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Seven years after he rejected his parents’ advice to stay home and become a prison officer in Fiji – telling them he wanted to “play for Australia”- the Queensland Reds backrower is edging closer to his Wallaby dream.
Enjoying new found freedom to express himself under Les Kiss, Uru scored a try double in the impressive win over the Rebels last weekend, prompting former Wallaby Matt To’omua to push his Wallaby claims on The Roar Rugby Podcast.
“The Reds back row have been great. And for me, Seru Uru has been unbelievable,” To’omua said.
“I thought probably a year or two ago, this guy could easily wear a gold jersey. And then on the weekend you saw it. A very complete performance from him.
“He reminds me a lot of Scott Fardy and not just because of the headgear, but just he’s really good at his breakdown work. His defence is very good, but then he pops up in offload positions. He reads the game very well.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
“Fardy wasn’t the most athletic guy, but he would pop up in positions because he could just read the game. I think Seru Uru’s got that about him. And I’m super excited. I think he’s got a gold jersey this year.”
To’omua said he was also reminded of former Brumbies and Force backrower Lachie McCaffrey when he watches Uru – who has represented Australia A recenlty.
“He’s a jumping back rower in my mind. He reminds me of Fardy and McCaffrey, guys who just read the play very, very well,” To’omua said.
“He’s not your abrasive second rower who’s going to set the tone like a Bakkies Botha but he adds an extra element to the game, whether it be from six or whether it be later in the match when it starts to open up.”
Having played in the Fiiji under 20s for three years straight, Uru was set to undergo a course to become a prison guard in Lautoka. He’d applied for a visa to Australia and it came through just in time.
While his folks wanted him to stay for the steady job, Uru thought “nah, I’m not going to go. I want to play for Australia.”
Uru, who first caught the eye during the Reds’ run to the 2021 Super Rugby AU title, has packed on 10kg in his time at the club and at 27 appears to be hitting his peak.
“As I came in, I was really light,” Uru said on Tuesday. “It wasn’t the perfect weight to be playing around in Super Rugby so I had to put on weight. And I feel confident. I feel strong, I would say, in the weight.
And I’m really happy running around the field with the weight.”
He’s shown the ability to sniff out a try in support as well, and says Kiss has injected some “fun” into the Reds style.
“I would say it is a fun thing. But for me, it has been there in the past years, we just we haven’t been using it a lot.
“Thankfully the coaches now, they just let us do what we love to do. Be skillful. Don’t be afraid to do what you love to do. If there’s a chance to offload or do a pass, just do it. Be confident in what you do.
“As you can see, the boys are really loving it. Playing the kind of footy that we love to do. (And being physical, being skillful.”
With new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt saying this week that he wants to reward consistency when picking his teams this season, Uru knows he needs to keep his form ticking over. But so far, so good.
“I’ve just been happy with how I’m going, where I’m at,” said Uru. “And there’s still a few improvements in there, still a few fixes in my games.
“But I’m really happy with how I’m going and with how the team is going.”