0
18th June 2009, 16:45 WST
A suspicious Australia have knocked back a late Italian request to open the Etihad Stadium roof for Saturday night’s rugby union Test.
Azzurri coach Nick Mallett called for the retractable roof to be left open if it was a fine winter’s day in Melbourne as the weather elements are part and parcel of rugby.
But the request was met with raised eyebrows from within the Wallabies camp, especially after the two nations met on a super-skinny field in Padova last November.
Padova’s Stade Euganeo was 7m narrower than a regular-sized rugby pitch, frustrating the Wallabies expansive style and plans to unleash their superior backline.
While Mallett had no issue with the Etihad Stadium roof being closed in case of heavy rain, the likelihood of extra dew would make for tougher handling conditions and increase the chances of a stop-start encounter.
“We would prefer to have it open,” Mallett said. “Because I think weather conditions play a part in rugby.
“If you are playing under dew, under rain or under wind it’s part and parcel of rugby.
“The only reason it should be closed is if the weather conditions are so terrible that they were worried about the state of the pitch with it being cut up.”
The Italians believed both coaches should need to agree for the roof to be closed but the Australian Rugby Union reserves the right to decide the issue.
The ARU is determined for the match to be played in the “best possible conditions” for players and spectators alike.
“It’s the way we’ve always operated at this venue from the first time we played here in 2001 against the British and Irish Lions,“ an ARU spokesman said.
“At the 2003 Rugby World Cup the International Rugby Board was also in complete agreement that the roof is closed for the matches there during the tournament.
“We don’t consider it an issue for the people at the stadium and watching on television. It ensures they see the best spectacle.”
Teenage fullback James O’Connor threw a minor scare into the Wallabies camp by missing training at Xavier College with stomach cramps.
Drew Mitchell has been placed on stand-by to come into the 22-man squad if O’Connor, a three-try hero in the 31-8 first Test win in Canberra, can’t take his place.
Adam Ashley-Cooper would be in line for a promotion from the bench and trained in the 18-year-old’s place at fullback, but Wallabies medics are confident O’Connor will line up.
The clash presents as a major Test for Australia’s experimental front-row with Brumbies prop Ben Alexander to play his first international as a starting tight-head.
Alexander will team with debutant loose-head Pek Cowan and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau against the Azzurri, with Benn Robinson the bench, reuniting the front-rowers from the 2005 Australian Under-21 side.
The quartet helped guide their team to the final of the Junior World Cup in Argentina where they lost the decider to South Africa.
Italy coach Nick Mallett, pleased with his scrum in the first Test, will eye an opportunity to unsettle the Wallabies up front.
“It will be a big step in my progression and development this week,” Alexander admitted.
MELBOURNE
AAP
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=149128
Reply With Quote
