Jono back

[wholetruth]

Just saw this in the Rona story. Anyone know anything about Interesting to see who this Matt Philips

Meanwhile, Force key playmaker Jono Lance is set to return against the Cheetahs on Saturday week after missing the last nine Super Rugby games through injury.
Lance, who has not played since tearing his left shoulder pectoral muscle against the Brumbies, is likely to be partnered in the halves by Ian Prior, who has overcome ankle and knee concerns for the trip to Bloemfontein.
A new face in the squad that leaves for South Africa on Sunday will be Sydney University second-rower Matt Philips, who has been training with the Force for the past three weeks.

More here
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...gn-nrl-winger/

[volvo]

Matt Philips
Position Lock
Played for the Sydney Starts in NRC
Club team is sydney uni
2012 Australian school boy
Australian Under 20s 2013/14
Height 198cm and weight 113kg
22 years old
Born in Mona Vale, NSW
from http://www.sydneystarsrugby.com.au/p...tthew-phillip/
Also won best foward award for the sydney stars last year "Led by example every game, when he catches up with his ability he will be a regular in the Wallabies forward pack. I look forward to him working this out." (http://www.sydneystarsrugby.com.au/a...cut-too-short/)

[travelling_gerry]

Western Force key playmaker Jono Lance is set to return against the Cheetahs on Saturday week after missing the last nine Super Rugby games through injury.

Lance, who has not played since tearing his left shoulder pectoral muscle against the Brumbies, is likely to be partnered in the halves by Ian Prior who has overcome ankle and knee concerns for the trip to Bloemfontein.

A new face in the squad that leaves for South Africa on Sunday will be Sydney University second-rower Matt Philips who has been training with the Force for the past three weeks.

With Steve Mafi injured, Philips will travel as cover for Adam Coleman who has been named on the bench for the Wallabies against England on Saturday.

Interim coach Dave Wessels, who will be putting his name forward for the coaching vacancy, said the dust had settled on Michael Foley’s departure and players were focused on the last three games of the season.

After the Cheetahs, the Force play the Stormers at nib Stadium and then the Brumbies in Canberra.

“When Foles farewelled the team he did a hell of a good job, saying he wanted them to rip in for the last three games,” Wessels said. “That’s been our focus.

“We’ve been tough on ourselves and the guys are in the right head space.

“There’s 240 minutes of rugby left in the season for us and we can end the season feeling pretty good about ourselves and getting the reward for all the work we have done.

“That’s a huge motivating factor for us and we are focusing on a number of things.

“We want to keep things fairly simple, focus on us, on how we want to play and on the things in our armoury that work well. It is also important to enjoy ourselves.

“We want to arrive in Bloemfontein feeling like we can do.”

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sp...michael-foley/

[James]

We should definitely be looking to pick up Matt Philips. He has a lot of potential to be a good meat and potatoes lock. Second row is probably where we have the least depth. I guess it depends on if the incoming coach sees RHP as a lock or a backrower. Philips was solid in the U20s and the NRC last year. Would be great to reunite Scoble, RHP and Philips with a few more of the 2014 U20 team like Tom Staniforth, Alan Alaalatoa and Cameron Orr.

The squad needs four locks and currently we have either one or two (if you count RHP) contracted. Matt Philips + 1 would be good. Would be good to pick a local- but I would guess that Riley Winter is still probably a year off.