He might have led the Wallabies to Bledisloe victory in Brisbane, but Dave Rennie has stopped short of guaranteeing that Reece Hodge will retain his starting spot for their next Test against the Pumas on November 21.
With James O’Connor still not fit from his MCL injury sustained during the 27-5 defeat at Eden Park last month, Rennie dropped youngster Noah Lolesio to the bench and sensationally picked Hodge to wear the No.10 jersey.
It was a bold decision, which many believed was a conservative call given the Bledisloe Cup was lost for another year, given Hodge hadn’t worn the No.10 jersey for the Rebels in the past two years and had only played fly-half for the Wallabies once – against Japan in 2017.
But the decision worked a treat, as Hodge underplayed his hand, kicked astutely and made his tackles defending in the front line as the Wallabies won 24-22 at Suncorp Stadium to extend their winning run to seven at the venue.
Rennie said that his experienced utility back perfectly executed his side’s game-plan.
“Yeah, that (kicking) was obviously our plan going in and he executed it perfectly, and for once we got a bounce that suited us,” Rennie told reporters at his press conference.
“I thought he was really good. As we know he can kick from a long way out, we did talk about if we got options early we would kick for goal and try to create some scoreboard pressure. I thought Reece was excellent.”
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Even still, the 26-year-old could remarkably find himself pushed back to the bench with first-choice fly-half O’Connor expected to be fit for their next Tri Nations Test.
“We’ll make a decision and we’ll have a decent look at it,” said Rennie on the No.10 position.
“We’d expect James O’Connor to be back available for the next game and he’s been excellent in the first two Tests, so good to have choices.”
Ahead of the Bledisloe finale for 2020, Rennie said that he wasn’t sure where Hodge’s best position was.
“I’ll tell you after Saturday,” Rennie said on Thursday, with a genuine sense of uncertainty in his voice.
“I think it was mentioned last week, he’s been a Jack of all trades and filled in a lot of holes, and maybe this is an opportunity to establish himself,” Rennie said.
“I know he wants to cement a spot, and, to be honest, probably his preferred spot is 12 or 13 or 15, not winger, but he’s very excited about playing 10, so maybe 10.”
With the exception of halfback, Hodge has played in every position in the backline for the Wallabies.
But given the encouraging and tenacious display from the Wallabies’ new-look midfield of Hunter Paisami and Jordan Petaia, as well as the incredible efforts from debutant Tom Wright and Marika Koroibete, there is no obvious opening in the backline.
Even at fullback, Tom Banks showed enough to probably earn himself another crack. But the No.15 jersey could be a position Hodge targets particularly given his huge boot.
Hodge’s ability to clear the Wallabies’ line proved vital midway through the second half, where he found touch up on halfway despite putting his boot to ball deep inside his own goal line.
The Wallabies will regroup on Wednesday in the build up to their next clash in Newcastle.
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