Departing Wallabies lock Kane Douglas has eye on 2019 World Cup
KANE DOUGLAS has not given up hope of playing in a World Cup. He plans to Âreturn to Australia and challenge for a place in the Wallabies’ 2019 squad.
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KANE DOUGLAS has not given up hope of playing in a World Cup, revealing he plans to return to Australia following his stint in Ireland to challenge for a place in the Wallabies’ 2019 squad.
Douglas has been dumped from the Wallabies squad for this series against France after revealing he is joining Leinster at the end of the year, and despite being among the best locks in Australia coach Ewen McKenzie will only use him if there is a second-row injury crisis.
The decision to leave this year means Douglas will not play in next year’s World Cup, but while many believe his international career is already over, the Waratahs star has other ideas.
“I know I am missing out on the World Cup, but I’ve got the next one, I’ll be 29 years old then,” Douglas told The Sunday Telegraph.
“It depends how your body is going and if you’re still playing well.
“I am going to Ireland to experience living in another country, playing in another competition, have a new adventure.
“But in the back of my mind I’m hoping to go over there for a couple of years and come back. I want to settle in Australia, I wouldn’t want to live overseas forever. Australia is home.
“My contract ends in June, 2017. Maybe if I come back, who knows, hopefully the Waratahs might still want me.”
Age will not be an issue for Douglas in 2019 when the World Cup is held in Japan. James Horwill, 29, started for Australia in Saturday night’s second Test against France while the evergreen Victor Matfield was to captain South Africa against Wales early Sunday morning (AEST) at 37.
The key will be how two seasons in tough European competitions render Douglas’s body, which has been remarkably injury-free throughout his professional career.
Like his NRL star brother Luke Douglas, Kane has built a reputation for toughness and longevity, handling the rigours of elite contact sport with incredible resolve having never missed a game through injury since debuting for NSW in 2010.
Douglas will move to Dublin with his South African model girlfriend Jennarly Vieira late this year for a two-season stint at the champion Irish club that has previously fielded Wallaby stars Rocky Elsom, Lote Tuqiri and Owen Finegan.
It was not a move that Douglas decided upon lightly, but the tragedy of losing his mother Trish last year has given him new perspectives on life.
“I think about things a lot differently now,” Douglas said.
“Mum and dad, they didn’t do too much travelling themselves growing up.
“I have loved that side of being on tours, seeing different places. I always think about how other people live in different countries.
“There are a lot of people in Australia who live their whole life here and don’t see many places.
“I got a chance to go over, play a sport I love, be in a different country, it’s a great opportunity.”
For a boy from Yamba, who has lived in the same Cronulla unit since he moved to Sydney in 2006, this was as much a lifestyle decision as it was about experiencing northern hemisphere club rugby.
Douglas cites Dublin’s proximity to the rest of Europe, and the seven-hour flight to New York, as one of the irresistible lures of Leinster’s offer.
As for talk of mass defections from Australian rugby to Europe and Japan post World Cup, Douglas believes many talented players will remain because “the dream for any young kid playing here is to represent the Wallabies”.
And before he goes, Douglas still has one last piece of business to take care of; winning the Super Rugby title with the Waratahs.
“I want to go out with a bang,” Douglas said.
“I have loved my time here, the Tahs have been very good to me. I owe them a lot.
“I think Michael Cheika, Daryl Gibson and Nathan Grey have done an outstanding job as coaches.
“Cheik is old school and I love that.
“He loves the physicality and while I embraced it last year, this year I have enjoyed it even more with Jacques Potgieter coming in and Will Skelton in his second year.
“We’ve done well this year but we’ve got some big games coming up and I want to do everything I can to help the team win.”
Originally published as Departing Wallabies lock Kane Douglas has eye on 2019 World Cup