{"id":352035,"date":"2023-12-06T05:15:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T06:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=352035"},"modified":"2023-12-06T09:02:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T09:02:09","slug":"cook-clone-let-off-leash-for-australia-sevens-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=352035","title":{"rendered":"Cook clone let off leash for Australia sevens bow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exciting teenager \ufeffJames McGregor will make his World Rugby Sevens Series<\/a> debut this weekend after being named in Australia's squad for the second tournament in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

Australia coach \ufeffJohn Manenti made just one change to his squad after finishing seventh in Dubai last weekend, with Matt Gonzalez ruled out with a rib injury.<\/p>\n

That opened the \ufeffdoor for 19-year-old McGregor, who played fullback for Australia's under-18 team last year.<\/p>\n

Watch the World Rugby Sevens on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every round exclusive, ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

Teammate Tim Clements told Wide World of Sports last month that McGregor reminded him of Rabbitohs and NSW league gun Damien Cook.<\/a><\/p>\n

"\ufeffHe's really, really quick and he's as tough as nails," Clements said.<\/p>\n

"There's a few similarities there."<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Champion sevens giving hope to Australian rugby<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Twist in ugly feud as Johnson cut from key role<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Devastated': Former Mr Universe dead aged 57<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1732195651075862684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Australia's men lost two pool games in Dubai before being outclassed by tournament winners South Africa in the quarter-finals.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Manenti's side will \ufeffplay New Zealand, Samoa and Canada in a tough Pool C in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

"Dubai was a tough start and we felt we let ourselves down on a few fronts and didn't play to our standards," Manenti said.<\/p>\n

"Cape Town is a great opportunity for us to show what we stand for and to be better. As Matt Gonzalez heads home due to an unfortunate injury, we've called in young James McGregor into the squad for a potential debut. Having toured with us to the Stellenbosch Academy and Oceania Sevens tournament, Jimmy has already immersed himself in the squad and is prepared to perform."<\/p>\n

Australia women's coach Tim Walsh has the luxury of naming an unch\ufeffanged squad from the one that triumphed in Dubai.<\/p>\n

The suspended Alysia Leafau-Fakaosilea has been included although she won't be available until the second day after being sent off against France in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

The Aussies will take on \ufeffFiji, Spain and Japan in Pool A<\/p>\n

"The challenge this week is to continue where we finished in Dubai. Day two in Dubai was one of the best performances I have seen from this team," Walsh said.<\/p>\n

"We beat the next best three teams in the world in true Australian women sevens style. We played ruthlessly and adapted to each opposition accordingly – it was a very polished performance filled with desire and skill.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportRugby\/status\/1732263601308909939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"We are under no illusion that Cape Town won't be a challenge, and we are embracing our preparation and immersing ourselves in our work.<\/p>\n

"The launch of the new and reinvigorated series has been very well received by the team and we are immensely thankful for the support back home in Australia. The future of this team is bright, and we cannot wait to get stuck into things in Cape Town."<\/p>\n

Australia men:<\/strong> Nick Malouf (c), Ben Dowling, Henry Palmer, Dietrich Roache, Tim Clements, Josh Turner, Dally Bird, Maurice Longbottom, Nathan Lawson, Ben Dalton, James Turner, James McGregor, Hayden Sargeant<\/p>\n

Australia women:<\/strong> Charlotte Caslick (c), Sharni Smale, Faith Nathan, Dominique du Toit, Teagan Levi, Madison Ashby, Kaitlin Shave, Bella Nasser, Demi Hayes, Maddison Levi, Bienne Terita, Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Sariah Paki<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exciting teenager \ufeffJames McGregor will make his World Rugby Sevens Series debut this weekend after being named in Australia's squad for the second tournament in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=352035"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352038,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352035\/revisions\/352038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/348346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=352035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=352035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=352035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}