Australia sweat over David Pocock’s fitness

Zimbabwe born David Pocock is expected to be a key member of the Australian World Cup squad. Pic (c) Reuters

FOR many Zimbabweans, David Pocock is just another ‘son of the soil’ who is now playing for Australian professional rugby union football team, the Brumbies.
But for the sports’ followers, he is one of the game’s finest open-side flankers, a vocal and inspirational player whose silence can be too loud for his team mates or opponents.
Pocock (30) has been a standout player for the Brumbies and key member of the Australian national team – the Wallabies.
He is one player whose form, Australia is banking on to progress beyond the quarter finals in the upcoming rugby world cup tournament in Japan.
It is no wonder his injury was extensively covered by the international media this week. The Australian media bemoaned the injury of a player who they are expecting to be part of the Wallabies team at the global showcase. Pocock has played more tests than Super Rugby matches in the past two years.
The Brumbies will again be without their influential loose forward for their trip to Argentina to face the Jaguares on Saturday, with coach Dan McKellar quoted saying it is a precautionary measure to get him healthy for the final six regular season games.
“He has gone home to get more training load into his calf before we expose him to a game,” “There has been no incident (on tour), it is just the best way to approach it so we get him right,” McKellar told Supersport. Foxsport’s headline yesterday read: “10 rounds, 138 minutes: Pocock fears in World Cup year.”
This was in reference to Pocock who has played just 138 minutes in three games through 10 rounds this season due to a concussion and a lingering calf injury, which he suffered at a Wallabies camp in January.
He has played 22 tests and 20 Super Rugby matches in the past two years.
The game against the Jaguares will be the sixth-straight match Pocock has missed for the Brumbies after he returned home from South Africa without playing on the two-match tour to the country and Argentina.
Associated Press’ headline screamed ‘Pocock heads home as calf injury won’t clear’ they said the move was a precaution for major domestic and national fixtures ahead that need players of his calibre.
The Daily Mail in England said despite the injury, Pocock “will be a key member of the Australia World Cup squad this year.”
Independent Online said, the Brumbies were not taking any chances of Pocock as he was a key player.

In 2012, at age 23, David became the 79th Wallabies captain.

Stuff.co.nz’s headline read, ‘David Pocock to miss more Super Rugby through injury’ describing his absence as a big blow for the Brumbies and hoping he would remain injury free until November,
According to McKellar, Pocock had aggravated his calf while training on tour and was hopeful that he will return against the Blues in Canberra on May 4.
The Brumbies upset the Stormers with an epic 19-17 win in Cape Town last weekend and are now third in the Australian conference.
They are 11th overall and will be desperate for Pocock’s return as they likely need to win four of their seven remaining games to make the top-eight finals.
Australian director of rugby Scott Johnson insists form will eclipse experience when the Wallabies squad is finalised for the Rugby World Cup.
A month into his role as Rugby Australia director of rugby, Johnson says the depth of talent on show has given him cause for optimism.
But for an injury free Pocock it is an open secret that he will join the party in Japan when the tournament begins on September 20.
Pocock grew up in a farming area just outside of Gweru and began to play rugby as an eight-year-old at the Midlands Christian School before his family moved to Brisbane after the turn of the century.
A former Australia U20s captain, he made his Wallabies debut in 2008. In 2012, at age 23, he became the 79th Wallabies captain. Injuries have however hindered him at times but the resilient forward bounced back when it matters most as was the case during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Now the 2019 World Cup awaits him.
Sadly for Zimbabwe, one win, one draw and three defeats is hardly the return the country expected after the high profile appointment of former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers and the coming on-board of several sponsors to bankroll the team’s World Cup qualification campaign.
The Sables’ first season under de Villiers can best be described as topsy-turvy as the South African coach began his tenure with high hopes, before facing the grim prospect of relegation from the top tier Africa Gold Cup.
While in the end the Sables failed in their bid to secure their first World Cup since 1991, it was the manner in which they rose in the face of adversity and turned despair into delight to convincingly win their last match in Uganda and secure their top tier status that has given many fans hope going forward.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Rugby Academy has named Brendan Mandivenga as the team’s captain ahead of their inaugural stint in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge, which kicks off on Friday in South Africa.
Mandivenga has since high school been one of Zimbabwe’s gems as a prolific backline player at fly-half, centre and full-back.
The competition includes 14 South African Rugby Provincial teams as well as Namibia’s Welwitschias and now the Zimbabwe Rugby Academy.
Speaking from the team’s camp base in Cape Town, Mandivenga says they are ready to take on the daunting task ahead.
“It is a massive honour for us to be playing in this competition, it is a great opportunity for us to showcase what Zimbabwe rugby is all about and we have an opportunity to put Zimbabwe back on the map. As a team we will make sure we will grab it with both hands and give it our all,” he said.
“We are not really looking at these opponents as our superiors rather we are looking at each team as the same as us as a process as we are trying to build for the next world cup and it all starts in this competition.
“We are laying out our foundation for the next four years as our goal and we will take on each team as they come,” said Mandivenga.