Fraser McReight eyes Wallabies Test connection with Reds’ bash brother
Fraser McReight wants to be joined at the hip in Wallabies gold with Harry Wilson.
The Queensland Reds' "bash brothers" have taken their partnership to new heights under coach Les Kiss, combining with fellow back-rower Liam Wright to become arguably the most well-rounded in the competition.
McReight unseated Michael Hooper to become a Test regular last year, while 12-Test No.8 Wilson has fallen down the pecking order after bursting on to the scene in 2020.
A deflating loss in Perth to the Western Force took some gloss off the fifth-placed Reds' brilliant start to the season (3-2).
Saturday's Brisbane clash with the ACT Brumbies (third, 4-1) is an opportunity to rebound, with new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt a keen observer.
"When we play good football together you can see we're obviously off each other's hip," McReight said.
"But I think it's just trying to be consistent and making sure that we're doing it week in, week out.
"The goal is to do it with each other in Test football, that's probably the end goal.
"We played together when we were 12 ... played schoolboys together eight years ago, so eight years of football, going from colts to men's football.
"We're great mates off the field as well, so we're able to have good chats and understand what we need to be better and how to improve each other."
McReight said the arrival of Kiss, and his willingness for players to use their creativity, had helped their pairing flourish.
"It's something that we've always had," he said.
"'Wilso' loves his offloads, loves his line-breaks, and he's very arty in the way he likes to play his football - he expresses himself really well.
"My strength is support; I know where he's going to be and I'll try and position myself around him.
"If you look back we've definitely done it in the past few years, it's just the way we've changed our game plan and been able to focus and have a bit more structure in our attack.
"Like Les says, he doesn't want to shy away from our strengths, he wants to focus on it, push towards it."
The Brumbies boast reigning Wallabies player of the year Rob Valetini and exciting new talent Charlie Cale in their back row and are fresh off a brilliant 60-21 defeat of Moana Pasifika.
"They're very athletic ... got a very good combination in terms of the different balance in the back row like here at the Reds," McReight said.
"It's a great test for us, and if we want to get back to premiership contenders it's going to be an important battle on the weekend."
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After a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
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