This article originally appeared in Tah Time, the Waratahs official matchday programme.

A career in teaching in the “real world” beckons for Matt Carraro beyond this year, but before that he’s still got a job to do for the Waratahs.

TAH TIME: Tell us something about Brumbies week at the Tahs and maybe compare it to Waratahs week down in Canberra during your time there in 2007?

MATT CARRARO: Yeah my first season of Super Rugby was down there but I don’t think it’s really comparable. The Brumbies though have always had that edge with the way they started out. You know the sort of stuff – Sydney rejects forming a team down there. We don’t have a Brumbies week as such up here but we certainly have that rivalry and it’s the same with every one of the Aussie teams. If you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best and that starts in your own conference.

TT: Last start against the Brumbies was a pretty big week for the Carraro family wasn’t it?

MC: Yeah it was a whirlwind 48 hours down there and the birth of our little girl (Myla). She was born on the Thursday and I was able to get the game face on and head down and meet up with the boys in Canberra and play.

TT: What have you liked about the way that the Brumbies have played in recent years?

MC: Their style of play is definitely evolving and in this year they have attempted to really spread the ball out wide and use their attacking weapons in the wider channels. They have a few Wallaby wingers out there, so why not use them. They really pushed us in that first game. They drew our fullbacks up and the wingers had to cover a lot of extra ground and it worked really well for them.

TT: The Tahs haven’t really clicked into any sort of form this year but it has been close at different times hasn’t it?

MC: We didn’t really start the season that well against the Reds and the front end of our games haven’t been going the way that we would like. We’ve come home well but getting out of the blocks well has got to be a focus this week and every week from here on in. In some ways we have been shocked by early points against us and we haven’t moved on quick enough in the games that we have played.

TT: You’re probably the most senior member of the Tahs back division. What do you like about some of the younger backs coming through in the likes of David Horwitz and Andrew Kellaway?

MC: (Laughs) I’m only a senior player because of my age. There’s a lot of other guys with more caps than me in the side but those guys have really stepped up. Dave had a really good off-season and has grabbed his chances well in the early part of the season with Bernard Foley’s injury. He’s always had the skills to do the job he just had to be ready mentally and he has shown that. Andrew Kellaway has stepped in and done well. Anyone who has seen him in club Rugby knows how dangerous he can be and it was great to see him get his chance off the bench (against the Rebels).

TT: If things had gone a different way you could have played a Rugby World Cup for Italy. Tell us about how that all went down?

MC: Eligibility wise that was never going to happen because I had played games for Australia A. My grandfather was Italian and my coach at Bath Steve Meehan was good friends with the Italian coach (Nick Mallett) at the time and there were a few questions asked.

TT: You had time in Europe with Bath and Montpellier in the early part of your career. Is that a right of passage that you would recommend for any young Rugby player?

MC: Everyone’s different really. I got to a point over here where I wasn’t really going to go anywhere with the Waratahs in 2009 and I got the opportunity to head overseas. It was something I always wanted to do. It’s one of the great things about our game and I jumped at the chance. I loved it in Bath and also France but I always wanted to come back and play in what I grew up with and that’s Super Rugby.

TT: What’s in the pipeline beyond this season?

MC: Who knows but I might have to enter the real world! I’m a qualified teacher so I’ve been looking into some opportunities there and also get into some coaching there as well. Schoolboy level would be a great place to start because it’s all about attack. I suppose I’ll see if my passion for coaching is there.