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Fraser McReight reflects on special Test with ‘brother’ Harry Wilson
By Finn Morton
You could almost see it in the way they linked up on Saturday. Backrowers Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson have played a lot together over the years but they’ve finally been able to experience another “special” rugby moment.
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McReight and Wilson have played together for teams including club side Brothers in Brisbane and the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby Pacific. As part of their ascent through the grades, they also starred in Australia U20s’ 24-nil win over New Zealand u20s in 2019.
The pair are genuinely good mates off the field and that chemistry doesn’t go away when they suit up for rugby battle in any given week. Reds fans have seen that for a handful of seasons and the pair have just taken their combination to an all-new level.
Both men have played for the Wallabies in the past but they’ve never been on the Test field at the same time together. That changed on Saturday afternoon in the Wallabies’ 40-29 win over Georgia at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.
McReight was the Player of the Match after finishing with a brace of tries, and Wilson wasn’t too far behind in the race for that accolade after putting in a noticeably impressive shift of his own. It was a “scrappy” win in the end but these two Queensland stars shone bright.
“Pretty special. It’s my first Test with (him),” McReight said on Stan Sports’ post-game coverage.
“He’s like a brother so it meant a lot to be out there and sing the anthem with him.
“I thought I had a bit more pace and I thought he actually had the pace to get there himself… just happy (Rob Valetini) finished it.”
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Australia went behind 3-nil after an early Georgian penalty goal but the hosts almost immediately took back control. With McReight and Wilson making a difference in the breakdown, the Wallabies marched up the field.
Hunter Paisami ran a brilliant line off a Len Ikitau short ball to score in the fourth minute. Blindside flanker Rob Valetini and prop Isaac Kailea also added tries to the Wallabies’ advantage as they raced out to a 19-3 lead inside 20 minutes.
It was a bit of a tense fight from there with winger Filipo Daugunu being shown a red card. McReight scored a try four minutes later, but after the half-time break, the visitors hit back with two stunning tries of their own.
Georgia trailed by as little as two points with about 30 minutes to play which had the Australian rugby public biting their nails and sitting on the edge of their seats. But Valetini and McReight both completed doubles to practically lock up the win.
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“There’s plenty of work ons,” McReight reflected. “Our discipline (for) a lot of that game was pretty poor.
“Super happy with our maul, both sides of the ball, but there were times we lost probably the kicking game and our discipline really let us down but that’s Test footy.
“We found a way to win against a really quality Georgian side. Credit to them and just a great game here in Sydney.”
With that result, Joe Schmidt is now the first Wallabies head coach to win their first three Tests in charge dating back to Robbie Deans’ efforts in 2008. Ewen McKenzie, Michael Cheika, Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones weren’t able to do the same.
Australia also have the longest active winning streak out of any men’s tier-one nation with four wins dating back to last year’s Rugby World Cup win over Portugal. These are important milestones as the Wallabies continue to build towards something positive.
“First time we’ve probably won three games in a row in a while and albeit they’ve been scrappy, they’re still wins, and we’ve got to take that.
“We’re a young group together with new staff and coaches. We’re just gonna keep building. There might be some lows throughout the year but (we’re) just riding that wave.”
So who is Schmidt going to use to rest Fraser McReight when necessary ?
Sean McMahon would be the best, so unlikely to happen.