'It's a clean slate': Wallabies hopefuls looking to press claims in trials
'It's a clean slate': Wallabies hopefuls looking to press claims in trials

'It's a clean slate': Wallabies hopefuls looking to press claims in trials

With Super Rugby trials set to get underway this weekend, the Super Rugby clubs are looking to impress, knowing the arrival of Eddie Jones presents a new opportunity to shine.Jones is expected to travel down to Griffith for Saturday's trial between the ACT Brumbies and NSW Waratahs, live on Bar TVThe Western Force will host the Queensland Reds at the same time, with the likes of Izack Rodda, Folau Fainga'a, Fraser McReight and Hunter Paisami set to be in action.As the Wallabies look to manage workloads ahead of September's World Cup, a host of International players will sit out in preparation for the Super Rugby opener in three weeks' time.This includes skipper James Slipper, who was excited about what the presence of Jones could do for competition as well as for the north-western region of NSW.“It’s really exciting for the game in general, not only being trials but to have the Wallabies coach coming out here in a rural area,” Slipper believes.“He’s a big personality and a great coach whose history speaks for itself and to have him involved is really good.“All the players are excited by it so I’m sure the fans are pretty excited by it.”For the Waratahs, they believe Jones' arrival represents a 'clean slate', giving players that may have missed out in January's first training camp of 2023.“'DC' (Darren Coleman) spoke in the first meeting after we knew Eddie was coming in that It’s a clean slate,” Waratahs assistant and Australia A coach Jason Gilmore said. “We’d like to think the boys have to push hard, particularly through Super Rugby to show form and show what they can do. “I definitely think all clubs would be looking at it thinking that their boys are going to have to play out of their skin to put their hand up for Eddie. For us, hopefully, that benefits us as a club.""It gives a fair few people an even playing ground,” outside back Dylan Pietsch added. “People who thought they weren’t in the mix at the start, it gives them a new second wind.“It would be exciting because coaches do have their own ideas of who they want to pick and Dave Rennie was there for a while, so you could get a gist of who he wanted to pick. For the boys that aren’t in there, it’s good for them to have a little second wind. If they play well, they’ll be selected.”Jones signalled out Tane Edmed and Ben Donaldson amongst several flyhalves during the week and will once again get the chance to see them close up after initially watching them duel it out for Eastwood and Randwick respectively during his time as England coach last July.Donaldson will wear the ten jersey to start the game before switching to fullback whilst Edmed will cover inside centre as the Waratahs look to balance their embarrassment of riches in the halves.Fellow Wallabies hopeful James O'Connor will likely line up against a combination of the pair next week in Narrabri, with Jones also expected to make the trip.Donaldson likely sits in front of the trio at the present moment after starting the last Test of 2022, although Gilmore hinted that won't dictate their selections at the state level."After Australia A, Donno got the spot on the Wallabies end-of-season tour but Tane won the series for us in the second game (in Japan with Australia A) when he iced the conversion after full-time," he explained.“I actually don’t think Tane wasn’t too far behind Donno in how he played in Japan and Fiji. That was just what 'Rens' wanted with the playing style on the five-eighth and he went with Donno Tane could have been on that Spring Tour trip. For us, it’s definitely 50-50.“…We’re mindful that obviously Ben is a Wallaby, but it’s the Waratahs so we’ve got to pick the best five-eighth that suits how we play.“The beauty of the season is we can rotate them and give them equal time, and if there’s an injury we know we’ve got good backup there as well."We know we have options there and even Will Harrison, they all want to play five-eighth so they're pushing each other." Click Here: Real Madrid Jersey Sale