Malakai Fekitoa: Welcome to the Darkside
Malaki Fekitoa is the talk of the town this week. His rapid rise through the ranks couldn’t be going to a more deserving and exciting candidate. Let’s set the tone for this guy. He used to run to and from training for extra fitness. They call him Hundy at the Highlanders because he’s always operating at 100 percent. He almost single-handedly grounded the current incumbent AB wingers when the Highlanders took on the Hurricanes. In that game, there were breaks that would have lead to Hurricanes tries every time. Before now.
This kid is beauty and the beast. His silky foot work and raw power give him a physical foundation to capitalise on. But so what, there are so many players out there with the same physical abilities. It is Malaki’s attitude that sets him apart. The willingness to turn and run people down is invaluable, it’s almost uncoachable. It’s the kind of quality that wins world cups. It’s the kind of quality that stops Manu Tuilagi from scoring the winning try. It’s the same as what we saw from his Highlanders team mate on the weekend. Ben Smith made a very good tackle on the big man in white.
A lot of the focus has been on the tackle, and that’s fine, it was a great tackle. But it was followed by the Highlanders Custodian springing to his feet as fast as Richie and forcing the turn over. Its. That. Extra. Mile. Lets talk about these two Highlanders together. You often hear All Blacks talk about the joy of playing in the team because you only have to do your job. You don’t need to worry about anyone else. In essence, this means that you are able to shine as much as is possible.
We recently caught up Bennet Dalton, a true Kiwi and All Blacks supporter to the back teeth who operates a blog cleverly named RugbyChat with the Boys. Here are his thought on the emergence of new All Black Malakai Fekitoa.