Israel Dagg believes the Waratahs will be \u201clicking their lips\u201d at the prospect of taking on a Crusaders pack which contains Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, but insists that the All Blacks star can make a successful transition.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Rob Penney\u2019s Crusaders<\/a> have continued that experiment, putting him in the loose trio in the second half of some games.<\/p>\n Crusaders roll the dice<\/p>\n However, for the first time in his career, Fainga\u2019anuku will start at openside flanker as Penney rolls the dice for this weekend\u2019s Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> clash.<\/p>\n The talented All Black<\/a> has the physicality and the skills to play up front, but it is not guaranteed that it will work out.<\/p>\n \u201cLeicester\u2019s 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\u2019re seeing,\u201d Dagg said on Sport Nation\u2019s Scotty and Izzy show.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s had to make this switch and it will be interesting to know how much time he has spent there. This isn\u2019t the first time he\u2019s jumped into the forwards, I was at the game against Fijian Drua and in the second half he went into the number eight position.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was like, \u2018oh okay, interesting\u2019. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks star makes shock positional switch as New Zealand\u2019s hybrid player innovation takes next step<\/a><\/p>\n To be a quality openside, being proficient at the contact area is paramount and that is a strong facet of Fainga\u2019anuku\u2019s game.<\/p>\n With the Crusaders struggling at the breakdown at times this season, Dagg believes that it could solve a problem for the Christchurch outfit.<\/p>\n Crusaders\u2019 breakdown issues<\/p>\n \u201cObviously very good over the ball, at the breakdown \u2013 that\u2019s probably where they\u2019ve seen a lot of success. Rob Penney\u2019s spoken about not being able to get any jackals or any turnovers, to slow the ball down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTeams have been playing at pace and that is probably a flow-on to why they\u2019ve leaked so many points, so there\u2019s a real emphasis this week at the breakdown and a lot of pressure on Leicester in that position.<\/p>\n \u201cIs he capable? Yeah, I think he\u2019s capable to go out there and perform. I think there will be some special plays that will be revolved around Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, whether that\u2019s off the lineout. We know that he\u2019s not going to be lifted so basically where does he fit into that puzzle?<\/p>\n \u201cOff the scrum, you\u2019ve got Christian Lio-Willie at the back, [but] there might be a little adjustment there. At the back, you\u2019ve got two shoulders there, you basically know where your head\u2019s going to fit and you can just push using both arms.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re on the side of the scrum, I know how important it is for a front-rower when you\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n