Hendo, Shep get the nod

[mudskipper]

Hendo, Shep get the nod
BY PETER FITZGERALD
RUGBY UNION
12/02/2009 1:00:00 AM

Andy Friend may be many things but the new ACT Brumbies coach is not a liar.
For months he has promised that reputations would count for nothing when he named his team for the Super 14 season opener.

He sure stuck to his word.

Ben Alexander a Wallaby as recently as December benched.

Peter Kimlin also a Wallabies tourist benched.

Guy Shepherdson and Nic Henderson both at times terrible last season but who have shown remarkable improvement in the pre-season picked in the run-on team.

The selection of the props for tomorrow night's game came as the biggest shock, with Alexander failing to earn a place in the team.

The 24-year-old rose from a Brumbies bench player to a starting Wallabies prop last season.

But despite Alexander's steep rise to prominence, Friend made no apologies for leaving him out of his starting XV for the round one fixture at Carisbrook.

''I said to the squad plenty of times that if you perform, we'll pick you, regardless of what you've done in the past,'' Friend said.

''We need to see at training or in the game situation that you're 100per cent ready to go and I saw Hendo and Shep as our best option there.''

Since making his Brumbies debut in round one, 2004, Henderson has not missed a game 63 consecutive outings.

But Henderson was far from convinced his record would remain intact.

''I was relieved when I was handed the starting spot,'' he said.

''I wasn't confident at all. I was pretty happy with how I went in the first trial against the Hurricanes but obviously the Waratahs game wasn't the best for us.''

Shepherdson, who will start at tighthead prop, is under no illusions as to how secure his position in the team is.

The veteran of 18 Wallabies Tests was thankful for being given a chance to prove himself.''I've conquered nothing. I've got a spot in the team for this weekend, that's all,'' Shepherdson said. ''That's just a reality. This isn't a sign I'm the first-choice tighthead all year, far from it.

''If I play poorly against the Highlanders, I'll be out, done, simple as that.''

Both Shepherdson and Henderson credited their improvement in the set piece to the introduction of scrum coach and former Brumbies prop Bill Young.

Young has bought a no-nonsense approach to the forward pack.

''In the past we probably haven't put as much emphasis on scrummaging as we should have, like we might do 15-20 minutes at training where as now we might do an hour and a half,'' Henderson said. ''Youngy has simplified things, he's changed our attitude, he's personalised the scrum so everybody is accountable now.''

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news...d/1431699.aspx

[Burgs]

Well that should fire up Alexander anyway!

The mind boggles at a Wild Bill "personalised" scrum...

[mudskipper]

Well that should fire up Alexander anyway!

The mind boggles at a Wild Bill "personalised" scrum...

Yep... Wild Bill is a bit of a character… He may have employed the bikies which frequently visit his pub to harden them up a little…

[Burgs]

Wonder if they do inter-state consulting...
I rate Bill as one of our better (ie not best) Looseheads ever who was stuck in a time of no great support around him at scrum time.
His reputation for pulling down a scrum and milking the penalty is legendary howevr it a) came from a necessity otherwise we would get pushed back each time and b) gave him a reputation of collapsing too easily.
It is one thing to collapse a scrum when the oppossition wants you to, totally another to do it when they are trying to hold you up to attack and you still get away with it!
Hopefully he doesn't need to ever pass on that particular skill set.