Wales’ embarrassment of back-row riches has seen plaudits deservedly heaped on Justin Tipuric, Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell after a stellar European contest between Leicester Tigers and the Ospreys at Welford Road.
All three played the house down. Taulupe Faletau is, of course, another extraordinary talent, while Aaron Wainwright is a Warren Gatland favourite from his first stint as Wales coach.
But don’t forget Christ Tshiunza.
It’s hard to go under the radar when you tower over most at 6ft 6in, but that has been largely Tshiunza’s lot since Gatland announced his squad for the Six Nations.
The assumption is the head coach will make up his own mind, though. Tshiunza offers a strong lineout opinion and is athletic around the field while also having a powerful carrying game and an unyielding attitude in defence. When he played against Harlequins earlier in the season, he scored two memorable tries in a game that saw him run like a stag, tackle determinedly, make hard yards and win lineout ball. Little wonder The Times called him "a jewel in the making".
His club Exeter Chiefs have been using him at No. 7 but Tshiunza is no classical openside.
“I would like to publicly state I am not a traditional seven!” he is quoted as saying in a recent edition of Rugby World.
“But in terms of playing style and what the team wants to achieve, I suppose it depends, because every team plays differently.
“But at Exeter Chiefs they actually prefer playing with two sixes. They’ve tried playing with a conventional seven — Matt Kvesic was here before, for example — but I think they like two sixes as it offers options around lineouts and around the set-piece.
“Literally nothing changes [for me] apart from scrums as well.. I don’t mind whether I’ve got a six, seven or four on my back. It doesn’t make any difference to me.
The Whitchurch High School product celebrated his 21st birthday recently but is already a regular with the Chiefs. This term has seen him attract p0laudits from Lawrence Dallaglio, who called him “an all-action player”, and Sam Warburton, who suggested Tshiunza could “wear that Welsh shirt for the next decade”.
An extra string to his bow can be found in his ability to play lock as well as in the back row. And he’s aware it could come in handy in selection against some of his Wales squad-mates.
“The fact that I can also play in the second row, to cover at four, sets me apart from a lot of them,” he said. “Fair play, a lot of them are really good and I give credit to so many of them, but the thing we’ve lacked with our back row a bit is height. Which then takes away your lineout options.
“Like any other game, set-piece is everything, so if you can’t win the ball at the setpiece you’ve got no strong foundations to play off.”
He is no mere retread and doesn’t seek to copy any other player.
But there are three who he admires greatly and may want to emulate parts of their careers.
The trio in question? “It’s players like Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Alun Wyn Jones,” said Tshiunza.
“I really admire the careers they’ve had and how they came up through the ranks as well, their involvements with the Lions and for their national teams.”
In terms of his own game, he added: “I probably think I’m a young hybrid of those three.”
Let's think: Jones’ unbreakable resolve and relish for rugby’s tough close-quarter exchanges, Itoje’s athleticism, Lawes’ devastating tackling — roll all those qualities into one and you get some player. Each of those three have more than made their mark with the Lions in recent times.
Maybe patience needs to be the order of the day for most 21-year-olds when it comes to the Test scene.
But it would be no surprise at all if Tshiunza was involved at some point in this Six Nations.
He's a player very much on the up.
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