NSW Waratahs v Brumbies: Israel Folau will pass first test at outside centre insists Daryl Gibson

ISRAEL Folau’s long-term future could lie in the centres, where Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson believes he will be able to show off his underrated passing skills.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 15: Israel Folau in action during the Waratahs Super Rugby training session at Kippax Lake on March 15, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

ISRAEL Folau’s long-term future in rugby could lie in the centres.

Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson believes his move from fullback this weekend will allow him to show off his underrated passing skills while nullifying rival tactics to take him out of play by kicking away from the flyer.

The former NRL and AFL star makes his first start at outside centre on Saturday night against the Brumbies at Allianz Stadium and Gibson — a former All Black No. 13 — sees huge potential in the positional switch.

“Israel’s really excited and enthusiastic about the new position, and I think he’ll be a standout success there,” Gibson said.

“We’ll have to wait and see [about his long-term position], but certainly in rugby league he was a centre.

“He’s had that three-year period of watching the game from behind, and he really understands the game now.

“It’s an opportunity for him to go, ‘Hey, I want some frontline action, I want to be closer to the ball’.

“He is an excellent ballplayer, I think that’s an underrated skill of his, and so for us right now it’s something I want to try and see how we go.

Waratahs head coach Daryl Gibson has no doubt Izzy can excel in a new role.

“I think he’ll get more [ball], because we’ll still use him at the back field to field kicks, so it really is a luxury that we’ve got one of the best aerial guys in the world, but then also have him up front around the ball.

“He said to me after last week that he’d like to be closer to the ball, and it’s something I agree with.

“We’re going to use him and his strengths everywhere we can around the field. He’ll be back for kicks, up front for attack, it’s something I think will work well for us.”

Gibson has not discussed with Wallabies coach Michael Cheika whether Folau could be an option at No. 13 for Australia, but the pair did discuss the possibility of the change when Gibson was Cheika’s deputy for two years at the Waratahs prior to taking over in 2016.

“When Michael was here for the Waratahs we spoke about it at length, on how we’d like to do that, but at the time Adam Ashley-Cooper was here, probably one of the world’s best centres,” Gibson said.

The equation for NSW, should they earn a home final, is to win at least five of their next seven games in succession, and they will need Folau’s deadly attacking threat in the mix to achieve such results.

The Waratahs’ finals chances rest in large part on Folau’s shoulders.

“You need your best players touching the ball, and teams have worked well with excellent strategies kicking the ball away from him, so for us we need our best people and our biggest threats on the ball, and I see him as our biggest and so we will try to give him maximum opportunity to show what he can do,” said Gibson, who has made five changes to his starting side from that which lost to Melbourne a fortnight ago.

“Some guys have really earned a start, [prop] Tom Robertson has been excellent off the bench, he’s really impacted when he’s come on and earned an opportunity to start and see what he can do from the start of the game,” Gibson said.

“[Fullback] Andrew Kellaway has probably been our standout player at training over the last three or four weeks. I want to reward good performance, and he gets his start, which means we get the chance to try Folau at centre.

“It’s something that Israel has been talking to me a great deal about, he’s keen, it’s a good opportunity.”

Originally published as NSW Waratahs v Brumbies: Israel Folau will pass first test at outside centre insists Daryl Gibson