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Wallabies blindside flanker Rocky Elsom will return to Australia from Ireland after agreeing to terms with the ARU, however, the Brumbies have emerged as sleepers for his services in the Super 14.[/B]
Australia coach Robbie Deans would be delighted with Elsom's man-of-the-match performance in Irish province Leinster's 19-16 win against English rival Leicester in the final of the Heineken Cup in Edinburgh on Sunday morning (EST).
Elsom, who after the game was described by Leinster star and Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll as the best player he had ever been on a field with, will turn out for the Barbarians against the Wallabies in Sydney on June 6.
There has been conjecture whether Elsom would return to Australia or remain with Leinster, but an informed source said he had agreed to come back home.
As soon as Elsom signs an ARU contract that will take him through to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, he will be eligible for inclusion in the Wallabies squad for the inbound internationals against Italy and France.
Elsom would be in the same position as Wallabies openside flanker Phil Waugh, also in the Barbarians side against Australia.
While the co-signer on Elsom's ARU contract is yet to be determined, the Brumbies have indicated they are interested in him along with Queensland and NSW.
Elsom had signalled a return to Queensland, where he was schooled, but he is believed to be having second thoughts about the Reds, who finished in the bottom three on the Super rugby table for the sixth-consecutive year.
The New South Wales Waratahs, where Elsom played for seven years before joining Leinster, are going ahead with plans to play Wallabies back-five forward Dean Mumm at blindside flanker next year and recruit a foreign second-rower.
"You always have an interest in world 15 players and Rocky is in that category," Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan said.
"We would be rank outsiders. I've heard he is interested in heading to Queensland, while NSW is his old province. That's where I expect he is likely to return. We'll wait and see."
Elsom produced a "frightening" display of power running in Leinster's victory at Murrayfield.
"I would say he's the best player I have ever played with and I have played with many good players," O'Driscoll said of Elsom after Leinster's success in its first Heineken Cup final.
"Let's put it this way, we wouldn't have won the Heineken Cup without Rocky Elsom. He doesn't make many errors and his ball-carrying is frightening. Irrespective of what happened today Rocky Elsom is the player of the Heineken Cup and you saw the display he produced today - he is just a remarkable player."
It was Elsom's drive that led to Ireland backrower Jamie Heaslip's try early in the second half which, together with Jonathan Sexton's conversion, levelled the scores at 16-16 before the five-eighth kicked the decisive penalty 11 minutes from time.
Elsom's every touch of the ball was greeted with chants of "Rocky, Rocky" by Leinster fans.
"You want to have days like these," Elsom said. "There were times in the year when it looked pretty long odds that we'd make the final. But in the last three games, there was a lot of clarity about what we wanted to do."
Leinster's Australian coach Michael Cheika also lauded Elsom: "He has added to our culture. I think he has improved his footy and I think he showed why the Australians want him back."
Cheika also paid tribute to another Australian who played a key role in Leinster's success, former Wallabies halfback Chris Whitaker: "He has been an integral part of a culture we want to build, lots of humility and integrity."
The ARU is expected to approach Cheika to coach the Super rugby expansion team to be located on the Gold Coast or Melbourne in 2011. It is understood the ARU was disappointed when the Waratahs did not secure Cheika for this year.
Given that Cheika, formerly a successful coach of Sydney club Randwick, has one season to run on his Leinster contract, the timing for a return to Australia to take the reins of the expansion team could not be better.
Leinster captain Leo Cullen said Cheika, in Dublin for four years, deserved credit for the team's success: "The organisation is at a different level now to what it was when he came in."
Meanwhile, the Brumbies are expecting to re-sign Wallabies forwards Mark Chisholm and Peter Kimlin this week, but they are still waiting on a decision by backrower Julian Salvi. Salvi had a get-out clause in his contract if Wallabies openside flanker George Smith re-signed with the Brumbies and he is yet to decide if he will exercise the option.
The Reds would be interested in Salvi as an openside flanker if unable to retain former All Black Daniel Braid, but he also carries an Italian passport, which would let him play in Europe as a local.
The Western Force and the Reds are believed to be interested in British and Irish Lions hooker Andy Titterrell, who is open to the idea of playing in Australia.
Much will depend on whether the Force recruits Waratahs Australian under-20s hooker Damien Fitzpatrick and whether Reds veteran Sean Hardman retires.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...002381,00.html
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Originally Posted by Tazzmania
