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Four Wallabies named in Vikings squad

Pete Samu

A mixture of Wallabies, seasoned Super Rugby professionals and local club game talent headline the Canberra Vikings team set to undertake the 2019 National Rugby Championship.

Led by Head Coach Nick Scrivener, the Vikings, who reached the semi-final stage last season only to fall to the Fijian Drua in the Pacific Islands, have named a strong-looking group of players that includes full Wallabies internationals Tom Banks, Joe Powell, Pete Samu and Blake Enever.

There’s a real emphasis on youth amongst the group with promising young talent such as Junior Wallabies props Bo Abra and Angus Wagner, hooker Lachlan Lonergan, and backs Noah Lolesio, Bayley Kuenzle and Len Ikitau, set to take the tournament by storm.

“I’m very pleased with the balance of the squad that we have selected and am looking forward to the competition getting underway,” Scrivener said of the Vikings 2019 selection.

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“There’s some very exciting young talent in the group, which should mix well with the players who have had experience of playing in Super Rugby. I’m also extremely exited by the prospect of seeing some of the local club players showing their quality at this level.”

Amongst those who have shone in the ACT club competition, the Griffin Legal John I Dent Cup, is scrumhalf, and Tuggeranong Vikings points-machine, Ryan Lonergan, Owls’ centre Irae Simone and Queanbeyan Whites Junior Wallabies lock Nick Frost.

https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1137377352869191681

Other club talent aiming to shine includes Jake Helgesen of Gungahlin Eagles, a former winner of the MacDougall Medal, Easts speedster George Morseu, Vikings centre Andrew Robinson and Queanbeyan Whites book-end Fred Kaihea.

SQUAD

Backs: Tom Banks, Mack Hansen, Len Ikitau, Bayley Kuenzle, Noah Lolesio, Ryan Lonergan, George Morseu, Andrew Muirhead, Joe Powell, Toni Pulu, Andrew Robinson, Irae Simone, Seamus Smith, Tom Wright

Forwards: Angus Allen, Bowen Abra, Nick Dobson, Blake Enever, Nick Frost, Luke Gersekowski, Jake Helgesen, Fred Kaihea, Lachlan Lonergan, Tp Luteru, Connal Mcinerney, Will Miller, Tom Ross, Pete Samu, Levi Shaw, Jake Simeon, Darcy Swain, Rob Valetini, Angus Wagner

The Canberra Vikings National Rugby Championship challenge for 2019 will begin with a visit to Melbourne to take on the Rising this Saturday 31 August, and will include four home matches, all at Viking Park.

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

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