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‘Few screws loose’: Wallaby’s hilarious summary of debutant Carlo Tizzano

Carlo Tizzano and Josh Nasser during a Wallabies training session at Ballymore Stadium on August 08, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

Two-Test hooker Josh Nasser has hilariously explained that Carlo Tizzano has “a few screws loose” ahead of the backrower’s Wallabies debut against the Springboks this weekend.

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Tizzano, 24, will enter the Test arena for the first time on Saturday afternoon when Australia host two-time defending men’s Rugby World Cup champions South Africa at the nation’s rugby fortress, Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

The Western Force loose forward has been named in an all-star backrow trio along with ACT Brumbies enforcer Rob Valetini and Queenslander Harry Wilson at No. 8. Usual openside Fraser McReight has been ruled out of both Tests against the Boks with an injury.

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In an interview with RugbyPass before the Super Rugby Pacific season, Tizzano revealed how a phone call to Force coach Simon Cron led the backrower to sign with the Perth-based club after an overseas stint with Championship club Ealing in England.

This writer can confirm how hilarious, funny and interesting that conversation was. With Tizzano discussing how he spoke with “my ancestors” at one point for guidance, it was far from a run-of-the-mill interview, but that’s just who Tizzano is.

With a smile, Josh Nasser basically said it all without opening his mouth. Nasser played a bit of rugby with the Tizzano some years ago, and the Queensland Reds hooker seemed to enjoy describing how much of a “pest” the soon-to-be-debutant is.

“I played with Carlo through the 20s setup and played against him a fair few times,” Josh Nasser told reporters on Thursday.

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“(There’s) a few screws loose with old Carlo. He’s 100 per cent at training and geez, he’s 100 per cent on the field so he’ll be a big asset for us.

“He was a pest that day and he got the better of us,” he added when asked about the Force’s win over the Reds earlier this year. “It’ll be good to have him on our side (for) this one.

“Carlo backs himself to the hills. He’ll be confident and excited and ready to rip in. Wouldn’t say he’d be too flustered with nerves.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins
1
Draws
0
Wins
4
Average Points scored
13
29
First try wins
80%
Home team wins
40%

Tizzano is one of two potential debutants in Australia’s matchday 23 with ACT Brumbies flanker Luke Reimer also in line to make his first appearance at this level. The rest of the team appears to be fairly strong across the park.

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Nick Frost comes into the team at loosehead lock and will partner Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in the middle row. In the backs, Jake Gordon will link up with Noah Lolesio in what has shaped up as the Wallabies’ clear first-choice halves pairing.

But when you look at the Wallabies team before this Test, you have to look at their rivals to preview the clash properly. There are Rugby World Cup champions across the park including captain Siya Kolisi, and the selection of Handre Pollard off the bench is significant.

With Rassie Erasmus once again naming a ‘bomb squad’ of forwards to come off the pine, adding a two-time Rugby World Cup winning playmaker in Pollard is huge. But the Wallabies are only focused on themselves before this Rugby Championship showdown.

“Obviously, they command a lot of respect. They’ve had a fair few good years but we’re preparing as a Wallabies unit,” Nasser said.

“We’ve been together for a month or so now so we’re growing nicely and hopefully we can put up a good fight against them.

“We’re sort of internally focused. We’re focused on how we can prepare the best we can.”

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I
IkeaBoy 24 minutes ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Pep didn’t win the ECL in 2009. It was 2008 with Barca. The gap between wins ignores the finals contested. 2 in 2 years with his City Triumph. The most recent put him in the elite company of managers to have won it with multiple clubs. Yet more late career success and history.


His time with City - a lower win ratio compared to Bayern Munich as you say - includes a 100 PT season. A feat that will likely never be surpassed. I appreciate you don’t follow soccer too closely but even casual fans refer to the sport in ‘pre and post Pep’ terms and all because of what he has achieved and is continuing to achieve, late career. There is a reason that even U10’s play out from the back now at every level of the game. That’s also a fairly recent development.


How refreshing to return to rugby on a rugby forum.


Ireland won a long over due slam in 2009. The last embers of a golden generation was kicked on by a handful of young new players and a new senior coach. Kiss was brought in as defence coach and was the reason they won it. They’d the best defence in the game at the time. He all but invented the choke tackle. Fittingly they backed it up in the next world cup in their 2011 pool match against… Australia. The instantly iconic image of Will Genia getting rag-dolled by Stephen Ferris.


His career since has even included director of rugby positions. He would have an extremely good idea of where the game is at and where it is going in addition to governance experience and dealings. Not least in Oz were many of the players will have come via or across Rugby League pathways.


Gatland isn’t a valid coach to compare too. He only ever over-achieved and was barely schools level without Shaun Edwards at club or test level. His return to Wales simply exposed his limitations and a chaotic union. It wasn’t age.


Schmidt is open to staying involved in a remote capacity which I think deserves more attention. It would be a brain drain to lose him. He stepped in to coach the ABs in the first 2022 test against Ireland when Foster was laid out with Covid. They mullered Ireland 42-19. He was still heavily involved in the RWC 2023 quarter final. Same story.


Look at the talent that would be discarded in Schmidt and Kiss if your age Nazism was applied.

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f
fl 1 hour ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“He won a ECL and a domestic treble at the beginning of his career.”

He won 2 ECLs at the beginning of his career (2009, 2011). Since then he’s won 1 in 15 years.


“He then won 3 leagues on the bounce later in his career”

He won 3 leagues on the bounce at the start of his career too - (2009, 2010, 2011).


If we’re judging him by champions league wins, he peaked in his late 30s, early 40s. If we’re judging him by domestic titles he’s stayed pretty consistent over his career. If we’re judging him by overall win rate he peaked at Bayern, and was better at Barcelona than at City. So no, he hasn’t gotten better by every measure.


“You mentioned coaches were older around the mid-2010’s compared to the mid-2000’s. Robson was well above the average age you’ve given for those periods even in the 90’s when in his pomp.”

Robson was 63-64 when he was at Barcelona, so he wasn’t very old. But yeah, he was slightly above the average age of 60 I gave for the top 4 premier league coaches in 2015, and quite a bit above the averages for 2005 and 2025.


“Also, comparing coaches - and their experiences, achievements - at different ages is unstable. It’s not a valid way to compare and tends to torpedo your own logic when you do compare them on equal terms. I can see why you don’t like doing it.”

Well my logic certainly hasn’t been torpedoed. Currently the most successful premier league coaches right now are younger than they were ten years ago. You can throw all the nuance at it that you want, but that fact won’t change. It’s not even clear what comparing managers “on equal terms” would even mean, or why it would be relevant to anything I’ve said.


“You still haven’t answered why Kiss could be a risker appointment?”

Because I’ve been talking to you about football managers. If you want to change the subject then great - I care a lot more about rugby than I do football.

But wrt Kiss, I don’t agree that 25 years experience is actually that useful, given what a different sport rugby was 25 years ago. Obviously in theory more experience can never be a bad thing, but I think 10 years of coaching experience is actually more than enough these days. Erasmus had been a coach for 13 years when he got the SA top job. Andy Farrell had been a coach for 9 when he got the Ireland job. I don’t think anyone would say that either of them were lacking in experience.


Now - what about coaches who do have 25+ years experience? The clearest example of that would be Eddie Jones, who started coaching 31 years ago. He did pretty well everywhere he worked until around 2021 (when he was 61), when results with England hit a sharp decline. He similarly oversaw a terrible run with Australia, and currently isn’t doing a great job with Japan.

Another example is Warren Gatland, who also started coaching full-time 31 years ago, after 5 years as a player-coach. Gatland did pretty well everywhere he went until 2020 (when he was 56), when he did a relatively poor job with the Chiefs, before doing a pretty poor job with the Lions, and then overseeing a genuine disaster with Wales. There are very few other examples, as most coaches retire or step back into lesser roles when they enter their 60s. Mick Byrne actually has 34 years experience in coaching (but only 23 years coaching in rugby) and at 66 he’s the oldest coach of a top 10 side, and he’s actually doing really well. He goes to show that you can continue to be a good coach well into your 60s, but he seems like an outlier.


So the point is - right now, Les Kiss looks like a pretty reliable option, but 5 years ago so did Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland before they went on to prove that coaches often decline as they get older. If Australia want Kiss as a short term appointment to take over after Schmidt leaves in the summer, I don’t think that would be a terrible idea - but NB wanted Kiss as a long term appointment starting in 2027! That’s a massive risk, given the chance that his aptitude will begin to decline.


Its kind of analagous to how players decline. We know (for example) that a fly-half can still be world class at 38, but we also know that most fly-halves peak in their mid-to-late 20s, so it is generally considered a risk to build your game plan around someone much older than that.

169 Go to comments
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AlanCriner 1 hour ago
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