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'He's a hell of a player': Wallabies reserve makes strong impact
Tate McDermott’s Test-turning cameo has given Wallabies coach Dave Rennie “food for thought” as he promises to pick his strongest team for next Tuesday’s rematch with France.
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The Queensland Reds hooker, along with clubmate Taniela Tupou and debutant Brumbies lock Darcy Swain all excelled off the bench as the Wallabies came from 15-0 down to win 23-21 in the most incredible circumstances at Suncorp Stadium.
Up by one, a young French team missing a smattering of their top talent had seemingly sewn up their first win in Australia since 1990 when they won a penalty on the buzzer to stave off one last Wallabies raid.
They won the line-out but, under pressure from a rampaging Tupou, panicked and were unable to clean up possession and find touch as McDermott dived on the ball.
The Wallabies, who had not led all match, pressed for the try but settled for a Noah Lolesio penalty to snatch a win in their first match since a draw against Argentina in December.
Jake Gordon had overcome a knee injury to earn the start at halfback ahead of McDermott, Rennie justifying the selection on the back of Gordon’s superior kicking game and terrific Super Rugby Trans-Tasman form.
But the NSW Waratahs captain had a forgettable outing, strangely rolling the ball forward in a ruck to knock on, before missing a tackle that led to France’s second try.
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Another Gordon box kick went sideways to continue the Wallabies’ sloppy night.
Rennie admitted his substitutes made a massive impact as they overturned a 15-7 halftime deficit to win despite missing several other late opportunities to go ahead.
“That’s what it’s about; carpe diem, seize the day,” he said.
“Two Tests in close proximity; we’ll need to share the load and some guys made statements tonight.
“As we expected with Tate, coming on late in the game against tiring defences, he’s electric and he kicked well tonight too.
“He’s a hell of a player, so it’s food for thought and I’m sure he’ll be scrapping for bigger minutes.”
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The Wallabies, who drew a 17,821-strong crowd despite the game’s late switch from Sydney, will return to Brisbane for the final Test next Saturday.
Three games in 11 days won’t force Rennie into experimental selections though as he seeks clear decision making and clean execution.
“Test two we’ll put as strong a side on the field as we can, but it doesn’t mean guys won’t share the load,” he said.
“We’ll manage them well, there will be guys that I reckon will play all three Tests and do it easily.”
Comments on RugbyPass
South Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to comments