Bath’s Brad Davis backs Shontayne Hape ahead of New Zealand Test
Brad Davis, the assistant coach at Bath believes England’s Shontayne Hape could be the player that causes New Zealand problems when the two sides meet at Twickenham on Saturday, 6 November.
The centre converted from Rugby league and joined Bath two years ago. Since then, he has established himself in the Bath team and made his debut for England on the summer tour of Australia this year.
In an interview with BCC Points West, Davis said, "It has been a meteoric rise, but defensively he's one of the best centres around and if he gets the ball in a little bit of space he can cause New Zealand a bit of trouble."
The Bath assistant coach believes that England head coach Martin Johnson has picked the player because of the physical presence he will provide in midfield.
"He's a big lump and defensively he's sound, and not only in the tackle and the contact."
Johnson has picked a strong, powerful and physically big team. Prop Andrew Sheridan has replaced the smaller Tim Payne.
The midfield partnership of Hape and Mike Tindall are two tall, powerful backs who may lack the guile of creative centres, but both will be difficult to stop breaking over the gain line.
Davis believes that Johnson has selected Hape because of his defensive attributes, but the Bath coach admitted that he has more to his game than he is given credit for.
"He makes good defensive decisions about when to come in and when to stay out and reads the game really well. That's first and foremost why he's in the team. On the flipside of that, against certain defences, he's got some good feet and a really deft offload."
Hape hopes to make an impact against New Zealand, who may underestimate the centre and focus on the English flair players like Ben Foden and Toby Flood.
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