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Why young Aussie considers Wallabies’ ‘s***’ World Cup a 'good experience’
By Finn Morton
Teenager Max Jorgensen didn’t play for Australia during last year’s Rugby World Cup, but the rising star still felt the full brunt of the Wallabies’ disappointing pool stage exit.
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Australia started their World Cup campaign with a promising 20-point win over Georgia at Stade de France, with fullback Ben Donaldson starring with a two-try Player of the Match performance.
But it was all downhill from there. Australia were beaten by Fiji eight days later, and a record 40-6 World Cup defeat to Wales in Lyon left the Wallabies on the brink of unwanted history.
The Wallabies finished their campaign on a high note with a convincing win over Portugal, but it couldn’t save them from their first-ever pool stage exit at a Rugby World Cup.
“I was so devastated for the boys. I was feeling all the pain… but for me personally, I think it was a good experience to sort of go through something like that, like somewhere where you don’t win anything and everyone’s, the fans are hating you, stuff like that,” uncapped squad member Max Jorgensen told reporters on Monday.
“As hard as it is, I think I’ll grow as a player and be better for it.
“Having your own fans booing you, you’re sort of sitting there like, ‘What do I even think?’ They’re booing us – like they’re meant to be our fans.
“It’s obviously hard but as I said, I think it’s going to make you a better player in the long run, as s*** as it was in the moment, how s*** of a campaign it was, I think a lot of the boys are better for it.”
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Jorgensen, just 19, was a surprise inclusion in Eddie Jones’ new-look Wallabies squad for the Rugby World Cup.
The outside back only debuted for the Waratahs at the start of last year’s Super Rugby Pacific season – but shot out of the blocks with a headline-grabbing double against the Brumbies.
But Jorgensen certainly fit the description as a World Cup ‘bolter’ by making the squad. The Waratah was expected to debut for the Wallabies during the World Cup, too, but a broken leg at training derailed those plans.
“It’s a bit of a blur now. Just went up for a high ball and not even contested,” Jorgensen said.
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“Just landed on it and snapped it and yeah, obviously it’s devastating. I was just praying that I’d be a bad rolled ankle or something like that, but went off for a scan and it was obviously broken straight through.
“It was devastating to go back on the plane ride, by myself, just in my own thoughts.”
