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Gregan praises Giteau's display
20/11/2006 10:57 - (SA)
Sydney - Australia scrumhalf Matt Giteau
received praise on Monday from George Gregan, the man whose
place in the Wallabies team he is currently occupying.
Giteau, normally a centre, played in the Wallabies' 21-6
defeat by Ireland on Sunday, his third Test at number nine on
Australia's European tour.
"Matt's done really, really well there," Gregan told reporters in Adelaide.
"He's got a history of playing that position, and he's just
a really world-class player, he's played 10 and 12 and then
gone to nine, so they're totally different skill sets and he's
adapted really well," said Gregan. who opted to miss the tour
to rest before next year's World Cup.
"It's a positive for the squad looking towards next year
because there's a guy who can cover a lot of positions and play
them at a really high level," added the 33-year-old Gregan, who
has played a world record 127 internationals.
Gregan said he was not too worried by Australia's defeat,
which came just a week after they edged to an unconvincing
25-18 win over Italy.
"Right across the board, just the fundamentals, it's funny
in sport if you break down in fundamentals it's very difficult
to find any sort of rhythm or cohesion," Gregan said.
"If you're just a little bit off it gets exacerbated when
you're playing quality teams like Ireland.
"Catching, passing, it could be tackling, it could be set
pieces, it's a variety of things which make up a team
performance."
- Reuters
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