All eyes on Wallaby star ahead of grudge match

Wallabies enforcer Rob Valetini has fired a warning shot to his former coach Dan McKellar ahead of his first Super Rugby Pacific match of the season.

Back-to-back Wallaby of the year Valetini will make his much-anticipated return after sustaining a hamstring injury in the pre season, and says he’s feeling his best ahead of the ACT Brumbies’ grudge match against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday night.

The game will be McKellar’s first against his former side after coaching the Brumbies from 2018 to 2022 and winning a Super Rugby AU premiership in Canberra in 2020.

Valetini, who debuted in 2018, has worked with the Waratahs coach at domestic and international level.

The classy back-rower said there was a different sort of energy in the Canberra camp as the Brumbies look to extend a seven-year winning streak against their arch-rivals.

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Isaac Kailea smirks when asked about the threat that Valetini poses at a Sydney press conference. (Sebastian Tan)
“(The derby) is pretty exciting especially because of the few of the coaching staff I know, such as Dan McKellar,” Valetini said.

“To get a win against them adds to the motivating factors. They’re one of our biggest rivals. Any time you can come back for Tahs week is pretty good.

“There’s been a lot of hype through the week. Those coaches have all helped out the Brumbies to where they are now. They know a lot about us.

“It’s been two months (recovering from injury). I don’t think I’ve felt as fresh.

“You don’t want to be part of the team that loses that streak.”

All eyes are on Valetini in the Waratah camp as well, with his Wallabies teammate Isaac Kailea’s smile growing when asked about the threat the back-rower poses.

Brimming with confidence after announcing a two-year contract extension on Friday, Kailea spoke of Valetini’s power, ball carrying and work rate, of which the Tahs must be wary.

“If we can limit him, we can get a result for us,” he told AAP.

“Robby, he’s a good player. Him coming back for the Brumbies is big for them. He’ll provide a lot of go-forward.

“He’s quite similar to Langi (Gleeson). He’s a big ball runner. You don’t want to give him too much time because he can cause a lot of damage.”

Defence will be in the front of the Tahs’ minds after they lost by 20 points against Queensland last week.

The hosts will be boosted by the return of in-form Langi Gleeson but will be without Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii after McKellar opted against rushing the code-switcher back after a toe injury.

“We were disappointed at the result, but we haven’t made any big changes, only tweaks,” Kailea said.

“The Aussie derby is always important, and there’s more in it this week as it’s also Charlie (Gamble’s) 50th game.

“There’s banter between the teams, so there’s fuel there.”

The Brumbies will welcome back lock Caderyn Neville, flanker Luke Reimer and centre Ollie Sapsford to their starting line-up.

Their reshuffle comes after the Canberra-based side’s emphatic 38-21 win against the Fijian Drua last week.