Wallaby looks genuinely unstoppable as he shrugs off six from standing start
The look on Aaron Smith’s face as he desperately held onto the foot of Izaia Perese perfectly sums up what was going on at the Allianz Stadium on Friday as the Waratahs hosted the Highlanders.
The Highlanders and All Blacks No9 would probably have thought he had stopped the centre alongside his No8 Hugh Renton after a crash ball in the middle of the field. But Perese was able to slip through the tackle of Renton, which left Smith clinging onto his ankle for dear life, questioning what kind of freak he was holding on to.
Lock Will Tucker arrived to take Perese to ground, but instead the 25-year-old continued to fight and wrestle his way forward. The panic and worry was written all over Smith’s face as the Wallaby dragged him towards the line with one leg. Tackler after tackler arrived to try and stop the three-cap Wallaby, but all failed. Even Smith eventually lost his grip of Perese’s boot, as he crashed over the line to score the opening try of the match.
Take a look at the try:
Reason No.167 on why you never skip leg day! 💥
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Waratahs XV
1 Te Tera Faulkner (Southern Districts)
2 David Porecki (Manly)
3 Harry Johnson-Holmes (Sydney University)
4 Jed Holloway (Southern Districts)
5 Hugh Sinclair (Northern Suburbs)
6 Taleni Seu (Southern Districts)
7 Michael Hooper (Manly)
8 Langi Gleeson (Manly)
9 Jake Gordon (Sydney University) (c)
10 Ben Donaldson (Randwick)
11 Dylan Pietsch (Randwick)
12 Lalakai Foketi (Manly)
13 Izaia Perese (Randwick)
14 Mark Nawaqanitawase (Eastwood)
15 Max Jorgensen (Randwick)
Replacements
16 Mahe Vailanu (Gordon)
17 Nephi Leatigaga (Randwick)
18 Daniel Botha (Sydney University)
19 Will Harris (Eastern Suburbs)
20 Charlie Gamble (Eastern Suburbs)
21 Harrison Goddard (Gordon)
22 Joey Walton (Gordon)
23 Mosese Tuipulotu (Eastern Suburbs)
Highlanders XV
1. Ethan de Groot
2. Andrew Makalio
3. Jermaine Ainsley
4. Fabian Holland
5. Will Tucker
6. Shannon Frizell
7. Sean Withy
8. Hugh Renton
9. Aaron Smith (C)
10. Mitch Hunt
11. Scott Gregory
12. Sam Gilbert
13. Fetuli Paea
14. Jonah Lowe
15. Connor Garden-Bachop
Replacements
16. Rhys Marshall
17. Daniel Lienert-Brown
18. Saula Ma’u
19. Pari Pari Parkinson
20. Marino Mikaele-Tu’u
21. Folau Fakatava
22. Thomas Umaga-Jensen
23. Jona Nareki
