Rugby old-timers call it the hospital pass – “a pass made under pressure without considering the situation of the receiver, who is stationary and an easy target”. In the opening minutes of Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup opener, with New Zealand perched on Australia’s line, Tate McDermott was thrown a dangerously floating ball from the lineout that necessitated he raise his arms, expose his ribs, and catch the ball eye-high before readjusting to swivel it off his hips and get it to someone with half a hope of not being obliterated.
One measly extra second was required but McDermott – 24 Tests into his career but newly promoted to the starting XV in Melbourne – didn’t have it. Like a bull shark from the deep moving at missile speed, All Black lock Scott Barrett came in low and lethal, nailing the young halfback in a heart-targeting tackle, driving him over the line and jolting the ball loose to gift Shannon Frizell the first of New Zealand’s six tries.
