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'He's been knocking on the door for a long time' - Andy Muirhead continues to make his case for Wallabies call-up
By AAP
Brumbies winger Andy Muirhead has reinforced his case for a first Wallabies call-up with another impressive performance in his team's emphatic Super Rugby AU win over the Western Force.
Muirhead has been one of the Brumbies' most consistent performers in recent seasons and bagged a try in each half at GIO Stadium as the home side romped to a 42-14 victory on Friday night.
With his wing teammate Tom Wright out with bone bruising to his knee, there's room for 28-year-old Muirhead to earn his first selection when the Wallabies training squad is named on Sunday.
A squad of 40 players will attend a three-day camp on the Gold Coast next month as Wallabies coach Dave Rennie starts preparations for the three-Test series in July against France.
Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui, now a commentator, has been plumping for Muirhead's inclusion saying the statistics speak for itself.
The diminutive Muirhead is second in the competition behind star Test winger Marika Koroibete for defenders beaten.
Brumbies coach Dan McKellar thought Muirhead deserved a chance.
"You'd love to see someone like Muirhead eventually get rewarded at that level because he's been knocking on the door for a long time," McKellar said.
"It's not a fluke - he consistently manages to find space and he just comes up with those special effort areas that others don't."
Canberra centre Len Ikitau, who was part of the Wallabies squad last year but didn't play a Test, also collected two tries in the opening half to continue his stellar start to the season.
"He's a good footballer, we have full confidence in Lenny," McKellar said.
"He has developed nicely, he has got a lot of confidence now, he is finding a lot of voice within the team.
"He's a defensive leader and as we can see he has got plenty to offer in attack."
The only sour note for the Wallabies was the shoulder injury that forced off flanker Jahrome Brown.
McKellar said it wasn't yet clear how serious the injury was.
"Obviously in a fair bit of pain there ... I'll talk to the doc and the physios and see where he's at but he didn't look comfortable."
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Latest Comments
I agree with a lot of this. Especially changing the contract side of AB rugby - even if the current structure is not the main reason Razor and others before him keep selecting players past their prime and only introducing new ones when forced to by injury. Then they act all surprised when a new player lives up to their potential and performs! Deification of good older players is a problem because, like Foster, it implies they have secret knowledge that plebs don't - despite the evidence before our eyes. Razor's first year has been a pretty big average and one hopes he gets some courage back around selection and game plan from lessons learned this year. Not hopeful though based on the selection for Italy. If they win well, (as they should) he will tout it as justification for his persistence this year but the reality is a "second" team from the squad would probably do the job.
Go to commentsIrish injury count is going up by the minute.
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