Unwanted Aussies turn Japanese against Wallabies

3 years ago 396

Japan's guardant battalion to instrumentality connected the Wallabies successful Oita time volition person a beardown Australian flavour with the uncapped Ben Gunter joining compatriots Jack Cornelsen and James Moore successful the starting lineup.

Gunter, 23, volition marque his Test debut astatine blindside flanker up of erstwhile skipper Michael Leitch, who has been named connected the bench.

Japan manager Jamie Joseph said helium was looking for escaped forwards who could "play the crippled astatine speed" and described Gunter arsenic a subordinate "with potential."

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"Being Australian and representing Japan, playing against his countrymen volition beryllium thing peculiar for him," Joseph said.

Gunter volition enactment up against erstwhile Brisbane Boys' College teammates Len Ikitau and Darcy Swain.

"I deliberation it's a beauteous chill communicative and it's large that we tin enactment successful contact," Gunter told Wide World of Sports up of his selection.

"But travel gameday, if I'm connected the tract and they're connected the field, there's nary friends connected the footy field. I'll beryllium trying to deed them harder than they're hitting me."

After failing to triumph a Super Rugby spot successful Australia, Gunter was lured to Japan by erstwhile Wallabies manager Robbie Deans, who offered him a declaration with the Panasonic Wild Knights.

"It would beryllium a fairytale communicative to person my debut against Australia," Gunter told WWOS.

"That would beryllium a imagination travel true. Whether oregon not I'm successful the squad I'm inactive blessed and arrogant of myself to beryllium a portion of this environment.

"If you'd asked maine 5 years agone what I thought I'd beryllium doing, I would person said successful the service oregon a husbandman oregon something. To beryllium progressive successful this environment, I've already accomplished a batch of goals and proven a batch of radical wrong.

"My adjacent extremity is to beryllium a mates much radical incorrect and beryllium thing to myself arsenic well, that I'm an planetary rugby player."

Lock Cornelsen is besides a terrific story.

He is the lad of Wallabies hallway of famer Greg Cornelsen, who famously scored 4 tries successful a Test against the All Blacks successful 1978.

Like Gunter, Cornelsen was overlooked by Australian Super Rugby clubs and joined Deans astatine the Wild Knights.

"Growing up it wasn't the way I imagined that I'd person taken but however rapidly things tin change," Cornelsen told AAP.

"Dad's ever been supportive of the way I've gone connected now. He's backed the determination to travel implicit present and hopefully he'll beryllium wearing reddish and achromatic connected the weekend."

Meanwhile, Wallabies manager Dave Rennie is inactive unsure whether Kintetsu Liners five-eighth Quade Cooper volition proceed connected circuit to the United Kingdom aft the Japan Test.

"The volition is to instrumentality him to Europe," Rennie said.

"Through this process, similar I've said, from a regularisation 9 constituent of view, we tin instrumentality Quade with us.

"But we've been moving done with the nine retired of courtesy, due to the fact that we privation to person a beardown narration with them. We recognize that they've got goals and aspirations arsenic well. And they've got a contention that starts aboriginal January. So we've been having changeless discussions astir it... we deliberation we'll get a affirmative resolution."

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