How the evolution of Tom Wright could help solve problem child position for the Wallabies

Tom Wright may not be named at fullback for the Wallabies’ first Test of the year in The Rugby Championship in a few months’ time, but there’s no question he’s put himself firmly in the frame.

Plenty of commentary after the ACT Brumbies’ Suncorp Stadium thumping of the Queensland Reds on Friday night had Wright a comfortable winner in the trumped-up head-to-head with Jordan Petaia for the Australian custodian role, but given Petaia was playing on the right wing for the Reds, it was commentary based on apples and oranges.

Tom Wright of Australia scores a try (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)

Furthermore, with fullback still something of a problem child position for the Wallabies going forward – and one that won’t be resolved until the arrival of a certain rugby league player, we keep being told – it must be comforting for Eddie Jones to know that he has two genuinely good options both in a really good form right now.

Much has been made of the Brumbies’ six-and-one start to the season, and plenty of attention has been paid to the tweaks Stephen Larkham has made to their attack, after arriving home from Munster to take over for Dan McKellar.

Indeed, I had a crack at it myself just a few weeks ago.

Noting the return of the Brumbies playing predominantly off 10 in 2023, after they switched to playing off 9 midway through last season, I observed at the time that “Wright has become something of a surprise weapon in this as well, with his improving secondary playmaking becoming more prominent in recent weeks, which is fast becoming his point of difference.”

A few weeks on now, it’s becoming more apparent that Wright’s ball-playing ability is not just by design, but is now crucial component in the Brumbies’ attacking shape. And he’s enjoying the responsibility that comes with that.

“Moving into that fulltime role, middle of the field and looking for opportunities there, and trying to link with the outside guys – which I got a few opportunities to do tonight – yeah, it’s been really exciting,” Wright told the Stan Sport panel post-match on Friday night.

“Obviously, Bernie (Larkham) has brought a different element to how we attack, which has been nice.”

The Brumbies have played with more width this season, which has come with Larkham’s adjusted approach.

Coach Stephen Larkham of the Brumbies. (Photo by Rob Jefferies/Getty Images)

Where through the back half of last season Nic White was driving most of the attack, and Irae Simone provided secondary creative support from inside centre channel, this season White’s pass or out-the-back balls from forwards to Noah Lolesio creates the width in the first instance, with Wright then finding the outside backs on subsequent phases that has worked so well for them.

And with those outside backs and Wright himself crossing for 13 of the Brumbies’ 31 run-in tries this season, it clearly is working well.

Wright started all 16 games for the Brumbies in 2022, including two at fullback in Rounds 8 and 10 either side of the bye while Tom Banks was out of action. And though he played that right wing-hybrid fullback role quite well, his finishing ability was still his major selling point in winning selection in 13 of the Wallabies’ 14 Tests last year.

But it has been interesting see how his numbers have backed up what has been evident out on the field this year.

Playing 80 minutes in all six games in 2023, Wright is averaging just under 94 metres carried from just over 11 carries per game. Twice he’s carried for more than 120 metres in game, both of them against Queensland.

He’s making more than eight metres with every carry this season, is averaging one clean break per game, and beating two-and-a half defenders every game.

Comparatively, he’s making about thirty metres a game more than last season – not unexpected with a move to fullback – and carrying at least four more times per game as well. He’s actually averaging one metre per carry less this season than last, but that’s more than offset by the fact he’s carrying well over 50% more in games.

Highlighting his increased involvement in the Brumbies’ attack this season, he’s throwing twice as many passes in 2023 than in 2022, and where last season he didn’t feature in try assist tallies at all, he’s found three in six games this year already.

And where last season he topped the Brumbies’ try-scoring with nine, his 15th minute try against Queensland on Friday night – in Round 7 – was his first for the year.

‘Yeah, but he’s still making stupid decisions and turning over too much ball,’ I can hear the dissenting voices saying. He even referred to himself post-match on Friday night as the “muppet in the sin bin”, which coincidentally was also the Brumbies’ first of the year.

And it’s true, he is still conceding turnovers, but there’s actually some good news on this front.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

Last year, he was good for at least one turnover in every one of his 16 appearances for the Brumbies, around 1.2-1.3 conceded per game all told. This year, that number is back to 0.7 per game – and he’s not conceded a turnover at all in three of his six matches to date.

That tells me two things: he’s probably less prone to be caught isolated in the face of swarming defenders playing at fullback than he was on the wing, but it’s equally plausible that his increased responsibilities in attack have him making smarter decisions about where he’s running and how much support he has around him.

It’s funny. Years ago, I remember saying in commentary – and I might even have written as much on these very pages – that I thought he had the skills to be the Brumbies next long-term fullback, but it was only about twelve months after that that a young kid named Mack Hansen started doing all the same things in a Brumbies jersey, and quickly inherited that train of thought.

Now, Wright is playing even better than I imagined he might when finally getting his chance to nail down the ACT no.15 jersey, and their attack is firing because of it.

Whether he’s convinced the Wallabies coach of this yet is something that only the Wallabies coach can answer, but it’s really encouraging that he’s been able to not just grow into the fullback role, but enhance his own natural game to the point that he’s now a major cog in an attacking machine.