This kid Dallas McLeod is All Black material
The injury-crisis at the Crusaders may have uncovered a genuine option for the All Blacks at second five-eighth in young gun Dallas McLeod, who was exceptional against the Blues in a rare start.
Sometimes a prospect emerges who has all the tools, whilst it would be remiss to hand a black jersey based on one game, McLeod showed he has what it takes to thrust himself into the mix as a World Cup bolter this season with Jack Goodhue, David Havili, Anton Lienert-Brown and Quinn Tupaea on the sidelines.
The caveat is that he needs to maintain the form he showed at Eden Park. Was it just fuelled by the intensity of the Blues-Crusaders rivalry, or was this the real deal?
The 23-year-old barely put a foot wrong as he powered through the Blues, finding weak shoulders and smashing straight through them, showing deft touch to find his outside backs and offered stout defence to control All Black pair Rieko Ioane and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for the most part.
With his first involvement of the game he folded Blues first five Beauden Barrett in an awkward grapple tackle.
The All Black centurion knew he was in trouble and sought the safety of the ground as McLeod had the upper body wrap to attempt to hold him up.
Barrett got the best of him moments later when McLeod went for the intercept.
A double-pump of the pass saw Telea receive the ball behind McLeod’s back, before the Blues wing pulled a Houdini act to evade half the Crusaders team for an incredible try.
McLeod can only take part fault for that, as you will find four other Crusader All Blacks failing to account for Telea during the passage.
The young second five was a dynamic option when he carried, landing on his stomach most of the time as the Blues struggled to contain him.
On his second touch a sharp cut of the right foot had Caleb Clarke beat on the inside and it took three Blues draped over him to bring him down.
After going off the left foot inside Rieko Ioane and James Tucker on his third carry, he boldly lined up reserve prop Jordan Lay and ran right through him with the Blues front rower lucky to get a boot lace tackle in.
The phase before Ethan Blackadder’s try he had the presence of mind to loop a one-hand offload while spinning 360 degrees to keep the ball alive.
He had Clarke pulling his jersey and Perofeta turned in, but he understood a three-on-one was there if he got the ball away.
The pass added another 15 metres of territory and momentum which the Crusaders turned into seven points on the next phase through Blackadder.
He pulled a similar spin move to escape the clutches of Tuivasa-Sheck on the left side, before expertly putting Mo’unga into space which led to Fainga’anuku’s first score.
He nearly scored a brilliant solo try rescuing a series of bad passes well behind the defensive line. Accepting the trash about 35 metres out, he bounced outside Hoskins Sotutu, cut off the left straight past Ricky Riccitelli and broke through a low tackle from Finlay Christie.
He was pulled down only a metre from the goal line before Blues prop Lay was yellow carded for a professional foul preventing a try from an offside position. The Crusaders scored seconds later from the ensuing scrum.
There were three key involvements from McLeod in the first three Crusader tries, while he discarded a handful of current All Black players in the process.
Inside two minutes into the second half he showed a long clearing kick off the right foot, chased down Caleb Clarke in a much-needed cover tackle, showed a bullet-like miss pass from a scrum play in the exit zone and displayed a well-placed left foot grubber kick on the next phase in behind the Blues that Telea failed to clean up.
He was everywhere, doing everything.
The defensive play that showed McLeod is wiser than his years came with 20 minutes to go coming off a Blues scrum.
The Blues ran a launch play used frequently by the All Blacks against the Springboks. It involves the 10-12-14 in tight space with the first five bringing pace onto the ball and attacking the 10-12 channel with two options.
McLeod shaded Tuivasa-Sheck’s line and then followed Barrett’s pass out the back to Telea where he crushed him in a two-man job with Braydon Ennor.
The ball popped up five metres into the air and had to be cleaned up by Christie, who then got dragged 20 metres backward. The Crusaders midfielder read it like a book and forced the Blues into a huge gain line loss.
On the Blues last roll of the dice they ran the same play again, this time Barrett went the short option to Bryce Heem who came on to replace Tuivasa-Sheck.
McLeod read that one too, monstering the Blues replacement in a ball-and-all tackle, holding him up for the game-winning turnover from a collapsed maul.
Was it a perfect showing? No, there were a few misses.
He got beat once by Tuivasa-Sheck on a hard line steaming onto a Barrett short ball and he had a bad angle that contributed to the Blues’ No 12s own try. A beautiful piece of play by Perofeta in the second half got Clarke free by drawing him in.
However, overall this was a commanding performance for a guy with 14 Super caps against the strongest roster in New Zealand against the biggest names.
He finished with 17 tackles from 19 attempts, chopping down All Blacks left, right, and centre including one on Dalton Papalii that put him on his backside and another that tipped the openside over the sideline.
Perhaps most importantly he outplayed his opposite number by some distance.
The All Blacks have been searching for a big frame at No 12 since Sonny Bill Williams retired following the last World Cup. McLeod is about 10kgs lighter but just 1cm shorter than Williams.
They have found a stopgap solution in fullback Jordie Barrett but how about this kid Dallas McLeod too? If the All Blacks midfield injuries persist and he can perform consistently like this over the season, why not?
If he maintains form like this he could be on a plane to France.
Comments on RugbyPass
Bell 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.
13 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?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
13 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to comments