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Thread: Pocock faces test of Waugh (Australian); Old and new stars face off (Daily Telegraph)

  1. #1
    Champion KenyaQuin's Avatar
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    Pocock faces test of Waugh (Australian); Old and new stars face off (Daily Telegraph)

    Pocock faces test of Waugh
    Wayne Smith | April 11, 2008 Pocock faces test of Waugh | The Australian

    INJURY will prevent Rocky Elsom from conducting his own experiment but the Wallabies' hard man believes the world is one day away from discovering if rising Western Force superstar David Pocock, 19, is the real deal.

    Elsom, the Waratahs' best performer this season, is pawing the ground in frustration that the quadriceps injury that forced him out of the Blues match last weekend is going to cost him a start against the Force at Perth's Subiaco Oval tomorrow night.

    But the one compensation is that he will be able to monitor Pocock's positional clash with Waratahs captain Phil Waugh closely.

    "There is no bigger test for an openside flanker than Phil Waugh because he is the most physical No7 in world rugby," Elsom said.

    "If Pocock can stand up to him, he's all right. Phil is a proven performer in big games and this is a big game for us.

    "Pocock's form has been outstanding and there's no question he's been one the great finds of the season, but this is when we find out just how good he really is."

    It could be that this is when Elsom finds out whom he most likely will be playing alongside in the Test backrow this season, although any discussion on the gold No7 jersey that does not identify the Brumbies' George Smith as the likeliest contender cannot be taken seriously.

    Elsom also is wetting his lips in anticipation of the lineout clash of Dan Vickerman and Force captain Nathan Sharpe, Australia's first-choice second-row pairing since the 2003 World Cup.

    "It's the biggest contest within the contest," Elsom said. His prediction is that one will gain the ascendancy and this could start a spiral that could see the match spin out of control for the loser's team.

    Haig Sare knows all about situations spiralling out of control. The 25-year-old Force winger was the other player involved in the pre-season fracas with Matt Henjak that left him with a broken jaw and the former Wallabies halfback with a shattered career.

    Henjak's contract was torn up as a consequence, while Sare, named yesterday on the bench for this match with the Waratahs, was suspended for eight weeks. It was a hefty suspension but one made more bearable by the fact that it has taken him that long to recover from his injuries.

    Force coach John Mitchell, in naming Sare in his match 22, confessed yesterday he did not know whether or not the player had learned from his mistakes, only that he had not "buggered up since the last time".

    But Sare was adamant he had taken his lessons to heart.

    "You don't go through something like that and see the effect it has on the organisation and on your family and friends without learning from it," Sare said.

    "And what I learned is what a privilege it is to be able to play professional rugby. To see that taken away from a team-mate and to realise how close you've come to having it taken away from you makes you sit back and really appreciate what you've got."

    Sare refused to discuss the incident or his feelings towards Henjak. But he admitted he had been apprehensive when his Force team-mates had returned from their early-season tour of South Africa, unsure of how they would treat him, especially since the incident led to Henjak's expulsion from the club.

    "Yeah, I had fears but the response was great," he said. "Everyone in the organisation was really positive towards me. I thought there might have been some tension but I was able to just get back into footy."

    In the only change to the starting XV that snatched victory over the Bulls last weekend, Troy Takiari takes over at tighthead from AJ Whalley, who has been relegated to the bench.

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  2. #2
    Champion KenyaQuin's Avatar
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    Old and new stars face off
    By Iain Payten Old and new stars face off | The Daily Telegraph

    April 11, 2008 12:00am

    PHIL Waugh wouldn't be surprised if Force teenager David Pocock has been thinking about him a lot this week.

    Not being a big head or anything. It's just he did exactly the same thing the first time he lined up against then-Wallabies No. 7 David Wilson eight years ago.

    "And I remember doing the same thing when I first played against Simon Poidevin," Wilson recalled yesterday.

    In 10 years' time there will be a young buck coming up aiming to knock Pocock off.

    It's human nature. There will always be a young bloke up against an old bloke - and he wants his spot. And tomorrow night the old lion and the young lion are due to do battle in Perth when NSW take on the Force.

    Both stocky, tenacious ball scavengers and fearless defenders, Waugh and Pocock will butt heads for the first time over the loose ball at Subiaco Oval.

    Waugh, 28, has gone on to collect 66 Test caps since Wilson retired and has been in vintage form this season.

    The Tahs skipper was last week's man of the match in his team's breakthrough win against the Blues.

    Pocock, 19, is widely accepted to be the heir apparent to Waugh and George Smith as the Wallabies' flyer after impressing in his second season of Super 14 this year, and with Australia A caps already under his belt.

    Both share the hallmarks of a classic tearaway openside: built like tanks, aggressive and always up for a bit of unabashed niggle.

    "He's obviously got some good wraps and has been playing some good football, particularly defensively, for them," Waugh concedes, just a little begrudgingly.

    "But yeah, I still remember playing against David Wilson in my first year, and how much it meant for me in terms of going forward with my career.

    "I remember that game meaning a little extra for me for sure. I am sure he is going to be pumped up and want to make a mark for himself."

    A product of the modern age, Pocock responds by saying he's more focused on personal performance than one-on-one duels.

    But scratch the surface and it's not hard to uncover Pocock's excitement at the prospect of racing Waugh to a tackle.

    The 103kg teen still remembers admiring Waugh back when he and his family lived in Zimbabwe, before their migration to Brisbane in 2002.

    "I definitely have been looking forward to this game for a while. I've been watching Phil Waugh play for six or seven years, he is one of the best flankers in the world," Pocock said.

    The Waugh-Pocock clash will go a long way to determining who walks away with the points.

    NSW and the Force both rely on quick, clean recycling of possession to mount sustained pressure in attack, and with quality back-rowers are as adept at stifling their opposition's ball as they are at providing it.

    Waugh will set out to keep Pocock's heels cooling for a while yet but few dispute Pocock will one day play for Australia. The talented youngster was so good he forced the ARU to change its policy to allow 17-year-olds to play in the Super 14 after he was banned in 2006.

    "I guess I feel like I am getting comfortable (in Super 14) but I am still learning plenty, getting more game time and being able to play against the likes of Richie McCaw, George Smith and that, you learn a lot playing against them," Pocock said.

    To some, local derbies are not the best guide for selection. The big games against top NZ teams are a better indication of Test potential for judges such as Ewen McKenzie. But not the players.

    "The rivalry is instinctive," Waugh said. "When you are out on that field, people are forming opinions of how you are playing and where you fit in terms of selections. It's certainly important for me.

    "You play guys like Richie McCaw and Schalk Burger and that's always an important clash at both provincial and international level.

    "But you can't deny inter-state clashes have a special meaning, in what they mean to the players. Everyone wants to play in the Australian team."

    These games always have special importance for different reasons. But mainly, in the context of the season and where both teams sit, the prime goal for both this week won't be a gold jersey, it is just a win.

    The battle of the No. 7s won't be the only area of interest for Test selectors or opposing coaches. Another fascinating duel will be the clash between Wallabies locks Daniel Vickerman and Nathan Sharpe at lineout time.

    Arguably the two premier lineout leapers in the Super 14 after Victor Matfield's move overseas, Vickerman and Sharpe are also the brains behind the lineouts. They call their own lineouts and Vickerman, in particular, is devastatingly good at cracking the opposition's code and dominating defensively as well.

    "The lineouts I think will be really interesting," Waugh said. "Vickerman and Sharpe, even though it won't always be one-on-one, they both call the lineouts and are responsible for finding space.

    "It will be really interesting to see how they do against each other in that aspect."

    Kurtley Beale's match-up against Matt Giteau will also be one to watch.

    Beale's defence has been targeted this year and although Giteau won't aim to exploit that area him- self, he is sure to direct plenty of runners at the NSW five-eighth.

    Giteau, at just 85kg, is likely to get as much traffic and will be subject to a defensive pounding as well. But both are brilliant attacking forces, and it is almost certain a spark of magic from one will help decide the result in a tight encounter.

    "Again, not so much the physical clashes between each other but just how well Kurtley and Gits steer the teams around the paddock will be crucial for both sides," Waugh said.

    Unusually, the Waratahs will go into the match with the upper hand in the engine room.

    The front-row combination of Matt Dunning, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Ben Robinson dominated against the Blues last week.

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  3. #3
    Veteran zimeric's Avatar
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    interesting read KQ

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