3 Jorgensen pushes for a start
It’s been said before and it’s worth repeating: Australian rugby will need to be extremely careful in how they manage the 19-year-old. Former Wallaby Cam Shepherd expressed some anxiety about this topic before the test, and he was right.
But the appeal of playing him, even sparingly, only increased on Saturday after he produced something that has been sorely lacking: genuine speed.
His rapid advances down the right unwittingly betrayed something about the Wallabies backline – that it has been somewhat one-paced in previous Tests.
4 Boks will go back to Pollard for the All Blacks
In some ways, the performance of South Africa No 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu showed what Schmidt is wrestling with. Feinberg-Mngomezulu is clearly talented, but he had a comedown Test after the big performance in Brisbane. At 22 years old, that’s just par for the course.
But you can bet the Springboks will go back to serial Rugby World Cup winner Handre Pollard for the upcoming Tests against the All Blacks in South Africa. There will be little to no experimenting for those games, especially as the other Springboks’ URC newcomers who got their shot in Perth showed that they were a considerable downgrade on the top-liners.
5 Lachie’s blue steel look
Incoming Waratahs defence coach Lachie McCaffrey was like a proud dad in the halftime interview during the Otago-Auckland NPC match on Friday.
McCaffrey had observed his Otago players launch themselves into the big Auckland pack – stacked with Super Rugby-winning Blues – and they proceeded to do the same in the second half as Otago toppled the big-city boys.
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Some of the starch was no doubt a response to Otago’s limp loss in the opening round, but it was also fascinating to see their tactical approach.
They flooded the breakdown, scrapping like wild dogs, and although they conceded a few penalties and left some space out wide, it worked. If McCaffrey can instil that attitude and approach in NSW next year, Waratahs fans will be more than happy.
Source Agencies
