'Nah, let's talk him up': Reds teenager the real deal according to ex-Wallabies trio
Young Reds sensation Jordan Petaia has been showered in praise by an array of ex-internationals following his electric performance against the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday night.
The 18-year-old midfielder – who was set to become Australia’s third-youngest test player ever before a hamstring injury ruled him out of debuting against Italy in November – was a standout for the Queenslanders in their thrilling 36-31 defeat at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Petaia proved to be a handful for the Highlanders, beating seven defenders to produce two line breaks and run for 103 metres – the most of any player on the park.
His outstanding showing with ball in hand has yielded praise from a range of onlookers, with the sight of him outpacing and turning the likes of Tevita Li and Ben Smith inside out a promising sign for Wallabies coach Michael Cheika leading into the World Cup.
Sky Sport sideline commentator and former New Zealand sevens star Karl Te Nana was in awe of the teenager’s ability throughout the clash.
“Ben Smith doesn’t get beaten on one-on-one tackles very often, but that’s exactly what he [Petaia] did,” Te Nana said.
“He left the All Black fullback in entirely his wake and he’s given his team an opportunity by a couple of exciting runs by the big No 13.”
Te Nana’s praise was echoed by a panel of ex-Wallabies on Fox Sports following the contest, with former 16-test loose forward Stephen Hoiles particularly impressed by the youngster’s efforts.
“I just like the fact that he can run hard, he can run into contact, he can get on the outside of blokes, he’s good in the air — we’ve got to be mindful of not wanting to talk him up — but it’s so refreshing to see a player of this talent who is just playing with his natural instinct,” Hoiles said.
Former Wallabies midfielder and Rebels attack coach Morgan Turunui agreed with Hoiles’ sentiments.
“Nah, let’s talk him up,” he said.
“I’m always dubious over NRC form and I like to see it come through Super, he’s had a couple of good involvements in Super, but this is a complete, commanding performance by a quality 13 in a Super Rugby game against quality opposition, this is an underline that this kid is a talent.”
Former 71-test Wallabies wing Drew Mitchell continued to lather Petaia in praise, outlining his all-round ability as a highlight of his game.
“It wasn’t just with ball in hand, there was a time when he put on Shannon Frizell, who was one of the Highlanders’ best and a bullocking ball runner, but he absolutely deck chaired him, folded him half, and he’s ever present as well,” Mitchell said.
“He’s got good game awareness, pops up when he needs to and the thing I like about him is just his calmness, he’s not getting carried away, a lot of people, like us, are talking him up but he’s just going about his own business, you don’t hear him talking himself up too much, he doesn’t get too carried away with the hype, he’s just going about his work.”
Turunui added that the partnership between Petaia and Reds skipper Samu Kerevi was one that worked well, given that each player complemented the other’s skill set.
“I obviously like the balance of it, the yin and yang of Kerevi being really robust in the middle, Petaia we saw the flash straight away.”
The Reds have returned to Brisbane following the loss to prepare for what should be the biggest challenge of their season as they come up against the back-to-back reining champions, the Crusaders, who are in form after squeezing past the Blues and dismantling the Hurricanes in their opening two fixtures.
Tensions rise between Cheika and Super Rugby clubs:
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments