Raising the bar: The Australian halfbacks inspiring Junior Wallabies skipper
There have been a lot of great halfbacks in the history of Australian rugby. World Cup-winning captain Nick Farr-Jones, George Gregan and Will Genia all stand out as genuine icons of the Wallabies’ No. 9 jersey.
During their illustrious Test careers, all three men helped inspire younger players to be greater. That’s how professional sport and international rugby work – there will always be heroes to look up to, even if they’re sometimes your rivals.
Queenslander Tate McDermott seems to be at the top of the Wallabies’ depth chart for scrum-halves. Under former coach Eddie Jones, the Queenslander ended up becoming Australia’s 86th Wallabies captain.
So, rivalries aside, there’s a reason that New South Welshman Teddy Wilson looks up to the Reds’ halfback. There doesn’t seem to be a better scrum-half in Australian rugby at the moment.
Nic White, Issak Fines-Leleiwasa, Ryan Louwrens and Ryan Lonergan would all be in the mix for national selection, as would NSW Waratahs captain Jake Gordon.
Gordon is more than just a captain and teammate for Wilson, but a mentor as well. With a lethal running game, a return to the Wallabies could be on the cards for the Tahs skipper under new coach Joe Schmidt.
“I definitely respect Jake highly as a player, he’s a great player, I learn a lot off him here,” 2023 Junior Wallabies captain & halfback Teddy Wilson told RugbyPass.
“Outside from Jack, I’d probably say in Australia, you can’t look past Tate McDermott. He’s been good the last couple of years. I like his style of play as well, he’s a running nine, he’s a threat from the back of the ruck which I like to base my game off is my running ability.
“(McDermott) takes the line on, he’s elusive, he’s quick. I’d definitely say probably Tate is the next one I’d like to look up to. He’s doing great things the last couple of years.”
After graduating from the Junior Wallabies program with flying colours, there’s every chance that Wilson gets some decent minutes in Sky Blue during Super Rugby Pacific in 2024.
While Gordon has a hold on the starting job, Wilson’s elusive running game could prove lethal against tiring opposition defensive lines late in a contest.
Team lists won’t be announced until Wednesday, but with the Tahs set to play the Reds in the opening round, there’s every chance Wilson comes up against McDermott at some stage.
“It’s our version of State of Origin. The oldest rivalry pretty much in Australian sport,” Reds co-captain Tate McDermott told reporters at the Super Rugby Pacific season launch on Wednesday.
“A lot of people don’t know that but it’s big. There’s a lot in it, there’s a lot on the line.
“To have them in our home at Suncorp Stadium in a week and a half’s time, it’s brilliant.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe 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?
4 Go to comments