Abbott Elated at Twickenham Callup

From ZC to RWC?
By Barney Burnham, filed 3/9/2003
September 4 2003

It was November 2001, when a young South African centre arrived in London to join a Wasps side who were struggling at the foot of the Zurich Premiership. He made his debut - as a replacement - against Newcastle Falcons at Loftus Road, in a game which Wasps supporters still look back on with agony.

With the home side leading by 4 points in injury time, an Alex King penalty missed touch. The Falcons counter-attacked through Pat Lam, and the inspirational Samoan sent Jamie Noon over for a matchwinning try. The conversion made the final score 33-30 and Wasps were anchored to the foot of the table.

Despite scoring tries in his next two appearances as substitute, it wasn't until the end of the season - when Lawrence Dallaglio's return from injury helped Wasps storm up into mid-table - that Abbott established himself as a first choice.

By now, the former Ireland coach Warren Gatland had succeeded Nigel Melville, who'd departed to Gloucester. Gatland was to play a vital role in Abbott's international call-up - but more of that later.

Although Wasps made an uneven start to the 2002/3 season, Abbott was firing on all cylinders. His silky skills were marking him out as a centre of genuine quality.

After Christmas, Wasps embarked on a run which took them to two trophies - The Parker Pen Challenge Cup, and the Zurich Premiership Trophy. Both finals - against Bath and Gloucester - had moments of true class from Abbott: most memorably in the first minute of the ZP Final, when he carved a hole in the Gloucester defence and sent Josh Lewsey over for a try from which the Cherry and Whites never recovered.

Abbott's name was now being touted as a potential England centre. Although he'd represented South Africa at Under-23 level, it hadn't been in recognised internationals and the fact that his mother was born in Manchester meant that he qualified to play for England.

It was during that latter part of last season that Warren Gatland stepped in. He sent a video of the best of Abbott to Clive Woodward. Woodward was clearly impressed, as the Wasp was selected for the tour to New Zealand and Australia.

He played a sound, unspectacular game against the NZ Maori at New Plymouth - in conditions which weren't conducive to running rugby.

He wasn't one of the party released for the Churchill Cup, in Canada, and stayed with the squad for the two Tests. He wasn't needed for those two glorious wins, but his name was then on the list of 43 players called up for the World Cup training camp at Pennyhill Park.

He made a tryscoring debut in the win against Wales and now gets the chance to make his Twickenham debut, as England seek revenge for last week's defeat against France.

"Elated. I'm obviously going to be a bit nervous on the day, but I'm really looking forward to it." That was his reaction, just minutes after Clive Woodward had named him in the team for Saturday's revenge mission.

He goes into the match, still relishing the memory of that ZP final win against Gloucester:"That went really well, but I think maybe Saturday could be a bit tougher! It should be a harder game."

He admits that when he arrived in England, nearly 2 years ago, he'd never have dreamt that things would have gone so well and that he'd be on the brink of a place in the World Cup.

"It was a bit hard at first. I was only concentrating on doing well in club rugby, and I knew that I couldn't play for South Africa after leaving the country. England were doing so well that there seemed to be very little opportunity of playing for them. But last season, things began to go really well for me.To be honest, I was amazed to be picked to go to New Zealand and Australia. I thought I had a chance to make the team for the Churchill Cup team - but to get this far has been unbelievable, and I've really enjoyed it."

He acknowledges that Wasps' success last season was a vital factor in helping him become an international player. "If the club does well, then individuals get noticed - as we saw at the end of the summer tour. Seven Wasps players were picked for World Cup training, which was great for them and great for the club."

Ironically, Saturday's match will bring him up against another South African-born centre, Brian Liebenberg of Stade Français.

"I played against him twice last season, in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup. He's a really good player. He's quite a big lad, and normally plays 10, I think. He's got quite a good boot on him as well, and I think he's going to be quite hard to contain. I remember those two games, he was quite a handful." In fact, Abbott was a tryscorer as Wasps beat the French side 35-22 in the home leg of their Parker Pen Challenge Cup quarterfinal. They went on to win the return leg 27-12 in a heroic performance on a freezing January night in Paris.

Abbott is thrilled to be partnering Will Greenwood for the first time. "He's got a lot of experience, and I hope it'll bring the best out of me - having his calming influence alongside me. To play outside him will be great"

Abbott will be playing at outside centre - his usual Wasps position is on the inside, but he says things will be flexible: "Will's already spoken to me about it. He says he don't have to be rigid about inside and outside - we should mix it up a little bit. If he's happy with that, I am."

He can still hardly believe that he's reached the fringe of the World Cup squad, but he's delighted to have won his first cap and to now have the chance to show what he can do before a home crowd.

So will the fact that he already has that first cap help ease the nerves on Saturday? "I hope so, but I'm not sure - I'll tell you after the game! Obviously, getting a first cap out of the way is quite a big thing - now I just want to focus on Saturday and see what happens."

Wasps fans have become used to seeing Abbott slide gracefully through opposition defences: his nickname amongst his teammates is "Silent Assassin", although fans call him Sonic - apparently he resembles somebody called Sonic the Hedgehog!? If he can reproduce his club form wearing the red rose of England, Twickenham could be in for a treat.