Israel Dagg believes the Waratahs will be “licking their lips” at the prospect of taking on a Crusaders pack which contains Leicester Fainga’anuku, but insists that the All Blacks star can make a successful transition.
The 26-year-old has played his entire career in the backline but, since his time in Toulon, the centre and wing has, on occasion, been used in the back-row.
Rob Penney’s Crusaders have continued that experiment, putting him in the loose trio in the second half of some games.
Crusaders roll the dice
However, for the first time in his career, Fainga’anuku will start at openside flanker as Penney rolls the dice for this weekend’s Super Rugby Pacific clash.
The talented All Black has the physicality and the skills to play up front, but it is not guaranteed that it will work out.
“Leicester’s had to go from a backline where you do all this fancy stuff last week and basically run over to the goal line and practice with the forwards where you sit back as a back and just laugh, and cannot believe what you’re seeing,” Dagg said on Sport Nation’s Scotty and Izzy show.
“He’s had to make this switch and it will be interesting to know how much time he has spent there. This isn’t the first time he’s jumped into the forwards, I was at the game against Fijian Drua and in the second half he went into the number eight position.
“It was like, ‘oh okay, interesting’. This is all off the back of playing in Toulon where he spent a bit of time in the loose forwards, but now he has been given the opportunity to start in that seven position.”
To be a quality openside, being proficient at the contact area is paramount and that is a strong facet of Fainga’anuku’s game.
With the Crusaders struggling at the breakdown at times this season, Dagg believes that it could solve a problem for the Christchurch outfit.
Crusaders’ breakdown issues
“Obviously very good over the ball, at the breakdown – that’s probably where they’ve seen a lot of success. Rob Penney’s spoken about not being able to get any jackals or any turnovers, to slow the ball down,” he said.
“Teams have been playing at pace and that is probably a flow-on to why they’ve leaked so many points, so there’s a real emphasis this week at the breakdown and a lot of pressure on Leicester in that position.
“Is he capable? Yeah, I think he’s capable to go out there and perform. I think there will be some special plays that will be revolved around Leicester Fainga’anuku, whether that’s off the lineout. We know that he’s not going to be lifted so basically where does he fit into that puzzle?
“Off the scrum, you’ve got Christian Lio-Willie at the back, [but] there might be a little adjustment there. At the back, you’ve got two shoulders there, you basically know where your head’s going to fit and you can just push using both arms.
“When you’re on the side of the scrum, I know how important it is for a front-rower when you’ve got a good, solid loosie that is a real nice base for you to be able to pivot and get that drive through from a scrum.
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“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some changes there in having the luxury of some speed and power off the back of a scrum.”
As Dagg suggested, there may be some nuances which will take Fainga’anuku time to adjust to and that is what the Waratahs will prey on, but the All Blacks great ultimately gave the switch a thumbs up.
“There’s no doubt in mind it’s going to be a challenge and the Waratahs will be licking their lips with the opportunity to have an outside back playing in the forwards, and there’s no doubt in my mind they’re going to target him,” he added.
“Love it, innovation, it’s a story, it’s something that we can look at and watch with so much interest, and see how it plays out.”