Against the Hurricanes on the Friday night, Malakai Fekitoa had maybe the worst game of his career to date. This wasn’t an entirely surprising occurrence, he isn’t the first, nor will he be the last centre to struggle against the pairing of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith, but it was a game that really made it apparent that despite the success the 22 year old has enjoyed so far in his short career, he still has some way to go before earning that world class status his opponents on that night have enjoyed for almost a decade.
Since being simply allowed to leave the Blues after the 2013 Super 15 season (a decision that, retrospectively, gets worse by the second), Fekitoa’s career took off in his first full season with the Highlanders, with his manic energy and dynamism immediately proving a smash hit with his new team. Such was his impact that after just a handful of games in Super Rugby that he was called up to the All Blacks squad for England’s tour at the end of 2014 and has since gone on to earn eight caps in less than a year. He has also seemingly locked down the main backup role behind the aforementioned stalwarts and appears primed to feature as both the main weapon off the bench in the World Cup, and the centre piece of the new All Black midfield beyond 2015. About a year ago Fekitoa was a just about a complete unknown, a youngster buried in the Blues backline rotation who seemed destined for a decent ITM cup career and maybe some national team honours as a sevens player. Now he’s maybe the best centre in the world under 23-years-old and the clear heir apparent to one of the greatest centre partnerships of all time in one of the most dominant teams in sports. So how did that Auckland reject turn everything around so fast?
The first thing you notice when watching Fekitoa play is the pure, unburdened energy and urgency he brings to the game. He does everything with a unique ferocity that makes him wildly entertaining to watch, whether it is flying up out of the defensive line to rip the ball away from Israel Folau and set up a try (as seen at 3:01 here) or running half the field to score the best individual try of the season in last year’s competition against the Sharks. He constantly appears in a state of frenzy when he has the ball, his head shaking backward and forward in a seemingly desperate attempt to gain every last centimetre. It is a quality which, when combined with his elite mix of strength and speed, as well as he deceptively low centre of gravity for a man over 6’1″, makes him extremely hard to stop and a potential wrecking ball in the tackle. It is also quality that has clearly endeared him to the national team selectors and made him a name to be feared in any game and at any time.
However, in terms of nuance and guile, Fekitoa was lacking last season, with his all or nothing defending leading to bone crunching hits or leaving gaps for teams to exploit in behind him, while his gung-ho attacking style could lead to bad decision making or lead to him becoming isolated. Of course, these are problems he is still trying to fix, but it is clear his stint with the national team, as well as a full offseason to study and improve with the help of the best coaching staff in the world has aided Fekitoa immensely. He still plays with the furious intensity that made him an All Black in the first place, but that barely disguised rage is now more focused in the right areas. In defense he has become adept at drifting with the attack then picking his moment, mowing down the ball carrier and flying to his feet to affect the turnover. In fact, he has almost overnight become perhaps the best ball stealing centre in world rugby (since BOD’s retirement at least) with that strength and low to the ground power making him almost immovable when he can get over the ball. In addition, while tackling has never been a serious issue, Fekitoa is again more choosy, rather than trying to hospitalise anyone who gets in his way, he is now better at diagnosing when it’s better to simply get the tackle right. Going forward, he is a better distributor off both hands and has grown better at running lines off both Ben and Aaron Smith, while also not getting sucked toward the ball as often as last season. Being a marked man he has been given less opportunities, but he has been better a deferring to those is better positions than him, leading to both Patrick Osbourne and Waisake Naholo enjoying stellar starts to the season. A lot of that success has indeed come as a direct result of players being sucked toward Fekitoa, with his improved decision making and offloading skills being vital.
Going back to Friday night, Fekitoa was taught a lesson by Nonu and Smith, who forced more errors out of the youngster than he’d committed all season. He dropped ball in attack (one area of his game that does still need work) and any other chinks in his otherwise sparkling armour were ruthlessly exposed. Defensively he stood his ground, but, with the World Cup just months away, he was given a sharp reminder of exactly why the two men he faced on the night will continue to occupy the same shirts they have for a decade come November. No matter, Fekitoa is in a different stratosphere to Smith athletically and is further along with his development than Nonu was at 22. Before they give up their black jerseys though, Fekitoa still has a few creases to iron out, once he inevitably does, watch out.
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