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Pocock is 'very close' despite omission

David Pocock after the 2015 Rugby World Cup final. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika hopes he can finally launch champion flanker David Pocock into action in the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Auckland on Saturday week.

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Sidelined since March by a particularly troublesome calf injury and not considered for the Bledisloe opener in Perth on Saturday, Pocock is cutting it fine to get any game time at all before the World Cup.

But Cheika says Pocock appears almost ready, with the Eden Park match a real possibility.

“He has trained all week with the team, slightly modified but this is the most he has done with the team so he is getting very close,” Cheika said.

“He will train fully with the team today and I am hoping he will be available next week.”

Restricted to three games for the Brumbies this season, Pocock retired from Super Rugby in March after suffering a rare calf injury during a Wallabies training camp in January.

But the reigning John Eales Medallist has been back doing full-contact sessions with the Wallabies in Perth, placing the world champion All Blacks on guard.

“He’s got to get through a week of full-on running and training and, once he does that, I think he’s not too far away. Then they’ll say he’s ready to play a Test match,” George Gregan told The Back Page on Fox Sports.

“So he went from not being able to run – they had a lot of issues with that calf – but he’s almost close to completing a full week of training and I think if he could do that, then why not throw him in?

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“We know what he does when he comes back from a long break. It’s not as though he needs two or three games to get his rhythm. His rhythm’s always pretty damn good, Poey.”

The most experienced Wallaby in history, Gregan has enjoyed assisting Michael Cheika in a cameo role during the Rugby Championship.

The 139-Test halfback spent time with Australia’s playmakers and leadership group before clashes with Argentina and South Africa in Brisbane and Johannesburg.

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RedWarriors 1 hour ago
Leinster player ratings vs Sharks | 2024/25 URC

Yes. It looked like the players didn’t believe in the coaching. I hear that Sharks turnover a lot of coaches but there seems to be an issue judging by the players body language at least. The looked world beaters when scoring a point a minute against good teams early in the season though.


Attacking opportunities will be different under the Nienaber system. We saw some incisive attack and a couple of good tries against the Bulls and against Sharks.

Arguably we might get a better idea of Leinsters attack of these SA matches where the players by and large are immersed only on Leinster and not mixing time with the Irish setup.

Re the Irish setup, Farrell has to make a decision. The IRFU also. Nienaber contract ends in 2026. Should Ireland change play to something different like Leinster?

I would say yes, but if there needs to by alignment with Leinster then there must be certainty that Leinster is playing that way in 2026 onward.

That’s why I believe IRFU could have leveraged the Nienaber appointment with Leinster.

Obvious man was Felix Jones, but that bird has flown.

I don’t believe it would make Ireland world beaters. But clearly these young Leinster players are comfortable playing this way and it could make Ireland extremely difficult to beat in a World Cup which is a key attribute in winning knock out matches.


I think in the next few years we will see a SA 4 IRL 4 last 8.

They will tweak the schedule to give less disadvantage to SA. Even if that is worth 5 points per SA team, that puts almost all in play offs. More Springboks also in play perhaps.

The ‘other’ Irish provinces got hurt a little by Leinsters win dominance this year (having to play them twice). But IMO they are all building again, and although some more Leinster academy players will be released to the provinces and they will get a little centralized help the onus will be on them to find ways to close the gap with Leinster which they will start to do next year.

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