By Matt Findlay

Former Italian Sevens captain James Ambrosini will never rule out signing another contract if the opportunity presents itself but, for now at least, it’s all about helping “put Bond on the map”.

The 30-year-old landed at Bond University midway through last season after almost a decade playing his trade in Europe, but tore his hamstring a few games in and missed the Bull Sharks’ finals run.

He’s been superb in the No.10 jersey after making a point of sticking with Bond this year, directing traffic as the side pushed into third on the Hospital Challenge Cup ladder before last week’s bye. 

“I’d definitely think about it if the opportunity came knocking again, I’d be very grateful for it too, but I’m also mindful the competition at the Reds is pretty intense and James O’Connor is a pretty handy 10,” Ambrosini laughed.

“So the focus for me is definitely trying to help put Bond on the map by winning a Premier grade title for the first time so in terms of my intentions, no, I’m not really playing for a contract.

“I’m happy with where I am, working as a strength and conditioning coach, building my own business. You get to an age when you have to think about everything outside of rugby.

“In that respect, I’m really glad I did my sports science degree and all the other courses that have put me in a position to have this career after professional rugby.”

Ambrosini signed with Italy’s Benetton when he was just 21 and spent four years playing in Europe’s top leagues, before playing in Italy’s Top10 for four more years with San Dona, then Fiamme Ora and finally Rovigo Delta.

While forever grateful for the opportunities, particularly the chance to represent Italy, he did admit his time at Benetton was “difficult” and concedes perhaps he made the Northern Hemisphere shift too young.

“Perhaps it might’ve panned out differently if I’d gone a little bit later, but that’s easy to say with hindsight and I’m very grateful for the experience I got on and off the field, you learn a lot about yourself over there,” he said.

“I’m happy with that decision, because I didn’t have a professional contract here at the time so I could’ve kept going on training contracts but Benetton gave me the chance to play in [Europe’s top leagues].

“It was tough at Benetton because they were redeveloping pretty much everything while I was there and, at that stage, being an Italian side, it was tough to play well against the best sides across Europe every week.

“When I went over they preferred [kicking] 10s as well and my kicking game wasn’t that strong at that point, so even though I felt like I was a better ball-player they preferred the guys who would kick for days.

“So I don’t think I fully expressed myself at Benetton but I still learned a lot, it forced me to work on that kicking aspect and I obviously got my chance with the Italian Sevens and the (Emerging) Italy sides.

“My time with the Sevens was definitely the highlight while I was over there.”

Returning to “Australian-style rugby” has been a breath of fresh air, Ambrosini said, adding he’s certain Bond is capable of claiming a much-coveted, maiden Hospital Challenge Cup this season.

Like the rest of the competition though, they’re chasing the still-undefeated University of Queensland – the Red Heavies are 18 points clear on top of the table.

“We were 21-19 up with seven minutes to go against UQ at their home ground, but we ended up losing [38-21], it was a bit ridiculous how they finished that game,” Ambrosini said.

“We hadn’t really been able to string a full, 80-minute performance together until Sunnybank before the bye. We’re still a new side with new combinations, and we’ve used about 47 players this year because of injuries.

“They’re not excuses because we’ve definitely got the talent, we just need to keep everyone on the field and put it all together.”