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Australia is to have all their European reinforcements back for the Rugby Championship, Head Coach Michael Cheika has said.
The comment comes at a time in which the Wallabies are under fire having lost three home matches against England this month. Against the English there were already three players recalled from Europe -Sekope Kepu, Taqele Naiyaravoro and James Horwill.
Of the trio the former two both played in the unsuccessful home series against England. The three were spread in different leagues with Kepu playing in the Top 14, Naiyaravoro in the Guinness Pro 12 and James Horwill in the Aviva Premiership.
Confirmed is that earlier this year Cheika traveled to Europe to hold individual talks with players he would like in the Wallabies this year. The next four he is targeting are Top 14 stars Adam Ashley-Cooper, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and Will Genia.
The former three all had impressive seasons with the later unable to play with regularity due to injury. Ashley-Cooper, Genia and Mitchell are all said to have agreed to play in the Rugby Championship. This leaves Giteau who wants to play in the tournament but is yet to directly confirm his availability.
The policy raises questions as to why Daniel Hourcade was without access to European stars this month. Unavailable due to club commitments were Manuel Carizza, Patricio Fernández, Juan Imhoff, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe and Benjamin Urdapilleta.
Of these players only Fernández Lobbe has retired from international duty. He joins veteran winger Horacio Agulla in having done so. Unless policy changes none of the others will play in the Rugby Championship. This is the case due to the UAR having blocked foreign based players from test duty. As such English based stars Marcos Ayerza, Juan Figallo, Mariano Galarza and Marcelo Bosch are also all off limits.
