Zinzan Brooke gives candid view on where Wallace Sititi should play in All Blacks back-row
Legendary All Blacks number eight Zinzan Brooke and current back-row star Wallace Sititi.
All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke has praised the performances of Wallace Sititi and feels the young back-row should be playing at number eight for the three-time world champions.
Sititi made his international debut off the bench during New Zealand’s victory over Fiji in San Diego in July and also came on as a replacement in a Rugby Championship loss against Argentina in Wellington in August.
The 22-year-old delivered solid performances in both those encounters and eventually made his first Test start when the All Blacks suffered a narrow defeat to the Springboks in Cape Town in September.
Although primarily a number eight, Sititi started on the blindside flank in that fixture – a move necessitated by an injury to Ethan Blackadder – but he still delivered an outstanding performance and was one of the All Blacks’ best players on display in a hostile environment.
Started at number eight against Japan
Since then, he has been ever present in All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson’s matchday squad as he started both New Zealand’s Rugby Championship victories against Australia on the blindside flank and packed down at number eight in the win over Japan in Yokohama last month.
Ardie Savea returned to the matchday squad at the weekend and was back at number eight in New Zealand’s narrow victory over England at Twickenham.
That meant Sititi shifted to the side of the scrum again but he caught the eye with an outstanding individual performance which saw him walking off with the official man-of-the-match award.
Brooke, who is regarded as one of the best number eights to ever play the game, is impressed with Sititi’s start to international rugby, especially his form on the blindside flank.
“If I was playing against him, he would have asked the question of myself,” he said on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby ANZ podcast. Two of the best guys that I played against, because I don’t play against number eights.
“You play against opensides or blindsides as a number eight.
“And two of the best blindside flankers were Richard Hill from England and Ruben Kruger from South Africa. And both of them had that mongrel but they produced the performances.
‘It’s absolutely positive’
“And your man on Saturday (Sititi) was like that. So it’s absolutely positive. But what you can’t do is just get ahead of yourself.
“Yes we won the game but it was small margins. But it could have gone either way. But we’re praising a guy that can potentially be there for the journey and make a name for himself.”
Brooke was asked by another All Blacks legend, former Test scrum-half Justin Marshall, if Sititi should be New Zealand’s first choice number eight ahead of current World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea, and replied: “This guy here (Sititi) should be in the eight jersey. Give him a shot.
“But what I’d like to do is I wouldn’t do that against Japan or an easier side. I’d actually ask the question. Here we go.
“But I’d warn him. I’d give him notice. They’d say right you’re going to be playing blindside.
“But next week if you perform we’re going to play you eight.”
