Former Future Force products Michael McDonald and Carlo Tizzano shine in their first Super Rugby Trial match scoring three tries between them against the Highlanders.
Since signing with the Sydney club in September both Tizzano and McDonald have established themselves as two topflight rookies looking to impress new head coach Rob Penney.
Tizzano who entered the match at the start of the second half didn’t take long to showcase his skill.
Displaying the ability to carry the ball into a menacing highlander defense Tizzano managing to open up space.
Only five minutes into his campaign as a Waratah Tizzano managed to get the jump on the Highlanders quickly recovering from a broken tackle to find a sneaky gap towards the white line.
Only ten minutes after his first try Tizzano managed to strike again managing to find a way through after a overthrow at the line out giving himself another five-pointer.
Tizzano was a mainstay for the Western Force in their 2019 NRC championship run and since coming to the Tahs, he faces a new task looking to challenge former Wallaby captain Michael Hooper for the all-important number seven jersey.
In the 60th minute mark of the match fellow Future Force and Junior Wallabies companion Michael McDonald subbed on in the light blue jersey looking to leave his mark on the match.
Keeping his cool McDonald dictated the pace of the game superbly giving his teammates ample opportunities to create space.
During the 63rd minute McDonalds work had payed off as he evaded a risky Highlanders tackle to put the ball down after receiving a clever offload from teammate Angus Bell.
After having an impressive Junior Wallabies campaign, it was obvious that the young Palmyra halfback was going to be a big ticket in Australian rugby.
Coming into the Waratahs squad McDonald only stands behind long-time halfback Jake Gordan meaning he could see a lot of Super Rugby game time in the near future.
The whole match had a distinctive WA tone around it with Perth local Graham Cooper refereeing the match and looking to step up as he enters his fifth year officiating Super Rugby.
Heading south in Albury more WA products were out in force as the Brumbies trialed against the Melbourne Rebels.
Perth raised Reesjan Pasitoa was a highlight in the first match of two, starting in the number 12 jersey.
Pasitoa moved to Queensland from Perth coming into high school and coming up through the Reds academy system.
All though they didn’t match up face to face former WA raised player Dane Haylett-Petty also featured, captaining the Melbourne Rebels side in match two of the day.
As we edge closer to both the Global Rapid Rugby and Super Rugby season, we continue to see more WA products start to emerge as some of the best youngsters on the pro stage and with eight more now graduated out of RugbyWA Senior Academy be ready for some great things in 2020.
