In conversation, the 27-year-old from Sydney is a laidback character, but you also sense that, despite a stunning first two outings in the Autumn Nations Series, he’s simply raring to go for the next one. Look out, Scotland.
A cold snap took hold in Cardiff in the days following an almighty humbling by the Wallabies; one that was preceded on Sunday by a Welsh defence frozen by a rampaging Wright at the Principality Stadium.
The stats show that Wright gained 243 metres that day. Not only is that the fifth highest tally in a match by a player from a Tier 1 nation since Opta recorded such data, but it’s also the highest in six years. Wright has also gained the most metres of any player for a Tier 1 nation (781) so far in 2024.
Where does that performance against Wales rank in an international career that’s brought him 35 caps, starting with a try-scoring debut against the All Blacks in 2020? “That’d be up there,” he answers. “It’s hard to surpass making your debut, but a hat-trick is something I don’t know that I’ve done in professional football to date in my career, at a unique stadium, in the fashion that we won.
“I had fun out there alongside the fourteen others who were with me – or thirteen for most of it. It was a good time.
“We’re starting to show what we’ve been training for for a really long time. Now, when we look each other in the eye after the game, we can be pretty pleased with each other’s performances.”
The past year has been hard for the Wallabies team, including a dispiriting Rugby Championship in which they finished last, but it’s been hard for Wright the individual too. Left out of the squad for the World Cup – inexplicably, many would say – while he doesn’t bear the scars of France 2023, he used the disappointment of his omission to take his game to the next level.
“I had to take a new approach to the pre-season and had some honest conversations with Bernie at my club,” reflects Wright. “There was not a whole lot of change football-wise, to be fair. I was physically in good condition, but I feel like I was really honest with myself.”
‘Bernie’? That would be Brumbies and Australia legend Stephen Larkham, now head coach at the club. That honesty Wright describes paid dividends. After his hat-trick heroics in the dismantling of Wales last weekend, Larkham sung his fullbacks’ praises, putting Wright up there as one of the world’s best in his position: "These last couple of performances and his performances through Super Rugby – he played every minute of every game for us this year. He was a standout player in just about every game. Then he’s carried that into the Test arena."
St Joseph’s in Hunters Hill, Sydney, could be described as an unofficial Wallabies rugby academy, such is its production rate of elite international players. “I couldn’t give any higher praise to Joey’s as a school, and all that played a huge part in both my time there and the time that I’ve spent after school kicking on into playing professional football,” says Wright.
“I’ve kept some really good connections with a number of people from there. I feel like you don’t really have a full appreciation until maybe a couple of years after leaving as to how good it was at a school like that.
“Peering back, year seven through ten, in the boarding house of an evening after study time; getting out on the field and kicking the ball minutes before having to jump into bed. Just some of the best times of my life.”
The school is where he first came into contact with two alumni who so memorably lit up Australian back play in the same jersey Wright wears today: Kurtley Beale and Matt Burke.
“Kurtley would come back and give his afternoons, both helping coach and just being around, showing face and the appreciation that he had for the school. Matt was another one, just to name a couple of the greatest Wallabies we’ve had that have played for the jersey. I’ve been able to build a pretty good rapport with Kurtley, and we fortunately got in a handful of Tests together.”
Wright continues to learn at the feet of some great rugby intellects. At Brumbies he has Larkham, while now with Australia he has Joe Schmidt. ‘Honesty’ is the word he keeps coming back to. “Personally speaking, I feel like Joe’s got the best out of me out of pure honesty – you rate your own performance, based off honesty – and the application he’s brought in to detail and the fundamentals to our game have probably got the best out of some of the natural attributes that some of us bring to the team.
“Here was a group of men who had a rocky 12 months, probably down on a little bit of confidence, and I feel like Joe’s brought us all together to now be playing a brand of football with confidence.”
That Wright played in the NRL for Manly Sea Eagles before playing his first professional rugby union game for the Brumbies have led to him fielding what we imagine are countless questions about Wallaby newcomer Joseph Suaalii, who set up Wright so wonderfully for his try against England.
“He was pretty good at football before he joined, so no one had to tell him how to play the game, as such,” Wright says, when asked if he offered any advice. “Just try to keep it really simple, don’t look into too much analytics, potentially too much of the structured part of the game – initially, anyway. The best parts of his game are the physical attributes that he can bring, the instinctual play, and I think we saw the best of that at Twickenham.”
A victory against the Scots – who have won three of the last four meetings – would see Australia go above Scotland and England to sixth in the world, but Wright is blissfully unaware of such things. Instead he’s just focused on enjoying his second coming in the green and gold, and praising the “awesome Aussie support” he and the team have received in London and Cardiff.
When he lines up to sing ‘Advance Australia Fair’ on Sunday in Edinburgh, what will he be thinking about? “The anthem is a funny one: it’s probably the one time where I am thinking of the people that played a huge part in my journey – in particular my old man. He put me into the game at such a young age, and often tells me how proud he is when he watches the anthem sung.”
Travelling the world and playing at sold-out stadiums is a privilege, but being away from your loved ones for so long is the price you pay. “I’m a very proud girl dad,” reveals Wright. “Indy turned one a handful of days ago. That was difficult to miss, but the understanding is that it’s part and parcel of being able to represent your country. It comes with a little bit of sacrifice, so I’ll be in the gift shop before we head home.”
Scotland v Australia, Sunday 24th November, 13:40 – live on TNT Sports.
