'I've been thinking about this moment for a long time': Turn of the 'JMac' as Wales welcomes Johnny McNicholl to Six Nations stage
‘GMac’ enjoyed memorable sporting success in Wales – but it could be the turn of ‘JMac’ when the 2020 Six Nations kicks off on Saturday.
Chants of ‘GMac, GMac’ rang around the Usk Valley in 2010 when golfer Graeme McDowell holed the winning putt at Celtic Manor to seal Ryder Cup success for Europe against the United States.
More than nine years on, JMac – Wales wing Johnny McNicholl’s nickname – takes centre stage by making his test debut against Principality Stadium opponents Italy.
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He has already sampled Cardiff’s big-match atmosphere, scoring a try when Wales beat the Barbarians 43-33 in a non-cap fixture two months ago.
But 29-year-old McNicholl, who qualifies for Wales on residency, now has a chance to impress in the Six Nations arena after only arriving from New Zealand in 2016 following a Super Rugby stint with the Canterbury-based Crusaders.
“I had the long-term goal when I came over here to play for Wales,” he said.
“I didn’t announce it publicly, I kept my goals to myself until the time came. But, yes, I’ve been thinking about this moment for a long time.”
England are intent on tearing into France after Eddie Jones stuck by his pledge to unleash “brutal physicality” in Paris. #SixNations https://t.co/Cg0n3H61S2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 31, 2020
McNicholl has been reunited in the Wales camp with new head coach Wayne Pivac, his former boss at the Scarlets, and a major career move from New Zealand’s South Island to West Wales has proved a dream switch.
“If you look at the Scarlets, when they put their first team out the quality from numbers one to 23 is class,” McNicholl added.
“So I knew I wasn’t taking a step down in rugby. It was international players all over the park, so we had that conversation and it was always a goal to qualify for Wales.
“I was playing with loads of the (Wales) boys like Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny (at the Scarlets), so I knew what work ethic it took to get to this place.
“Those boys are on the field for hours after training, working on the little things, so I did follow them in that respect.
“But I just focused on myself and growing as a player, and I had that goal, and every week I just wanted to make myself better. So when the time came to qualifying, I was ready to be here.
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“He (Pivac) has been in my corner for the last three years, and it was nice that he began coaching Wales just as I qualified because he knows what I can do and he knows what I’ve done for him in the past and he trusts me.
“I just like to have the ball in my hands. I like to offload, I like to step and create breaks for people, not only myself. Breaking tackles, making line breaks is what I hopefully will bring to this team.
“At the Scarlets, at home and now with Wales, we’ve all played a similar brand of rugby throughout my career. It hasn’t changed too much.
“All the teams I’ve played for play the try-scoring way. We don’t play for penalties, we play for tries to keep the scoreboard ticking over.”
McNicholl also has fond memories of the Principality Stadium, particularly his first visit as a fan when Wales beat Japan 33-30 in 2016 thanks to an 80th-minute Sam Davies drop goal.
“It was pretty dramatic,” he said. “It was a draw right up until that Sam Davies drop goal.
“I fell in love with the stadium at that moment. I was in the top of the stand, and I still had this beautiful view of what was going on down there.
“Seeing Sam knock over that drop goal to win the game was great, and after experiencing that as a fan, I can’t wait to get out there.”
– Press Association
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The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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 …
30 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
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments