{"id":1173323,"date":"2026-08-28T01:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1173323\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:35:13","slug":"what-happened-to-the-10-youngsters-sir-ian-mcgeechan-tipped-for-greatness-back-in-2020-page-4-of-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1173323\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened to the 10 youngsters Sir Ian McGeechan tipped for greatness back in 2020 &#8211; Page 4 of 4"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>9. Luke Jacobson, New Zealand<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>McGeechan\u2019s 2020 prediction:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDo not be surprised to see Jacobson in the All Blacks\u2019 back row come the 2023 World Cup in France.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What happened next:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McGeechan absolutely nailed this prediction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jacobson established himself in the\u00a0<strong>All Blacks<\/strong>\u00a0set-up and was part of New Zealand\u2019s squad at the\u00a0<strong>2023 Rugby World Cup<\/strong>, where they reached the final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Chiefs back-rower has remained part of the international picture since and underlined his continued value in August 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jacobson crossed for a try as New Zealand produced an impressive\u00a0<strong>33-16 victory over the Springboks at Ellis Park<\/strong>\u00a0in the opening Test of Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six years after McGeechan picked him out, Jacobson remains an All Black.<\/p>\n<p>10. Jordan Petaia, Australia<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>McGeechan\u2019s 2020 prediction:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHaving watched Petaia playing for the Queensland Reds, I was struck by how big and powerful he was and how natural he looked with ball in hand. Really good feet as well. Can run over you or around you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Petaia quickly justified the hype, becoming a regular\u00a0<strong>Wallabies<\/strong>\u00a0international and featuring at the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But like Rees-Zammit, he eventually decided to chase an NFL dream.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Petaia entered the\u00a0<strong>International Player Pathway<\/strong>\u00a0and signed with the\u00a0<strong>Los Angeles Chargers in April 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His NFL opportunity was short-lived, with the Australian waived\/injured in August before the regular season began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Petaia subsequently returned to rugby, signing a one-year contract with French Top 14 side\u00a0<strong>USA Perpignan<\/strong>\u00a0in September 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has since made a number of appearances in France, keeping alive the possibility of adding to his Wallabies career ahead of the\u00a0<strong>2027 Rugby World Cup<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six years on, McGeechan\u2019s original list makes fascinating reading. Some \u2013 particularly\u00a0<strong>Doris, Smith, Rees-Zammit and Jacobson<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 went on to prove him emphatically right, while others followed career paths even one of rugby\u2019s most experienced coaches could never have predicted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"9. Luke Jacobson, New Zealand McGeechan\u2019s 2020 prediction: \u201cDo not be surprised to see Jacobson in the All&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1173324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":["post-1173323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117170571044751020","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1173323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1173323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1173323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1173324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1173323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1173323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1173323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}