By Jonathan B Geddes

A FORMER Aussie Sevens star who grew up in Hornsby on Sydney’s leafy upper North Shore is on the verge of being selected to play in next year’s Rugby World Cup – for the Portuguese Wolves national side.

And the Shute Shield finals series has given Gordon centre JL Bacon the chance to further push his claims for a call-up.

Right now, he is racing against the clock to be fit for Saturday’s sudden-death showdown against Warringah at Rat Park due to a hamstring injury and was not named in the team. Highlanders coach Dave Telfer said there was a chance he could be a late inclusion.              

The 24-year-old is on the radar of the Wolves and has already played for their development side last year.

“Just the chance to play in a home World Cup is pretty exciting,” Bacon told Rugby News. “Having that in the back of my head adds a bit of pressure, but it really gets me to focus and step up my game now.” 

The connection came after Bacon sent away clips of himself playing last year as he looked to get some games overseas in the Australian off-season. They ended up with the Portuguese Rugby Union, who reached out to the young Aussie.

Bacon went over to Portugal last September and played three games with their development team against Romania A, Belgium A and the Czech Republic.

He then trained with the national team, but a broken foot prevented Bacon from making his Test debut then.

“They flew me over this year, and I played some more development games in South Africa against the Cheetahs, the Griquas and the Pumas,” Bacon said.

He was then scheduled to fly to the US and play in the Nations Cup, but his World Rugby clearance did not arrive in time.        

ALL BLACK INFLUENCE 

“IT’S been a bit of a long journey, but they want me to go over again in September and stay with them until the World Cup – and then hopefully get picked in their squad,” Bacon said.

He will head off a few weeks after the Shute Shield to try and crack the team, starting with development games against Georgia and Spain.

After that comes the second half of the Nations Cup, where he could make his Test debut.

The Wolves are currently 15^th in the world rankings, and Bacon has learnt from training with the national team that Portuguese rugby is serious business. 

“It’s around that Aussie Sevens level,” he said. “Almost half the national team plays over in France, and some of the boys are in the Top 14.

“There are some very skilled players, so that really raises the bar.”

The Wolves head coach is former All Black Simon Mannix, who was also backs coach at Munster; one of his assistants also worked at Munster, and the other played in the Top 14.

“There is definitely a high level of experience both within the coaching and playing staff,” Bacon said.

STICK TO THE PLAN

BACON has become a key member of the Gordon side, forming a strong centre combination with Jack Hardy.

“JL brings an outstanding work rate, effort, is a good defender, and his communication is excellent as well,” coach Telfer said. “I’m really confident with him when he’s wearing that 13 jersey.” 

Gordon go into the game buoyed by their 40-35 win over Sydney University last Saturday.   

Bacon expects a very physical game against the Rats.

“They have some big forwards and good game controllers in (No.10) Byron Smith and Marrsy (fullback Ben Marr),” he said.

“I think if we have a similar game plan to Uni – just hold the ball, play a bit of territory, trust in our defence  – the game will look after itself,” he said.