It says something of Langi Gleeson’s value to the Waratahs that the 21-year-old back-rower is the most important Wallabies player to return for NSW against the Highlanders on Friday night.
That’s a list containing six returning Wallabies, mind you. And one of them is Michael Hooper, who has 121 more Test caps and 151 more Super Rugby games than his young back row companion.
But as the Waratahs attempt to re-discover the momentum sacrificed by taking a weakened team to Auckland last weekend – where they got thumped 55-21 by the Blues – Gleeson’s impact shapes as the most influential to NSW’s chances.
Gleeson was in red-hot form in the opening month of the Super Rugby season, until picking up a calf injury against the Hurricanes in round four. The three-cap Wallaby has missed four games but highlighting how effective Gleeson was in carrying the ball in those first four games (and coming off the bench in round one), he still has the most carry-metres (357m) of all NSW forwards.
When averaged out, stats also show Gleeson is in the top 10 ball carriers in the whole Super Rugby competition, ranked sixth with 116 metres per 80 minutes.
Langi Gleeson charges against the Drua in round two.Credit: Getty
Tellingly, all the other players in the top 10 are backs; the men who eat up cheap metres on kick returns. A majority of Gleeson’s carries were into the teeth of the defence. One-third of Gleeson’s 70 metres against the Drua, for example, were post-contact (23m).
That physical dominance helped the Tahs to a big win in round two, and after a defeat to the Blues where the Waratahs ran for a season-low 238 metres, Gleeson’s presence will play a big part in the Waratahs’ hopes of getting into their preferred groove against the Highlanders, by bending the line and playing on top of rivals.
“The return of Langi is going to be massive, he is a really big ball carrier for us and someone who can get us on the front foot first phase, second phase,” Waratahs captain Jake Gordon said.
“That’ll be important for us. And also the experience of Michael Hooper coming back, Dave Porecki, Lalakai Foketi, guys like that coming back is awesome for us.”
Taking into account the fact he ended the year starting at No.8 for Australia, it is easy to forget the 21-year-old made his run-on debut for the Waratahs under one year ago, when NSW beat the Highlanders in Dunedin.
Langi Gleeson on the charge for the Wallabies against Wales.Credit: Getty
Gleeson wasn’t listed as a rested Wallaby last week but he effectively was, with NSW coaches deciding to not risk him in Auckland despite being all-but recovered.
Having played four of the top five sides, the Waratahs believe they can go on a run in the last six games, and pick up enough points to qualify for finals. Fortunately for NSW, there is a logjam of similarly performing teams between sixth and eleventh.
It was a roll of the dice to send a weak team after the club had built momentum with strong efforts against the Chiefs and Brumbies, and in beating the Force. And it backfired, with the team unable to hold up a competitive performance in the 50-pointer.
“Yeah, I would be lying if we didn’t take a shot to the pride last week. It was a hard one to take. Any Super team putting 50 points on you is disappointing, but that’s the nature of the beast. It’s cliched but we have to move on. There were good learnings,” Gordon said.
“We have to. We can’t ignore it, that’s important, but we can’t dwell on it too much. It is a quick competition this, it’s important we move on. We have a good team and just need to build on the performances we have been building, bar last week.”
Given the unusual mid-table stagnation, the Highlanders is still – theoretically – not a must-win for NSW, but Gordon knows the time is well-past due for the Waratahs to starting winning games.
“You always watch the table, it’s important to have a bit of awareness. But what’s important now is we start performing,” he said.
“We have conversations like this, that we’re in games and it is disappointing talking about being in a game and you still don’t win it. We need to perform, that’s clear, to not only make the finals but compete, if we are to make it. It’s pretty obvious.”
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