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23rd December 2017
06:57pm GMT

"He's the single hardest player I've ever had to play against. He's like a slippery eel. A very strong, slippery eel. You cannot get hold of him!"Leinster definitely could testify to that after Matawalu's stunning line break(s) against them earlier this season. On one counter-attack, he left five Leinster players for dead in the lead up to Nick Grigg's try: https://youtu.be/gusUjq0GjYU?t=1m58s Downey recalled one particularly embarrassing one-to-one tackling drill he took part in with Matawalu. It's a training ground drill most of us who have played rugby have been unfortunate enough to endure. Downey said:
"I wanted to work on my spatial awareness and my defence - so I could get close enough to making the right choice and the right tackle. "He had 10 metres - and I don't know what I was thinking giving him 10 metres - and it was a box, this square. I pass him the ball he he can pretty much only step left or right. "10 times in a row, I did not touch him. 10 times. 10. 10 TIMES! Like, fresh air. "I said to myself, 'Look, I'll hedge a bet and go one way or the other. It's 50/50'. Nah. 10 times. I was like, 'Oh my God'. I nearly retired and he's there laughing."Matawalu was, and still is, so dangerous that McLaughlin says so much of Leinster's match prep used to revolve around trying to shut him down. As we've seen, countless times before, that work often proved fruitless. At least they didn't ask Downey for advice...
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