Fraser McReight was preparing to go to the gym ahead of the Wallabies’ captain’s run in Mendoza when he got told to prepare for training.
Soon after, the 23-year-old’s ascension to the prized No. 7 jersey became clear when captain Michael Hooper withdrew from the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship opener for personal reasons.
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While Hooper’s never-say-die attitude was always going to be missed, McReight took to Test rugby like a duck to water as he showed glimpses of what is to come for Australian rugby in what he described as a “whirlwind” week.
On Saturday, in front of a strong crowd of 36,366 fans at Adelaide Oval, the former Junior Wallabies captain showed the world what he is capable of, scoring two tries and pulling off an incredible breakdown turnover on his own goal-line.
In the moments after the Wallabies’ important victory, McReight’s phone pinged again. This time it came from Hooper, who, like all observers, had been impressed by the Queenslander’s starring role and tries.
“Yeah he texted me after the game tonight and sort of brought up the two tries I got,” McReight said.
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“He’s probably sitting at home wishing he had scored those.”
McReight’s superb link play has always been a feature of his game, but the way he found his way to the line was a carbon copy of Hooper.
Yet, the 23-year-old has been forced to bide his time for opportunities in gold despite his strong form in Super Rugby and immense potential sitting in the shadow of Hooper.
But on Saturday evening, McReight paid tribute to Hooper’s influence in preparing him to take his chances when the moment eventually arised.
“Obviously I waited a long time to sort of get that exposure and competing with Hoops for two-and-a-half years was very good for my development in terms of just seeing how he preps,” McReight said.
“He’s a soldier of the game, a great at the game, and to see how he goes day to day and how he backs up from game to game (has been important).
“It was great to learn and just to view … we’re two different players, obviously, but yeah, being his apprentice and learning from him has been wonderful for me.”
Hooper is not expected to play any part in this year’s Rugby Championship and whether he returns for the Spring Tour remains to be seen.
Whether or not Hooper would come straight back is no forgone conclusion either.
It is entirely possible Hooper might, at the very least, do away with the captaincy to focus on himself. After all, he would remain a strong leader in the Wallabies regardless of whether he held the captaincy.
Regardless, McReight, whose ability to sniff out a breakdown turnover is second to none in Australia, said he wasn’t looking too far ahead and was just focussed on doing Hooper and the Wallabies proud.
“Who knows, I’m doing a job for a team at the moment and I just want to, like I said, do him proud, do the jersey proud and do the team proud,” he said.
“If he comes back and starts at seven then, he’s a legend in the game, and that’s not what’s going to happen.”
As for what he enjoyed more, the tries or breakdown steal, McReight chose forcing the turnover on his own goal-line.
“Probably the turnover,” he said.
“That’s what I base my game on. That’s what I like, working back and stopping something that could have been a negative for us, so I’ll probably say that.”
