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Wallabies back-rower Pete Samu injured in Brumbies quarter-final
By Online Editors
Wallabies back-rower Pete Samu has been ruled out of the Brumbies' Super Rugby semi-final due to a strained hamstring.
Samu scored two tries in the Brumbies' thumping quarter-final win over the Sharks on Saturday but didn't return after halftime.
The two-time Super Rugby winner with the Crusaders stayed in Canberra on Sunday while his teammates flew to Buenos AIres to face the Jaguares for a spot in the final.
Samu has stood tall this season in the absence of star flanker David Pocock and will almost certainly be picked to play at the World Cup in September.
"Pete's played such a big role in getting us to where we are," Brumbies coach Dan McKellar said.
"I know we've got a little bit of depth in the back row and someone will step up to do a job.
"But players want to be playing at this time of year and (Samu) deserves to be."
Samu has been replaced on tour by two-Test Wallabies player Blake Enever and will likely be replaced in the Brumbies' starting side by veteran Lachy McCaffrey.
Samu's omission means former Queensland Reds prop James Slipper is the only active Brumbies player with a title-winning experience.
The Jaguares have won 10 of their past 11 games.
The Brumbies have won seven straight but their most recent loss came against the Argentine side.
An eighth consecutive win would extend the Brumbies single-season club record and book their first trip to the final since 2014.
They could even host the decider for the first time since 2004 if they oust the Jaguares and the Hurricanes upset the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.
"We have confidence, we have belief, we have a group of blokes who love playing footy together, who love wearing the jersey and representing our people," McKellar said.
"And when you have that, special things can happen. We're excited about next Friday night and what lies ahead."
Andy Muirhead, Murray Douglas and rookie prop Angus Wagner were also added to the touring party.
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Latest Comments
I had a look at the wiki article again, it's all terribly old data (not that I'd see reason for much change in the case of SA).
Number Of Clubs:
1526
Registered+Unregistered Players:
651146
Number of Referees:
3460
Pre-teen Male Players:
320842
Pre-teen Female Player:
4522
Teen Male Player:
199213
Teen Female Player:
4906
Senior Male Player:
113174
Senior Female Player:
8489
Total Male Player:
633229
Total Female Player:
17917
So looking for something new as were more concerned with adults specifically, so I had a look at their EOY Financial Review.
So 80k+ adult males (down from 113k), but I'm not really sure when youth are involved with SAn clubs, or if that data is for some reason not being referenced/included. 300k male students however (200k in old wiki data).
https://resources.world.rugby/worldrugby/document/2020/07/28/212ed9cf-cd61-4fa3-b9d4-9f0d5fb61116/P56-57-Participation-Map_v3.pdf has France at 250k registered but https://presse-europe1-fr.translate.goog/exclu-europe-1-le-top-10-des-sports-les-plus-pratiques-en-france-en-2022/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp has them back up at 300k registered.
The French number likely Students + Club, but everyone collects data different I reckon. In that WR pdf for instance a lot of the major nations have a heavily registered setup, were as a nation like England can penetrate into a lot more schools to run camps and include them in the reach of rugby. For instance the SARU release says only 29% of schools are reached by proper rugby programs, where as the 2million English number would be through a much much higer penetration I'd imagine. Which is thanks to schools having the ability to involve themselves in programs more than anything.
In any case, I don't think you need to be concerned with the numbers, whether they are 300 or 88k, there is obviously a big enough following for their pro scenes already to have enough quality players for a 10/12 team competition. They appear ibgger than France but I don't really by the lower English numbers going around.
Go to commentsOk I understand. Give them my number please Nick.
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