The five youngsters that could help reinvigorate Dave Rennie's Wallabies
When Super Rugby returns to Australian shores this weekend, there are a number of up-and-coming players who could push for Wallabies honours by season’s end.
Darcy Swain
Lock, Brumbies
Darcy Swain, the Canberra Vikings captain, might just be the man to replace Izack Rodda in Dave Rennie’s Wallabies squad if he can continue to improve throughout Super Rugby AU.
The product of Brisbane Boys’ College moved to Canberra to chase Super Rugby honours, and soon got his chance. Swain made his debut against the Jaguares at 20-years-old and in the two years since, he’s become a regular member of the Brumbies matchday 23.
Standing at 200cm, Swain has proven himself a useful option at the lineout and holds his own around the park. His leadership, frame and set-piece skillset could prove useful for Dane Rennie and the Wallabies, and a solid 2020 could see him earn international selection.
Another Brisbane Boys’ College product, Trevor Hosea, is set to make his Super Rugby debut for the Rebels against Swain’s Brumbies this weekend. Standing at 203cm, the 2019 Junior Wallabies lock will be up against it when he comes off the bench, in what could prove to be a useful test for both players.
Byron Ralston
Utility back, Western Force
Bryan Ralston may be a relative unknown now but he does have the potential to set Super Rugby AU alight.
Ralston starred in high school rugby for Brisbane’s Gregory Terrace First XV in 2017, before moving onto club side Brothers in Queensland’s Premier Grade competition alongside Reds player Harry Wilson.
Ralston was the top try-scorer in the competition and capped off his club season with a try in the final at Ballymore. He’s continued his impressive try-scoring form at the national level, scoring seven tries to help the Force win their first National Rugby Championship title in emphatic fashion last year.
With strong ball carrying and a habit of scoring five-pointers, plenty of eyes will be on the utility as he gets his first taste of Super Rugby action over the coming weeks.
Andrew Kellaway
Outside back, Rebels
Kellaway broke records in the 2014 World Rugby Junior World Championships by scoring ten tries, which brought him plenty of expectation as he began to progress to different levels of rugby.
The Sydney-born wing has definitely impressed so far, carrying his JWC form into the National Rugby Championship with the NSW Country Eagles, and then Super Rugby with the Waratahs and now Rebels. He’s also spent time playing for Northampton in England and Counties Manukau in New Zealand.
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Kellaway was on top of the Super Rugby try-scoring charts this year with seven in six matches before the season was suspended due to COVID. The 24-year-old donned Australian gold for the first time in 2016 when the Wallabies played the French Barbarians. If he can continue his impressive knack for finding the try line, Rennie could look to the Rebels outside back for more matches in gold.
Hunter Paisami
Centre, Reds
Hunter Paisami was impressive in his break out Super Rugby season earlier this year, replacing Jordan Petaia who went down with a shoulder injury while training in Argentina.
The 21-year-old’s brutal running style has seen him make the Reds 13 jersey his own, showing glimpses of the punishment Samu Kerevi used to inflict on tiring opposition.
Paisami showed promise in appearances off the bench against the Brumbies and Lions, before showing the rugby world what he was capable of against the Jaguares and Sunwolves. He ran for a team-high 78 metres from 13 carries against the 2019 runners up, before another impressive showing against the Sunwolves where he scored his first Reds try with a hard and sharp line from five metres out.
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A knee injury shortly before the suspension of the Super Rugby season could have curtailed Paisami’s debut season but the lengthy break means he’s ample time to recover.
With Kerevi ineligible for the Wallabies, if Paisami can continue to develop and click with other Wallaby candidates, then there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be considered for the Wallabies in the future.
The Reds also have some of the best up-and-coming backrow talent in Australia, if not the globe. Captain Liam Wright will line up this weekend alongside 2019 U20s Wallabies captain Fraser McReight, and Wallaby-in-waiting Harry Wilson. All three players, as well as scrumhalf Tate McDermott, could certainly push for national honours depending on their Super Rugby AU form with the Reds.
Will Harrison
Flyhalf, Waratahs
Will Harrison starred for the Junior Wallabies in Argentina last year, guiding the team to an equal best-ever finish as runners up.
The flyhalf’s first match was against the three-time champions Crusaders, becoming the youngest player to debut in the 10 jumper in New South Wales’ history. He’s since had a tough introduction to Super Rugby, with the Waratahs winning one from six matches so far this year.
Still, Harrison has shown glimpses of what he can do, impressing Dane Rennie with his leadership and playmaking despite the poor team results. He revealed during the week that he’d spoken to the Wallabies head coach, so it’s now up to him to take that advice on board and secure his spot in Wallaby gold.
With Kurtley Beale heading to French club Racing 92, the Waratahs are now Harrison’s team, and all eyes will be on the 20-year-old to see if he falters or thrives.
Another Tahs player who could push for higher honours is 19-year-old winger Mark Nawaqanitawase. Another member of the Junior Wallabies side, he scored the second-fastest try in the history of the U20 penultimate match and carried that try-scoring ability into Super Rugby with four tries before the season suspension.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 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.
26 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.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments