Saturday’s Wallabies Test against Samoa will be a defining one for fullback Tom Banks, according to Australian great Chris Latham.
Latham, who is Samoa’s attack coach, will be one of the men with the mission of trying to shut Banks down in Saturday’s clash but he admitted it wouldn’t be an easy task.
Banks was arguably the unluckiest player to miss out on World Cup selection after a standout Super Rugby year, with selectors instead opting to take Dane Haylett-Petty and Kurtley Beale as their main fullback options.
Latham said Saturday’s match would be a chance for Banks, and others in the team who missed out the squad, to prove a point to selectors.
“He's a sensational player and I think he's well-deserved to be feeling very disappointed and very unlucky not to make the World Cup team but it's about what reactions you get when those disappointments come,” he said.
“It’s the reaction he has that'll define him as a player and define him as a person and I'm expecting that reaction on Saturday night will be a performance that says, ‘Hey, you should've picked me’, and my hat will go off to him, but it's our job from a Samoan point of view to make sure that doesn't happen,” he said.
“I’ve seen him in Super Rugby and in the Test matches he has played and he's a massive threat with the ball, he's a guy that can hit the line, can find an opportunity and hits the line very hard so that's a danger, especially, and a great asset to have as a fullback.
“We're going to have to make sure that defensively we're on our game when it comes to watching him popping up anywhere, whether it's on the outside or inside, around the rucks or anywhere.
“We've seen what his form and what he can do in Super Rugby with hitting those holes in and around the ruck.
“He's definitely one of many threats that we need to make sure that we watch.”
While Samoa haven't played the Wallabies since 2011, when they shocked the Aussies in a pre-World Cup match in Sydney, but there are plenty of ties between the two teams.
Aside from Latham in the staff, a host of the Samoan have played or are playing with Australian franchises and prop Mike Alaalatoa is the brother of Wallaby Allan.
Latham said the links between the outfits only served as a reminder for him about the community of rugby.
"This is why I truly love rugby union because it's a world game, it's a game where one minute you can be on the other side of the world playing Fiji or in Europe or anywhere but then all of a sudden, you come back to Australia and you have the prospect of playing against your own brother or your cousin or a close relative and things like that," he said.
"This is why I love this sport and the game, whilst there's a lot of respect leading into the game and there'll be a hell of a lot of respect after the game, once you cross that white line it's going to be on and we're looking forward to that challenge."
Thirty-seven-year-old flyhalf Tusi Pisi is the only survivor from that match back in 2011 and Latham said that day hadn’t been spoken about in camp.
“That was a totally different team, there's not too many in our squad that were from there - Tusi Pisi,” he said.
“That's something that we're not focusing on.
“This group is solely focused on the job that we have to do this week and it would be nice (to get the win) but in saying that we've got a lot of work to do to make sure that happens.
“I've got no doubt that if we do play the way I know we can and stay in the moment and be in the minute every minute of the game then I know the result will come our way but it's not going to be easy, definitely not going to be easy.”
This weekend will be Samoa’s final Test before the Rugby World Cup, with their campaign beginning on September 24 against Russia.
Latham has been to three World Cups as a player but the 43-year-old is expecting a very different experience being on the coaching staff.
“As a player you go to three World Cups and it's a whole different feeling in itself there, to now going as a coach, it's an experience that I'm really looking forward to,” he said.
“It's an experience that I'm sure in the future as my coaching career goes further it'll help me in that journey as well but for me it's just about making sure I've got 31 players champing at the bit.
“Being the World Cup, that they're ready every day to make sure we get improvements every day we're ready to win because ultimately the world cup you don't get second chances, it's a knock-out competition and we need to make sure that day by day, game by game we're ready.”
The Wallabies take on Samoa at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday September 7, kicking off at 7:30pm AEST, LIVE on Network Ten, Foxtel, Kayo Sports and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO.
