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Emotions are sure to run high as the Australian rugby community celebrates Dan Vickerman’s life and mourns his loss at a memorial service for the former Wallabies lock on Wednesday.
Hundreds are expected to pack Sydney University’s Oval No.1 to pay tribute to Vickerman following the father of two’s shock death 10 days ago, at just 37.
Vickerman, who left behind his wife and two young sons, played the last of his 63 Tests for Australia in a 2011 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand.
Grieving NSW Waratahs plan to pay their respects to Vickerman from South Africa after making the tough call to miss their former teammate’s service in Sydney.
Halfback Nick Phipps was among a handful who played with Vickerman at club, state and national level with Sydney University, the Waratahs and Wallabies.
But Phipps and the others will be unable to attend Wednesday’s service while on Super Rugby duty in Vickerman’s native South Africa.
“We’ll be doing something,” Phipps said on Tuesday ahead of the Tahs’ round-two clash with 2016 finalists the Lions in Johannesburg early on Sunday morning (AEDT).
“(It was) an extremely difficult decision to sort of make. There were about five or six of us that had a chat to (coach) Daryl (Gibson) and we sort of figured out that the very earliest that we could get back over here would be Thursday afternoon.
“We sort of made the decision knowing the big fella, he’d probably prefer us to be over here working hard early.
“So we made the idea that we’re going to try to have something over here either tomorrow or the next day just to remember the big fella in our own way.
“That’ll be a good experience for us and we’ll be able to sort of give a little bit of closure before we lead into the weekend.”
Phipps said Vickerman’s death had hit hard.
“There’s only so much you can do. Every day it’s another step for a lot of players who are remembering such a great man and for us we want to make sure we respect him and remember him (in) the best way possible and we believe that’s on the footy field.
“There’s different sort of coping methods for a few players that are quite strong, but I think a silver lining is it’s brought the squad close together.
“It gave us the opportunity to really get around some blokes who were battling for a little bit and also to open the conversation to a lot of different players and making sure that we’re looking after our best friends.”
After a private funeral, Vickerman’s memorial service will take place at 2pm before a wake is held in the TAG Foundation Grandstand on Sydney University’s Oval No.2.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.