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Rising sevens star Jack Maddocks swaps Rebels for Waratahs

Jack Maddocks training with the Wallabies. (Photo by Chris Hyde / Getty Images)

The NSW Waratahs have received a big boost ahead of the Super Rugby season, securing Wallabies utility Jack Maddocks in a transfer from the Melbourne Rebels.

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The youngster, who played six Tests under Michael Cheika, looms as a possible fullback option to replace sacked star Israel Folau.

Maddocks wanted to return to Sydney and the Rebels were hoping to get a player swap but that did not occur and it’s believed there was a financial agreement.

The Waratahs face sharing 22-year-old Maddocks with the Australian Sevens program, which he has been involved with in recent months ahead of the Tokyo Olympics campaign.

“First and foremost, Jack is a wonderfully talented player,” said new Waratahs coach Rob Penney.

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“When the opportunity arose to bring him back it was one I was really keen on for a number of reasons.

“Jack can play right across the backline, he’s got speed, skill and creativity with the ball in hand.

“Bringing him back gives us a range of options in the way we’d like to set up.

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“I’m looking forward to seeing him on the training pitch over the next few weeks as he starts to embed himself into the combinations we’ve established over pre-season.”

Maddocks was grateful for the move back to his home state.

“New South Wales is home for me, my family are here, it’s where I started playing rugby and it’s where I want to continue my career – being involved with both the Waratahs and Eastern Suburbs,” he said.

“From all reports, it’s a great environment that Rob (Penney) and the staff have created over the pre-season and one I’m excited to be a part of.

“I’d like to thank everyone at the Waratahs and the Rebels for making this move possible.”

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– AAP

New coach Rob Penney believes he has the players on board to guide the Waratahs to a second Super Rugby title:

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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