Magical McLean has world at his feet
TNo wonder fans are getting excited by the 21-year-old Warriors flyer
HE quicksilver feet of Rufus McLean were the talk of Edinburgh last night after a stunning debut in front of the home fans at BT Murrayfield. Nobody knows what McLean might go on to achieve in the game, or how many tries he might eventually go on to score for Scotland.
But one thing’s for sure. For as long as he plays the game, he might never score a better one than his second against Tonga yesterday.
Yeah, okay, so you can perhaps question the level of opposition. But, to be honest, that actually doesn’t matter in this instance.
McLean’s footwork and electric burst of pace would have torn any defence apart and left them for dead. That’s how good it was.
It was a truly world-class finish. It’s no wonder that fans are getting so excited by the prospect of this 21-year-old Glasgow Warriors flyer.
He’s been doing the business for Glasgow for over a year now. But, in the fullness of time, this will be
viewed as the day a star was born. He’s an outstanding talent. To show such confidence on his debut really speaks volumes about McLean, and also the belief that Gregor Townsend instils in his young players.
I know that Kyle Steyn got the man-of-the-match award yesterday, and you can’t really grumble with that, given he scored four tries.
But, for me, it was McLean’s performance which really ignited the crowd and got the supporters off their seats.
His performance was almost reminiscent of a young Stuart Hogg. There was a real buzz among the fans any time he got his hands on the ball.
He strikes me as someone who has rapid acceleration. Even from a standing start, his footwork is absolutely lethal. He can step off both sides.
It must be so exciting for Townsend to have that sort of young talent at his disposal. But it also poses him a problem ahead of the Australia game next weekend.
Steyn and McLean got six tries between them. How can you drop wingers in that sort of form? It’ll be a tough call.
But Duhan van der Merwe also scored a couple for Worcester yesterday in their 27-14 win over Sale Sharks in the Premiership.
He will come back into the equation against the Wallabies next weekend, as will the likes of Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell, Adam Hastings, Chris Harris and Huw Jones.
That presents Townsend with a huge headache in the backline. But it’s one he will welcome because there’s no doubt Scotland were hugely impressive yesterday as an attacking force.
I was quietly impressed with Blair Kinghorn at fly-half. I know some people viewed it largely as just an experiment when he was moved there by Edinburgh at the start of the season.
But I saw enough in his performance yesterday to suggest that he’s capable of doing a job at 10 at Test level.
Russell and Hastings are still out on their own, of course. But we now have some real depth, with Kinghorn and Ross Thompson capable of bringing their own talents to the table.
That basically gives us four players as options at fly-half, all of whom have different strengths and skillsets. I know he missed a few kicks, but I liked the speed of Kinghorn’s passing. He saw things quickly and released the ball for the likes of McLean and Steyn to profit.
The second half became a little bit fragmented, but Scotland still came on strong again towards the end and scored a few late tries.
You couldn’t help but feel a degree of sympathy for Tonga. This was a second-string Tongan team, maybe even third-string in some positions.
It was thrown together at the last minute, with only four or five days’ preparation. Even for the best teams, that would be a tall order to try and produce a coherent performance after such a chaotic build-up.
But it’s still a decent hit-out for Scotland to blood a new generation of talent, with McLean taking centre stage in that respect.
It was also vital to get some minutes into the legs of Hamish Watson ahead of the games against the Wallabies and the Springboks over the next couple of weeks. Those two games will be a huge step up from what Scotland faced yesterday, but there’s no doubt that they have started this Autumn Nations Series in a hugely positive fashion.
They were on a hiding to nothing against Tonga. Against such limited opposition, they were always strongly fancied to rack up a few tries and win handsomely.
That they did so with minimal fuss is clearly a positive. But Townsend’s team selection next weekend will make for interesting reading.
Does he stick with the likes of McLean and Steyn? Or does Van der Merwe come straight back in?
After his exploits with the Lions in the summer, I expect Van der Merwe will probably get the nod. He’s hardly put a foot wrong for Scotland over the past year or so.
But there’s no doubt that he now faces some stiff competition in the back three. McLean has announced himself as the new kid on the block.