SCARLETS: ‘You can’t ignore players who can beat people’: Peel on what Macs Page needs to play for Wales

Dwayne Peel says Macs Page has the one thing coaches cannot ignore: he beats people.

The Scarlets head coach says what the 21-year-old wing needs now to play international rugby is consistency in every part of his game.

“I think what he’s starting to do is put consistency together in all parts of the game, and I think for him to play international rugby, that’s what he needs to do, you know, and I think that that’s what we’re seeing in him as well,” Peel said.

“It’s about getting him on the ball, and I think, like, from my perspective, you can’t ignore players who can beat people.”

Shane Williams and Damian McKenzie: why Peel calls Macs Page “gold”

Peel named two of the game’s great broken-field runners. “We’ve seen it throughout, and we see it in all teams, really, you know, like Damian McKenzie played for New Zealand, and we’ve had it with people like Shane [Williams],” he said.

He was careful not to load the comparison on him. “That reference was made a couple of weeks ago, not to hype any pressure on Macs, because he’s his own man, but I think he’s got that ability to beat people, and I think that, for me, that’s gold.”

From the Swans academy to “X factor moments”

Peel first saw Page as a teenager, not long out of the Swansea City football academy. “I remember seeing him play where he’d probably come out of the football academy at Swans five, six years ago, and he was a young kid then, and he had massive X factor moments,” he said.

“What we’ve had, you know, we’ve had with him is steady growth. I think he’s shown some X-factor moments throughout his career, really.”

He picked out the tries that made Page’s name. “I remember his debut he got a brilliant try, a try against Munster out in Thomond Park, and Zebre here, and there’s been some brilliant moments,” he said.

The Munster score was a solo effort in his breakthrough 2024-25 season, shortly before he signed his first senior contract with the region.

That season also brought the region’s try of the season award, for his effort against Zebre, and a call-up to the Wales squad for the summer tour of Japan.

Wing for now, but Peel won’t rule out 13 for Macs Page

Page has played at 12, 13 and on the wing, and Peel says he is working hard on the rest of his game. “He’s working really hard as well on his other side of this game, his aerial work, his kicking game, his passing game,” he said.

For now, the wing is where the Scarlets want him. “I’m not saying he won’t end up playing 13, but we see a wing as he’s got real freedom to go and hunt for the ball, and I think that’s the key,” Peel said.

“You’ve got to get him on the ball, and that’s what excites me every time he’s on the ball.”

Two tries at Rodney Parade, two more set up against Benetton

Page scored both of the Scarlets’ first-half tries in the defeat at Rodney Parade, and set up two more in the comeback win over Benetton.

Last week, Macs Page said his confidence dipped after his breakthrough season, and that he has since realised his strengths are carrying the ball and taking people on.

The Scarlets open their Challenge Cup campaign at home to Newcastle on Saturday (8pm), with Taine Plumtree closing in on a return.

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com