RUGBY NEWS:CONNACHT PROP Robbie Morris, who is up before an IRFU disciplinary panel today, will be left out of Michael Bradley's squad for possibly two weeks.
The Connacht coach said yesterday he will not be selecting Morris “irrespective of the decision” today based on “internal disciplinary issues”.
Morris – who came on as a second-half replacement – was cited for an alleged strike on Ulster’s Thomas Anderson in the Sportsground on a Friday night which saw Ulster record a comfortable 30-6 win over the home side in the first interprovincial of the season.
“The likelihood is that we will go two weeks on that, but we certainly will not select him for the Dragon’s game,” said Bradley. “We had a big call on discipline following the Edinburgh match and we got it in relation to the Cardiff game. I think Robbie was lucky to be on the park at the end of the match last week.
“We do not want to be relying on luck all the time and we do not want to be in that position again, so there has to be consequences for what he did from our point of view.”
Bradley expects to make changes to this week’s starting XV for the Rodney Parade clash on Friday night.
“I’d say we will see changes to personnel, in approach, and style of play. We went out on Friday night knowing the crowd would turn up, and it was very, very disappointing – we ourselves didn’t turn up.
“Technically, we were poor in the execution, we weren’t accurate enough, particularly in the first half. We took ourselves out of the game and nearly took the crowd out of the game at the same time.”
Centre Niva Ta’auso, who has been out with a hand injury, and outhalf Miah Nikora are fit for selection, although there are question marks over number eight Mike McComish (thigh), Ian Keatley (arm), and Ray Ofisa (illness).
Meanwhile, Steve Borthwick is expected to be available for England’s autumn international campaign after scans confirmed he had not suffered any major damage to his right eye.
The England captain was admitted to Moorfields Eye Hospital after a kick to the face from Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam at the weekend left him with “extreme swelling” and five stitches.
Borthwick underwent further scans yesterday which eased fears he had suffered a fractured eye socket and medics expect him to be sidelined for between two and four weeks.
England manager Martin Johnson will hope Borthwick keeps to that timeline with Australia due at Twickenham for the first autumn international on November 7th, in just under six weeks’ time.
Wales star Jamie Roberts faces a fitness race ahead of Cardiff Blues’ Heineken Cup opener against Harlequins on October 10th. The Blues centre went off nursing a neck injury during his team’s Magners League victory over the Scarlets at City of Cardiff Stadium on Saturday.
A scan has now revealed some soft tissue damage, with the Blues estimating that he will be sidelined for seven to 10 days.
Roberts was voted player of the tour when the British and Irish Lions took on South Africa this summer, and he is a key member of Wales coach Warren Gatland’s plans for an autumn series that features appointments with New Zealand, Samoa, Argentina and Australia.
