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'He'd be my 10' - Christian Lealiifano tipped for Wallabies World Cup first-five spot

Christian Lealiifano is set to join the new Pacific Island franchise (Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar believes Christian Lealiifano should be recalled to wear the Wallabies No.10 jersey at the World Cup later this year.

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The 31-year-old has been in sensational form this Super Rugby season and has helped guide the Brumbies to the top of the Australian conference.

Lealiifano played 19 Tests before he was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and last week was invited to his first Wallabies camp since beating the illness.

He continued his stellar season with another complete performance against the Bulls on Friday and McKellar believes Lealiifano deserves a Wallabies recall after he orchestrated the 22-10 win.

“He’s been outstanding, just consistently good every week and off the back of his defence, his leadership and direction,” McKellar said.

“There was a key point in the game there with 10 or 15 minutes to go and he just had the boys connected and we do a lot of work on that, just delivering a key message, his leadership has been outstanding.

“He’d be my 10 (at the World Cup), but I’m a little bit biased.”

Lealiifano was one of the final players cut for the 2015 World Cup and is determined to finish is remarkable comeback story in a gold jersey.

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He was one of four playmakers invited into Wallabies camp last week and will compete for a World Cup berth against NSW’s Bernard Foley and Melbourne duo Matt Toomua and Quade Cooper.

Seven-Test Wallaby Pete Samu was a surprise omission from the Australian camp but McKellar believes it will the last one he misses after a strong performance against the Bulls.

“Pete is a pretty cruisy guy and was disappointed no doubt, but if he keeps playing well for the Brumbies and we go deep into the competition, selection will sort itself out,” McKellar said.

AAP

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Nickers 30 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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