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
What was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
27 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
27 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
27 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to comments