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Wallabies put their faith in the 'Doc'

15th September, 2016
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His new nickname is ‘Doc’, but debutant prop Tom Robertson isn’t quite ready to patch up his Wallabies teammates just yet.

Robertson will make his Test debut on Saturday night after being named on the bench for the Rugby Championship showdown with Argentina in Perth.

It’s been a meteoric rise for the 22-year-old, who was a standout performer for the NSW Waratahs in his Super Rugby debut season this year.

Robertson is also studying medicine, with the 107kg powerhouse in the first year of his four-year post-grad degree.

Wallabies scrumhalf Nick Phipps has already dubbed Robertson the ‘Doc’.

But when lock Adam Coleman split open his lip in last week’s 23-17 win over South Africa, Robertson wasn’t putting his hand up to fix him up.

“He asked me whether I wanted to stitch it up,” Robertson said.

“I said the only stitches I’d done was on a pig carcass, so it probably wasn’t going to be as good as (what he ended up having done).”

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As for fixing his own injuries?

“I dislocated my finger the other day, and it hurt, so I definitely wasn’t going to do it myself,” Robertson laughed.

Juggling rugby and study hasn’t been easy for Robertson.

His studies take up between 30-40 hours per week.

And if his rugby commitments continue to grow, something might have to give.

But for now, he’s found the answer to fitting in both of his passions.

“Instead of watching Netflix after training, I go back and study,” Robertson said.

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“I’m not super smart, so I have to study for it.”

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was full of praise for Robertson, and feels the emerging star is ready for the big stage.

“He just takes it in his stride,” Cheika said.

“I often find him sitting down with the headphones on doing his medical stuff after training.

“That’s a good chance to talk to him, because he’s always looking to get out of studying.

“It is early for him (to get a Wallabies call-up). But I think the time is right.”

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