David Campese’s Top Five Rugby Championship Performers as Springboks rookie earns Dan Carter comparison and the world’s most underrated player
David Campese picks out five players from the Springboks, All Blacks, Los Pumas and Wallabies who have impressed in the Rugby Championship.
After three hectic rounds of the 2024 Rugby Championship, all-time great David Campese picks out five players from the Springboks, All Blacks, Los Pumas and Wallabies who have impressed.
Planet Rugby caught up with the legendary winger and columnist who sang the praises of the five stars who have caught the eye.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Springboks)
Very occasionally a youngster comes into Test Rugby and you take a deep breath and say ‘This guy’s got the lot.’ It doesn’t happen very often – Dan Carter, Antoine Dupont, Cheslin Kolbe and Aaron Smith are four that spring to mind that gave me the same gut reaction, and young Sacha might just have the ability to go all the way to a similar level.
He is allowing Rassie Erasmus to explore corners of the attacking side of rugby that he wouldn’t have dreamt of a couple of years ago; he has vision, poise and huge intellect. And, despite his obvious running and passing prowess, it was a mark of his rugby IQ that he played a more controlled kicking game last weekend at Ellis Park, showing just how adaptable he is. Importantly, Rassie is also giving him the chance to learn by failing under pressure – by that I mean the Boks are throwing him into the deep end in pressure environments and telling him to just get on with it.
He could be absolutely transformational for Springboks rugby in terms of the style and ambition he brings and I cannot wait to track his development.
The astonishing stats which prove Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has arrived on the Test stage
Carlo Tizzano (Wallabies)
As a nation, we have always produced some great opensides from Simon Poidovan and David Wilson through to Michael Hooper and David Pocock, the art of the classic seven has always been an important component of Wallaby rugby and it’s great to see another high-quality youngster coming through the ranks.
He’s small by modern test standards at 5’11” and 100kgs, but he’s a little like the great Neil Back in terms of his ability over the ball and tackle count but then the priceless quality of being comfortable with ball in hand, something that goes back to him playing a lot of Sevens in his formative years.
He’s made 57 tackles in the Rugby Championship this season and missed just one – a really important cog in the wheel of the Aussie pack and in the torrential rain of La Plata last weekend his ability on the floor was one of the key reasons that the Wallabies got the better of Los Pumas’ world-class back-row, all of whom are much bigger than Tizzano, and as a result, slower to react to the floor contest. In short, I like what I see and I think he’ll be around for a long time.
Mateo Carreras (Los Pumas)
Watchers of the Premiership will know just how good this little winger is – but how he competes aerially with people twice his size almost baffles me.
Not many stand-up world-class defences as he did on Saturday night – he left the Wallaby defence for dead on a couple of occasions and was a real pest until Australia managed to get some continuity into their attack. He is still only 24 yet seems to have been around for much longer. I also think moving to Bayonne in the TOP14 from Newcastle Falcons can only aid his development as he learns to cope in a more physical environment.
He’s another that I am looking forward to seeing develop further on the test arena- a winger like Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse that shows that there’s still a place for smaller men in the modern game of giants.
Caleb Clarke (All Blacks)
Look, we all know that the Kiwis produce wingers as often as the Boks produce second rows, and the competition for the two wide spots in the test team is immense. Clarke has returned from injury to replace another baller in Mark Tele’a, and on the form he’s shown so far, you can see why.
He’s big enough to punch holes with a physical carry in midfield, he competes brilliantly in that crucial aerial battle, yet still has the gas to take the best defences on around the outside.
One of his key qualities is his love of looking for work – it’s an important mindset for an elite winger- sometimes if the ball isn’t coming your way you need to go and find it- and Caleb often pops up in that 13 channel off the other wing to make the extra man.
His two tries against the Springboks were absolutely vital and both demonstrated his sharp thinking in terms of support lines and it says everything that, with the brilliant Will Jordan on the other wing, it’s Clarke grabbing the headlines.
Kwagga Smith (Springboks)
A small man with a heart the size of a bloody horse! I honestly don’t think there’s a more underrated player in the world at the moment and his versatility is quite astonishing. It doesn’t matter where in the back-row he plays, he’ll deliver a world-class performance. It doesn’t matter if he starts or finishes, you’ll still get test-quality brilliance from him.
I think, like a couple of others I’ve mentioned, one of the key reasons Smith is so rounded as a competitor is the time he spent in Sevens, where he ripped it up for the Blitzboks in the World Sevens. He’s comfortable with the ball in hand, hugely abrasive and hits as hard as a man twice his size.
For someone of 5’11”, you’d expect him to be a pure openside, but the punch he packs in carry, together with his handling skills means the Boks often see him as a number eight, and the amount of times he gets on the scoreboard late in the game underlines his ability to come on and deliver real measurable impact.
It says everything about Smith’s rugby intelligence and punching power that in South Africa, a land of rugby giants where you can buy a world-class back row at your local corner store, the little guy from Mpumalanga continues to dominate in the green shirt, showing to all if you’re good enough then you’re big enough!
READ MORE: Springboks v All Blacks: Rassie Erasmus’ five selection headaches for Cape Town showdown
