Australia’s head coach Michael Cheika has told hooker, Folau Fainga’a to trim down his size while talking to Fox Sports.
Fainga’a has been in fine form this Super Rugby campaign with six tries to his name already for the Brumbies but Cheika believes that the 5’9, 106kg hooker is a bit too big.
“He needs to get his rig in order, he needs to get fitter, shed a few kgs. I’m sorry to say it on TV mate but you need to get into it and get fit because the guy is a quality player. He can play,” he said.
Only two years ago Fainga’a was working in Sydney as a labourer before getting his chance with the Brumbies. His form has been fantastic but at 23, Cheika thinks he could be in better shape heading into the World Cup.
“I’m not saying we’re not fit enough, I’m just saying fitness is an easy thing to work on, to be more and more competitive. Hard work, a simple way to be successful is to do the things you don’t want to do. And if you do the things that you don’t want to do, which is train hard all the time, because the temptation is to ease back, you don’t want to get that guy injured,” he added.
The Brumbies as a whole showed how they
could improve physically on Saturday when they faced the Crusaders. They put in
a massive first-half performance to lead 7-0, only to drop off in the
second-half and go on to lose 36-14.
That lack of physical edge worries Cheika
and he has called on his team members to put more work into their general
fitness.
“I’m not a cliche man but sometimes you’ve got to break an egg to make the omelette and that hard work will have us hard and ready for seven games in a row,” he finished.
Australia will face Wales, Georgia, Fiji and Uruguay in Pool D at the World Cup in Japan later this year and improvements will need to be made if they are to compete against the likes of Six Nations Grand Slam winners Wales. We will have to wait and see how Fainga’a and his team mates take their coaches comments.
