All Blacks star Will Jordan praised Wallaby rival Marika Koroibete, claiming that he’s the “benchmark” for wings in the world at the moment.

Koroibete has been in scintillating form for the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship, whether with ball in hand or on defence.

Jordan says he looks forward to facing the monstrous wing again and expects a “real challenge” from the Fijian-born superstar when the two sides clash for the first Test of the 2022 Bledisloe Cup in Melbourne on Thursday.

Powerful wing

“I’ve matched up with Marika a few times over the years and he’s a pretty punishing ball-runner and certainly goes out with all guns blazing,” Jordan said.

“He’s probably been setting the benchmark for wingers over the last two or three years so it’s always exciting playing against him – it’s a real challenge.”

Jordan broke down the Wallabies‘ new look back three, seeing threats on the wings with Koroibete and Tom Wright while also expecting danger from Andrew Kellaway, who starts at full-back.

“You’ve got the power of Marika on the left and Tom Wright with his speed and footwork and Kellaway was pretty strong in the three Tests against us last year so it’s a good balance of different games styles; a pretty strong unit,” he said.

Schmidt’s influence

Newly-appointed attack coach Joe Schmidt has already made his mark on the All Blacks; as Jordan suggested, the coach has been important for the structures of the side.

A focal point for the wing has been finding a way to influence the game without the ball.

“Over the three months or so it’s been a little bit tough getting the ball out wide and I’ve had some great chats with Joe Schmidt in particular in the last couple of week about how we can influence the game a bit more when the ball’s not coming our way,” said Jordan.

“It’s about having as much impact and influence off the ball as on it and then when you do get the opportunity with ball in hand … I’m getting pretty excited, under the roof so hopefully a bit of running footy.”

The Rugby Championship is wide open, with one point separating the top and bottom, meaning that any of the four teams can walk away with the title after the final two rounds.

The Bledisloe Cup occupies the final two rounds for the All Blacks and Wallabies, while the Springbok play against Los Pumas twice.

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