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Dropped Wallaby Tom Lynagh stars as Queensland Reds beat Wild Knights

Tom Lynagh of the Wallabies warms up during The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup match between Australia Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks at Accor Stadium on September 21, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Steve Christo - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Four-Test Wallaby Tom Lynagh has taken out Player of the Match honours after starring in the Queensland Reds’ 42-28 win over Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights. With the Saitama-Queensland Shield on the line, Lynagh made a statement with this performance.

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Lynagh has spent plenty of time with Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies this year, but the young playmaker has been dropped to Australia XV duty this month. The 21-year-old will link up with that representative side ahead of matches against Bristol Bears and England A.

Coach Schmidt has instead called NSW Waratahs and North Harbour pivot Tane Edmed into the Wallabies for the first time. Edmed joins regular starter Noah Lolesio and utility Ben Donaldson as the three options to wear the No. 10 jersey in Australia’s top squad.

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But for Lynagh, matches like this one against the Wild Knights after important. Injuries have kept the flyhalf on the sidelines for various periods during the international season, so it seems the most important thing for him at the moment is game time.

Lynagh linked up with halfback Kalani Thomas in the halves. The No. 10 couldn’t have started the match much better after veering 45 metres past three defenders to set up a 75-metre try to Floyd Aubrey in the opening minutes.

That was the first of Aubrey’s three tries, with Lynagh setting the platform for the second score as well. The Reds had taken a strong lead, but that didn’t mean the match was anywhere near over as the Wild Knights fought their way back.

It was a three point game in the Reds’ favour with just over 20 minutes left to play, but the visitors had it in them to hold on for a confidence-building result away from home. With young players getting a chance to wear the jersey, it was a supremely successful tour for the Reds.

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Frankie Goldsbrough, Kohan Herbet, Heremaia Murray and Hamish Muller all debuted for the Reds, with this also being the club’s final match of 2024. This result also sees the Saitama-Queensland Shield remain at Ballymore for a third straight season.

“We had to keep finding solutions to come back into the game when moments of momentum went the Wild Knights’ way. I’m really proud of our guys for stemming that as they did,” coach Les Kiss said in a statement.

“The cultural experience of the last three years is important for us. Rugby has that and you can play around the world because of opportunities like this.

“We treasure this relationship where the Reds can meet a great club like the Wild Knights. We don’t take it lightly and we want it to keep building.”

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Lynagh isn’t the only Reds player who’s set to jet off to Europe to join the Australia XV squad. Joe Brial, Josh Canham, Massimo De Lutiis, Josh Nasser, Ryan Smith, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips and assistant coach Zane Hulton are also due to fly out to London.

The Australia XV will take on Bristol Bears at the iconic Ashton Gate on Friday, November 8, before taking on England A at London’s Twickenham Stoop about nine days later. Meanwhile, the Wallabies will look to take out the Grand Slam starting with England at Twickenham.

Louis Rees-Zammit joins Jim Hamilton for the latest episode of Walk the Talk to discuss his move to the NFL. Watch now on RugbyPass TV

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Comments

2 Comments
H
Head high tackle 4 hours ago

I dont understand why Lynagh isnt in the two squads gone north.

P
Phillip 4 hours ago

He is. He travelled with the Reds to Japan, now I imagine he'll be linking up with the Australian XV. If he hasn't already.

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Oh no, not him again? 3 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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