Teddy Wilson leads the way: Time to ‘be excited’ about Australian rugby’s future

When someone begins to talk about the state of Australian rugby, it’s far too easy to dwell on the shortcomings of the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup campaign. It’s the elephant in the room that makes for a simple conversion filled with confusion, mystery and strong opinions.

But we’ve heard it all before. Australia’s time at the Rugby World Cup came to an end more than four months ago in Saint-Etienne, but even this writer’s dentist is still talking about it.

It’s time we all move on and pick a different narrative.

The appointment of Joe Schmidt is incredibly exciting for the sport, with the former World Rugby Coach of the Year signing on until at least the end of the 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour.

But there’s another story that hasn’t really been talked about – one that should fill even the gloomiest of Australian rugby supporters with a sense of confidence and belief.

The Junior Wallabies are the feel-good story of 2023. They didn’t win the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa, and they didn’t even make the semi-finals, but there was enough there to suggest that a golden future awaits the code Down Under.

Australia stunned their New Zealand rivals 34-26 in Wellington in May, and were pipped a week later by a heartbreaking one-point margin at the ‘Cake Tin’ before a Hurricanes match.

It was a sign of promise and potential, but their best was yet to come. The Junior Wallabies defeated the Baby Blacks 44-35 in their fifth-place semi-final at the U20 Championship. That’s the most points New Zealand has conceded in a match in tournament history.

“I think our 20s group last year, we had a great year I thought,” 2023 Junior Wallabies captain Teddy Wilson told RugbyPass.

“We finished fifth at the World Cup but I actually don’t think where we placed justified how good we were. I thought we were pretty unfortunate in that Ireland game, a few calls didn’t go our way – if they did, I feel like our whole tournament would’ve changed. We would’ve been in that semi-final and who knows, we could’ve ended up in the final.

“To beat the (Baby Blacks) as well, it was a great achievement and if you’re a fan of the sport, you’re looking at some of the talent coming through from outside, I think it’s a good thing to be excited about.

“There’s some good players coming through. I think half the squad was really young as well so hopefully they can have another good year in the 20s and see how they go.”

The Junior Wallabies’ 2023 captain Teddy Wilson is a born leader. By both actions and words, the young halfback has a bright future ahead of him – one seemingly destined to include Wallaby gold.

Wilson, 20, was crowned the Junior Men’s Player of the Year at the Rugby Australia Awards on Wednesday night in Sydney. The sky really is the limit for the NSW Waratahs scrum-half.

Your inaugural Junior Men’s Player of the year, Teddy Wilson 📈

Read more 👉 https://t.co/yCpZfVTwRu pic.twitter.com/NGnalgP4KT

— Rugby Australia (@RugbyAU) February 7, 2024

Leading the team into battle last year, the young Aussies took on the world in South Africa but a heavy loss to Ireland and a 22-all draw with England in pool play sealed their fate.

Australia were left to scrap it out for fifth, with Wilson scoring the final try in the previously mentioned rout of New Zealand. They went on to beat Wales 57-33 to place fifth, too.

But reflecting on his final stint with the Junior Wallabies – his third year with the squad – Wilson made it clear that the experience has “definitely” helped him become a better player.

“I loved the footy we were playing there,” Wilson added. “We’re playing a very expansive style of footy.

“Some great tries were scored in that last game against Wales. It was great to watch from my point after watching the game.

“The game we played I thought suited my style of rugby. From the first game to the last, I think as a whole team we progressed.

“Individually, from my perspective, I think we progressed as individual players as well.”