Wallabies to put their trust in sparky Samu
HE could rip Wales apart in attack or be exposed in defence, but Samu Kerevi has been backed by the Wallabies to play a crucial 80 minutes this weekend having not started a Test since June.
Kerevi will be marking Wales’ most dangerous player, Jonathan Davies, in a battle that will have a huge bearing on the result at Principality Stadium.
Kerevi tore his bicep in a match for Queensland in July and initially was ruled out for the year.
But he was able to heal quicker than expected, returning to the Test arena a fortnight ago against the All Blacks and reminding all of his game-breaking abilities with some impressive runs in a 20minute cameo off the bench.
With Reece Hodge and Tevita Kuridrani unavailable for the tour through injury, Kerevi is set to start in the No.13 jersey, with Israel Folau shifting to the back three once more.
Kerevi’s rival Davies has also just returned from longterm injury.
The 2017 British & Irish Lions player of the series against the All Blacks injured his ankle playing against the Wallabies last November, and only returned to the Test arena last weekend against Scotland, scoring a try in Wales’ 21-10 win.
The outside centre position is the most difficult to defend in, but Wallabies defence coach Nathan Grey says Kerevi will be up to the task of playing the full game.
“Definitely, if he is picked in that position, no doubt at all, he’s got a really good understanding,” Grey said.
“We did a lot of work in the June series against Ireland where we were pretty frugal around our defence and got a lot of confidence out of that.
“Unfortunately the injury saw him miss out playing a lot of Super (Rugby), but he’s come back into the fold and with the injury to Reece Hodge it probably fast-tracked him a little bit.
“He’s taken that in his stride very well, prepared very well.
“He’s had that long lay-off but he showed in the 20 minutes he played against New Zealand in that second half what he can bring to the table, both sides of the ball, and that’s exciting.”
Grey is well aware of the threat posed by Davies. Sexy Naughty Girl 0426 586 275