Australia rugby legend, Drew Mitchell, admits he’s excited to see Wales unleash Willis Halaholo’s attacking talent when they welcome the Wallabies to Cardiff on Saturday.
The Cardiff centre made an impressive cameo from the bench during last week’s win over Fiji and lines up alongside Nick Tompkins in midfield at Principality Stadium for the Autumn Nations Series finale.
Former utility back Mitchell, who won 71 caps for the Wallabies, says both side’s instincts to attack should make for an entertaining encounter at the capital
“What we’ve seen with Wales over the last number of years is that they’re one of the northern hemisphere teams who look to play a little bit more,” explained the former Heineken Cup winner, speaking to BBC.
“They have a better balance of when to play, when to kick and when to play field possession.
“But when you’ve got the athletes that they do in their backline, obviously Liam Williams has been around for a while but Louis Rees-Zammit has really impressed for a number of years now.
“He’s probably had a breakthrough in the last 12 to 18 months, playing for the British and Irish Lions and all that type of thing.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Willis Halaholo in the centre as well - players like that who, instinctively, their first thought is to play and attack.
“If that’s not on then they will look for the other options, whether it’s going for contestable kicks or going long.
“In some ways, stylistically, I think we’re quite even in that regard, in terms of intention to play and the way they want to play.
“To use an analogy from MMA: ‘Styles make fights.’
“Stylistically this game sets itself up to be a really good clash and it’s also lent itself for some really close tussles.
“I’m pretty pumped for this and what the Welsh always have is a good set piece and a good back row.”
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