Connacht coach Pete Wilkins resigned to being without Santiago Cordero for opening part of season
The Connacht team huddle after the game. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie
Connacht coach Pete Wilkins is again resigned to being without marquee signing Santiago Cordero for a chunk of the opening part of the season but believes it can only be good for the player himself and the province after the 30-year old resurrected his international career.
Cordero, signed from Bordeaux-Bègles, arrived in Galway early last summer after being left out of the Argentine squad for the World Cup by then coach Michael Cheika.
But disaster struck in his first training session when the back three player suffered a cruciate injury which saw him all the season bar the closing two games of the URC campaign in May.
He made his debut off the bench in the 12-6 home loss against the Stormers on May 18 and then played the full 80 minutes in the final round 33-7 defeat away to Leinster.
But Cordero received a recall to the Argentine squad by new coach Felipe Contepomi and played in the tests against France and Uruguay, while he was on the wing on Saturday night when the Pumas suffered a last-gasp defeat to Joe Schmidt’s Australia in La Plata in the Rugby Championship.
Argentina select their squads for pairs of matches in the Rugby Championship, and while he will be involved for next weekend’s game against the Wallabies, it remains to be seen if he is included for the home and away games against South Africa.
If he is, then Connacht won’t see him until the URC round four clash away to Ulster on October 12, but he should be back sooner if he’s not involved against the World Cup champions.
Argentina will play three autumn internationals in Europe in November and there is a big chance he could be involved in those games against Ireland, France and Italy.
But Wilkins believes Cordero will benefit from the international recall and that Connacht in turn will also reap the rewards of having a player performing at that level.
“I think it is really good for Santi having missed so much rugby last season,” said Wilkins after his side’s 21-5 preseason win over Sale Sharks on Saturday.
“He got involved with us for the last couple of rounds and for him to maintain that momentum in a high quality training environment, played two of those test matches in the France and Uruguay window and then playing this weekend, I think that’s positive for him in terms of making up for lost time on last season and in terms of him coming back match-fit and ready to go.
“We’re delighted for him and not worried about him missing our preseason because he will come back match-ready.
“If he’s in for the duration we will probably see him back for URC round four and if he’s not involved in the South Africa legs we will probably see him a bit earlier. He won’t need an extended break as he had some before.”
The new stand at Dexcom Stadium is starting to reach for the skies and Wilkins is hopeful that progress on the field is also taking place as he builds a squad for the start of the new season.
Bright sunshine provided the backdrop as fans got their first glimpse of the new €40m development work which will see the high performance centre completed by next March with the opening of the new stand being hoped for around Christmas 2025.
Meanwhile, Mack Hansen is due to make his return for his first action since getting injured against Munster in January either next weekend away to Glasgow Warriors or in Connacht’s final preseason game in Bristol a week later.
“Hopefully Mack will be available for round one of the URC (away to Munster). I want to give him some preseason minutes before then,” added Wilkins.
Caolin Blade, who came off the bench for his third cap in the 25-24 win over South Africa in Durban in July, is also expected back for the opening league game, while Connacht’s other Irish internationals Finlay Bealham and Bundee Aki are expected to return in the third round away to Scarlets.
Tries: D Tierney-Martin, C Oiliver, B Murphy. Cons: J Carty (2), C Forde.
Try: W Nayacalevu
P O’Connor; S Bolton, B Ralston, C Forde, H Gavin; J Carty, M Devine; P Dooley, D Tierney-Martin, S Illo; J Joyce (c), D Murray; J Murphy, C Oliver, S Jansen.
D Buckley, T Lasisi, A McBurney, J Aungier, F Barrett, N Murray, O Dowling, D O'Connor, O McCormack, P Boyle, B Murphy, C Reilly, J Devine, David Hawkshaw, Daniel Hawkshaw.
W Addison; T O’Flaherty, W Nayacalevu, R du Preez, A Reed; G Ford, R Quirke; S McIntyre, T Taylor, J Harper; LR Roets, E van Rhyn, S Dugdale, B Curry (c), JL du Preez.
L Cowan-Dickie, T Onasanya, A Opoku-Fordjour, B Bamber, T Burrow, R Birch, T Woodman, G Warr, T Curtis, S Bedlow, R Ma’asi-White, T Roebuck, A Wills.
Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU).
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