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Wallabies pay for success Injuries, feuding affect British Lions' series
The success of Australian teams in this year's Super 12 tournament could ultimately cost the Wallabies when they host the British Lions in the three test series. The ACT Brumbies and the Queensland Reds, containing the nucleus of the Australian team, qualified in impressive style for the Super 12 semifinals. But Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen must have been concerned when he saw the two regional teams face each other in a bruising playoff for the final. As the Brumbies won by 30-6, utility back Stirling Mortlock suffered a dislocated shoulder while scoring a try, in-form flanker Owen Finegan was sin-binned for a foul that later led to a five-week suspension, and the Reds' Elton Flatley was knocked out of the game with an awful concussion. Flatley should be okay for the Lions' series, but Mortlock is definitely out, and Finegan will be able to return to Rugby just a few days before the opening test. And there could be more injuries when the Brumbies host one of the Southern Hemisphere's most physical teams, the Sharks, in Saturday's Super 12 final. It's not a coincidence that Australia won the World Cup in 1999 after none of its teams made the Super 12 playoffs. On an already-crowded calendar, the Aussies were able to use the extra two weeks off to get a head start for their international season. Even though the Wallabies are world champions, they don't have the kind of depth in certain positions that New Zealand or even the Lions do. Another injury to Brumbies' and Australian fly-half Stephen Larkham is potentially catastrophic for Australia because he is so influential in the national team. If Larkham goes down, I wouldn't hesitate in bringing out-of-favor Pat Howard into the squad, possibly even starting him at No. 10. Howard is at the top of his form after an extremely successful season with English champion Leicester. He's played with or against most of the Lions' squad and is primed to restart his Wallaby career even though he hasn't played Super 12 for a while. Argentine-born Patricio Noriega is another who could find himself back in the Australian team. Noriega is returning home after playing in France and is the kind of experienced prop that the Wallabies will need to face the might of the Lions' forwards. Otherwise, the Brumbies are likely to provide the majority of the Australian team, and rightfully so. This is ironic because the side from the capital, Canberra, is made up of many players discarded by the so-called stronger states of New South Wales and Queensland. Despite a massive budget and a series of coaching changes, the team from most populous state, the New South Wales Waratahs, has failed to make the semifinals of all six of the Super 12 series. But the Brumbies have become regulars in the postseason, having qualified for the past two finals. Even so, some of the Brumbies' players still feel like second-class citizens in the eyes of the Australian Rugby Union. Their center Rod Kafer said: "You would like to think that everyone would be treated equal, but in this farmyard some pigs are more equal than others." In the heart of Waratah territory in Sydney, ARU chief executive John O'Neill responded by accusing Kafer of a breach of the players' code of conduct, describing the comments as "untrue" and "damaging." That's just a taste of the backbiting and politics that are tarnishing Australia's buildup to its biggest challenge since the 1999 World Cup. Internal squabbling plus a string of untimely injuries could play right into the hands of the confident British Lions. Jason Dasey is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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