In this weekend’s Super Rugby AU classic between the ACT Brumbies and Queensland Reds in Canberra, Hunter Paisami and Jordan Petaia created a bit of magic in the 78th minute with Petaia’s miraculous behind-the-post grounding of Paisami’s all-or-nothing grubber kick.
However, the play by the Reds’ talented centre pairing, which set up James O’Connor to make the winning conversion, wouldn’t have happened had it not been for another crucial play.
Blindside flanker and lineout caller Angus Scott-Young called the throw from hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa to himself and secured the ball in a maul, setting up the Reds for their winning play.
Ironically, at the same time in the previous encounter in the Super Rugby AU 2020 grand final, it was a lost lineout that lost the Reds the game.
The Reds’ lineout success rate has improved from 80 per cent in 2020 and the first game of 2021 to 93 per cent in each of the Reds’ last two games. Of course, this is a testament to the entire Reds pack, but the fact is that the change occurred when Scott-Young was made lineout caller.
Competently running the lineout is a vital role in a rugby team, which only gets noticed when something goes wrong.
It exemplifies Scott-Young’s role in the Reds. A player like Scott-Young lays the platform for the backs by maintaining consistently high standards throughout the match.
It is harder to stand out than the likes of Paisami and Petaia, so his game deserves a closer review.
Scott-Young can play four positions including lock, number eight and blindside flanker. Blindside is his best and in 2021 he has had the opportunity to display his abilities there for the first three games.
What makes him eminently suitable for the position are his 194-centimetre and 108-kilogram frame, the ability to play 80 minutes at a high work rate, uniformly excellent technique, excellent focus and awareness, good communication and leadership skills, and a love of contact.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Regarding contact, Scott-Young can hit hard enough to knock any opponent backwards, but what stands out is his tenacity in winning any contest in attack or defence once contact is made.
This was demonstrated in the 24th minute of the match. The Brumbies were in possession just inside the Reds’ half, from where they were dangerous all night if they won quick ball. Scott-Young hit the breakdown at the same time as Brumbies hooker Folau Fainga’a, with Brumbies tighthead prop Tom Ross joining straight afterwards.
Despite the Brumbies’ front rowers combining to more than twice his weight and both being 18 centimetres shorter than him, Scott-Young burrowed his way underneath them while staying on his feet, and slowed the ball down long enough for the Reds to reset their defence. It was a critical play, which stopped the Brumbies in their tracks.
Scott-Young has always been rated for his defence, winning the Reds’ defensive player of the year award in 2019. It was how often he prevented tries by holding up players on the Reds own try line which made him stand out in 2020, so it bought a smile to my face in the first match of the season when in front of my eyes at Suncorp he stopped Waratahs halfback Jake Gordon from scoring a sneaky one from close to the Reds’ line.
For a 194-centimetre blindside flanker to have the awareness and agility to drop and catch a fast halfback like Gordon was very impressive, and it would have been a critical play in a tighter match.
In 2021, though, what stands out is how much more Scott-Young is contributing in attack, offering himself up for carries, making metres in traffic and offloading to keep the ball alive when appropriate.
That opponents consider him a handful was demonstrated in the lead-up to Suliasi Vunivalu’s first Super Rugby try. At one minute and 20 seconds on these highlights, Scott-Young runs a line, offering himself up to James O’Connor, who opts to pass out the back to Filipo Daugunu.
The effect of Scott-Young’s dummy run was to fix both Tom Cusack and Rob Valentini on him, bunching the Brumbies’ defence to allow the try to be scored.
Just like the final lineout, it was another play by Angus Scott-Young, which allowed the backs to shine.
There is no capped Wallaby in Australia with the complete skill set at six and versatility of Angus Scott-Young, so hopefully Wallabies coach Dave Rennie sees him as an obvious inclusion.
Scott-Young is only 23 and will get even better, so hopefully he will be nurtured at a national level and give Australian rugby the decade of service that he is capable of.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Rhys It's rare I disagree with you but I do on ASY. I think he's the weakness in the Reds pack and they urgently need L Wright back. ASY has again shown in 2021 he's an ordinary ball carrier and breakdown exponent imo. He's ordinary in the link play role too and he lacks speed and explosiveness. His line-out calling skills are a long way short of compensating for his other weaknesses imo. ASY is a good solid journeyman no doubt, but L Wright is a big step up in quality imo :thumbup:
Tommy
Guest
Sam Scott- Young never lost a test to abs i believe.
Armchair Halfback
Roar Rookie
Nice Adsa, I think someone north of the border (probably Stan Pilecki) said that the difference b/w Qld & NSW players was that Qld players play for the Qld jersey and NSW players play only for a Wallabies jersey. :laughing:
Armchair Halfback
Roar Rookie
Thanks Rhys, good to highlight something of an unsung hero.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
stillmissit
Roar Guru
BF or is that dad's?
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Harry your comment relates to all 3 key forward areas, the scrum, the breakdown and the lineout. Eddie Jones proved by omission that the scrum and lineout have value.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Rhys, My thoughts exactly about ASY he is a fine player with plenty of headroom. I said as much after the game v Brumbies and many stated he was nowhere near a decent SR player let alone a Wallaby contender! So many roarers see what the backs can do and forwards like TT or brumbies FF but don't understand the hard work that a guy like Scott-Young does to keep the machine oiled. His father was a gutsy Wallaby player.
Rhys Bosley
Roar Pro
He is working hard, because he knows it is a long way to the top ...
Rhys Bosley
Roar Pro
Thanks to all who commented and I am glad that a few people enjoyed the read.
Rhys Bosley
Roar Pro
I don’t think that the defensive performance of the Reds backrow warranted much criticism at all. ASY and Wilson had clear roles of following the ball and guarding either side of the breakdown whenever possible. I think this is smart as it saves the tight five from having to run as far, preserving their energy for attack and scrummaging, while exposing ASY in particular to opportunities to hit the ruck and slow down ball. McReight could improve his judgement about when to attempt a pilfer, because he held off on some obvious opportunities and got buried and left the midfield defence short in others, but he said himself last year that this is something he is learning. He is only 22 and will only continue to improve over the years. The real problems for the Reds that kept the score tighter than it should have been, were handling and defensive errors by the backs. In particular both wingers demonstrated pretty ordinary judgement, acceptable for Vunivalu in his first start in Super Rugby from League, but not from Dauganu. He missed five tackles from eleven attempts and wouldn’t trust his inside men, unacceptable and it is probably why he has been dropped this week, to brush up in club footy. The cover defence from both halfbacks was pretty average as well, apart from one tackle by McDermott neither of them looked like they were trying to get a “George Gregan tsckle”. Sorovi has been dropped and I hope McDermott takes the hint to pick up that aspect of his game too. Finally, I think the Reds defence missed Stewart in the midfield, but then we saw what the trade off can be in attack from Paisami and Petaia. I am glad that Thorn was willing to chance that fresh but talented combination in attack for this game and it finally paid off. They are only going to get better too, which opposing teams should find scary. On the Brumbies, Valentini and Samu are both destructive players and I am sure that they will figure in the Wallabies this year, though Valentini still has work to do on his defensive reads. At the moment the Crusaders and All Blacks will tell their playmakers to look for his big Bart Simpson haircut and make his life miserable by slipping multiple tries past him. He is only 22 as well, so that isn’t a drama. I don’t have any problem whatsover with the idea of those two being combined with ASY and Harry Wilson as the Wallabies 6/8 talent pool, they would give Rennie a variety of combinations to work with depending on the conditions and opposition. Happy days.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Some was opinion. But the opinion was backed up with statistical facts
The Late News
Roar Rookie
yes you are. how silly of me.
PeterK
Roar Guru
L Wright is too good as captain to leave out, he also makes McReight a lot more effective.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
All of that is true, but as a second generation Red it would be difficult to move especially to the Tahs. And it still doesn't mean he can't feature in Wallaby contention from the bench. You may recall a certain Anthony Herbert, reserve centre to Horan and Little at the Reds, and still a 1991 World Cup winner.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
You think his Dad would let him go? :silly:
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
TLN aren’t you supposed to pull the pin out first? Otherwise you’re just giving them one to chuck back :silly:
savant
Roar Rookie
I dig the man love for ASY because he gives his all and then some on the field. And he is playing as well as I have seen him. But its hard to see him as a Wallaby. He is a bit slow for test football and doesn't have the brutal physicality. That said, he is a bloody smart player, hard worker, excellent ruck cleaner, developing line out target and caller, and natural leader. He is an asset to any team. I do wonder if Uru continues his improvement if we will see a 6,7,8 of Wilson, McReight and Uru? With Uru into the 13 channel in attack and Wilson doing the heavy yards in midfield? And Wright and ASY on the bench?
Butcher
Roar Rookie
ASY was preferred before Liam Wright a couple of years ago, when LW is on the field, the balance of the Reds 6, 7 and 8, works and look a lot better. ASY is not a bad player and LW needs to put more weight on to be a good 6. The role ASY plays needs to be tweaked to give the Reds maximum value from him at No 6 or he will stay on the bench behind LW and cover multiple positions.
Wheelbarrow
Roar Rookie
No doubt but they have the opportunity for him to play fulltime and the $$$ to spend (more than a backup 2nd row/ or blindside). He’s solid and has now enough experience that will tick alot of boxes