Super Rugby 2023: Fraser McReight's Wallabies World Cup hopes go on the line against Sam Cane's Chiefs, video, highlights

Fraser McReight’s moment of truth has arrived, with the burgeoning openside flanker set to go head-to-head against All Blacks skipper Sam Cane in this weekend’s second quarter-final in Waikato on Saturday.

McReight has been the most dominant openside in Australia throughout the Super Rugby season, but the jury is still out as to whether his game is best suited for international rugby.

Proactive and quick at the breakdown, McReight goes harder than most to turnover opposition ball.

For the most part, he’s been lethal in the area all year.

But the cracks in his game was on display last weekend in Suva, as he was shown a yellow card after consecutive infringements in the area early in the second half against the Drua.

While Super Rugby is generally more open than the international game, the window flankers, particularly of McReight’s size, gets smaller and tighter the deeper seasons go and the greater the stakes.

That’s certainly the case come the Test arena, with defences stronger and bodies bigger.

But the pay off is huge, with David Pocock practically single-handedly keeping the Wallabies afloat against the Springboks during their 2011 quarter-final success.

What helped Pocock was his humungous and powerful legs and rock-like core that allowed him to withstand the barrage of players attempting cleanouts.

There are few quicker at the breakdown than McReight in the world, but if there’s a fear over whether he’s durable enough to withstand the tribulations of the international area Eddie Jones will get the perfect opportunity to see how the 24-year-old can fear when he wears the No.7 jersey on Saturday.

Up against an All Blacks-laden Chiefs pack, including Samisoni Taukei’aho, Brodie Retallick, Luke Jacobson, Pita Gus Sowakula, Tupou Vaa’I and Cane, McReight will get his biggest working over this year with his Reds side heavy underdogs against this season’s minor-premiers.

If he can turn the match like Pocock in 2011, where the Wallabies should have been beaten by the Springboks given the mountain of possession and territory they had, he should be given first crack in the No.7 jersey by Jones.

“Sam has been All Blacks captain for a lot of years now and he’s played a lot of games and had a lot of success, so for me this is a great opportunity to go against one of the best and I’m really looking forward to it,” McReight said on Tuesday.

“It’s been a good season, every year I am trying to get better and I’m perfecting these little areas of my game that I want to work on.

“I’ve been able to play a lot of minutes this year, and for me I’ve been able to do that week-in, week-out.

“Another result this weekend and another performance is what’s needed.”

While the Reds shocked the Chiefs to pull off their first win across the ditch in a decade last month, the side Brad Thorn’s men come up against on Saturday will be vastly different from the one they beat at Yarrow Stadium.

Although the majority of the Chiefs’ backline was in place, Clayton McMillan rested his heavy artillery Taukei’aho, Retallick, Sowakula and Cane. It meant the usual go-forward they generate simply wasn’t there.

The former Junior Wallabies skipper said the Reds would have to be accurate, particularly with their kicking strategy, to stand a chance against the Chiefs.

“Obviously they’re going to be a different team to when we played them last,” McReight acknowledged.

“Defence is crucial, holding the ball and kicking really well … for us to get a result we have to do those areas really well.”

And despite being heavy underdogs, especially after their heavy loss to the Drua in Fiji last weekend which meant they had to rely on the Force slipping up against a second-string Chiefs side, McReight said the Reds were fully aware that the past is history and an inspired 80-minute effort could see them flip the script on their 5-7 season.

“Finals are a new competition,” he said.

“It’s great and awesome to make the top eight and obviously we’re a bit upset and gutted after the result on the weekend, but we can put that behind us and we can move on and can put all our attention to Chiefs this week.”