MELBOURNE (Reuters) – With one child set to make his rugby test debut for Australia on Saturday and another to debut in sevens at the Olympics, former Wallabies loose forward Brendan Nasser may be the country’s proudest sporting dad over the next fortnight.
Son Josh, a hooker for Super Rugby side Queensland Reds, was named on the bench for the Wallabies’ second test against Wales in Melbourne on Saturday and will hope to help the hosts complete a series sweep.
He follows in the footsteps of his dad, a hard-nosed flanker who played eight tests and was a member of the Wallabies squad that won the 1991 World Cup.
Josh’s younger sister Bella was selected for her first Olympics and could end up a gold medallist at Paris given the strength of the Australian women’s squad.
The siblings, who grew up playing backyard games of touch rugby in Brisbane, will play in front of heaving stadiums on opposite sides of the world.
Josh Nasser has played professionally for five years for the Brisbane-based Reds but has had to bide his time for a shot at test rugby due to a succession of injuries.
A solid season for the Reds and a Wallabies rebuild under new coach Joe Schmidt has now opened the door for the 25-year-old.
Schmidt said he liked Nasser’s background as a prop for Australia’s under-20 team.
“We’ve been really happy with the way he’s trained internally and he’s a very strong scrummager,” Schmidt told reporters on Thursday.
“Josh is an ex-prop so he’s moved into hooker there so he gives us a really strong scrum in the back half of the game.”
Thrilled to be named in Schmidt’s first Wallabies squad, Nasser told reporters last month he thought he had missed his chance at international rugby.
“Growing up, it was the coolest thing ever to have dad play for the Wallabies so I’ve always strived to get there,” he said.
“There were points last year I didn’t play much footy …. where I thought: ‘Is this ever going to come good?’
“Thankfully, to our medical staff at the Reds, it did.”
Nasser’s selection comes only a week after Reds team mate Tom Lynagh, son of the Wallabies great Michael Lynagh, made his test debut in the series-opening 25-16 win over Wales in Sydney.
Lynagh, who has been rested for the second test, was the 12th son of a Wallaby to play for Australia and Nasser will be the 13th if activated from the bench.
Bella Nasser, 21, played only one full season of international rugby sevens to earn her spot on Tim Walsh’s formidable Olympic squad.
Australia’s women won the inaugural gold medal at sevens’ Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics and will bid for a second at Paris, three years after being knocked out of the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
“Definitely still pinching myself,” Nasser said.
“Playing for my country has always been a dream of mine so to be here and playing alongside people I’ve looked up to all my life is really cool.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.