Ikitau gives Wallabies a massive boost as McReight hails Rennie’s tough love

Fraser McReight paid credit to tough love from now-All Blacks coach Dave Rennie for helping him become a world-class flanker, as the Wallabies received the welcome news of another major star who debuted under Rennie being cleared to play in the Bledisloe Cup opener on Saturday.

Influential centre Len Ikitau has overcome an ankle injury and is set to line up against the All Blacks at Eden Park, but will shift back to No.12 to replace the suspended Hunter Paisami.

Ikitau will not reunite with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in the midfield, however, with coach Les Kiss keeping the athletic star on the wing and instead calling up Isaac Henry to wear the No.13.

Australia’s clash with the All Blacks in Auckland will have the unprecedented setting of the first Bledisloe Cup game in which a former Wallabies’ coach will be leading New Zealand.

Rennie coached the Wallabies in 34 Tests over three years, from 2020 to the end of 2022, before he was controversially sacked by Rugby Australia for Eddie Jones.

Rennie gave Test debuts to 32 players, and 11 of them are in the Wallabies squad this week for the opening Bledisloe clash: McReight, Ikitau, Angus Bell, Filipo Daugunu, Ben Donaldson, Tate McDermott, Jock Campbell, Tom Wright, Nick Frost, Billy Pollard and skipper Harry Wilson.

McReight was a highly-rated 21-year-old when given his first cap against the Kiwis in 2020, but was stuck behind then-captain Michael Hooper for most of Rennie’s tenure. He played a further 20 minutes off the bench in 2021, and missed the Spring Tour squad that year.

McReight got a run of games in 2022 when Hooper took time away from the game, and the Queensland then assumed the No.7 under Jones in 2023. McReight has since become one of the Wallabies’ best players and is rated by experts as one of the best openside flankers in the game. He is favourite to win the John Eales Medal later this month.

Though McReight ended up playing eight Tests under Rennie over three years, the 27-year-old said he appreciates the lessons learned, which helped shape the player he is today.

“He gave me and a lot of the other boys a debut [which], obviously, I am very thankful for,” McReight said. “At the time, personally, I wanted to play as much as I can, but having obviously ‘Hoops’ in front of me, [I was] biding my time.

“They really gave me critical things to work on, and I was able to use that. Now looking back on it, it is probably something I’m very appreciative of: being able to have those tough conversations as a young bloke at 20, 21; [and] being able to dial in and understand what training and prep looks like in a Test match week.

“A few years later, a bit older, I was able to really just have that week-in, week-out ability.”

Rennie coached Kobe Steelers in Japan from 2023 until earlier this year, when he returned to replace sacked All Blacks coach Scott Robertson.

“The way that Dave’s going to approach this game, he’s going to understand our threats in our team and where we can be targeted,” McReight said.

“But he loves counter-attack. He loves spreading the ball. You look at all the threats that New Zealand have, they’re a great team, so he’ll probably want to unleash that against us.”

Rennie was the last man to coach the Wallabies to a win over the All Blacks, in 2020, and he is also the last coach to oversee a run of five straight wins, in 2021.

With five wins and a draw, the Wallabies are unbeaten in their last six Tests; the longest streak since a seven-Test effort in 2017 (five wins, two draws), and seven straight wins in 2015.

But the Wallabies haven’t won at Eden Park since 1986, a run of 24 Tests.

McReight said the confidence among the players is high, but their focus would be on winning as many moments in the match as possible, and not breaking the Eden Park “curse” or winning back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2003.

“Belief is strong, but belief won’t just cut it – we have to go there and perform,” he said. “We just don’t want to talk the talk. We want to walk the walk and be able to deliver it.”

McReight said the Wallabies were framing the All Blacks’ 53-game unbeaten streak at Eden Park as pressure on the hosts, not the visitors.

“You can look at it two ways. We’re really trying to win and get the win over here and be the first side ever, but they’re also defending it, and that has to play in their psyche as well, and I think that’s probably how we’re trying to frame it,” he said.