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Tahu delight at central casting
Greg Growden in Padovaseems the SMH want the useless git out of the country too Chief Rugby Correspondent | November 6, 2008
TIMANA TAHU has vowed to teammates and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans that he will prove he is of Test quality by redeeming himself at inside-centre against Italy on Saturday night.
When the Wallabies team is announced later this week, Tahu will be among eight changes to the side beaten by the All Blacks in Hong Kong, with Deans using the Test against the Azzurri as an opportunity to field several fringe candidates.
As for Tahu, Deans hopes the Waratahs midfielder can show he has overcome the disappointment of his hideous run-on debut at No.12 against the Springboks in Johannesburg in August and that he can re-establish himself as a Test centre.
After the debacle at Ellis Park, where Australia suffered their biggest Test defeat, 53-8, Tahu was blamed as a prime culprit for the Wallabies' disintegrating and often disorganised defence, which leaked eight tries.
Even if Tahu sometimes went too high in the tackle, and his communication with fellow centre Stirling Mortlock was haphazard, it was hard to apportion so much blame on a high-profile Kangaroos representative playing his first year of rugby union.
Tahu was naturally devastated after that Test, believing the end of his international rugby career might have come only moments after its start, especially when he was called off the paddock after just 49 minutes. But Deans retained his faith in Tahu, believing he would eventually make it at No.12 through studying the position, examining video footage of his and other midfielders' play, learning the right defensive strategies and understanding the importance of on-field communication.
Tahu took Deans's advice and, team insiders say, over the past month or so has spent a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, studying matches and training sessions and learning from his and other players' mistakes.
From that, his confidence has returned, but he was still relieved when, a few days ago, Deans tapped him on the shoulder and said he would be getting a run at No.12 against the Italians.
"I'm just so happy to get another chance," Tahu said yesterday. "Everyone knows that in the South African Test my defence wasn't up to scratch, but since then I've been studying really hard on that, and I feel really comfortable again."
It has involved overcoming a lot of heartache and self doubt.
"For a couple of weeks after that match, my confidence was really jolted. I really wondered whether I was good enough. I just kept thinking that Test over and over in my head, and I found it hard to get myself up.
"But Robbie had a good talk to me about it all - to the extent that I believe I'm all over that now, and am a better player. The coach has shown his confidence in me. And I'm going to pay back that confidence on Saturday night."
Tahu will also be encouraged that his one-time league foe Berrick Barnes is serving him from five-eighth, especially after the new Wallabies playmaker made it clear what his game focus would be.
"I have two big physical runners outside me in Timana and Stirling, so they'll be wanting to hit it up," Barnes said.
"It's my job to give them the ball and organise the forwards. That's all I'll be trying to do.
"It will also be great to see Timana with a bit of go-forward ball, rather than him being on the backfoot 24/7, as has happened in the last few games he's played."
Barnes wants Italy to experience what he suffered when he was given the task of stopping the then Eels centre when he played against him for the Brisbane Broncos at Parramatta Stadium in 2005.
"He's bloody tough to stop … him and Eric Grothe, I tell you. Not good."
AUSTRALIA
Likely team:
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Digby Ioane, Stirling Mortlock (c), Timana Tahu, Lachie Turner; Berrick Barnes, Luke Burgess; Richard Brown, Phil Waugh, Dean Mumm, Hugh McMeniman, Mark Chisholm, Matt Dunning, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander.
That'd be about right. The 'B' team to face Italy only has Richard Brown from the Force. Give the proper players a bit of a rest while Tahu shows them what not to do.
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