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Bernard Foley on Cooper, Lolesio and next year's RWC

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Veteran playmaker Quade Cooper’s impact on the Wallabies last year has been an inspiration for Bernard Foley as he looks to play his first Test in three years.

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Foley was recalled to the Wallabies squad ahead of their first Rugby Championship Test against South Africa on Saturday in Adelaide, after walking away following the 2019 World Cup to play in Japan.

Five-eighth Cooper returned to the Test arena after a four-year absence in 2021, steering the side to five straight victories including back-to-back wins over the world champion Springboks.

Two years younger than his 34-year-old teammate, who is sidelined after rupturing his Achilles tendon playing Argentina, Foley said he had drawn inspiration from Cooper’s impact on the side.

“Definitely, I was really impressed how he came back in and just the experience and the composure he was able to add to the side,” the 71-Test veteran told media on Monday.

“You saw pretty much all the players around him lift and grow in stature and confidence by having that experience and that voice and calmness next to them, directing the team around.

“His influence and effect on the team has been massive and it’s sad to see his injury … that opportunity falls on me now.”

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Foley said his first conversation with Wallabies coach Dave Rennie about a return came last year, but the timing wasn’t right.

However, the former Waratahs playmaker said it “lit the fire” to wear the Australian colours again and he was grateful to have a second chance.

Foley felt his time in Japan, playing alongside the likes of current Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx, had made him a more worldly player.

“There’s guys there who come with different mentalities around the game so it’s really good to have those discussions,” he said.

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While he has been studying the Wallabies playbook, Foley only joined the squad on Sunday and hasn’t played a match since May, meaning Noah Lolesio is more likely to start at 10 at the Adelaide Oval.

Foley felt the Wallabies’ playmaker role was in good hands with Lolesio and fellow youngster Ben Donaldson, who is training with the Test squad.

“I’ve been really impressed coming in meeting Noah, just how composed and confident he is,” Foley said.

“I think he’s a guy who can come in and call the shots and I’m really excited to work with him.

“These guys are immensely talented – they’ve got the composure, mentality and probably the rugby IQ to run teams.

“They just need that experience, that time in the saddle to really master their craft.”

Foley said his availability for the spring tour of the UK and Europe was still to be determined, but he was eyeing his third Rugby World Cup next year in France.

“It’s definitely on the radar,” he said, “but I’m here on day one, trying to connect with the guys and understand how we want to play, so there’s a lot of footy and a lot of time between now and then.”

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J
JW 35 minutes ago
'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne

it made referee Andre Piardi and his officiating crew the topic of the rugby debate, rather than its natural mediators.

I’ve not seen any talk about the refs, just debate on what the ruling should be. RP is a fairly closed off work, which I guess I’m thankful for.

It was also an unwelcome repetition of the last British & Irish Lions tour in 2021, where Australian Nic Berry was pilloried by Springboks head coach ‘Rassie’ Erasmus after refereeing decisions in the first Test did not flow in South Africa’s favour.

It’s not really like that. It’s much more similar to 2017s reversal of the series deciding penalty, when Steven Hansen said they’d be taking matters behind doors, directly to World Rugby.

Two months before the Rugby World Cup in France began, UEFA head of referees Roberto Rosetti had led a PowerPoint presentation with one single message: “We need referees.”

Yeah WR really need to up their game, theyve done nothing about it since they made the head sacrosanct, and I suppose ‘force’ being so much more important to the equation, and yet still so open to judgement.

The Wallabies had established a very healthy 23-5 lead after half an hour, and that should have been enough for them to coast home

This is a poor attitude and looked like what was their problem (although drastic or obvious a failing, or attitude, by aussie, i think it was there).


I said in your first article that if Len feels out of position Joseph should just come into 12. Very simple solution and solves the problem of him not getting his hands on the ball all that much.


Worst selection for me was Ben Donaldson, having him on the bench in the weekend cost them the game (most amongst many factors). Everyone hard done by not having a decider this weekend.

18 Go to comments
J
Jfp123 44 minutes ago
New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

I don’t think Dupont and Ntamack would have toured, if fit. Stade Toulousain seems not to be quite so hard on players as UBB, but if AD and RN had been fit they’d have played more minutes and would still have needed a rest and recovery period.


Of course I like to see France win, but I don’t want to see players wrecked by overwork.


I don’t get frustrated. I love seeing the top stars, but I also enjoy seeing the up and coming stars of the future who stand in for them, and I don’t want to see any player broken by overwork. It’s often possible to predict roughly which players will play in which games, if someone is bothered. For example, if you want to be sure of seeing all the top Stade Toulousain stars, go to their Champions cup matches, but actually, their team is pretty stellar in every match as they’ve got such an amazing squad.


The Top14, plus Champions Cup plus internationals, is a very heavy workload, and there are knock out stages of both the Top14 and Champions Cup, just before the summer test window, and these matches can be of international standard - eg, 2023 Champions Cup final Toulouse v Leinster (ie more or less Ireland). There is a limit to what players can do. Super Rugby players don’t have such a heavy workload, so playing stars in every match is not such a problem.


The knock out stages and relegation are part of what makes the Top14 so brilliant. Practically every team has something at stake all season, whether it’s making the top 2 to go straight to the semis, the top 6 to get into the finals, or avoiding the bottom 2 to avoid relegation. Organise the Top14 like football, and Stade Toulousain would have been crowned champions way before the end of the season and there would have been a lot of dead games without much at stake.

145 Go to comments
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LONG READ 'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne 'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne