Wallaby legends are drafted in to break good news to squad
WARREN Gatland has offered his 40-strong Wales squad a variety of ways of finding out if they are in his permitted party of 31 for the World Cup.
Players have informed the management whether they want to find out by watching Gatland’s live announcement on September 1, receive a prior phone call, a text, a WhatsApp message or an email.
Only one method was in operation in Australia with coach Michael Cheika having drafted in Wallaby greats to inform candidates they had made his squad for Japan.
However, current players hadn’t been officially told World Cup winners David Campese, Tim Horan, George Gregan and Rod McCall would be among those ringing them.
James O’Connor was caught off guard when he found centre legend Horan on the other end of the telephone.
“I did not clock it at all. I was like: ‘What’s going on here?’” he said.
“We started having a chat and I think I was probably talking a little bit too much and then he was like. ‘aah look mate, the reason for the call is...’ but it was awesome.”
Scrum-half Nic White answered Gregan with: “G’day George!”
Matt Giteau, Nathan Sharpe and Rob Horne, who lost the use of an arm after being injured in a match for Northampton Saints, were also involved in the dialing session.
Wallaby captain Michael Hooper initially asked Horne to call back because he was out at dinner, while McCall struggled to get hold of the elusive David Pocock.
Record lock cap Sharpe mischievously kept Adam Coleman on tenterhooks by not ringing him until late at night.
Veteran Adam Ashley-Cooper was at a parental “birthing class” when he saw the name of his pal Giteau flash up on his telephone.
“I was like: ‘What’s he calling me for?.’ I got back to him later that night and we were just talking about footy, Wallabies, stuff.
“It was kind of odd though, so I said: ‘Mate, what’s going on?.’
“He said: ‘Well mate, this is why I am calling. Congratulations.’ Mind you it was 15-20 minutes into the conversation!”
Cheika informed those who hadn’t made it and play-maker Christian Leali’ifano feared he’d missed out for the second World Cup in a row when he saw the coach’s telephone number.
“He’d actually called me four years ago to let me know I wasn’t in, so I saw his call and thought: ‘I am not in again,’” Leali’ifano told the Australian Rugby Union’s official website rugby. com.au.
But Cheika wanted to personally pass on his congratulations following Leali’ifano’s inspiring fight to overcome cancer.
“I was just really, really stoked, obviously of his recognition and that he said he is really proud to see me here on my journey,” said Leali’ifano. life,