McCalman's star continues to rise
NICK TAYLOR, The West Australian
February 19, 2011, 5:43 am
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Ben McCalman is the first to acknowledge that if the Western Force had not been hit by an injury crisis last year, he may have spent much of the season as a bench-warmer instead of enjoying a meteoric rise to international rugby.
"I do have to pinch myself sometimes," he said.
"I had a bigger season than I expected … but I had the opportunity and made the most of it."
He played every Force game, won the club's Rising Star award and started for the Australian Barbarians side that played England in Perth last June.
A month later he made he made his Australian Test debut from the bench in the win over the Springboks in Brisbane.
And it is probably just a co-incidence but in his first two appearances as a starter for the Wallabies they broke their 47-year hoodoo at altitude in Pretoria in South Africa and ended the 10-Test losing streak against New Zealand in Hong Kong.
McCalman, big and uncompromising, had been a long-time Force target before he signed on a two-year deal in 2010 from Sydney University.
He is a member of the Force contingent of Wallaby back-rowers - David Pocock, Richard Brown and Matt Hodgson the other three.
And while he prefers the back row, for now he is happy to pack alongside his captain Nathan Sharpe in the second row in tomorrow's Super Rugby clash against the Queensland Reds.
"I'm happy with whatever combination we use," he said.
"It's great having the four Wallaby back-rowers. We worked together all last year and hopefully we can continue that.
"It's good having four of us there because of the longer season it's important that we can rotate."
His combination with Pocock is especially important for the Force.
"David is one of, if not the, best No7 and if I can make his job easier and get the opposition in a position where he can get the ball then I've done my job," McCalman said.
"He's always following the ball. If I can make a dominant or a low tackle he'll be there to get on the ball."
McCalman, has an uncomplicated, no-nonsense approach to the game - abrasive, straight running and hard tackling - and there is nothing he enjoys more than carrying the ball into heavy traffic or taking out an attacker in defence.
"I enjoy the contact in defence or going forwards," he said.
"I just try and do everything I can to give myself the best chance of dominating an opponent.
"I'm trying to work on a few subtleties now, offload and other areas."
There is no better example of his abrasive style and attitude to the tough stuff than his first touch in his first Test when he found himself on a crash course with giant Springbok forward Pierre Spies, who came off second best.
Afterwards he said simply: "I just felt, 'How good's this? Give me some more'."
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