'Outstanding': Dave Rennie confirms game time for Michael Hooper's young Wallabies rival
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says Fraser McReight will get his test chances this year as he continues to push skipper Michael Hooper for a starting jersey.
Flanker McReight has been a standout in Queensland’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign to mount a strong case for his first test start, with the three-match England tour looming in July and the September Bledisloe Cup series announced on Monday.
Leading into last week’s matches McReight had won more turnovers than any player in the Super Rugby competition.
The 23-year-old has only played two tests in two years, coming off the bench for a total of 32 minutes at No 8, and needs more game time before next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
Rennie agreed that McReight could do little more to earn selection.
“I agree Fraser has been outstanding,” Rennie told AAP.
“His continuity game has just gone to another level, and as we know he’s very good post tackle although he needs to make sure he’s disciplined around that as he’s given away a few penalties.
“He’s worked really hard on his defensive game so he’s doing everything he can.”
While not entirely ruling it out, Rennie thought that playing two specialist openside flankers — as previous Australia coaches have tried, using both Hooper and David Pocock — would “limit” the Wallabies lineout.
Hooper, 30, hasn’t skipped a beat since returning to the NSW Waratahs from a serious foot injury, with Rennie welcoming the competition in the No.7 position.
“Guys like Fraser are massive for us, not just in the depth, but the quality of our Super games, our Super teams and our ability to be competitive,” he said.
“You want guys who are going to fight for a spot.
“We put a lot of emphasis on earning the right to play so Fraser was excellent last year, trained really well, while Hoops (Hooper) was phenomenal.”
Rennie is able to bring in three overseas-based players to face England and said he was likely to do so, with Japan-based Samu Kerevi, Quade Cooper, Marika Koroibete and Rory Arnold the frontrunners.
But Rennie said who he selected would depend on Super Rugby form and injuries in the coming weeks.
“It’ll really depend on what happens over the next few weeks, so if we get a couple of injuries in one spot that’s going to become important for us and that may be the direction that we move in,” he said.
Australia’s first-choice playmaker James O’Connor is out with a knee injury but is targeting a return with Queensland in mid-May.
Rennie felt three Super round-robin games, plus finals, would be enough for O’Connor to regain his touch.
“He’ll get a little bit of footy and he was playing really well leading into that … what we know is he’s trying to make the most of the time out now to ensure that medically when he’s ready to go he will hit the ground running,” Rennie said.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments