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Lachie Swinton, fresh from another six-week ban, says the “proof” of whether he’s a walking card or effective crunching back-rower will be revealed on the footy field and not by his words off it.
Swinton refused to talk about the incident that led to his seven-week ban that was reduced to six for a reckless, late and high hit on Force playmaker Jake Strachan.
Somehow, despite the incident occurring in the opening seconds of their match in Sydney and Strachan rising to his feet slowly, the shot was missed.
While Strachan played on, he was eventually forced off as concussion symptoms began to show. Strachan didn’t play another minute this season for the Force.
After returning to face Moana Pasifika last week, Swinton faced the media on Tuesday but chose not to comment on the reckless shot.
“I’d prefer not to, it’s behind me now, I’ve spoken about it many times,” Swinton said on Wednesday. “I’d prefer to just to put it in the back of my mind.”
He added: “The proof will come and all your questions will be answered in my performances. The proof will come in my actions.”
Lachlan Swinton says he wants his action to do the talking. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
While Swinton shouldered arms, his forwards coach Pauli Taumoepeau went into bat for the Wallabies back-rower, saying his return had given the Waratahs a much-needed boost ahead of their looming perilous quarter-final against the Blues at Eden Park.
“It’s pretty cool to see him back, seeing him get to his hitting best on the weekend,” Taumoepeau said.
“We just played a couple of hits before our wrestle session.
“I thought he was really mature with the time off that he had. Really wanted to get better in the other skill sets. He was doing some extra lineout stuff, extra defence … the way that he plays the game, having those weeks off would obviously be very refreshing for his body. And I think we saw the combination of six weeks off on the weekend where he was able to put on some big shots.
“If you want to go into battle with someone, Lachie Swinton’s a pretty awesome bloke to have next to you. Not only good for him and his soul to be back playing footy, but also for the rest of the team.”
Swinton made history by being sent off on Test debut for a high shot on Sam Whitelock against the All Blacks in 2020.
Discipline issues continued in 2021, before he missed almost the entire 2022 season following a nerve issue in his shoulder.
Lachlan Swinton was red carded on debut for the Wallabies but his Waratahs forward coach Pauli Taumoepeau says the 26-year-old is a game-changer. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
While Swinton kept on the right side of the law in the first half of this season, the SANZAAR judiciary came down hard on his hit to Stachan’s head.
World Rugby later reduced his ban by a week after going back to tackle school.
“You can take a course where World Rugby sends you the guidelines,” Taumoepeau said.
“It’s our defensive coach [Jason Gilmore] running it, but you can’t cut corners because you got to send in videos and content. And then Lachie’s got to go and video what he’s done wrong, what he’s done to rectify it.”
The question the Waratahs and, indeed, Eddie Jones have been asking themselves is can they trust Swinton to fix his defensive flaws given World Rugby’s crackdown on dangerous contact over the past decade?
“Absolutely. And we had to go through that with Tolu [Latu],” Taumoepeau said.
“There was obvious reasons why he wasn’t fulfilling his contract obligations in France because of too many red cards. We were keen.
“The thing was, can you trust him? Is he going to get us into more trouble? DC [Waratahs coach Darren Coleman] has a way of doing that eye-to-eye.
“He’s just looked Lachie in the eye and just said you’re hurting the team when you’re doing this. We’re a much better side with you. You’re pulling at the heartstrings or not, but I felt we got an immediate reaction from Lachie.
“Especially with the tournament, because it’s a tournament thing, that would be something that Eddie would have to think about.”
The bruising back-rower was included in Jones’ first Wallabies camp in April after multiple injuries saw the coach tweak his squad.
Swinton said Jones was direct with his messaging at the camp.
“First experience is he says it how it is, which is good as a player because you know exactly where you stand,” Swinton said.
“He tells you your positives and what you need to work on and you come out there with a pretty clear picture of what you need to do.
“He doesn’t want that to take that out of my game, but in saying he wants me to channel that sort of stuff.”
Michael Hooper shakes hands with Lachlan Swinton after playing his last home game against Moana Pasifika at Allianz Stadium on June 03, 2023. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
But after a slow start to the season, where the flanker was finding his feet after his nerve issue threatened to end his career last year, Swinton is running out of time to prove his worth.
Not that he cares what others think of him.
“To be honest, I don’t really care,” he said. “I’m not really trying to prove myself to anyone. Really, the only opinions I care about is within my circle, so that’s my teammates and my coaches.”
The plus side is enormous in Swinton’s game though, with the back-rower a bruising back-rower who offers plenty at rucks and at the set-piece.
It’s why Taumoepeau said he would strongly consider Swinton simply for the physicality he provides.
“I would. I would, it’s awesome,” he said.
“I like that combative style. But you can’t be stupid with it.
“Richie McCaw said something awesome. It was around his ability to be on-side, off-side at the breakdown by James Haskell.
“He said, rugby’s grey and you’ve just got to find the grey part and you’re either the lighter side of grey or darker side.
“I think it’s probably the same thing [with Lachie]. There’s a bit of grey in there. But it lifts the boys. When he’s putting those shorts on. It’s unreal to see. As a forwards coach, I love that combative style … You wouldn’t change that, no way.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.