Cheika bullish for Lions visit

Head coach Michael Cheika welcomed back two key players as the Waratahs bid to beat the British & Irish Lions on Saturday, promising that “anything in red that moves, we’ll have a crack at”.

The former Leinster 2009 Heineken Cup-winning coach is missing 10 players for the clash at Allianz Stadium, formerly known as the Sydney Football Stadium, but received a boost when the Australian Rugby Union released Bernard Foley and Matt Lucas to face the Lions. Both fly-half Foley and scrum-half Lucas were in camp with the Australian Men’s Sevens team ahead of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 in Moscow later this month and Cheika was delighted to have his half-backs in place for this keenly-awaited clash.

“Obviously I’d like to have our international players back but in fairness the CEO of the ARU has stepped in and let us have Foley and Lucas back from the Sevens camp, so they’ll be joining the team on Friday and available for selection,” Cheika said.