Rising Wallabies star Rob Valetini re-commits to Australian rugby with new contract extension
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is pleased Rob Valetini's sharp rate of improvement will continue in Brumbies colours after the back-rower confirmed a Rugby Australia (RA) contract extension until 2023.
Man of the match in Saturday's qualifying final win over the Western Force, Valetini has built on his four test appearances under Rennie in 2020 to be one of the best in this year's Super Rugby AU campaign.
He will butt heads with a Wallabies teammate, 21-year-old Queensland Reds forward Harry Wilson, in one of many spicy match-ups that will decide the domestic crown on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium.
Valetini's retention is a victory for the Wallabies as they face increasing competition from foreign markets with the capacity to outbid and entice Australia's best young talent offshore.
"From an Australian rugby point of view it's incredibly pleasing to re-sign a player of Rob's potential," Rennie said.
"We saw really big shifts from Rob in the last week s of our campaign in 2020 and to his credit he's worked incredibly hard in the off season and has been a stand out performer for the Brumbies week in week out.
"His impact on the game, with or without the ball is impressive and that's exciting for the Wallabies moving forward."
Valetini said it was a case of repaying the faith RA and the Brumbies had shown in him since the Melbourne product debuted in 2018.
"The coaching and staff here have really helped in my development as a player and also as a person and I feel I've got a lot of improvement left in me," the 22-year-old said.
Brumbies coach Dan McKellar said Valetini had established himself as a young leader of the squad.
"Rob's development as a player is clear for all to see and his growth away from the field as a person is also really impressive," he said.
"He's really matured ... he's become one of the best trainers in the group and is understanding what it takes to be a professional footballer day in day out."
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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