LONG READ 'Workhorse Carlo Tizzano needs support to be at his best'

In hindsight, it’s no huge surprise Joe Schmidt plucked Carlo Tizzano from relative obscurity to replace the injured Fraser McReight as the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship campaign began.

Schmidt didn’t use the phrase ‘like-for-like’ in outlining Tizzano’s elevation to the squad, but was certainly full of praise for the Western Australian’s work rate.

“His energy is relatively positive, he’s more than abrasive, but he fights for everything, and that’s what first caught our eye,” said the coach.

McReight’s thumb injury required surgery, and ruled him out of the opening tournament matches against South Africa. It quickly became apparent, as the Wallabies slipped to two heavy defeats, he was probably the one player they couldn’t afford to lose.

The Queensland back-row hasn’t made the trip to Argentina either, with the Wallabies ruling him out, alongside centre Hunter Paisami, when naming the 35-man squad which departed for South America late last week.

It led to more mention of a recall for Sean McMahon, just the latest example of the working assumption among Australian fans that anyone playing overseas must be playing well. And that’s especially true of McMahon, with these latest mentions either ignoring or just plainly not knowing he hasn’t played a League One game in Japan since March 2022. It truly is time to let this idea go, people.

But with Schmidt electing to leave Brumbies on-baller Luke Reimer at home as well, the Wallabies have just one specialist open-side flanker in the squad: Tizzano.

He’s quite a dynamic competitor around the breakdown and I think in the context of losing Fraser, we needed someone who could bring elements of Fraser’s game but probably not all of them.

This will be something of a gamble. Force lock Jeremy Williams is fit again and could be called on to cover blind-side, while Brumbies tyro Tom Hooper has played seven at Test level before and would be seen as another option. If push came to shove, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto could pack down on the side of the scrum, though that feels a bit like weakening a strength in moving him away from lock.

The back-row is the ultimate barometer of how well Los Pumas are going as a whole, and you only need look at the stunning win over New Zealand earlier this month for proof. In Wellington, the trio of Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer, and Juan Martin Gonzalez were almost super-human at the breakdown and inflicted grievous problems on the All Blacks pack en route to yet another memorable win. A week later, both the back-row and the team as a whole were well beaten in Auckland.

What the Argentina loose trio will encounter in Tizzano might best be described as Puma-like.

“He’s quite a dynamic competitor around the breakdown and I think in the context of losing Fraser, we needed someone who could bring elements of Fraser’s game but probably not all of them,” Schmidt said before the Springbok Tests.

Tizzano came into the Wallabies squad after a hugely consistent season for the Force, and finished leading tackler in Super Rugby Pacific by a good way. His 240 tackles averaged out at 17 per game, and he made more than 20 in a game three times in the Force’s last seven fixtures.

That carried over into his first two Tests, making 19 tackles in Brisbane and another 16 in Perth. Tizzano didn’t miss a tackle in either match, making him the most effective defender in the opening rounds of The Rugby Championship. Opta Stats also had him hitting 60 rucks in those two games – again, more than any other player.

35 – @wallabies’ Carlo Tizzano has been successful from 35/35 tackle attempts in the 2024 #TRC, the most of any player yet to miss one, with only Ethan Blackadder making more tackles overall (40); he has also hit more rucks than any other player in the competition (60). Shield. pic.twitter.com/y8ELyLTi01

— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) August 19, 2024

But making loads of tackles and hitting plenty rucks is only part of the open-side’s role.

McReight produced similar tackle numbers, and at similar effectiveness, through the July Tests against Wales and Georgia, and even conceded a similar number of penalties and a yellow card. The big difference is what McReight did with ball in hand.

In those July Tests, McReight carried 24 times for more than 100m, averaging almost 4.5m per carry. But he also made line breaks, beat defenders, and got an offload away too.

Tizzano does carry, even at a similar volume per game, but he’s very much a middle channel ball-carrier, a sleeves-rolled-up, pick-and-drive packhorse. He doesn’t have the support line running with which McReight seems to produce weekly highlights, and doesn’t try to exploit the wider channels either.

Wallabies defence and breakdown guru Laurie Fisher was only being honest when he offered his “I don’t think there’s anything in our game… that’s world-class at this point” quote over the weekend.

Tizzano’s carry rates for the Force over the back half of the year were more than acceptable in quantity, but his meterage was less than half of McReight’s in July. That’s not a criticism, simply an explanation of what is a clear difference between two players. And this is just another challenge for the Wallabies in Argentina this week and next.

Defence and breakdown guru Laurie Fisher was only being honest when he offered his “I don’t think there’s anything in our game… that’s world-class at this point” quote over the weekend, before rightly adding all elements are still being worked on.

A big part of that will be the Wallabies shape around the breakdown, both in terms of positioning and their ability to compete for the ball.

And if they want Tizzano to be that on-ball presence, he can’t also be the one making 20 tackles a game. Clearly, defensive load needs to be shared and work rates lifted so ultimately, the fetcher can have a crack at fetching.

That in itself won’t be easy, with Opta Stats also revealing last week Los Pumas have won a greater share of their attacking rucks than any other side over the first two rounds.

97% – @lospumas have won a greater share of their attacking rucks than any other side in the 2024 @SanzarTRC (97.1%) and have also won more jackal turnovers than any other side in the competition (6) in addition to averaging the most metres gained per maul (3.9). Pack. pic.twitter.com/ec9ZgwhtO3

— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) August 20, 2024

Tizzano has had the ultimate trial-by-fire start to his international career, but any player who makes 35 tackles and hits 60 rucks in their first two Tests is not someone Schmidt will easily discard.

Australia need to figure out how they can get the most from his workhorse game. The question for the Wallabies is what else they need to be doing in defence, to free Tizzano up to be the proper fetching open-side he can clearly be.