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Australia suffered a setback with the news that star centre Lalakai Foketi has been ruled out of the rest of their end-of-year tour due to a shin injury sustained in Saturday’s loss to France in Paris.

Foketi rounded off an outstanding 95-metre try for the Wallabies in the 18th minute of their 30-29 defeat against Les Bleus but limped off the field five minutes later, after sustaining his injury with Hunter Paisami coming on as a replacement.

Wallabies coach confirms extent of injury

Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie confirmed Foketi would not be in action during the rest of the tour and said management would decide soon on who would come into the squad as a replacement.

Currently, Paisami and Len Ikitau are the Wallabies’ only specialist centres. Other players, like Andrew Kellaway, Reece Hodge and Jordan Petaia, could fill in if required.

Foketi flew to Australia on Sunday and faces a lengthy recovery before returning to action with the Waratahs in Super Rugby which begins in February.

Former Brumbies and Waratahs centre Irae Simone, who has represented the Wallabies in two Tests, was viewed as a possible replacement, but is also on the sidelines currently with an injury and did not play for his current club Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14 over the weekend.

“We’re a bit thin from a midfield point of view,” Rennie told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We’ll look to bring someone in.”

Rennie also provided positive news on full-back Tom Banks and front-row Allan Alaalatoa, who were ruled out of the France Test due to an ankle injury and concussion, respectively.

“Tom is a chance, he ran on Saturday,” Rennie said. “We think he’s a good chance to be available. We’ll see how he goes over the next couple of days.

“Allan has been good. He’s been ticking off a lot of boxes over the last week and if he gets through his contact stuff, we’ll expect him to be available.”

Rennie also revealed that he is set to ring the changes to his matchday squad for the Test against the Azzurri ahead of clashes with Ireland and Wales on their five-Test tour.

Although the New Zealander would not reveal too much about his squad for the Italy Test, players like wing Mark Nawaqanitawase, playmaker Ben Donaldson and prop Sam Talakai are in line for Test debuts if selected.

Experienced duo set to start

Jake Gordon is expected to start at scrum-half as well as behemoth second-row Will Skelton, who caught the eye with an outstanding 26-minute stint as a replacement against France.

“It’s the end of a long season and we just feel if we churn the same team out five weeks in a row we’ll be out of juice come Wales,” Rennie said. “We’ll make some shifts to freshen up guys and it’ll be exciting for the guys who get to play because we reckon we’ll get plenty out of them. They’re jumping out of their skin to get an opportunity.”

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Ireland have called up Leinster fly-half Ross Byrne to their squad as they prepare for their final Autumn Nations Series clash with Australia.

With news that Joey Carbery is injured and Leinster’s Ciaran Frawley has undergone knee surgery that rules him out for several months, a call-up was required.

Carbery suffered a head injury following a high tackle from Albert Tuisue in last weekend’s match against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium, which sidelines the fly-half.

Carbery called in by Ireland

That left just Johnny Sexton and the newly capped Jack Crowley as fly-half options for Ireland heading into the weekend, with Byrne now adding an extra option.

Frawley appeared to be the next in line but his knee surgery means Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has opted for his Leinster team-mate, who is a reliable pivot.

Byrne will now look to impress during training but if Sexton can shake off a knock he suffered against the Springboks, it looks like Crowley will be on the bench.

Ireland have won both their Autumn Nations Series games so far, against South Africa and Fiji, and will be looking to sign off with another against the Wallabies.

Andy Friend to leave Connacht

Elsewhere in Ireland, Connacht have announced that director of rugby Andy Friend will leave the province at the end of the United Rugby Championship season.

The Australian spent four campaigns as head coach before taking up his current position as part of a reshuffle ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Friend has overseen some significant results during his tenure, including a first win over Ulster in Belfast for 58 years and a first victory against Leinster in Dublin in 18, and led the team to the Champions Cup knockout stages for the first time in their history last term.

“My wife Kerri and I have made the decision that our time at Connacht Rugby will finish at the end of this season,” he told the province’s official website.

“This was always on the cards when I signed my two-year extension in 2021, and one that I discussed openly with Willie (Ruane, CEO) and Connacht Rugby.

“It’s certainly not an easy decision to make as we have both genuinely loved everything about our time here in the west of Ireland. From the minute we arrived we were welcomed with open arms and made to feel very much a part of the community and the rich history of the club.

“I am very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve both on and off the field as a team since our arrival, and am driven to do everything in my power to ensure this season is the best one yet.”

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OGC Nice striker Alassane Pléa appears to be nearing a move to Bundesliga side Gladbach, who made a new €23m plus bonuses offer for the player earlier today, according to Le 10 Sport.

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Newcastle United remain interested in the player, but Pléa is understood to be ready to move to the German outfit.

Nice are ok with the deal in principle, but are waiting on Lyon, who had a 20% sell-on clause in the deal, but have been proposed an alternative agreement by Les Aiglons.

Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu is eager to exact revenge over Argentina at Murrayfield after they lost out to the Pumas in their July series.

The Scots suffered a 2-1 defeat earlier this year as a come-from-behind charge from Argentina broke the tourists’ hearts in the third Test in Santiago del Estero.

Now Tuipulotu and Scotland have an opportunity to get one over the Pumas on their home patch as the two teams face off in what promises to be an epic game.

Tough series loss in July

“I hope we can get one back on them after we fell short by a small margin in the summer,” said the bruising inside centre. “That’s a massive motivation this week.

“There’s also the factor that a lot of players who weren’t available to us in the summer are available to us now, the likes of Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg and Chris Harris. That adds a lot of experience.”

While Argentina went down to Wales in Cardiff last Saturday, they have enjoyed a superb second half to the year, defeating Australia, New Zealand and England.

That impressive form is not lost on Tuipulotu as the Glasgow Warriors back expects a tough challenge from Michael Cheika’s strong side at Murrayfield this week.

“We go into this game confident but I don’t think we go into it thinking we’re massive favourites or anything like that,” he said.

“Argentina have had some good results and Cheika’s had some success in his first year with the team.

“You can see the style of rugby they’re trying to play but we back ourselves and feel we can negate their strengths and play the kind of rugby we want to play.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction but, ultimately, we need to win this weekend, plain and simple. We’ve got to win at all costs.”

It will have been a difficult few days for Scotland as they reflected an agonising 31-23 loss to the All Blacks, but Tuipulotu stressed they will be using it as “fuel”.

Motivated for the weekend

“I don’t think there’s any psychological damage from last week,” he said.

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“I went to the President’s Suite after the game on Sunday and I don’t know if they were expecting me to say we were feeling good about ourselves because we’d gone close to beating the All Blacks, but in the changing room afterwards there wasn’t really any of that.

“It was really disappointing, just looking round at all the boys, and hearing Gregor speaking after the game and to hear how hurt he was, knowing how close we had gone.

“I think that will be our motivation for this weekend. We’re using it as a bit of fuel to get the job done.”

French attacker Alassane Pléa is set to travel to Germany tomorrow to complete a move to Bundesliga side Gladbach, according to our colleagues at Nice-Matin.

The 25-year-old is scheduled to move for a €23m including bonuses deal, which would see Lyon receive €4m as part of their 20% sell-on clause.

Pléa is set to sign a 4-year deal with Gladbach.

OGC Nice have decided to respect the player’s wishes in joining the Bundesliga side, despite superior offers from West Ham and Newcastle.

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Flanker Michael Hooper will miss Australia’s final Autumn Nations Series clash against Wales after displaying concussion symptoms following the game with Ireland.

The back-row becomes the seventh Australian player to be forced home after that encounter in Dublin.

Andrew Kellaway, Hunter Paisami, Dave Porecki, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini and Nic White had already been ruled out prior to Hooper suffering a head injury.

Down to the bare bones

It leaves the Wallabies with just 25 players for this weekend’s game at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, while there are no spare backs available.

Australia have endured a wretched season and go into the final match of the year with just one victory on their northern hemisphere tour so far.

The gruelling five-match series started well enough with a narrow win over Scotland, but they have since suffered tough losses to France, Italy and Ireland.

They were very much in all those contests but came out on the wrong end of the scoreline.

Dave Rennie’s men are desperate to end a difficult campaign with a win, especially as they seek to ease the pressure on the head coach.

Rennie went into the tour with just a 38 per cent win record as the Wallabies’ boss and that has only decreased since then.

The match with Wales offers a chance of a certain amount of redemption, however, with Wayne Pivac’s charges struggling even more than their Aussie counterparts.

The Welsh succumbed to Georgia last weekend in one of the sport’s biggest shocks and have dropped to ninth in the world rankings.

Jordan Petaia is one of those who will be involved in Australia’s squad for Saturday’s clash in Cardiff.

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Own injury troubles

Petaia has himself endured an injury-troubled time of it, but the 22-year-old has, for arguably the first time in his career, managed to string a succession of games together in 2022.

“Probably a bit of a roller-coaster,” the versatile back said.

“A bit like Jed, it’s probably the longest stretch of footy I’ve had this year in terms of health-wise, so it’s positive to look at it from that perspective.

“There’s been it’s been a lot of learnings, a lot of time spent probably rehabbing as well, but it’s just good to have a bit more footy this year.

“If you are on all the time, it can be draining so making sure you are taking the time to switch off is good for the final legs of the tour.”

Marseille have announced the departure of Brazilian defender Matheus “Dória” Macedo for Mexican club Santos Laguna.

The 23-year-old leaves the Stade Vélodrome after originally joining the club in 2014- following a promising period playing for Brazilian side Botafogo – whereupon shortly after signing for the then-Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa, was swiftly assigned to the reserve side, playing in the French fourth tier throughout 2014/15.

Macedo made just 33 appearances in all competitions for Marseille, in a period that included loan spells to São Paulo and Granada.

The defender has signed a 4-year contract with his new club in Mexico.

H.W.

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La Rochelle are desperate to retain the services of head coach Ronan O’Gara with the former Ireland representative linked to an international job following the Rugby World Cup.

The 45-year-old, who worked at Racing 92 and the Crusaders before moving to the Stade Marcel-Deflandre, is contracted to the Top 14 club until 2024.

Several roles are set to be vacated after the global tournament and O’Gara has reportedly been put on the England shortlist to replace Eddie Jones.

He guided La Rochelle to the Champions Cup title last season, while they reside in second place in the league table after 11 games of the current campaign.

Bad news

Asked whether he hopes O’Gara stays, wing Jules Favre said: “Yes, for sure, because he has given us a lot. He has made the club grow so for sure it would be bad news for us.

“He is a great coach. He started with Racing in France, with the defence, and he went to New Zealand after that to improve himself as a forwards coach. Now he is in his prime.”

Favre would bear no ill will towards O’Gara should he depart for pastures new, even if it would deprive La Rochelle of an influential figure.

“For him it is good news because he does his best to have an international team. It’s like me as a player: I really want to play for the French team and perform and he wants to train the best players,” he said.

There is an aspect O’Gara will have to temper if and when he becomes an international coach and that is his approach towards match officials.

The former Ireland fly-half is currently serving his fourth ban in a year following actions which were “harming the best interests of rugby”.

He is sitting out 10 La Rochelle matches, which includes their four Champions Cup group games, but Favre insists that it will not affect the team.

“No. During the week it is the same thing because he is allowed to be with us. The ban is just for the game. He gives us all the information to our staff for the game,” he said.

“He is there and he talks to us a little bit. On the game day the players have to take the lead and we have the players to do this.”

Special Champions Cup atmosphere

As the defending European champions, there will be a bit more attention on both La Rochelle and O’Gara when they begin their campaign against Northampton Saints on December 10.

French clubs are sometimes accused of failing to take the Champions Cup seriously but that is not the case at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre, especially with a former Munsterman in charge.

“When we have a Champions Cup week it is a different atmosphere at training, video every time. He talks about his experience, where he lived, and he says it will be f***ing enormous! That’s his words,” Favre added.

“There are a lot of good teams this year, like all years, but especially when we are the champions and we will have to defend it. We have a good group with Ulster and Northampton. It will be hard but we will do our best to do this.

“We realised that the Champions Cup title can unite all the people, the players and the staff. Everybody. It was a huge feeling and in the stadium in Marseille we had all the crowd in the Stade Rochelais jersey, like a yellow wall.

“When they gave us the trophy it was a really good moment.

“We want to show everybody that it was not luck last year. It will be good if we can do three finals in a row.”

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L’Équipe report that Bundesliga side Wolfsburg have agreed a deal with Montpellier to sign 25-year-old left-back Jérôme Roussillon.

The fee is currently undisclosed, but the player is expected to sign a contract until 2022 with the Bundesliga side.

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Exeter Chiefs have announced that director of rugby Rob Baxter has agreed a new long-term contract with the club.

He is joined by Ali Hepher, Ricky Pellow and Rob Hunter in extending their deals with the Devonians.

Baxter, Hepher and Pellow all joined the club’s coaching staff in 2009 and led them to promotion to the Premiership in 2010.

Historic double in 2020

They, alongside Hunter who signed in 2013, then guided the Chiefs to their first top-flight league title in 2017 before the double followed in 2020 as they won both the Premiership and Champions Cup.

Although Exeter have struggled in recent times, the club has once again placed their trust in their coaching staff.

It means that Baxter, who has long been thought of as a potential England coach, will not take up a position with the national team following Eddie Jones’ sacking.

Exeter chief executive Tony Rowe said: “I am delighted that we have been able to secure the futures of four of our core coaches.

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“As a collective, they have been instrumental in the rise of the club in recent seasons, helping bringing a genuine level of on-field success.

“Having spoken with all of them, I know they share the same vision as myself of driving the club on to even greater things in the coming years.”

Baxter added: “Over the years, we have achieved a lot together, but I think I speak for all of us when I say we are all hungry to achieve more.

“Believe it or not, we take it pretty personally when the team don’t perform like we should, and that is the motivating factor for all of us.”

Baxter did comment on the England coaching situation, stating that he was “a little surprised” by Jones’ departure.

Grumblings and rumblings

“I kind of thought with the timing getting towards this second half of the season, through the Six Nations and building towards the World Cup, I was a little surprised the decision got made now,” he told reporters.

“There were grumblings and rumblings, but there are always are when England don’t win.

“But I will admit I was surprised the decision got made now.

“I have just signed a contract extension with Exeter, so my intention is to stay here.

“If you are asking have I applied for the England job? No. If you are asking me am I one of the guys under consideration? No, I am not.

“I have got a close affiliation to the club, my family has got a close affiliation to the club.

“It works me for me family-wise, and I am very proud of what we have achieved here.”