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The 'triple threat' that could see Hunter Paisami create one of the great Wallabies midfield pairings with Jordan Petaia
By AAP
The Wallabies have high hopes for youngster Hunter Paisami emerging as a "triple threat" as he develops his test game.
Wallabies attack coach Scott Wisemantel is excited by what Paisami can offer, saying there's a lot more to the 22-year-old's game than bash and barge.
Wisemantel says he's not surprised by Paisami's impact in the No. 12 jersey despite only making his Super Rugby debut this year with Queensland.
While his hard-hitting defence is obvious, Wisemantel believes there's a lot more to Paisami's game.
"Certain players get pigeon-holed at certain times in their lives," Wisemantel said.
"Hunter is aggressive and we know he can hit in defence and we know that he can run hard so people see that and then he gets pigeon-holed as a hard-running hitter.
"He's actually got a lot of subtlety to his game - he can kick off both feet and has got a nice passing game, good tempo - so really we want to evolve him into a triple threat where he can run, pass, kick.
"That's where we see Hunter's future."
Paisami's partnership with another star talent, 20-year-old Jordan Petaia, is continuing to blossom and while they are no Tim Horan-Jason Little combination just yet, could become another great Reds centre pairing.
"They are a combo but Matt (Toomua) will come back and let's hope that next year with Super Rugby we find a couple of other shining lights," Wisemantel added.
"It's about competition ... and we will pick whoever is in form, but they're going really well as a centre pairing at the moment."
Despite missing the past three games through injury James O'Connor is continuing to train with the team in Sydney, giving hope that he may return for the final match of the Tri Nations match against Argentina on December 5 at Bankwest Stadium.
With the three teams locked on six points and Australia last on points differential, the Wallabies will be hoping that there's no blowout in Saturday's clash between New Zealand and the Pumas in Newcastle.
Reece Hodge has worn the No.10 jersey in the past two tests and despite his lack of previous game time there has been one of the Wallabies best performers as they've notched a win and a draw.
Despite Australia's lack of depth Wisemantel said the Wallabies wouldn't mandate that Melbourne coach Dave Wessels play Hodge at five-eighth.
"Dave and I will have a chat but at the end of the day that's their decision," he said.
"That's his program and as the Wallabies staff, our job when Super Rugby is on is to support the Super Rugby franchises.
"We are a resource for them; we're not going to be telling them that they must play Reece Hodge at 10."
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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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