Regardless of the outcome in their clash with the Highlanders this week, the Waratahs will be raising a glass after the match as their skipper Phil Waugh plays his 100th Super Rugby game.
A century of Super Rugby matches needs some clarification for the incredible achievement that it is. Waugh is behind only two NSW players: David Lyons (100), whom Waugh will surpass on Friday night, and Chris Whitaker (107).
The great Matthew Burke only appeared 77 times; Rocky Elsom 66; Dan Vickerman 52.
Even Matt Dunning and Al Baxter, who feel like they’ve been around forever, and who (with due respect) have nowhere near Waugh’s consistency, have totals of 90 and 88 respectively.
Waugh’s century has taken him ten years.
He made his provincial debut in 1999 against the Brumbies and must have been an almost automatic selection, given that he had played three years of GPS rugby and had captained Australian Schoolboys and Australia U/19’s along the way.
His captaincy credentials continued in his senior career, with Australia U/21’s, Australia A, the Waratahs, and finally the holy grail, the Wallabies skippers cap.
He was on the radar long before this, however.
I remember being one of many lower grade players crowded into the dressing room under the stand at Sydney University No 1 Oval in 1998 to see the Colts jersey presentation. This kid Waugh had been getting a fair bit of press, but I wasn’t prepared for the sight of the barrel-chested warrior who stepped up to take the captains jersey.
I had no idea that 19 year olds were allowed to look like that. And, of course, you just knew that he was going to be something.
Bruce Ross, longtime Sydney University colts coach and president of Sydney University Sport, also remembers the impact Waugh had as a young player arriving at the University in 1998.
“I have two enduring memories of the first time I saw Phil playing Colts, which was at St John’s Oval. When the game started, I noticed that whenever he made a tackle he was immediately on his feet, standing over the tackled player and ripping the ball from him. I had never seen this done before, let alone so quickly and systematically, and I have always believed that Phil pioneered what is now standard practice for a No. 7.
“The other memory is watching the two sides walk off the field at the end of the game. Phil’s presence and demeanor was like a man of twenty-five among a group of nineteen-year-olds.”
Another old rugby mate, a former St Josephs College and Sydney representative, also remembers the Waugh aura.
“I got asked to go to a game at Shore by Al Miller, who was the assistant coach of the Shore 1st XV, to watch this ‘freakish kid’ play. He was adamant that this bloke would go all the way and be a Wallaby.
I went along thinking. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen plenty of these so-called freaks come through Joeys and never make it all the way’. But Phil Waugh played the house down. It was like there was two of him out there. I followed his career from then on.”
Asking around the rugby fraternity, these stories just kept coming.
One guy I spoke to remembered being in a group of recent school leavers of Waugh’s vintage who were all going out to a party after a day at the beach. When asked if he was coming out to fill up on beer and chase some girls, Waugh smiled and simply said, “Sorry boys, I’m training tomorrow.”
No training was scheduled, but the ultimate competitor knew that the session you missed might just be the one that ultimately made the difference.
After years of self-imposed punishment, and with his place in the upper echelons firmly entrenched, Phil Waugh endeared himself to clubmen across Sydney by running the water for Sydney University teams when he wasn’t required for playing duties at the elite levels.
Perhaps one of the great stories surrounds Waugh’s reluctance to step straight into grade sides upon his return to the club, preferring to allow the players who had done the work thus far to retain their spots.
Three or four years ago, Waugh’s presence on the bench during a Grand Final was noticed by a visiting English football fan who was attending with friends in the University crowd.
Unable to understand why the throng was so silent, the visiting Pom (perhaps a Nottingham Forest fan) started singing to the tune of He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. Within moments, the entire stand was bellowing. “We’ve got Phil Waugh, on the bench, We’ve got Phil Waugh, on the bench.”
My favourite tale, though, came from a mate of a mate who today confirmed the story.
He works with Phil’s mother, who is a theatre nurse, and who once told him that that Phil’s proudest sporting achievement in his high school years at Shore was making the Senior Athletics team to run the 4 x 100 metres relay at the GPS Carnival.
Not captaining the 1st XV. Not being wicketkeeper in the 1st XI for three years. Not making the Aussie Schoolboys. But training hard and improving his 100 metre time to the point where he was the fourth fastest bloke in the school.
I don’t know the man at all, but when you hear stories like this, you wish you did.
My memories of Phil are the same as most rugby fans in the country. Years of devastating physical contact on men several kilos heavier. Hunched over in a huddle with that maniacal determination on his face as he exhorts his team to greater effort. Breaking through a line with ball in hand and blond hair flying as the veins almost burst in his bull neck. Bouncing up from a tackle in the same movement to steal a ball from a flailing opponent.
And perhaps the most famous, the moment of sheer desperation as he bursts forward to try to block the kick from Johnny Wilkinson in the 2003 RWC final.
That moment perhaps best encapsulates what Phil Waugh is all about.
He is rarely beaten, never bowed, and whatever the occasion, you know that you’ll never get anything less than everything he has. His disregard for his physical safety is total, but at the same time he approaches technical perfection.
His effect on a team is clear from the Waratahs seasons in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, with Waugh out injured for the majority of the time, the Waratahs came second last.
In 2008, with Waugh on board, they lost the final.
It’s not surprising that every team wants a Phil Waugh, and that every young footballer wants to be one. For those whose time has passed, however, there’s only one thing left to do.
Join the Waratahs, and raise a glass to the ultimate centurion – Phil Waugh.
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