Wallabies welcome 'father figure' back
NEWS: Allan Alaalatoa has been praised as the calming “father figure” of the Wallabies squad, with the returning prop tipped to play a big role in Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash with Argentina in Townsville.
Australia haven’t won the four-nations tournament since 2015, but they have set a foundation to end that 10-year drought after defeating South Africa 38-22 in Johannesburg before following it up with a fighting 22-30 loss to the world champions in Cape Town.
All four countries have identical 1-1 records, with NZ on top of the table courtesy of collecting two bonus points, and the Wallabies (one bonus point) sitting second.
Argentina is fourth but are coming off an historic first home win over the All Blacks.
Alaalatoa has been sidelined since injuring his shoulder in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions, and his return is pivotal for the Wallabies as they prepare to take on a physical Argentina pack.
While lock Will Skelton has returned to his French club and they’ve lost fullback Tom Wright to an ACL, the Australians welcome back playmaker Tom Lynagh while backrower Pete Samu is in his first Test squad in two years.
Fellow veteran prop James Slipper, who will make his own return after recovering from a concussion, heaped praise on his long-time Brumbies teammate.
“It’s massive. Having Al back in is kind of like that father figure for a lot of the boys in the team,” Slipper said on Monday.
“Just to have him back in the team and voicing his opinion and leading by example at training is only going to help us.
“He’s an incredible player, but an incredible person. So, to have him back in there, a player of his calibre, will only help us for sure.”
Alaalatoa scored a whopping eight tries for the Brumbies last season – and the nature of them definitely caught the eye of Slipper.
“They were all, like, one metre (away),” Slipper joked.
“He’s a powerful player. He’s a big man, and you get a player that size close to the line, nine times out of 10, you’ll get him over the line.”
A top of 30 degrees is forecast for Townsville on Saturday, and Slipper is embracing the conditions before they head south to Sydney for the second Test between the countries.
“There’ll be a lot of hurt out there on the field, no doubt,” he said.
“Luckily for us, we’re up here for the week, so we’ll get used to that.
“I think it will be a fast match – the Argentinians play at really high tempo, quick ball sort of rugby games, and we like to do the same.
“So, it sets up to be a really fast game. The conditions will be telling.”
James O’Connor missed a crucial late conversion and two penalties in the dying minutes of the Wallabies’ loss in Cape Town, but Slipper is backing the veteran flyhalf to put it out of his mind.
“His career speaks for itself. He’s been around for a long time. He’s played across the world, so his experience has been really good for the group,” Slipper said.
“Obviously he would love to have got those kicks but knowing Rabs he’ll kick on from that for sure.”
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