracted Covid so so coach Ian Foster has been allowed to bring in Patrick Tuipulotu, who had originally been ineligible for national team selection due to the terms of his sabbatical.

Crusaders trio David Havili, Jack Goodhue and Will Jordan are back with the team after their Covid absences on Saturday.

In an alternate universe…

Doing player ratings for a rugby match can be a tough gig, especially when a match is as chaotic as Saturday’s Wallabies-England epic in Perth.

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But it takes a special kind of stupidity to get it this wrong.

Hill smacked Swain two hands in the face on 22 minutes before grabbing the Australian’s hair. Swain reacted to the provocation with a head butt that has him dragged in front of the judiciary later Tuesday. The low end of the charge is around six weeks but the Australians are likely to try argue it down based on the level of baiting involved.

Wallabies back rower super sub Pete Samu admits the England tourists did get under the skin of the Australians and they need to return serve with smiles.

“They really got under our skin. We could have reacted better with Darcy’s red card. Our focus is focusing on our game now,” Samu told reporters.

Samu added there was no thought of retaliation in Brisbane.

“We never focus on those areas, we just give them a smile back and get on with our jobs,” said Samu, who scored a try and made one huge defensive play in his 12 minutes of game time on Saturday.

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‘What an opportunity’

James O’Connor has revealed the frantic moments before being thrust onto the Wallabies bench as a replacement for Quade Cooper in Perth.

Cooper pulled up lame with a calf injury in the warm-up leaving Noah Lolesio to start at No.10. The youngster produced a nerveless display, including an immaculate goal-kicking performance in a famous Australia win.

O’Connor was brought into the fray late in the game after being left out of the match day squad and having been set to watch the match from the corporate box section.

“I was actually out doing games with the kids outside – passing, signing autographs, etcetera,” O’Connor told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Then I went up to the [corporate] boxes for an hour to do some Q&As and once we finished that I was literally heading to my seat and, as I cut across the pitch, [team manager Chris Webb] caught my eye and said ‘you better strap up mate, looks like Quadey’s blown a gasket’.

Henry Arundell of England runs to score a scores a try during game one of the international test match series between the Australian Wallabies and England at Optus Stadium on July 02, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

 (Photo by Will Russell – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

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“Going through my head was ‘I know the plan, I’ve practised being calm in the chaos, so enjoy the moment, what an opportunity’.”

In the build-up, Rennie said he had opted for Lolesio on the bench because O’Connor’s fitness wasn’t quite where it needed to be and it proved a prescient call.

Arundell reflects on debut try

Henry Arundell is determined to forge his own path to rugby stardom amid comparisons with greats of the game such as David Campese and Bryan Habana, reports the Press Association.

Arundell produced one of the most dynamic debuts in English rugby history when scoring a try and helping to set up a second in the closing stages of Saturday’s 30-28 defeat.

The 19-year-old’s seven-minute cameo on the wing was a continuation of his explosive form for London Irish in his debut professional season, but at Perth’s Optus Stadium he announced his arrival to the world.

“They’re very high compliments. The compliments are great, but I’ve got to make sure I keep proving it,” said Arundell, who is set to be retained on the bench for Saturday’s second Test.

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“Eddie drives that through the whole team – drive is improvement for yourself to keep getting better.

“It’s fun when you get the comparisons and stuff, but, at the end of the day, you have to be your own player and do your own thing.”

Arundell’s brother and dad jetted out to Perth to watch his debut and will also be present for the next instalment of the series in Brisbane this weekend.

“On a personal level and for my family as well, it was an incredible, incredible day. I didn’t think I’d ever do that type of thing, so I’m really excited about that, but there’s a bigger focus,” Arundell said.

“It’s great to score a try, but guys like Owen Farrell have almost played 100 Tests and that’s the goal for me, to be at that sort of level.

“Owen gave me one of his shirts after the game to say well done. There’s a mutual understanding that great, that’s happened, but the Test series is the main thing – and winning the World Cup next year.”

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