'Bolter' pick Dallas McLeod on his 'unsettling' All Blacks debut
When Dallas McLeod was asked for his definition of a bolter he paused, then laughed and said, “I guess I am a bolter.”
The Canterbury and Crusaders midfield back made his All Blacks debut in the tense 23-20 victory against Australia on August 5.
Having spent most of Super Rugby covering injury on the wing, McLeod ironically replaced befallen Crusaders teammate Braydon Ennor at centre moments before halftime in Dunedin.
The All Blacks were down 17-3. The critic’s surprise pick was being thrust into a furnace.
“I obviously wanted to make the original squad but never thought I would,” McLeod admitted to RugbyPass.
“I wasn’t expecting to go on that early in my debut but I was glad I managed to get out there and then it was halftime.
“It was a bit unsettling personally. All this adrenaline built up and then there was a break.
“The dressing room was calm. We hadn’t fired any shots so we talked about holding onto the ball and building pressure. Defensively we focused on chop tackles, stopping the Aussie momentum .
“I just tried to do my role as best I could. I had a lot of support around me. When we got that penalty I knew Riche (Mo’unga) would get it. He does that all the time in the Crusaders.”
McLeod didn’t make the All Blacks World Cup squad but he was told the coaches were satisfied with his five-week contribution in the Rugby Championship.
His form hasn’t tapered off. Playing for Canterbury against North Harbour in the NPC, he scored a try and delivered a pass in the grasp of multiple tacklers that created the winning try for former All Black No 8 Cullen Grace.
“I see myself as a midfielder. I’m a big body so if I can use that to straighten the attack or draw in defenders to create space outside I can be a threat,” McLeod said.
Those qualities were illustrated emphatically on March 18 when he starred at second five in a Crusaders Super Rugby 34-28 victory over the Blues at Eden Park.
By April the Crusaders were faced with a mounting injury crisis. Too valuable to drop, McLeod was permanently relocated to the wing and played half of his 14 games on the right side as the Crusaders captured yet another title.
“I’d hardly played on the wing before so it was definitely a challenge,” McLeod said.
“Defensively you’re a lot wider and often the last line so you have to anticipate faster.
“Kicking long from the backfield wasn’t something I’d done much of before and the attacking support lines are different.
“I was lucky I had Wil Jordan supporting me.”
“The hardest opponents were the Chiefs. Their back three are all ridiculously quick and have great feet. Etene Nanai-Seturo, his sidestep is insane.”
Unfortunately for McLeod his final in Hamilton against the Chiefs ended early when he was concussed in a reckless tackle by Anton Lienert-Brown.
McLeod loves talking about his home, Methven, a small town near the western edge of the Canterbury Plains, 35km north of Ashburton and 95km west of Christchurch.
The town slogan is “Amazing Space.” One pub is Brown (founded in 1883), and the other pub is Blue (founded in 1918). Rajah, New Zealand’s first police dog was from Methven. A bronze statue of Rajah sits outside the Mt Hutt Function Centre.
“It was a cool place to grow up. Very family-orientated with a lot of rugby going on at the club. I remember running around as a little fella, in a frost, in bare feet, and getting chips and lollies at the end of the game,” McLeod reminisced.
“We lived on a lifestyle block. Dad built some goalposts in the backyard. All I wanted to do was be a rugby player.”
Dad Dave owns a building business and mum Julianne is a school teacher.
Grandfather ‘Stalky’ McLeod played 56 games on the wing for Mid Canterbury between 1947 and 1956. Uncle Alan made 74 appearances at five-eighth from 1978 to 1989.
The local high school struggled for numbers so seeking greater recognition for his talent McLeod relocated to Ashburton College initially and then accepted a scholarship to Christ’s College in 2016.
A year earlier they’d lost their annual interschool fixture 80-0 to Christchurch Boys’ High School, Will Jordan scored four tries in the game.
“Ashburton beat them too,” McLeod laughed.
“Christ’s really sorted things out in 2016. We had Reuben Thorne as a coach. He’s a legend. The opportunities I got at Christ’s were huge.”
Christ’s made the semi-finals of the Crusaders-wide First XV championship and won their annual quadrangular tournament for the first time since 2002.
McLeod was Canterbury Under 19 Player of the Year in 2018 and a New Zealand Under 20’s representative. The 24-year-old has played 37 NPC games for Canterbury and won 25 times.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments