Wallabies prop channels cricket namesake

Allan Alaalatoa is relishing his role in the Wallabies' starting pack, even if his father had imagined a very different future for him growing up.

Alaalatoa

Prop Allan Alaalatoa is relishing his role in the Wallabies' starting pack. (AAP)

It rolls off the tongue nicely but there's more to Allan Alaalatoa's name than that.

The Wallabies prop looks set to again team with childhood mate and fellow heavyweight Scott Sio for Saturday's clash with South Africa in Port Elizabeth.

But the 24-year-old joked it could have all gone very differently if he had focused his attention on his father Vili's - a Test prop for Samoa - other passion.

"My old man said I had to choose between rugby or cricket growing up," he said.

"It (Allan Border) was my old man's hero around the time I was born ... so he just called me Allan.

"We play a bit of cricket in the gym but that's about as close as I'm going to get (to a cricket career)."

His teammates reckon he holds a cricket bat like a tennis racket and at 120kg the Brumbies workhorse has good reason to have landed where he has.

But like his namesake in his prime, the Wallabies' prop has been one of the side's rare steadying influences during a so-far inconsistent Rugby Championship campaign.

The full squad trained freely on Monday but Alaalatoa is expected to keep Taniel Tupou and Sekope Kepu on the bench at a packed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, for what will be his 27th cap and 10th start.

That is despite new father Kepu breaking records in the gym, according to Alaalatoa, after joining the team on Monday.

"Just getting that opportunity to start has been huge for myself and then getting back-to-back games," Alaalatoa said.

Australia sit on the bottom of the Rugby Championship ladder after last Saturday's shock loss to Argentina on the Gold Coast, but have touched down in South Africa in good spirits.

"We're still inconsistent all round in terms of our combinations as a forward pack," he said.

"It's a good time for us to tour and connect as a group and get to know each other, a lot more than what we do now.

"We only have each other and it's something we need to draw on and use throughout the week."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world