How 'fastest man in Australian rugby' compares to Kolbe and Arendse

Wagga Wagga native Corey Toole will make his Wallabies debut against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday evening, with head coach Joe Schmidt drawing comparisons between the winger and some of the Springboks’ most lethal backs.

An Olympian with the Australia Sevens side at Paris 2024, Toole has emerged from the ACT Brumbies to earn his first Test start. He comes in on the left wing for Dylan Pietsch, who fractured his jaw in last weekend’s win over the Springboks at Ellis Park.

It is one of three changes to Schmidt’s starting XV, with Rob Valetini restored at number eight in place of skipper Harry Wilson, and Tom Robertson starting at loosehead prop after James Slipper returned home under HIA protocols.

Schmidt said Toole’s transition from sevens to the Test arena would be a steep learning curve but praised his progress since joining the Wallabies squad.

“I think Corey is a great young kid. He’s obviously come in from the sevens program, and it’s something that a number of the South African speedsters have done as well; they’ve played both sevens and fifteens. He’s adapting well to the game, and this will be a big, steep learning curve for him,” said Schmidt when asked about the ‘fastest man in Australian rugby’- who has been clocked at 10.2 metres a second.

“We’ve had guys of equal speed, the likes of Derby Lancaster, again who came across from sevens and is in our wider group. You want to try to grow their game a little bit and get them comfortable transitioning from sevens to fifteens. There’s a lot less space to move in, and you’ve got to become pretty proficient around the contact area. Corey’s worked really hard at that.

“He’s got better and better contesting ball in the air. Because he’s that quick, he has that elevation. I don’t think anyone quite has the same elevation as Cheslin [Kolbe], but when you talk about speed and size, I think Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin are a good example of that.

“Obviously, we’ve got Canan Moodie starting this week against us. He’s a taller young man, but very athletic as well. So that aerial contest will be very competitive again. It’s something we didn’t win at the start of the Test match last weekend, and on the back of that they got a real kick into their momentum, which made it difficult.”

Schmidt also explained why he’s preferred Toole to start ahead of veteran Kellaway, despite the enormity of the game.

“I think Andrew Kellaway for us has played probably as much as any other back, certainly in the 23 and often starting last year. And so I had a chat with Andrew and we just felt for Corey to get the best opportunity, it’s easier to start than it is to come off the bench. You get more reps at training.

“It was one of the things that happened last week as well, just around trying to integrate someone and get them as ready as possible. With James O’Connor last week, we didn’t bring him off the bench for his first game in his kind of reincarnation as a Wallaby, because we wanted him to get the flow of the week.

“And so while this week has been reasonably compact by the time we travelled down from Johannesburg, I think Corey’s acquitted himself really well so far.”