Wallabies fullback Tom Wright has backed Dan McKellar to return to a top job after his sudden exit as Waratahs head coach.
This masthead on Monday revealed McKellar was set to part ways with the Waratahs with a year left on his contract after two underwhelming seasons in charge, but Wright said he was confident the former Wallabies assistant coach would have no shortage of opportunities.
Wright credited McKellar for giving him his opportunity in Super Rugby with the Brumbies after playing one season in the NRL in 2018 with Manly.
“I was massively sad to see what had transpired,” Wright said. “I don’t know the full story really or anything, I shot him a message and just wanted to make sure I showed him some love.
“He gave me my opportunity to come down to Canberra. We met for a coffee in Goulburn and we worked from there. I imagine it could be pretty lonely [for McKellar]. He said that a lot of people had reached out and showed him some love, which was good.”
Asked if he could see McKellar returning to the Wallabies set-up, where he previously worked as an assistant from 2021 until 2023, Wright predicted he would have numerous options available to him.
”Wherever he lands next, it’ll just be like an absolute gem for whatever environment he goes into … I know that the next opportunity is going to be great for him,” Wright said.
“It will be great for wherever he goes as well because he’s world-class. He takes places to the next level when he’s got the right sort of environment to go into and be able to create as well.”
Another player shaped by McKellar’s coaching, Waratahs second-rower Miles Amatosero is set to compete with Lachlan Shaw, Josh Canham and Jeremy Williams for a starting berth against Ireland this Saturday in Sydney.
Shaw and Amatosero are uncapped while Canham has played two Tests, leaving 25-year-old Williams as the most experienced Wallabies lock, with 25 appearances under his belt. Experienced second-rowers Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto were not selected in the wider squad for the July Tests.
The Wallabies’ lineout malfunctioned badly the last time they faced the Irish, in Dublin last November, losing six out of their 19 set pieces.
Williams credited the talent of the Irish lineout, but has backed the Wallabies’ inexperienced second-rowers to stand up on Saturday.
“Ireland have got some pretty good operators in that [lineout] space – there’s obviously [James] Ryan, [Joe] McCarthy, [Tadhg] Beirne, but I think we’ve got a new system and we’ve been training really well the last few days.
“We had a great session today and whoever’s going to be in that position, I’m sure they’ll do a good job for us. I think for lineout defence there’s always opportunities in that space and there’s not really a perfect art to it.
“A lot of it is instinct and a lot of it is trying to read cues off the other players, so there definitely is some opportunities there. We’ve got a system in place that hopefully we can exploit them.”
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