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'He reminds me of Shane Williams... they are very similar'
By Chris Jones
Newcastle boss Dave Walder believes Pumas wing Mateo Carreras has the same elusive skills that made Shane Williams the Welsh international try record scorer.
Carreras has won just five caps for Argentina but has put himself in contention for the Pumas Autumn tests - they face England, Scotland and Wales - with his outstanding form for Newcastle Falcons that has brought him four tries and a Premiership high 18 defenders beaten this season.
Walder played in Japan with Williams who scored a record 58 tries in 87 tests despite his small stature – 5ft 7ins. Carreras is listed at 5ft 8ins and like the Welsh wing is less than 13st.
Walder said: “He reminds me of Shane Williams and they are very similar. I played with Shane for a season in Japan and like Mateo, no matter how much you know about them you still underestimate how strong they are. They both have a very aggressive fend and an explosion off the mark- he accelerates out of the hand off. If he is a successful as Shane in his career he will be pretty happy.
“Mateo is a feisty little thing with brilliant feet and is very, very fast and as a winger that is a good package. In terms of international selection with Argentina, after the start he has made you would think he would be in contention for their Autumn tour. He is scoring tries for us and is also defensively very sound under the high ball.
“On the one hand I am hoping he gets called up by Argentina in the Autumn but on the other I am desperately hoping he doesn’t.
“I can’t comment how Argentina are playing the game under Michael Cheika and they have Emiliano Boffelli who is the goal kicker which gets him the nod on one wing but hopefully Mateo will get is chance in the Autumn tests and the Rugby World Cup. Mateo respects everyone but fears no one which is a good attribute to have.
“Mateo came onto our radar almost by accident two years ago when we were offered Santiago Grondona and he came over with him. Santiago did his ACL and went home to do his rehab and Mateo stayed and it became pretty clear early on that the had something – real drive and is an aggressive little guy.”
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"fl's idea, if I can speak for him to speed things up, was for it to be semifinalists first, Champions Cup (any that somehow didn't make a league semi), then Challenge's semi finalists (which would most certainly have been outside their league semi's you'd think), then perhaps the quarter finalists of each in the same manner. I don't think he was suggesting whoever next performed best in Europe but didn't make those knockouts (like those round of 16 losers), I doubt that would ever happen."
That's not quite my idea.
For a 20 team champions cup I'd have 4 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 4 from the previous years challenge cup. For a 16 team champions cup I'd have 3 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 1 from the previous years challenge cup.
"The problem I mainly saw with his idea (much the same as you see, that league finish is a better indicator) is that you could have one of the best candidates lose in the quarters to the eventual champions, and so miss out for someone who got an easier ride, and also finished lower in the league, perhaps in their own league, and who you beat everytime."
If teams get a tough draw in the challenge cup quarters, they should have won more pool games and so got better seeding. My system is less about finding the best teams, and more about finding the teams who perform at the highest level in european competition.
Go to commentsWalter has been permanently psychologically damaged since his wife left him and moved in with a man from Sydney.
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