Waratahs prop Tom Robertson proud to represent war veteran family members in Anzac round

PULLING on the Waratahs’ Anzac jersey against the Lions on Friday holds particularly special meaning for prop Tom Robertson.

PULLING on the Waratahs’ Anzac jersey against the Lions on Friday holds particularly special meaning for prop Tom Robertson.

““Every Anzac Day, my mum and dad and my grandfathers, they always do the Anzac march and both my grandfathers and my great grandfather are Anzacs, so there’s definitely a lot of history there.

“A lot of the boys in the team actually have a lot of ancestry going back that way, a lot of boys still have medals from their grandfathers and great grandfathers.

“It’s going to be a special day and hopefully we can do the jersey justice.”

With the bye next week, this is the Waratahs’ Anzac round.

Waratahs prop Tom Robertson has a strong family connection to Anzac Day.

Roberston and the rest of the team will wear the new strip, featuring the design of an Anzac soldier, at Allianz Stadium when they host the South African ladder-leaders from Johannesburg.

But the loosehead won’t be using any tales of war as motivation.

“People from that generation are a bit too proud to come out and tell you what they did and carry on like that,’ Robertson said.

“It’s the pride that’s gone down from generations, my great grandfather served in the light horse brigade in Africa, he went back there after he served in the war to see all the accomplishments he did.

“To even survive it, I think it’s a pretty big achievement in itself. There’s definitely a lot of family pride in that.”

The Lions will provide NSW with a stern test in the scrum.

“They’ve got 31 penalties from scrums so far this year, so that’s the most out of any team,” Robertson said.

“I guess our mindset is don’t give them the ball for a start and make sure we keep the ball, and if we do have to play, we play down their end and use that territory there.

“There’s a few things technically in the scrum time that we’ve got to get right as a front row but as a team perspective, hopefully we just don’t get rid of the ball, to be honest.”

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Originally published as Waratahs prop Tom Robertson proud to represent war veteran family members in Anzac round