Will Genia reveals where the Wallabies are ‘a little bit better’ than the British & Irish Lions
Former Wallabies scrum-half Will Genia in action against the British & Irish Lions in 2013.
Former Australia scrum-half Will Genia is backing the Wallabies’ “better athletes” to prove the difference in their upcoming three-Test series against the British and Irish Lions.
Genia, who made 110 appearances for the Wallabies between 2009 and 2019, started all three Tests in 2013 against the British & Irish Lions, which the famous touring side won 2-1.
And although he admits that Lions head coach Andy Farrell has some excellent players within his 38-man squad, he believes players like Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Tom Wright and Rob Valetini could swing things in Australia‘s favour during the eagerly anticipated three-Test series.
The Wallabies are currently languishing in eighth position in World Rugby’s official rankings but Genia is confident Joe Schmidt’s troops can come out on top if they play the right style of rugby.
‘We’re building nicely’
“I do, and maybe that’s just me being foolish because of my heart,” the 37-year-old told AAP.
“We’re building nicely. I know it’s a Lions tour and it’s prestigious and everyone’s going to be excited enough for it, but it also comes off the back of a long season for those guys, whereas we’re fresh.
“So I’m not saying that will play a factor, but it just might.
“They might just be a little tired and, if we can hang in there and be competitive and make it a bit loose and make them work a bit harder to earn their points and open the game up so that we can suit our athletes, you can plant the seeds of doubt over the course of the series.”
Genia believes the key to getting the better of the Lions is employing a fast-paced style of play.
“If you look at the Lions team, it looks like they’ve picked a team that’s going to want to attack and use the ball,” he said.
“The backs they’ve chosen are electric. They’ve got players with great flair like Finn Russell, Alex Mitchell.
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“Then you’ve got guys on the edge who can finish like (Duhan) van der Merwe, Blair Kinghorn. So they look like a really attacking team.
“Then their back-row as well, there’s a sense of dynamism about them where they’re good carriers in the loose, but they’ve also picked mobile guys like they want to use the ball and play with pace.”
‘We’ve got better athletes’
“Individually, though, we’ve got better athletes,” he insists.
“If you look at some of the guys in our team, like Tom Wright, Joseph Suaalii, Len Ikitau, you’ve got guys like Angus Bell, Rob Valetini, if we can play the game at pace and make it a bit loose, I think we can create one on ones for those guys.
“I think athletically, in some areas, we’re a little bit better.”
Genia, who until recently plied his trade at Japanese outfit Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, feels Australia’s biggest challenge will be to try and break the Lions’ rhythm.
“Because they’ve got such a balanced squad where they can play an attacking style,” he explained.
“We know the northern hemisphere teams are very good at playing pragmatic football, where they don’t play a lot of footy in their half. They put kick pressure on the high balls, they’re really good at the set-piece.
“So if we can find a way to break up that point-to-point rugby and make it a bit loose and open, I think it will suit the guys that we have and it will give us a better opportunity.”
