Australia have not tasted success at age grade level since
the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2006 in Dubai and are
determined to put that right by beating England on Thursday and
then going on to lift the IRB Junior World Championship crown in
Argentina.
If the young Australians realise their target then a common
link will exist between the two winning sides with Colby Faingaa
following in the footsteps of his twin brothers Saia and Anthony,
who were captain and vice captain respectively of the 2006 side who
beat New Zealand 17-13 in the final.
A winners' medal for Colby would cap a remarkable month
for the Faingaa family with Saia having made his Wallabies debut
against Fiji on 5 June, the same day his younger brother scored a
try against Scotland, while Anthony has played for the Australian
Barbarians twice against England.
"They didn't really speak too much of it because at
that time I would have only been 15 or so, so them winning the
grand final didn't really hit me as much as it does now,
knowing I am here in the same tournament and it is actually a
possibility [to win it too]. It is such a big thing," Faingaa
told Total Rugby Radio.
"Every game I play they are always giving advice, they
are such a great help and really they just gave me the same advice
they would give for another other game, just put your head down and
do the little things right.
The ultimate dream
"It has been a very good year for us and we can only
hope that things are going to keep getting even better. Our parents
have always had great pride in us since we were young, they are
always there, they are the ones who got us here, they have always
been a great help and are always there."
The brothers have faced each other in the Super 14 this year,
Colby playing for the Brumbies and the twins for the Queensland
Reds, the younger Faingaa ending up on the winning side, but the
19-year-old has a long term dream.
"Playing together for the Wallabies would definitely be
the biggest goal."
Faingaa has lost his race to be fit for the semi final with
England, the foot injury that kept him out of their thrilling Pool
C decider with South Africa last Sunday, which Australia won 42-35
to avenge their loss to the Baby Boks in the third place play-off
in Japan last year.
"I was pretty devastated that I wasn't allowed to
play [against South Africa]. I am trying to do everything I can to
get back on the field. Watching the boys from the sidelines,
it's such a hard thing to do, it was so intense just sitting
there, it was just try for try."
First real challenge
South Africa provided the first real test for the young
Australians, who had easily dispatched Scotland 58-13 and Tonga
67-5 to move to within touching distance of their second successive
Junior World Championship semi final, and one Faingaa was relieved
to see his teammates come through.
"I applaud the performance that the boys gave against
South Africa. Sitting on the sidelines it was so hard not to just
want to run out there, chuck a pair of boots on and get out there
and just help. They really did dig deep for each other, and they
have shown that they have got enough heart, enough passion and that
when they put their mind to it they can play a great game.
"It was a great challenge for us. The forwards
especially, they really stepped up to the plate, they knew that
they were coming up against a South African pack that was a lot
bigger and through film that we had seen they looked a lot more
physical and we knew that we had to step up to it.
"The front row especially I applaud them, they played a
spectacular game, they dealt with everything they had to to give
our backs - we have got phenomenal backs as well - just to give
them a solid platform to play off which really gave us the game.
"It is always good to know that you have got a great
backline because we know we just have to do our job and then the
backs, they will get most of the points for us. As long as we are
doing our set pieces right, as long as we get our lineouts correct,
as long as we know everything we are doing in scrums, then our
backs should be able to dominate."
England: A new level
The Brumbies flanker, though, knows that beating South Africa
will count for nothing if Australia do not beat England - runners
up to New Zealand in the last two Junior World Championships - to
reach their first age grade final since the success in 2006.
"If anything this game is going to be harder because
coming into the semi finals everyone dreams of making the finals
here," he explained. "That is why we are all here to
play, we are all here to play in major finals, no-one really comes
this close and then will give up, We are expecting a harder and
tougher battle against England.
"We have seen a couple of clips of them, but we will
probably go with the same kind of approach that we went with
against South Africa. They are going to be big up front, it is
going to be a very physical game and they are going to come out
strong and hard and we have really just got to get rid of the
mentality that we have beaten South Africa, we just need to start
all over again really.
"As long as we do our key things right like our set
piece we know we have got the players, we have got the fitness to
keep going, we have got all the ability in our team, individually
and as a team, so hopefully as long as we go out and we do what we
have been taught and play the patterns that we have learnt we
should be pretty right."
Best is yet to come
Australia are the leading point and try scorers in the
tournament so far with 167 and 25 respectively - comparing to the
101 and nine of their semi opponents England - but perhaps
worryingly Faingaa believes we have not seen anything like their
best form yet.
"I think we have still got a lot more to improve on.
Each review session we do there is always a lot of negatives,
although they might be just minor things but in the big picture it
could be the difference between winning and losing.
"To date there hasn't been a training session or a
game we have played where everything has just gone perfect. The
perfect game doesn't really exist, although we would love to
play one, we would love to make the finals and play the perfect
game, we have to be realistic here and know that some things are
going to stuff up, it is just the way we react to that."
"I definitely think we have got the players here [to win
the title]. We did come in as a bit of like an underdog team, we
didn't really have as big names that we had in the past which
is probably a good thing.
"Everyone has just bonded with each other and we have
really become a team and we are all playing for each other and I
reckon everyone is going to give everything for each player in the
team so I think we should be pretty confident.
