Wain’s world is all about Wales
WALES’ post-World Cup era under Wayne Pivac is filled with unknowns – but one certainty is that Aaron Wainwright will be a big part of it.
The former Cardiff City and Newport County youth footballer has proved himself on the biggest stage of all at Japan 2019 and, at 22, he looks to be in for the long haul with Wales.
Man of the match against France in the World Cup quarter-final, Wainwright has looked to the manor born in the Wales back row.
But it has been a whirlwind rise for a player who once dreamed of making it big in football and who, two years ago, was only playing beer rugby as a Cardiff student.
“Things have worked out pretty well,” he said.
“When you hear of things going on in the football world you think that things could have been different, but I’m happy with the way things worked out.
“I’m enjoying my rugby at the moment.
“I was a CDM – probably more of a Roy Keane type. I loved to get stuck in, just protecting the back four, doing a lot of the hard work, passing to the blokes who were more skilful than me.
“From the age of 10 to 16, I was at Cardiff academy and played there for a couple of years. But when it came to academy contracts and signing scholarships, I got dropped.
“I went to Newport County and got offered another scholarship, but I turned that down and then went to rugby. The serious side of it started when I was at Cardiff Met, and I had a phone call from [then Dragons coach] Bernard Jackman to say I was going to be on the bench for the Dragons.
“Playing that year then and getting the call for Wales’ summer tour – those two jumps were massive for me.
“Obviously that was when I realised it was going to be a lot more serious than I thought it would be when I first started out.”
Off the field, with his glasses and comedy moustache, there is still a touch of the student about Wainwright, but on it in Japan, his performances have marked him as a special talent.
Even in an area of such depth for Wales as back row, he has stood out.
He added: “I’m still very friendly with a lot of the boys from uni and they can’t believe how far I’ve come. A lot of them wanted to come over, but obviously student loans have been an issue.”
Wales face a South Africa side today reborn following Rassie Erasmus’ appointment 18 months ago.
The Boks coach
(above) said: “I think we have been under pressure to redeem ourselves for the last couple of years. We’ve had some proper hidings against almost every team since 2015.
“Some people have lost a lot of faith in us at different stages.
“Now we’re at the stage where we want to be No.1 in the world again, and there is internal pressure and expectation.
“That’s different.”