Will Harrison a ray of sunshine for Waratahs

Raelene Castle might be advised to get busy and fill up another layer of sandbags for the Moore Park bunker.

Will Harrison was promising in his Super Rugby debut for the Waratahs against Crusaders Picture: AAP

One win, three defeats. And the one win that the Australian sides did achieve on the opening weekend of Super Rugby 2020 was at the expense of another Australian team, so a little caution is in order.

As it turns out, that match, ­between the Brumbies and the Reds in Canberra on Friday night, also represented the high point of the rugby played ­although, again, it is best to ­reserve judgment until both the ACT and Queensland have been tested internationally. Still, the intent was there from both sides and for most of the time it was possible to see what they were ­attempting to do.

The Rebels’ 36-27 defeat at the hands of the Sunwolves in Fukuoka was deeply disappointing, most especially for Rugby Australia chief executive Rae­lene Castle, who would have been hoping for a win in this match to bolster her argument that this will be a good year for Australia. It may still turn out to be a good year but for the ­moment she might be advised to get busy and fill up another layer of sandbags for the Moore Park bunker ­because it is a sure bet that there will be some incoming “mail” headed her way.

It was the Waratahs-Cru­saders match in Nelson that ­defied easy labelling. A 43-25 ­result, six tries to three, pretty much suggests the Tahs were well beaten — which they were. But while there were long passages of play in which the Cru­saders side — admittedly with some established All Blacks being rested — utterly dominated proceedings, there were also moments when the NSW side looked extremely threatening.

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Former Wallabies coach John Connolly admitted that, of the four Australian franchises, it was the Waratahs who gave him most hope for Australian rugby, though he was quick to suggest that however much the NSW side improved by, the Crusaders would improve by more. And the difficulty, Connolly acknowledged, was working out what it was about the Tahs’ performance that gave him such optimism. In the end, he decided, it was the performance of five-eighth Will Harrison.

There is no doubt that fellow Junior Wallabies graduate Mark Nawaqanitawase was the star performer, scoring two stunning tries, the first of them a gravity-defying effort where he reached out and placed the ball in the corner even though his entire body was airborne over the touchline, almost at right angles to the field of play. It was an extraordinary effort but it was the debut performance of Harrison that might well carry most significance for the Tahs this season.

He made mistakes, sure he did. There were times when the Crusaders bustled him into mistakes, rushing up out of the line and hitting him as he unloaded the pass — and sometimes hitting him afterwards. On one ­occasion, he ran into a monster tackle from Crusaders winger Leicester Faingaanuku, completely legitimate but one that ­totally blindsided him and wiped him out. Faingaanuku is 25kg heavier and he made every kilogram hurt, yet Harrison picked himself up, gave a wobbly smile and continued taking the ball to the line. You either have courage in the line of fire or you don’t, and Harrison clearly does.

There is a lot else that Harrison has to work with and no doubt new coach Rob Penney will enjoy the experience of working with him and outlining the nuances of rugby. That’s the good side of coaching. But there are also the difficult conversations a coach must have from time to time, and the moment has arrived for Penney to address the problem of the 5000kg elephant in the room ­before it is too late: Kurtley Beale.

What to do with a player who is, almost at the same time, the most dangerous player in the Waratahs and the one who costs the side so much? Beale figured in the major­ity of promising attacking moments that the Tahs put together at Trafalgar Park, although none of them came to tries. (By the by, SANZAAR needs to get its act ­together where forward passes that initially go backwards out of the hand are concerned. The Rebels were awarded such a try, the Tahs — Beale, in fact — were denied one, despite the fact it was obvious from the way in which Jake Gordon unloaded to Harrison that his hook pass behind a Crusaders player initially went backwards.)

Still, the 8-out-of-10 moments that Beale put together were more than negated by the 3-out-of-10 disasters. The trouble is, of course, that Beale has reached the age of 31 without ever being taught to make disciplined decisions. And, yes, I know, he is an instinctive player and you never want to curb those instincts. But while they are producing some magic moments, overall they are killing the Tahs.

There is no way Penney could use him at five-eighth — not that he needs to with Harrison showing so much promise. He is simply too erratic to use as playmaker. Fullback is clearly his best position. And what Penney has to do is ­exploit his genius while limiting the madcap moments. It’s a process Beale should have been put through years ago — just as, say, Quade Cooper should have been taught to tackle properly — but Penney can’t afford to let this go on any longer, not without it hurting his side.

But back to more pleasant matters. Brumbies coach Dan McKellar was probably never going to lavish praise on his young five-eighth Noah Lolesio, even though he was quite pleased with his debut Super Rugby performance. He will, rather, give him an approving nod and then suggest that these are the parts of his game that he needs to work on. It is always good to keep a youngster’s feet on solid ground.

But he was prepared to acknow­ledge another outstanding debut from Friday’s match. Just not from his own side. From the Reds.

“Harry Wilson … good player,” he said. Nothing else. McKellar doesn’t want to be accused of gushing. But when Wilson is at the end of his career and no doubt looking back on countless highlights, he would do well to remember that initial assessment from an opposition coach.

“Harry Wilson … good player!”