Hodge thrown into deep end at No.10
THREE months at Camp Cheika refining his back-up skills as a five-eighth have fortified Reece Hodge for one of the Wallabies’ biggest punts against Japan in Yokohama tomorrow.
No matter what his club background in the No.10 jersey and his fill-in time there for the Melbourne Rebels, Hodge, 23, has never started a Super Rugby game in the playmaking role that so often decides Test results.
Coach Michael Cheika’s hand was forced with main man Bernard Foley too ill to train with a virus and Kurtley Beale required at fullback because of Karmichael Hunt’s neck niggle.
Hodge has been largely learning five-eighth behind closed doors at Australian training for three months by playing in the No.2 team against the Wallabies in all full-on opposed sessions.
The irony of the hotly debated call to tour without a specialist back-up like Quade Cooper was not lost on Cheika when his team trained outside the towering 72,000-seat Yokohama International Stadium that will stage the Test match.
“Well, there was plenty of talk about in the lead-up to the tour and it’s come straightaway to the forefront,” Cheika said.
“When we came into training as a squad in August, I spoke to Hodgey about preparing him to be our back-up No.10. He’s got something as a player. He played Australian Under-20s in the position and he trains in our second team (in opposed training) as a No.10.
“He’s a good communicator, he’s got a good kicking game, he’s a solid defender and he understands our game really well.”
It’s one of the biggest surprises at five-eighth since former centre Nathan Grey, the team’s defensive coach, played and lost his single Test as a makeshift No.10 in Melbourne in 2003.
Hodge has already started at wing and centre in his 20Test run and seemed unfazed by the new role created by his utility value.
“I’ve got to ride the wave a bit. It (utility value) seems to be going all right and I need to keep performing wherever I’m put,” Hodge said.
“Like Cheik said, it’s three or four months since I started doing this so I feel confident to do the job.”
Pairing Hodge with Nick Phipps as a new halves pairing adds extra pressure.
Top half Will Genia (calf) is also out to nurse a twinge from the Bledisloe Cup clash.