Wallabies winger James O'Connor facing Bledisloe Cup axing...

[GIGS20]

Have Melbourne been running advanced training seasons with DNny Cipriani? All their new talent seems to have fitted right in!

[brokendown gunfighter]

cipriani,beale,o'connor---imagine the bar tab!

[travelling_gerry]

What TAB? Just steal it from behind the bar!

[oxleymoron]

cipriani,beale,o'connor---imagine the bar tab!

They are trying to put together their team to compete with TWF. Give up boys - you have no hope

[travelling_gerry]

From: AAP August 21, 2011 4:05PM


REMORSEFUL Wallabies star James O'Connor has apologised for missing Thursday's Rugby World Cup squad announcement and says he's willing to cop any punishment on the chin.

Back in the Wallabies camp for the first time since missing the announcement in Sydney, O'Connor faced the media before a Brisbane fan day at Ballymore ahead of preparations for Saturday night's Tri-Nations decider against New Zealand.

The 21-year-old utility back faces the real prospect of a ban which will force him to miss the Suncorp Stadium Test after being handed a “please explain” by the Australian Rugby Union.

O'Connor said he was sorry for letting his team and the code down.

“I just want to express my regret as this is such an important event for the Wallabies and I would like to apologise to all the fans and my teammates,” he said.

“I let myself down, I let the fans down and I guess all the Wallabies down and the ARU as well.

“It's a massive event (World Cup squad naming) and one that only comes around every four years.”

ARU integrity manager Phil Thomson is investigating the incident and is expected to hand down his decision tomorrow.

While O'Connor was reportedly spotted at one or two hotels the night before the announcement, he would not reveal the reason behind his Thursday no-show.

“The process is out of my hands. It's with the ARU and whatever the outcome is I'm willing to cop it,” he said. “All I know is I will do all I can for the team.

“We've got a massive game coming up this Saturday and a chance to win the Tri-Nations before the World Cup so all my efforts (will go) into training hard and doing what I can for the team.

“I want to be there for my teammates, as they would be there for me.”

Should O'Connor miss Saturday's Test, Quade Cooper is likely to be Australia's first-choice goalkicker.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226119101788

[travelling_gerry]

Wayne Smith From: The Australian August 22, 2011 12:00AM


THE Australian Rugby Union was last night attempting to defuse controversy over an alleged alcohol-fuelled incident in Paris last November for fear of distracting the Wallabies before the World Cup.

The ARU integrity manager Phil Thomson declined to confirm or deny whether he is investigating not just James O'Connor's non-appearance at the World Cup squad announcement last week but also a second, unrelated incident in the week leading up to the France Test on last year's tour.

Thomson referred The Australian's question on the alleged Paris incident to an ARU spokesman who said: "We have made inquiries of all the revelant people as a result of being approached with allegations by the media today. It's the first we have heard and we have no knowledge of any activity that attracted police involvement."

Several sources have claimed O'Connor was involved in an alcohol-related incident involving two other high-profile Wallabies on the Wednesday before a Test, won by the Wallabies by a record score.



According to sources, the matter was handled by the then Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom and his senior players without the knowledge of team officials.

Wallabies team manager Bob Egerton told The Australian yesterday he was not aware of any incident in Paris either at the time or now, while coach Robbie Deans declined to be interviewed. Thomson could not be contacted for comment but one senior Wallabies source said: "Whatever James has done in the past will come out."

O'Connor is expected to be suspended at least for Saturday's Tri-Nations decider against the All Blacks in Brisbane, which almost certainly would mean Quade Cooper would have to handle the goalkicking.

Although Lachie Turner is flying to Brisbane to join the Australian Barbarians side for Friday's match against Canada's World Cup team on the Gold Coast, it would make little sense for the Wallabies to look for a wing replacement for O'Connor from outside their 30-man World Cup squad.

In that event, the likeliest solution would be for one of the centres, Pat McCabe or Adam Ashley-Cooper, to be switched to the wing, a position where both players have considerable experience to open the way for Reds' defensive linchpin Anthony Faingaa to be brought into the midfield for yet another encounter with the All Blacks.

O'Connor yesterday faced the media at a fan day at Ballymore and, while declining to provide any explanation for why he missed the cup squad announcement until after the ARU process has run its course, expressed his remorse for what had happened.

"I just want to express my regret as this is such an important event for the Wallabies and I would like to apologise to all the fans and my teammates," O'Connor said. "I let myself down, I let the fans down and I guess all the Wallabies down and the ARU as well. The process is out of my hands. It's with the ARU and whatever the outcome is I'm willing to cop it. All I know is I will do all I can for the team."

Deans, who has shown exceptional faith in O'Connor, especially in the early stages of the youngster's Test career, admitted he was always disappointed when players did not fulfil his hopes for them.

"Part of the game is on the field, part of the game is off the field," Deans said. "If you can't rely on your mates off the field very likely you won't be able to rely on them on the field. It's a necessity in functional teams."

Players association president Adam Freier told the ABC yesterday O'Connor had tarnished his "rugby brand" and suggested the best thing that could happen would be for him to be denied the opportunity to play.

"He made a terrible mistake, a lack of judgment, and he should be punished," Freier said. "This shouldn't just be washed over. This is a big deal."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226119231588

[Happy]

i watched the apology last night .. didn't seem very genuine at all .. "I guess I let all the wallabies down" ??? wtf - you guess you did, why because someone has brought that to your attention?? fucking dip shit!

edit: oh and please please pelase coach move this little twat into past players for the good of the mighty TWF!!!

[zed]

He's fast becoming another Danny Cipriani..

[travelling_gerry]

[mudskipper]

I do remember a former Wallabies winger who was give notice by JON...

[robyn <3]

Players association president Adam Freier told the ABC yesterday O'Connor had tarnished his "rugby brand" and suggested the best thing that could happen would be for him to be denied the opportunity to play.

Good grief, even his teammates think he's a precocious little twat

Yeah, I agree with Happy, it was more like 'I guess I'm sorry I got caught out' rather than genuine regret. Oh I'm glad he's not bringing the mighty Western Force name into disgrace with these antics of his.

Drew Mitchell for the RWC wing

[AndyS]

Nominally about Horwill, but.....
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Respectfully yours, Capt James
John Eales

The All Blacks' 18-5 loss to the Springboks in South Africa sets up a tantalising Tri Nations finale in Brisbane on Saturday. It also sets a challenging scenario for James Horwill's debut as captain of the Wallabies.

When I was asked to captain the Wallabies in 1996, I had captained only my under-13A cricket side, the Brothers under-19 colts side and the Australian Barbarians on a tour to Canada. While both the first two won premierships, I'm not sure they were pivotal in Wallaby coach Greg Smith's deliberations.

And although we went undefeated through Canada in 1995, I'm not sure that held me in particularly good stead, either. That tour celebrated the last of the amateur days and we went out with a bang. These days the ice is reserved for the baths as part of the recovery process. Back then it was in the rum and Coke, or "black champagne" as it was known in Queensland.

In fact, the greatest challenge on that tour was getting the guys out of the nightclubs at 2am on the day of the match (perhaps some things haven't changed all that much).

Like Horwill, in 1996 I neither coveted the position nor sought it. Like Horwill, I was quite surprised when offered the role. And, probably like Horwill, I was a little bit daunted. Unlike Horwill, who has succeeded Rocky Elsom mid-season, no one was displaced for me. Phil Kearns, the incumbent, was out due to a long-term injury.

Also unlike Horwill, I had the relative comfort of leading the Wallabies against an out-of-sorts Welsh side and it was almost four years before leading our team to the 1999 World Cup. Oh, and everyone turned up on time for my first day at the office.

In contrast, Horwill confronts a Tri Nations decider against one of the most successful teams in the game's history before embarking on the World Cup crusade.

Also unlike myself, Horwill comes to the role equipped and hardened by years leading the Reds from disarray to excellence. A few factors will be crucial in deciding both his short-term and long-term success: patience, the support of those around him, and his ability to unite his team for this campaign.

For me it was probably the patience of those around me, more than that of my own, which enhanced my growth as a leader. But even the most organised endeavours rarely go to plan. Purpose rather than panic must prevail through trying times.

Horwill's big advantage is that he steps into the role with immense respect from his peers as he humbly leads from the front, both on and off the field, not shirking the tough issues in either arena. Importantly, among his greatest supporters will be Elsom, who remains a leader regardless of whether he has the (c) beside his name on the team sheet. In fact, the magnanimous manner in which Elsom accepted the captaincy news says more about his character than any commentary about his tenure.

In Start With Why, his book on leadership, Simon Sinek says that, "whether individuals or organisations, we follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves."

Horwill must tap this "why" for each of his players because, while it comforts us to assume everyone will subjugate their own ambition for the sake of the team, it is not simply an either/or debate. Self-interest will abound but he and the other leaders in the Wallabies must ensure it isn't to the detriment of the team.

That James O'Connor will have heard such a lecture by now is not the important factor. Whether he demonstrates by his behaviour he has learnt from it, however, is.

They say the key to leadership in rugby is keeping the seven guys who hate you away from the seven guys who haven't made up their mind yet.

Leadership can undoubtedly be lonely and that is something to which Horwill has probably become accustomed, but it is a hell of a lot less lonely when you win and this weekend would be a wonderful place to start.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...#ixzz1VjTbUQgE

[Happy]

a smart man and inspirational captain that Eales

[travelling_gerry]

FOX SPORTS August 22, 2011 5:40PM




The Australian Rugby Union has suspended James O’Connor until Sunday 28 August after the Wallabies winger failed to appear at two official team functions.

O’Connor did not attend the Wallabies Rugby World Cup squad photo at the team hotel and was also absent from the official announcement of the 30-man squad at Sydney airport.



The suspension means O’Connor will miss this weekend’s Tri Nations decider against the All Blacks at Suncorp Stadium.

As well as his ban from Rugby until Sunday 28 August, O’Connor has been handed a $10,000 suspended fine for which will remain in place until 31 December 2012.

The 21-year-old was asked to provide ARU with an explanation as to his non-attendance last Thursday.

A response was received on Monday and considered, after which a decision was taken to suspend and fine O’Connor for his indiscretion.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...-1226119878107

[mudskipper]

fair enough...