Morgan Turinui jokes that he doesn’t want Dylan Pietsch to make his Wallabies debut against Wales or Georgia next month.
The player turned pundit fears it will further expose a call he now accepts he got badly wrong during his time as Randwick club coach.
“I went to sit down with him and say ‘look mate, I don’t think you’re ever going to make it as an outside back – maybe you should go back into the back row’,” Turinui said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
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“It was the year the sevens players all came back to Randwick so we had Lachie Miller, (Henry) Hutchison, (Maurice) Longbottom, Triston Reilly, so we were trying to jigsaw puzzle it. But ‘yeah mate, you might not have a future in the outside backs’.”
Waratahs winger Pietsch – who played No.8 in his high school days – was named in Joe Schmidt’s 38 man Wallabies squad to prepare for July Tests against Wales and Georgia.
The 26-year-old was also involved in Wallabies squads under Eddie Jones last season but his chances of a maiden Test cap look brighter with Marika Koroibete and Mark Nawaqanitawase not involved.
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New Waratahs signing Andrew Kellaway appears to have one starting wing spot sewn up while Pietsch is likely competing against Filipo Daugunu and Darby Lancaster for the other.
Pietsch and Lancaster are both former Australian sevens players with the former representing his country at the last Olympics in Tokyo.
“We talk about the sevens skillset but also the style of player that Dylan Pietsch is,” Turinui said.
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“Lancaster and Pietsch, Schmidt’s picked them as big bodies, good core skills, physical presence out wide, can challenge for the ball, make their tackles. It’s an interesting style of player he’s picked out there.”
Pietsch, a proud Wiradjuri man, is hoping to become just the 15th Indigenous Wallaby in history.
Meanwhile, Stephen Hoiles felt new Reds recruit Josh Canham could feel hard done by after being overlooked by Schmidt.
The former Ireland coach instead opted for uncapped trio Jeremy Williams, Ryan Smith and Angus Blyth as lock options behind Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.
“I’m a fan of him, I feel like he’s unlucky,” Randwick coach Hoiles said.
“His performance looked as though he deserved it but he’ll get his chance, I’m sure. Ryan Smith and Josh Canham are polar opposites in terms of how they play. Ryan Smith is a diesel engine, he’s going to give you a seven or eight out of 10 every week.
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“He works his arse off, he’s a big physical presence. Josh Canham plays a little bit looser, so he’s got offloads, he’s got lineout steals.
“So there’s a little bit more risk versus reward with someone like Canham. Canham is probably not a guy that will go and get hard metres but he’s a guy that can find an edge, a soft shoulder.
“He can recycle, he can get second phase play happening. I’m happy that Corey Toole’s gone to sevens, I think that’s a wise decision.”