Aden Ekanayake’s journey through clubland to Sevens and on to Junior Wallabies berth
Backrower Aden Ekanayake’s journey to the Junior Wallabies has been anything but typical.
The talented and tall, lanky forward graduated from Sydney’s Barker College as a 17-year old but was a direct beneficiary of the newly developed Sydney Juniors pathway that was created to open opportunities for young players in the Shute Shield colts’ competition.
“There were a lot of boys who were really talented in that side. Some were like me and young for their year at school, others had left school to do a trade,” Ekanayake told Rugby News.
"It’s a really good pathway because most of those boys were playing colts and in my opinion, playing colts is a higher standard than playing schoolboy footy because you get exposed to bigger, older guys.”
Despite finishing school early, Ekanayake played his way from Gordon’s colts program into the Sydney Juniors side and was eventually picked in the Australian Schools & U18s team that played New Zealand late last year.
“When it used to just be Australian Schoolboys, they didn’t look at kids playing colts even if they were under 18,” he said.
“But playing against the better colts sides last year like Warringah and Sydney Uni, I reckon the intensity and skill level in those games were similar to rep games I played against QLD U18s.
“You play difficult games in colts every week and you learn to do it week in, week out and I think that’s a massive advantage.”
After splitting his time between clubland and under 18 rep footy in 2023, Ekanayake earned an Aussie Sevens development contract and trained two days a week with Australia’s top squad prior to linking with the Juniors Wallabies.
“There’s a lot less running back in XVs and I’m enjoying that at the moment,” the 19-year old laughed.
“I’m loving my time with the Aussie Sevens though. I’ve learnt a lot about the professionalism that’s needed at the next level. The training load in Sevens is massive and it takes a big toll on your body so the work you do around training to help with your recovery is massive.
“That professionalism and the standards that all the older guys set has been a big eye opener and I think that will help me a lot in rugby whether it’s Sevens or XVs.”
Ekanayake started at No.6 for the Junior Wallabies in a 25-6 loss to Argentina on a terribly wet Thursday night on the Sunshine Coast last weekend.
"The conditions were pretty horrendous. I don’t think I’ve played in anything as bad as that before but we didn’t adapt well to it,” the backrower said.
“As a team, we’re still building and we’ve worked hard since our first game on a few things. We need to convert more of our opportunities into points against South Africa.
“You really noticed Argentina, and I think South Africa will be the same, but they keep everything tight and play a really strong territory game. Their maul is really strong and they throw a lot of short passes and roll around the corner in attack.
“We like to throw the ball around a bit more but we need to learn to adapt and play a bit tighter when it’s needed.”
At 95kgs, Ekanayake is still trying to add size to his athletic frame but said he’s looking forward to challenging himself against bigger players during the inaugural U20s Rugby Championship.
“I’d like to get closer to 100kgs, but it’s been hard to put on much weight while I’ve been training with the Sevens. I’m working hard on it though with my diet and training.
“South Africa are obviously a big side. We’ve reviewed their game against New Zealand and we’ve got a few things up our sleeve to throw at them.
"They are big boys, but we’ve got plenty of big boys as well and hopefully on a bit of a drier field, we can show our speed and skill as well.”
The Junior Wallabies play South Africa on Tuesday evening and New Zealand on Sunday before turning their attention to the U20s World Cup in South Africa beginning on June 29.
“From our last camp to this one, we’ve built a lot and I think we’ll get better every game we play,” Ekanayake said.
"In every review we have, we’re constantly talking about building and I’m confident we’ve got the crop of players to give the rest of these games and then the World Cup a red hot crack.”
Feature Image: Getty Images/Albert Perez