Deans calls off Barnes’ return
9 Nov 2009
Despite a speedy recovery, Robbie Deans says he will not rush Berrick Barnes back into action.
Barnes tore an ankle ligament during training two weeks ago, which ruled him out of the Bledisloe Cup Test and end-of-year tour.
It was feared that the Wallabies centre would need surgery and seven months to recover, but after further inspection, Barnes has responded well to his immediate medical treatment.
Barnes is hoping for a suprise return to the Wallabies’ camp, but Deans has played down this ambitious comeback.
‘The word is that he’s really responded well and he contributed to that because he worked really hard on his injury in the first 24, 48 hours,’ Deans told rugbyheaven.com.au. ‘So it’s great that he didn’t have to have surgery. He’s feeling good.
‘In typically Berrick way, he’s wanting to run. But the reality is that won’t happen … I don’t think so.’
Meanwhile, after the triumph over England last Saturday, the Wallabies have two injury concerns.
Centre Digby Ioane and lock James Horwill picked up minor knocks against the Poms, but are expected to recover in time for the clash against Ireland.
21 Comments
9 Nov 2009, 09:31 am
Maybe Snorre must learn from Deans’s book regading injured Dragons … Chillie.
9 Nov 2009, 09:43 am
I reckon Deans is liking the Cooper/Giteau/Ioane axis.
9 Nov 2009, 10:01 am
Cooper looked like he was playing more flyhalf than center on Saturday.
9 Nov 2009, 15:59 pm
hopefully Ireland can give it to the aussies as it would have been nice to see them and the kiwi’s lose nice to see but in reality doubtful even though this would be the best time to do it.
9 Nov 2009, 16:05 pm
#4 Dunx: I think Australia have lost to Ireland in their last two tours there
10 Nov 2009, 03:58 am
cooper & giteau were obviously doing the usual barnes/giteau switch @ will manouvre. Genia, Cooper & Ioane ripped the sharks to shreds this year in the s14; i’m afraid when they’ve gelled in that aussie backline they are going to be devastating.
10 Nov 2009, 05:17 am
#5 Big Hit: I’m not convinced with Ioane at Outside C, Damm we miss Mortlock, Cross is getting better and better in that posi, Cooper has really come of age. #2 Big Hit: Hi Bighit, who are you guys playing next and are the Irish stronger than the Welsh. Not much has been spoken about the Scots either, Are they anygood?
10 Nov 2009, 05:31 am
#7 SAussie/QldRed: Ioane looked dangerous, just needs time to settle. He’s better than Cross in my opinion. Cooper looked good out there.
Ireland are stronger than Wales in my opinion but the Welsh Lions did better in the summer. Scotland might get a boost from Andy Robinson taking over, they’ll be no walkover but Australia should win comfortably.
If Aus. can beat Ireland this weekend then the slam is on.
We are playing Argentina, they won’t have Hernandez or Contempomi so I’m expecting a win, however close.
10 Nov 2009, 05:54 am
#8 Big Hit: Damm Wilkinson is good, you can’t coach that ability, Carter has it, Wikinson has it and I would have said Larkham has it, The rest just aren’t as good, that included Gits, I watched Leister V Bokks, I can see why there are so many injuries, no holes barrd stuff, Argies are tough, who after that?
10 Nov 2009, 06:04 am
#7 SAussie/QldRed: Cross has never been more than reliable in the games I’ve seen.
I’m willing to let Ioane grow into the position. Agree with BH, he looks dangerous every time he touches the ball, like a younger Mortlock. Given time to work on his defensive lines and offloading, he could be a great in the position.
It was also great to see Wilkinson back to his best. As much as I love to hate the guy, he is fantastic at controlling a game.
10 Nov 2009, 06:05 am
#9 SAussie/QldRed: Haha sorry didn’t see you’d just written almost the same thing about Wilko
10 Nov 2009, 06:10 am
#10 DonutDunning: Hi mate, I couldn’t imagine how dangerous Wikinson would be behind let say the AB pack, maybe thats why he was good in the WC winning team, Your right, Digby needs time to grow into the position and lets face it Mortlock’s best days are behind him, We have good enough wingers and Ashely Cooper is brilliant at fullback.
I think he was comparable to Mortlock, a bit like a combination of Morlock and Tequiri in his early days, did you seen tequiri in the Leister game? It was good to see him play,
how do you think we’ll go against the Irish?
10 Nov 2009, 06:13 am
#9 SAussie/QldRed: New Zealand after the Argies, we should get the Wilkinson/Carter head to head. It’s great to have Wilkinson back, it’s just a pity he’s called on to defend so much. Thought Moody had a good game and Will Genia is a real star, definitely found the heir to Georgie. I agree with you that AAC should stay at 15, he is a very accomplished player.
10 Nov 2009, 06:18 am
#12 SAussie/QldRed: No didn’t get a chance to watch the Leicester game, a shame as it sounds like they drilled the Bok forwards
I’m not sure to be honest.
The Cooper/Ioane centre combination looked good, but they weren’t really tested in the way that D’Arcy/O’Driscoll will test them, that will be a baptism of fire.
Our lineouts are still looking terrible as well, and O’Connell will punish us there.
I am liking Ashley-Cooper at fullback now though. I have always seen him as a natural outside centre, but the time at fullback has done him good. The strength he shows when he comes into the line is starting to remind me of Latham
10 Nov 2009, 06:52 am
#14 DonutDunning: It will be good for them,what better way than to come up against a world class combo like that, and that said, we don’t really have a choice do we?
10 Nov 2009, 07:03 am
#15 SAussie/QldRed: Sad but true. The only other option we really have is to throw Ashley-Cooper back to inside centre, which really isn’t fair on him or the rest of the backs.
On that note, what do you think of O’Connor? A promising young player, but does anyone seriously believe he is worth the $600,000 they just signed him for?
10 Nov 2009, 07:40 am
#16 DonutDunning: Not a chance mate, He’s a talent thats for sure but he’s too young and imature at the moment for my liking, when he comes up against the Kiwis or Bokks he gets murderd. In my opinion he is what I call a tricky player, in the same league as Gits and Barnes, What we need is more like Mortlock, guys who can run good lines, bust tackles and Drive hard in defence, these guys just aren’t up too that, what do you think?
10 Nov 2009, 08:00 am
#17 SAussie/QldRed: You’re right, I’ve noticed a distinct drop in the size of Wallaby backs lately.
Compare to the golden days with guys like Roff, Tune, Latham and then more recently Tuqiri and even Sailor, the new batch of Turner, Mitchell, Barnes and now O’Connor look like schoolboys in comparison.
I think this affected Mortlock’s game in recent years as he was the only one who was big enough to actually break tackles rather than just evade them, so he was marked heavily.
Hopefully now having Ioane and Ashley-Cooper in the same backline may help correct this.
10 Nov 2009, 08:08 am
#18 DonutDunning: having a small backline has no intimidation factor for our SH partners, they too good to get around half the time, do you know much about these other guys Deans brought on tour, any good prospects for our backs?
10 Nov 2009, 09:46 am
#19 SAussie/QldRed: The two I am hoping will get decent time in the midweek games are Matt Toomua and Tyrone Smith.
Toomua did well at flyhalf in the time he was given in the S14 this year, and also the Currie Cup briefly for WP.
While Tyrone plays very similar to Tim Horan – fast, deceptively strong for a small guy (breaks tackles well), and good offloading in the tackle.
I was looking forward to Rob Horne getting some gametime but injury knocked him out too.
10 Nov 2009, 10:46 am
#20 DonutDunning: Well I hope these guys have a good S14 next year and we see them in the test team
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