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‘Made my job easier’: Rob Valetini’s praise for Wallabies’ new-look trio

Liam Wright of the Wallabies in action during the men's International Test match between Australia Wallabies and Wales at Allianz Stadium on July 06, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Wallabies enforcer Rob Valetini has praised teammates Liam Wright and Fraser McReight for making “my job easier” on Saturday as the backrow trio combined for a strong performance in the win over Wales.

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In Australia’s first Test of the year, new coach Joe Schmidt threw a curveball by naming Queenslander Liam Wright as both the starting blindside flanker and captain. Wright would join Reds teammate Fraser McReight on the flanks, with Valetini at No. 8.

That decision proved to be a masterstroke from the coaching staff with all three men putting in decent shifts in the 25-16 win at Allianz Stadium. Valetini was especially impressive with a game-high 17 carries and the most tackles from any Wallaby with 13.

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Joe Schmidt and Liam Wright after Wallabies win over Wales

Coach Joe Schmidt and captain Liam Wright spoke to media following their 25-16 win over Wales in Sydney. Wright became the 89th captain of Australia when he led the side out for the first time in front of more than 35,00

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Joe Schmidt and Liam Wright after Wallabies win over Wales

Coach Joe Schmidt and captain Liam Wright spoke to media following their 25-16 win over Wales in Sydney. Wright became the 89th captain of Australia when he led the side out for the first time in front of more than 35,00

While The Roar have reported that Wright has missed out on selection to take on Cymru at Melbourne’s AAMI Park this weekend, with the Brumbies’ Charlie Cale believed to be starting according to Christy Doran, last week’s backrow is still positive.

Depth is so important for any squad who’s looking to forge their own path as a team on the rise. For coach Schmidt and the Wallabies moving forward, the combination of Wright, McReight and Valetini is a reliable option.

“It felt good. I thought Wrongaz went well for his first time captaining Australia,” Valetini told reporters on Tuesday.

“Had a lot of confidence in Wrongaz and Fraser as well, obviously coming through (and) playing under-20s with them and playing a few seasons with him in the gold jersey.

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“Had a lot of confidence in both of them and just knowing that they’re gonna do their job as well. It made my job easier so yeah, felt good out there.

“I feel like he’s a natural leader, and through his actions, not just his words which is always good for the boys. It’s easier to follow someone when they’re doing that,” he added when asked about Wright captaining the Wallabies for the first time.

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“He’s calm as well which is something I like about him out on the field and I know if I listen to him… it calms me down as well in those tight moments towards the end.

“It was good to have him out there.”

Last Saturday in Sydney will go down in Australian rugby history as a proud night for the Wallabies. Australia were coming off the back of a Rugby World Cup disaster but they’ve bounced back with help from a new coaching group.

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That was the Wallabies’ first win over a ‘Tier One’ opponent since beating Wales in Cardiff in November 2022. The Welsh are in the midst of a difficult period themselves as they look to end their international campaign with a win.

Wales’ last victory was in the Rugby World Cup pool stages against Georgia, but since then they’ve lost to Argentina, gone winless in the Six Nations, and suffered one defeat to both South Africa and Australia.

They won’t want to let that run of eight defeats turn into nine.

“The boys have been happy but I think we know if we were in the Wales camp this week, I think they’d be putting everything into this week and throwing everything at us on Saturday,” Valetini said.

“We’re happy with the win [but we know] it’s gonna be another tough match this week and we’ve got to keep working and rolling up our sleeves and knowing that we’ve got another job to do.”

The Wallabies’ team to take on Wales in Melbourne will officially be announced on Thursday.

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4 Comments
j
john 253 days ago

Wright, the captain, was subbed around the 60 minute mark and has now been dropped.
Yep master stroke alright.

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J
JW 21 minutes ago
'France may leave top players at home but will still be serious contenders in New Zealand'

My list is just the current fit squad shown on wikipedia (I know I know!) minus the two teams. Just trying to get a picture of how many of the arguably “top 40” are coming (that would be half) and where they need filling out.


Like I see another post mentioned Berdeu was mentioned at 10 where I’d imagine the poster likes the look of the player, where I was just going by my very rudimentary hierarchy and stat (what opta have of the stats hub and where Berdeu is fairly low) visibility.

If Toulouse or, and, Bordeaux are not in the final

It might be overly critical but with the current state of the Top 14 I can’t see it being anyone else J Marc.


You touch on a very pertinent question I have been asking myself though, what is going to happen to the players outside the Finals game day 23?


I’d imagine that the plane to NZ would already have left, so any of the really good players that can’t make the final selection for their club (but could have for France), will still be needed by their club to stay in France incase someone gets injured for the final. Do you know if that is right?


Yeah I feel that they will still apply the ‘premium’ rule to some players, they’ll need a leader though.


So you think he will try to look to the future rather than make the most competitive team possible?


That might make it a lot easier, it will be very interesting what Razor does in that same respect though J Marc! It’s sounding like it’s going to be the exact same group of tested All Blacks again.

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