I thought he had one of his better all round games against wire- but he got some stick from “fans” calling for him to be taken off! (Not sure who they thought would replace him tbh). I guess the honeymoon period is over.
Yes, he made some errors- three errors in particular, the first kick out on the full was a poor one- but tui has done the same a couple of times this season. The second kick out was about a foot away from being a very good kick, and the wire player straddling the line just put it out. The intercepted pass was unfortunate- and again we have seen those occur to others more experienced this season.
I thought some of his takes were exceptional. There were some very good kicks from wire that other fullbacks would have struggled with and he bravely put himself into positions to take them, and needed speed and athleticism to do so that others wouldn’t have had. I also thought his decision making was better, his running choices and offloading of the ball was better and he put himself in better positions defensively than he has previously.
Let’s not forget this lad is just 19 and has played a handful of games, not always in his favoured position and has had an enforced period away from the field just as he was getting a period of game time, he’s now come back in and been asked to play multiple positions in some of the most important and critical positions in the team, when we are in an injury crisis, in an important part of the season.
I’ve always said that the hype surrounding him was over hyped, now a portion of the fans are on his back as a result of him not living up to the superstar label. Let the lad make mistakes, expect the lad to make mistakes, he’s still learning and has been thrown in and expected to do what a much more experienced player could do. Give the lad a break.