Wallabies' Cordingley back to fitness - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Wallabies' Cordingley back to fitness

By Jim Morton 03/06/2006 07:06:49 PM Comments (0)

Reactivated Wallaby Sam Cordingley shrugged off injury and a bout of food poisoning to demand a return from the Test wilderness against England next Sunday.

Cordingley returned from a lingering foot injury with a starring hand in a Queensland Premier Rugby hitout in Brisbane.

The 30-year-old played the full second half for club side Brothers who were gutsy 10-6 losers to defending premier Sunnybank in a dogged affair.

"Forty minutes was exactly what I needed, getting a bit of confidence back and controlling the basics," said Cordingley, whose last Test was in 2000.

"It was a good confidence builder.

"It surprised me a bit because last night I was a bit sick after a bit of food poisoning."

Cordingley's last match was two months ago when a frustrating foot injury ended an eye-opening Super 14 return.

At the time the scheming half was applying plenty of pressure to skipper George Gregan for the No.9 Test jersey.

Wallabies coach John Connolly has floated the idea of starting Cordingley in the second Test against England on June 17 in Melbourne.

But a cagey Connelly wouldn't be drawn on whether Cordingley was a certainty to get a bench spot in next Sunday's Test opener in Sydney.

Cordingley said he was fit and ready to go and felt his fitness would get him through 80 minutes if required.

With Test selector Michael O'Connor looking on, Cordingley hardly put a foot wrong in his return on Saturday night but was left to rue a costly late error on the Sunnybank line.

With two minutes left Cordingley went the blind side from an attacking scrum but his pressured pass to an unmarked winger just missed the mark.

"That's the nature of things as the game wears on, you just drop off and the execution just let us down," he said.

"But I'm ready to go 80 minutes will be no worries."

Cordingley showed his whole box of tricks including a through legs pass and several damaging inside balls.

His performance came hard on the heels of Wallabies prop Al Baxter's solid hitout at loose-head in NSW 20-16 loss to the New Zealand Maori in Sydney on Friday night.

Baxter is likely to be selected on the bench, along with Cordingley, when Connelly names his team on Thursday to take on England.

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