Former Wallabies flanker Jack Dempsey has “fully converted” his father into a Scotland supporter after initial umbrage over his international switch.
Dempsey, who played for Australia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, is in line to turn out for his adopted country in the tournament later this year.
He revealed last year that his father didn’t take the news of his Scotland move especially well, but after a trip to watch him play, he is now a fan.
Father watched two Six Nations games
Dempsey qualified for Scotland through his maternal grandfather and has been hugely impressive for Glasgow Warriors since arriving at the side.
His success for club and country has earned praise, and after watching two Six Nations matches, his father has come around to his allegiance switch.
“He is fully converted now. I brought him over. My uncle, my dad and my mum, they all came over during the Six Nations and got to experience that for the first time,” Dempsey said from Scotland’s training camp in France.
“Back in Australia, there is nothing like the Six Nations in terms of the spectacle and all the history of the rivalry for such a long time.
“To see that and be part of the atmosphere at Murrayfield, it was the Ireland and Italy games… My dad was fully kitted out, head to toe, I gave him all the kit. He was singing the anthem. He didn’t know the words, but I think he was just making them up.
“He loved it, mate. He is fully on board. And mum, with her Scottish links, has always been on board.”
Dempsey is keen to go deeper into the Rugby World Cup tournament than in 2019 when his Australia side lost out to England in the quarter-finals.
It won’t be easy, however, as this year, they will take on Ireland, South Africa, Tonga and Romania in the pool stage in a fight for a last-eight spot.
“It was disappointing in that campaign in ’19 with Australia. We got pretty beaten up in the quarter-final by England and sent home quick,” he said.
“It’s something you have been building for since you were 12 or 13, and every four years, you sit down with your family and watch the World Cup. It’s the pinnacle of the sport.
“You build as a professional with that as the aim and to get that far and fall so short and be disappointed…
“To get a second crack at that, obviously for me it’s a different environment completely, but it’s something you want to rectify.
“That’s what drives you, not only to make it but be successful and look back when you are 40, 50, 60 years old and have fond memories.”
Disappointing tournament in 2019
Unlike Dempsey and Australia, Scotland didn’t make it out of their pool in 2019, with the back-row revealing that Scotland are using that as motivation.
“I remember watching when Hamish (Watson) did his knee; we were all watching in the Australia squad,” he said.
“That was a big loss, and they had some disappointing results against Ireland and Japan.
“Four years on, there is that Scottish sense of humour, they look back with that dark sense of humour. But it still drives a lot of the individuals who are still part of the group.
“A lot of people say those results are why we have such a hard group now. But we like being the underdog and be able to prove the haters wrong and that’s the position we are in and we look forward to the challenge.”
READ MORE: Scotland centre has ‘licence to play’ after fearing his career was over 12 months ago
The article Jack Dempsey’s dad is now a ‘fully converted’ Scotland supporter appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
Article courtesy of
Source link
