Hayman Duel Is Ultimate Test For Dunning

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday April 20, 2007

Rupert Guinness

WARATAHS prop Matt Dunning knows full well what is at stake in his battle tomorrow night against Highlanders tighthead Carl Hayman.

But Dunning, in the starting side for the first time this season for the Super 14 clash at Aussie Stadium, will leave it to others to determine whether it is the platform to resurrect his Wallabies career.

For him, his head-to-head against the world's best tighthead prop carries too much personal significance for it to be billed as just another chance to impress national selectors.

The 28-year-old's Wallabies ambitions burn deep but his challenge will be more than trying to gain outside recognition.

He will be fighting for pride, and the chance to leave the 35-times capped All Black - who is set to join English premiership side Newcastle Falcons in a reported $1 million deal following the World Cup - in no doubt he has just been in a game.

"I want to scrum well for my own point of view," Dunning said. "It is not only about what other people think. It's about what you think. If I can look back and say, 'He's a great scrummager and he has given me some times over the years, but I have gave him a tough time once too ...' It's a pride thing. That is what Carl has got with his scrummaging. He has personal pride hanging on every scrum."

Dunning, who has 25 Test caps but has not donned a Wallabies jersey since playing Wales in November 2005, has admired Hayman since the two played each other in 1996, when the Waratah was in the Australian Schoolboys side.

His return to the NSW starting side at a mighty 122kg, after missing the early part of the season due to a knee injury, is not by chance. Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie has not forgotten his showing against the Opunake front-rower in Dunedin in 2005, when NSW beat the Highlanders.

That same year, Dunning also played 12 of his 25 Tests, one against England at Twickenham, when he was stretchered off after a scrum collapsed - an incident McKenzie believes he has been made - unfairly - to pay for since.

"Matt had a pretty good game against him [Hayman] then. He has been there and done that. And that has not been lost on me," said McKenzie. "He is now going to play the million-dollar man. So it is a really good opportunity to show where he is at. Sometimes you can make a name for yourself. He will be up against probably the best tighthead prop in the world."

Dunning makes a more humble assessment of his tussle with Hayman two years ago, saying: "I wouldn't say I was on top of him, but I definitely scrummaged well against him. But then he has improved even more in that two years, too."

He also explained that a prop's strength is not his alone, but that of the pack behind him, as the Highlanders have shown.

"It is Otago's best weapon," Dunning said. "They obliterated the Crusaders scrum, which is by no means a poor Super 14 scrum. The big thing about them is that they work really hard together.

"Look at Carl's feet. You watch the second-rowers' feet and the No.8's and breakaway's feet. They are all doing the same thing. They all work together. And Carl is demanding it. He is very good at using the weight behind him, which is a prop's job. He can't do it all on his own. He uses everything around him."

That is what Dunning will try to do with the NSW scrum, which has improved but has second-rower Ben Hand in doubt due to a back injury. Hand, who has been bracketed with Dean Mumm in the starting XV named yesterday, will have a fitness test today to determine if he can play.

But Dunning believes that if the Waratahs scrum can challenge, then NSW can win two in a row for the first time this season.

"If we can not only get parity but give them a go, it will crush their psyche," he said. "It won't be easy, but you have to give it a go ... bloody oath."

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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