You were great, mate

13 April 2012

JOHN EALES: Look Will, I know you were captain and I could feel really guilty, but the beauty of it is, we won the Cup. The only thing I honestly felt guilty about was that I helped win the World Cup in what was only my first season in an Australian jersey. I felt like that because so many great players had worn the jersey and not had that special experience.

WC: Where does that 1991 Final rank in your list of memorable moments?
JE: It's right up there with the very best memories. The win in Cardiff in 1999 was a bit more satisfying in the sense that in 1991 I happened to be in the right place at the right time. In 1999, I was part of a team that had set out four years earlier with a definite goal and we managed to achieve it. That was special.

WC: That first Cup triumph must have given the union game a massive boost in Australia where the sport is, probably, only fourth in popularity during the winter. Did it set the standard for all that has followed?
JE: There is no doubt the first Cup win was a huge boost for rugby union in Australia. The playing numbers doubled after our success and that was a real bonus for the sport. It also gave the teams that followed something to aspire to and we were able to repeat the feat in 1999, when I was fortunate enough to be captain.

WC: You were only 21 in that 1991 Final. You caught Rob Andrew from behind with a crucial tackle (he is incredibly slow!) and found yourself part of the best team in the world. When did you take up the sport and was rugby the only sport you played as a youngster?
JE: I played rugby and cricket at school and it wasn't until I left that rugby became the main focus for me. I used to bat and bowl when playing cricket and, just before I finished my schooling, I had a year playing basketball which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved playing basketball but rugby and cricket had a bigger hold on me.

WC: You are still only 31 years old, but have opted to retire when your Wallaby team are the best in the world. Why?
JE: I have a young family and your priorities change. It's not a case of having achieved everything I wanted. It was more a case of not wanting to face the build-up to representative rugby - the pre-season work and the training schedules. Although I recognised I had exhausted my interest in playing, it wasn't about running out on to the pitch, singing the national anthem and playing Test matches. It was about all you had to do to get to that level. That drained me at the end and I was ready to leave it behind and move on to other challenges.

WC: Is there a scenario that would make you change that decision to retire? You are a long time out of the game and my family and friends are getting incredibly bored with conversations that start: "When I was playing ..."
JE: No, I can't see any reason why I would come back to the game. Like you, I will also be starting my conversations in the coming years with "When I played..."

WC: Going back to that 1991 Final - no, I haven't got over it yet - do you expect England to become World Cup winners at some point?
JE: Definitely. They are a team that have a lot going for them because there are so many good players in England. More people play rugby in England than anywhere else in the world and that's a great bonus. When that is eventually harnessed you will have an outstanding national team, which is the case at the moment. Going into any World Cup, England will be top of the pecking order with a great chance of winning the trophy.

WC: Which team gave you the most problems during your career and who are the individuals that caused you the most headaches?
JE: I would to have to say that New Zealand consistently provided the toughest opposition. They are the team I played against the most, probably twice as often as any other country. They have been, if not the best team in the world, then certainly the next best and so it was always a game you would gauge your own performance against. Guys I played against? It's hard to look at individuals because it was the entire team that made the impact, but I would have to select Ian Jones, the All Blacks lock. He was a great jumper and also an athlete and those attributes made him as good as anyone in the world. I always knew I would have a great contest against him and it was always that much harder because of the players around him. No player can be great without that support around them. That's what made the All Blacks so successful for so long.

WC: Now, John, you are an articulate guy, softly-spoken and hugely successful on and off the pitch, yet you chose to play second-row. When I think of second-row forwards I have an image of Wade Dooley in my mind. You come from the different end of the spectrum. How did you stay so nice?
JE: Well, you have to separate your on-field persona from the off-field one, to an extent. They used to talk about players who, once they stepped over that white line and on to the field of play, their eyes rolled back and they became a different person. I was just being me.

WC: I tried goal-kicking with Harlequins and tended to send the ball in the general direction of the touchline rather than the posts. You grafted in the tight play, did the support work and still had enough left to place the ball down and fire it over the crossbar from ridiculously long distances. When did you discover this skill?
JE: I loved kicking goals as a youngster and so I practised a lot. The opportunities came along at provincial and Test level and so you practise even more because you don't want to embarrass yourself with so many people watching. I was driven more by a fear of embarrassment than a desire to be the best.

WC: Is there one kick that stands out for you? Was it the last-gasp one to retain the Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand in Wellington this year?
JE: Yeah, that kick against the All Blacks has to be the stand-out because it gave me and a lot of people watching real satisfaction. It was very similar to my penalty at Twickenham to beat England in 1998 and that may have been a little harder because it was from the right-hand side of the pitch and a bit further out.

WC: We know you've won all these trophies - World Cups (yes, I know, twice), the Tri-Nations, the Bledisloe Cups, the Tom Richards trophy for beating the Lions in the summer but the Cook Cup, presented to the winners of England and Australia clashes, is standing in the Twickenham trophy cabinet. So, will it still be there on Saturday night?
JE: I certainly hope not. There is no doubt it will be a closely-fought, tough contest between two outstanding teams and my heart and head go with Australia even though England at Twickenham is a very tough proposition.

WC: So, who will win?
JE: Australia.

WC: Now, just going back to that Final in 1991, how lucky were you guys? . . .

Will Carling led his country a record-breaking 59 times in 72 appearances. John Eales has just retired after winning 86 caps, 55 as captain. Under his leadership last season, the Aussies won the Bledisloe Cup, the Tri-Nations title and beat the Lions 2-1.

MORE ABOUT

Australia

Basketball

Cricket

Rugby Union

You were great, mate

Read More