Happy hooker makes an impact
10th August 2009 02:22PM
By EVAN PEGDEN - Waikato Times Last
Aled de Malmanche tried not to think of his upcoming All Blacks opportunities as he pulled on Waikato's distinctive red, yellow and black jersey and stormed around the field like a man possessed.
But the 68 minutes he got for the team against Manawatu on Saturday and the chance to front up again on Friday night against Canterbury cannot help but stand him in good stead for the Tri-Nations commitments ahead.
With Keven Mealamu now out for the season with his shoulder injury, de Malmanche has the chance to add to his few fleeting minutes in an All Blacks jersey and make a big impact off the bench in the year's remaining test matches.
His explosively powerful ball carrying at Waikato Stadium on Saturday was certainly the sort of impact the All Blacks coaches will certainly like to see.
"My focus when I play rugby is just about playing week to week, but now I've got a bit of a benchmark as to where I'm at. At the moment I've definitely got things to improve on," de Malmanche said after Waikato's 30-22 victory, which hoisted the team up to mid-table with a clutch of sides all on five points three behind the unbeaten leading trio.
"Hopefully I get another game next week in order to do that and whatever happens after that will happen."
It was not all positive impact from de Malmanche, who did suffer some lineout throwing jitters early in the game as he shook off the rust from not having started a match since the Super 14.
"To be honest I stuffed up a couple (of lineouts) myself. I just didn't throw them right and I think that's just me getting comfortable with the boys and making sure I'm focused on every lineout.
"It's something I've always worked on. I've just got to keep working on it as a hooker.
"It wasn't all bad; I got a few good ones away. I think the important thing for me is if I do do a bad throw is to let that go and start from scratch with the next one. I think I was able to do that."
He has been given the chance to concentrate on the hooking position this season rather than trying to cover all three front-row spots as in the past and his performances for the Chiefs this year thrust him into the All Blacks for the first time, although up until now he has sat behind incumbents Andrew Hore and Mealamu in the pecking order.
The All Blacks have a training camp on Wednesday in Auckland but de Malmanche said he was allowed to play against Canterbury on Friday night.
"They're a quality side, and always are, so it's going to be a challenge for us to meet them there and put in a better performance than we did this week. That's our goal."
De Malmanche was also part of a strong Waikato scrum with Ben May eye injury from the previous week and all switching to the tight-head side this week and Hikairo Forbes, who has also had little rugby due to a broken wrist, coming in to do a solid job at loose-head prop.
