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Bottle-top hero set for battle this time
Greg Growden Chief Rugby Correspondent | July 18, 2008
AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA
WHEN Wallabies fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper thinks of his first Test, it's a case of football, meat pies, Wallabies and mad car drives.
Tomorrow Ashley-Cooper will return to Subiaco Oval, the scene of the most amazing Wallabies Test debut, delighted he will have plenty of time to prepare for his Test appearance, rather than a few seconds.
He was summoned from Sydney at the last minute to be on standby for the 2005 Springboks Test in Perth. Minutes before kick-off, Ashley-Cooper, believing he wouldn't be required, began contemplating a trip to the Subiaco Oval canteen with fellow squad member Matt Henjak. Then Wallabies five-eighth Elton Flatley suddenly lost his sight during the warm-up.
Ashley-Cooper takes up the story: "At the time, I was up in the grandstand sending piss-taking messages to all my mates and family, with a caption saying: 'How good's this. Tickets on halfway. A free weekend away in Perth. It doesn't get any better than this.'
"I was contemplating getting a Four'N Twenty Travellers pie and a beer. But as the boys were running back in, 'Flats' started to snake-dance in the warm-up. At that moment, I got the call from [Wallabies assistant manager] Chris Webb saying I had to get down the change rooms ASAP.
"When I got down there, he said: 'Get your boots on. You're going on. Flat's injured.'
"Luckily I had 78 minutes sitting on the bench, so that [fellow reserve] Chris Whitaker could talk me through all the calls, because I had basically no idea. He went through the whole call sheet with me, and then Clyde Rathbone came off, gave me a wink as if to say: 'This one's for you, buddy.'
"So I ran on, dropped the ball, and became the 800th Wallaby."
The trip west was almost as eventful.
"I was on the F3 when [coach] Eddie Jones rang and said: 'Yeah, g'day mate, Eddie here. What are you doing?' I told him I was on my way to club training. He replied: 'Well mate, you'll have to turn yourself around because you're got a flight to Perth in an hour.'
"I was thinking, 'Oh, hell, how am I going to get there on time?' So I did a U-turn in a non U-turn section, and fanged home to get my mum [Karen] to help me pack my gear.
"She began packing my suitcase, asking: 'What are you doing?' I told her I was going to Perth, and she kept asking me: 'What, church? What are you going to church for?'
"I said, 'No, WA. Perth.'
"She kept asking: 'Why are you going to church in WA?' "
He made the flight, and then sent his uncle and fellow Wallaby Graham Bond into match-day palpitations.
"It was all so weird, because my uncle Graham also debuted off the bench for the Wallabies, in Perth, against South Africa, and that finished in a draw. And ours was also almost a draw. So Graham was sitting at home thinking, 'Oh, geez, what's going on here?' "
After the Test, there were further complications.
"I didn't have my number ones, and as I had to receive my first cap, I had to look the part at the after-match function. Apparently, my casual gear at the time wasn't appropriate. So I did a complete changeover with [assistant coach] Scott Wisemantel. Perfect fit, showed up and got the cap.
"That's why it's a good feeling coming back here. Every time I come back I always look up at the area where I was sitting when I got the call. So that's why this is such a special match for me."
And with it all has emerged an important piece of trivia.
"A mate of mine rang me up and said that I was the only ever Wallaby to debut without a number on his back. He found that bit of information on the cap of a bottle of Tooheys New. I've now got that bottle top as a memento."
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...e#contentSwap1
hahah we were witness to Growden's interview.
hi Greg if you're reading!
ehheheh we saw this happen!!
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force
What a top story from "Laura's own" AAC![]()
i thought he was SweetFA's own AAC ....
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force
Why do they have to keep going on about this story every year? They went on about it last year. I suppose it has been meated out and now we know he enjoys meat pies and his mum isn't quite all there. Or is that a little too mean?![]()
nah its between WJ and Gagger now. and chook
Be There. Be Heard. Be The Force Behind The Force