18 Jul 2013

Marshall won't have major impact in rugby union says Wallabies coach

6:17 pm on 18 July 2013

The recently appointed Australia rugby coach Ewen McKenzie doubts rugby league's Benji Marshall could adapt quickly enough to have a major impact as a rugby union playmaker.

In a sign the Australian Rugby Union's unlikely to chase Marshall's signature, McKenzie says the Wests Tigers five-eighth and Kiwi international might have left his move to the 15-aside code too late.

Marshall, who's 28, has been linked to Auckland based Blues, the New South Wales Waratahs and the Melbourne Rebels after announcing he wants to leave the Tigers at the end of the NRL season and possibly play for the All Blacks.

The Waratahs are playing down talk they could sign Marshall while McKenzie believes he doesn't have the instincts required to be a game-breaking rugby playmaker.