The crazy thing about Mark Nawaqanitawase’s rise to the Wallabies is he was not even originally selected for Australia A’s tour of Japan this month.
A change in plans from Wallabies boss Dave Rennie meant one of his wingers did not tour with the Australia A program, which paved the way for Nawaqanitawase to get a late call-up.
“I remember counselling him two weeks before Australia A tour and we were talking about a big off-season here and doing well,” Waratahs coach Darren Coleman told foxsports.com.au.
However, an eye-catching 20-minute cameo off the bench in the first of three unofficial Tests put the 22-year-old on the Wallabies’ radar.
After a sloppy opening half, Nawaqanitawase came off the bench and showed raw pace to score one try after some Ben Donaldson brilliance before the outside back burnt Japan’s 2019 World Cup star Kotaro Matsushima with a sublime in-and-away.
Just as important as the two superbly taken tries were his neat hands and excellent cover work in the back-field.
In one quarter of the match, Nawaqanitawase showed he was the best player on the field – a class above his other hyped teammates, including Suliasi Vunivalu who subsequently was not selected on Rennie’s 36-man squad for the Spring Tour.
Given he originally missed Australia A selection, the Waratahs winger, who was rated as the Super Rugby franchise’s sixth best winger at the start of the season, did not think he was close to a Wallabies call-up.
As such, the Eastwood product immediately hopped on a flight to Auckland to see his partner after touching back down from Japan and it was not until he arrived in the Shaky Isles and looked at his phone that he saw he missed a phone call from Rennie.
“I was actually on a plane, so I was off to New Zealand to go on holidays and I got off and I had seen I had missed a call from Rennie,” Nawaqanitawase told reporters.
“I tried giving him a call back – he didn’t pick up. So I was just waiting for him to call back (and) obviously had to come back straight away.”
Understandably tears were shed – happy and sad – when he returned less than 24 hours later.
Even if he does not play during the five Tests on the tour of Europe and the UK, Nawaqanitawase looms as a World Cup bolter.
In the same way Nehe Milner-Skudder came from the clouds for the All Blacks in 2015, Nawaqanitawase can do the same.
As Coleman says, “If he was a stock, you’d be getting on him”.
Nawaqanitawase can provide the Wallabies a point of difference.
As the offloading outside back said, “I think I can help out a bit. I think I can open up the game a bit for the boys.”
The physicality he showed for Australia A in the third unofficial Test against Japan showed he’s no longer a string bean, as he burst through two defenders in a big linebreak.
Athletically he is the best back in Australia since Israel Folau – and it no surprise he grew up idolising the dual international and three-time John Eales Medallist.
“I loved watching the Tahs play back in the day, so Izzy Folau was awesome to watch and I feel like I can kind of do some things that he did,” he said.
“So I guess you grow up thinking oh, ‘I want to do that kind of stuff.’
“He was always good to watch and exciting, made the game enjoyable to watch and stuff like that. So I guess I kind of want to do the same thing for people.”
Coleman, who left the former Junior Wallaby out of his final trial match before sending him back to club rugby, believes Nawaqanitawase has got something special.
While Coleman kept it simple throughout this season, insisting he only wanted the back to “run hard” and “tackle hard”, the coach says the outside back can continue on his upward trend.
“I think, like me, I’m sure that Rens and Wisey (attack coach Scott Wisemantel) and the boys are the same, you need to see him in your environment, in and around your guys to go, ‘right, he’s got it’,” Coleman said.
“Watching him train today, he did not look out of place. It was awesome.
“It was like he was back on the Waratahs training field, he was jumping high, he was catching kicks.
“His ceiling, we all see it, he’s a phenom as an athlete.
“He’s getting the top two inches sorted and hopefully he continues.
“He’ll have some down days, and he’ll probably get a couple of harsh lessons on his tour if he gets on, but yeah, he’s exciting, we can’t wait to see where he gets to.”
