Liam Wright ‘desperate’ to again represent the Wallabies after a four-year absence

Liam Wright knows he must cement his spot in the Queensland back-row to have any chance of playing for the Wallabies again.

Liam Wright tries to charge his way through the NSW defence in Queensland’s 40-22 win over the Waratahs. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

As “desperate” as Liam Wright is to again wear a Wallabies jersey, the Reds co-captain has vowed it won’t distract him from his priority of keeping his spot in Queensland’s starting team this season.

The 26-year-old flanker made the most recent of his five Wallabies appearances in 2020.

Since then, injuries have hurt his career and he has been unable to force his way back into the national team.

“I’m pretty desperate to get back in that Wallabies fold,” Wright said.

“I got a pretty nice taste of it in the first few years of my career, and having to watch from afar in the last few years has been difficult.”

However, wanting it too much has hindered Wright.

“Once I start thinking too far ahead about how I can get that Wallabies jersey, it unravels a bit with Queensland, so I’m going to do my best to play well for the Reds because there’s a lot of competition for spots in the back-row here,” he said.

“The body’s feeling really good. I feel like I’m in the best place physically to perform.

“The rest will then hopefully take care of itself.”

Reds co-captain Liam Wright takes on the NSW defence in Queensland’s 40-22 first-round win. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Wright and the Reds started their latest Super Rugby Pacific campaign well, beating NSW 40-22 at Suncorp Stadium last Saturday.

However, the Queenslanders face a tougher task on Sunday against the Hurricanes in a “Super Round” clash at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

The Reds haven’t beaten the Wellington-based side since 2013.

“They’re an impressive team. They keep building on their squad year in, year out, so the focus for us this week is building on ourselves,” Wright said.

“We thought we had a decent showing last week but there’s still a lot of room for improvement for us.

“We’re still trying to figure out what type of team we’re going to be and what our DNA is going to be.

“We’re going to have some clunky moments but this week is really about trying to get a little bit better than last week.”

Hurricanes and All Blacks star Jordie Barrett will make his 100th Super Rugby appearance on Sunday.

“He’s a great player. He leads their team around well. He’s a physical presence in the midfield, so we’re going to just have to combat that,” Wright said.

Originally published as Liam Wright ‘desperate’ to again represent the Wallabies after a four-year absence