Aaron’s mantra must be ‘good things come to those who wait...’
IT remains one of the most iconic moments in Welsh rugby history – when Derek Quinnell shoved aside two burly policemen in a frantic bid to make it onto the pitch for his first cap before the referee blew for full-time.
The Llanelli back rower succeeded in his quest that day against France in 1972, with his desperation as he came on as a final-seconds replacement for the injured Mervyn Davies underlining to many exactly how much it meant to win a Wales cap.
Something similar played out at the RFK Stadium in Washington on Saturday night.
Only this time there was to be no happy ending.
Aaron Wainwright, the youngest player in Wales’s tour party, came tantalisingly close to winning his first cap. But it wasn’t to be.
Just 75 seconds remained when he received the call to head onto the field.
Wainwright whipped off his replacement’s bib in a blur and there was a pat on the back from Elliot Dee and applause from the support staff as the 20-year-old ran towards the touchline. It appeared as if his outstanding first season for the Dragons was to be suitably rewarded.
But then the script went haywire.
Wales took a line-out quickly and Wainwright was left hoping for a break in play over the remaining seconds.
Fate decreed that no such stoppage was to happen as Warren Gatland’s team edged forward, only to see the Springboks counter-ruck and claim possession. There followed desperate attempts by the men in myrtle green jerseys to run from deep, only for their progress upfield to end with a knock-on 98 seconds into overtime.
The shrill blast of referee Matthew Carley’s whistle duly followed.
Wainwright made it onto the field to go through the end-ofgame rituals – offering commiserations to beaten opponents with handshakes while congratulating his own team-mates. There was a high-ish five with George North, but who knows what was running through the head of the lad in the red No. 20 jersey.
He had every right to be a study in frustration in those moments.
But maybe in time such a cloud will lift.
Those who have watched him regularly insist the Bassaleg product is going to come through. At 6ft 2in and 16st 7lb, he is a powerful specimen who can play at openside or blindside and he performed well enough in his first season with the Dragons to feature in 25 of their 26 games, catching the eye with his industry and ability to make serious yardage with ball in hand.
He had been turning out for the students of Cardiff Met in the Welsh Rugby Union Championship in 2016-17.
Before that he had been playing youth rugby with his pals at Whiteheads RFC.
Barely a month ago, he was tweeting about how much he was looking forward to a summer playing sevens with Whitehead Stags.
But an injury to Josh Navidi while playing for Cardiff Blues in the Challenge Cup final paved the way for the Dragons young player of the season to receive his Wales call.
Maybe his chance will come in the Tests against Argentina in the coming weeks, though James Davies’s availability for those games will add to Warren Gatland’s back-row options.
Maybe Wainwright, who only started playing rugby three years ago, will just have to be patient.
The likelihood is that he will eventually be rewarded.
Good things, after all, as the old advert suggested, tend to come those who wait.