‘Botham Smashes Aussies In Melbourne’ . . . Wales Dreaming Of Historic Repeat Headlines

James Botham Wales. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

‘Botham Smashes Aussies In Melbourne’ . . . Wales Dreaming Of Historic Repeat Headlines

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By David Parsons

James Botham should have been planning for his wedding this summer but there won’t be a more delighted Welshman in Melbourne this weekend when the Cardiff Rugby flanker gets a start against the Wallabies.

Putting the name of Botham and Australia into the same sentence conjures up images of the great England cricketer Ian, Jim’s grandfather, taking on the Aussies on the cricket field. A number of those battles came at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

But the Botham connection with Melbourne, when Jim will be playing on Saturday against the Wallabies at AAMI Park, goes back further than the epic Ashes winning series in 1986-87 when the Aussies were routed in three days and beaten by an innings and 14 runs.

Botham senior spent time in Melbourne playing grade cricket as he learned his cricket and often declares it to be his ‘favourite city’. It will be that and more if Jim can help Wales to end a run of eight straight defeats and get Warren Gatland’s side back on track.

But while the current Welsh slump has got everyone concerned, Botham senior can vouch for how quickly fortunes can change. He was in an England side that failed to win in 11 Tests before going to Australia in 1986 being hailed as the worst England team of all time.

They won that Ashes series 2-1 against all odds and returned to Melbourne in 1992 to play in the One Day cricket World Cup final, thrashing the Aussies by eight wickets in the earlier rounds.

Reacting in the face of adversity is undoubtedly a Botham family trait and Jim has had to do his fair share recently after picking up injury after injury. But since being given given the chance to come into the summer series squad he has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

“It has been great to be a part of the squad again. I hadn’t played for Wales for two years and then came back in against Scotland, had the one game and got injured,” said Botham.

“I think the hardest bit was knowing that I had done something in the game. It wasn’t a case of knee injury, take me straight off – it was kind of grumbling on in the back of my head, and then after the game it was hard.

“I’ve now got to show what I’m made of and try to cement my place in the side. It’s up to me now, really.”

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The enforced reshuffle in the back row for Wales is down ot the hamstring injury suffered by Aaron Wainwright late in the first Test in Sydney. That has meant Taine Plumtree moving across to fill the No 8 role and Botham starting at No 6.

He almost made a sensational impact when he came on in Sydney in the second half, scoring with his first action at a driving maul. Unfortunately, the TMO alerted the referee to some obstruction and the try was chalked off.

“It was mixed emotions, coming on and thinking you had scored. The decision was made by the referee, and that’s final, so I just had to get on with it,” he added.

“The driving maul is part of our DNA and it’s going really well. Jon Humphreys has worked really hard with us on it and we’re all on the same page.”

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The driving maul worked well, and produced the only Welsh try, a penalty try, in Sydney. If that doesn’t need much more refining, then the loss of four line-outs will have sharpened the focus in that area, as will what happened at the first three scrums.

If the Welsh front five can firm up and become more accurate, then it could be another very evenly contested international with every prospect of an end to the miserable run coming to an end.

Joe Schmidt has made five changes to the side that won the first Test. Charlie Cale comes off the bench to replace last week’s captain, Liam Wright, in the back row in a move that pushes Rob Valentini from No 8 to No 6.

There are four further changes among the Wallaby replacements, with Josh Nasser, Langi Gleeson, Nic White and Ben Donaldson all included. Billy Pollard, Tate McDermott and Tom Lynagh drop out of the matchday 23 at Sydney.

Last week it was the son of one former famous Wallaby, Ton Lynagh, who made his debut against Wales. This week Josh Nasser will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father Brendan Nasser, who won eight caps. If he comes off the bench the Nassers will become the 13th father and son combination to play for the Wallabies.

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