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Rennie concedes 'question marks around Samu' ahead of Wallabies tour

Samu Kerevi. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

A Samu Kerevi ankle injury could force Wallabies coach Dave Rennie to redraw his Spring Tour plans.

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A thorough 32-17 defeat of Argentina on Saturday will mean Australia head to Japan and then Europe for Tests against Japan, Scotland, England and Wales on a four-game winning streak.

No 12 Kerevi has been instrumental in that change of fortune, scoring a try before limping off in the second half with a potentially serious ankle ligament injury.

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Ian Foster and Ardie Savea react to the All Blacks’ defeat to the Springboks.

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Ian Foster and Ardie Savea react to the All Blacks’ defeat to the Springboks.

The squad, in camp for 109 days for the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship, will break on Sunday for 10 days before regrouping ahead of the October 23 Test in Oita.

They then play three Tests in consecutive weeks in November, with Kerevi’s injury potentially bad enough to rule him out of all of them.

The fixture changes due to Covid-19 have meant Super Rugby players have had no more than a few consecutive weeks of rest since late 2019.

It’s understood that because of that, Rennie had planned to leave emerging talents like Noah Lolesio, Harry Wilson and Hunter Paisami at home to benefit from a full pre-season.

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Centre Paisami, unable to find a way back into the side after leaving for the birth of his child, could now slot back in for Kerevi though.

“It used to be called a sprained ankle in my day. I think it’s syndesmosis now,” Rennie said of Kerevi’s injury as he waits on scans to reveal the full extent.

“We’ll see how we come through,pho obviously question marks around Samu and there will be a few bumps and bruises that we’ll have to have a look at.”

 

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Buzzing after an undefeated month, Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper plans to enjoy his rare downtime before a crucial trip to the Northern Hemisphere.

“We’re gaining momentum, creating Wallaby rugby and at times we’re really dangerous and clinical and physical,” he said.

“This tour is a great opportunity for us; a lot of our guys haven’t been up north and we’ve got a World Cup there in two years.

“To have the opportunity to play in front of hopefully full stadiums is great for everyone and playing different teams will present different challenges.”

– Murray Wenzel

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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