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international
Wallabies great Michael Hooper believes Isaac Henry may be a bit like 1999 Rugby World Cup winner Nathan Grey, with the versatile center impressive despite last weekend’s 43-21 loss to All black people in Sydney.
Henry overcame a string of long-term injuries en route to Test rugby, earning major honors after career-best performance Super Rugby Pacific campaign with the Queensland Reds. The 27-year-old made his debut against Japan in Osaka, which was Les Kiss’s first game.
With Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau unavailable, Kiss opted to deploy a new-look midfield against the All Blacks at the Accor Stadium. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii had played the previous two Tests on the wing, but reverted to his familiar role at outside center for this afternoon’s match.
Henry lined up opposite centers Timoci Tavatavanawai, Quinn Tupaea and Rieko Ioane during the 80-minute shift, finishing with the equal second win of any Wallaby with 14 and making nine tackles from 12 attempts.
“For a guy who’s played a few different positions in the centers now, I think he looks really sharp,” Hooper said Stan Sport is between two posts.
“He’s strong. He did a great job at the weekend. He’s got a nice ball from the back, runs a good line as we’ve seen in a couple of Test matches before.
“I like how it develops. Maybe a little Nathan Grey-ish, potentially. It looks heavy and it gets stuck in. It was a good performance.”
Another Wallaby who turned heads despite the result was Declan Meredith, who had only worn the golden number 10 jersey three times until Saturday. Meredith made his international debut against France during July Nations Championship Tests.
The 27-year-old also responded Italy and Japan in the First XV, before appearing from the pines in the Bledisloe Cup series opener. But with Ben Donaldson picking up a calf injury ahead of the second Test, Meredith was given another chance to start.
Meredith made an early start to the All Blacks’ defensive line, even putting a chip-and-chase himself in front of him to chase inside five minutes. The playmaker was level with Henry in total play and came close to scoring in the second half.
“Four minutes into the game, I think it was time, he puts that little chip on top. With a different bounce or a series of different rushes, he creates,” Hooper said.
“I like that confidence he put into that game. He didn’t wait for the game to come, he took over the game earlier and I appreciate that.”