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Wallabies' breakout star preparing for backline competition
Len Ikitau has begun preparations for his first Super Rugby season post his test rugby debut.
Ikitau had been a left-field call-up to the Australia national team in 2020 but wasn’t able to take the field in the green and gold jersey. While many were surprised at his initial selection, with the young midfielder having earned just one start for the Brumbies that season, his return to the squad last year was far more telegraphed.
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In 2021, Ikitau started all 15 of the Brumbies’ matches throughout their Super Rugby AU and Trans-Tasman campaigns, regularly impressing with his defensive reads and powerful left foot.
His long-awaited test debut came off the bench in the second game of the Wallabies’ three-match series with France in July and after being entrusted with the No 13 jersey for the series-decider a week later, the 23-year-old never looked back. Come the end of the season, Ikitau had notched up 12 appearances for the Wallabies and had well and truly proved himself as one of the world’s best test debutants for the year.
Now, after his first full campaign as an international rugby player, Ikitau is set for another big season with the Brumbies and is back in camp with the Super Rugby side ahead of their first pre-season match of 2022.
“I’ve really enjoyed [being back], seeing all the boys, the coaches,” Ikitau told media on Thursday. “It looks like the boys are ready to rip in next week against the Tahs and hopefully we get the opportunity to play.”
The Brumbies finished second in last year’s AU competition, eventually falling to the Reds in the grand final, but were regularly outplayed in the Trans-Tasman portion of the season, securing just a solitary win over the Hurricanes.
With the likes of Ikitau, Tom Wright and Noah Lolesio all enjoying ample minutes on the international stage in 2021, plus the arrivals or former Wallabies Jesse Mogg and Chris Feauai-Sautia, there will be plenty of competition within the backline which should push the team to better and brighter things.
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“There’s a lot of Wallabies in the backline but if you’re not performing then I guess you don’t deserve the opportunity to play,” Ikitau said.
“I feel like the boys are putting pressure on each other to train at your best and then hopefully get picked for the team. It’s a good competition, there’s a lot of new boys and everybody’s ready to rip in.”
It's no secret that Australia's Super Rugby sides have struggled to compete with their Kiwi counterparts in recent years, but the Brumbies want to change that in 2022. #SuperRugbyPacific #Brumbies https://t.co/GTVn9FBO0q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 12, 2022
For Ikitau himself, however, there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done ahead of the Brumbies’ season-opener against the Western Force in Perth – thanks, in part, to his late return to the pre-season camp due to his extended test campaign last year.
“I had two weeks of quarantine so I guess that didn’t really help with the fitness,” he said. “But I guess for me, it’s more just coming back, getting some metres under the legs and just getting the contact part of it back and just ripping into training each and every week.
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“It’s just a little bit of everything. Just trying to get the body right before we start another big season. I know that I’ll get there by the start of Round 1 but at the moment I’m just chipping away at training and just putting my best foot forward.”
The inaugural season of the re-branded Super Rugby Pacific competition kicks off on February 18, with new side Moana Pasifika hosting the Blues at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’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. 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?
1 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to comments