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'Was in my bed crying': Why Aussie 7s ace thought his career was over at 16

By Finn Morton
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Darby Lancaster’s rise to World Series stardom with the Australian Sevens team is a story of grit, resilience and passion.

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Injuries are a part of sport, but that doesn’t make them fair. As a teenager, Lancaster was crying in his bed “just thinking my career was over” after tearing his ACL.

Lancaster had just moved from Kempsey in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, to prestigious private school Scots College in Sydney.

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It was the opportunity of a lifetime – but again, injuries aren’t fair.

The rising star tore his ACL when he was just 16, and feared the worst for his career moving forward.

“That was a tough point in my life. To me, rugby’s everything, I love rugby, I’ve loved it since the day I was born,” Lancaster told RugbyPass.

“I remember the night I did it, I was in my bed crying just thinking my career was over and that was it for me.

“I looked at the statistics and it wasn’t looking very good, only this whatever percentage of players get back to their best.

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“I feel like I’m pretty close to my best now, I do things differently to how I used to but different might not necessarily be worse. Change is good.”

But after a “tough” 15 months on the sidelines, Lancaster worked his way back to the rugby field – and was given a full-time sevens contract less than a year later.

Lancaster had been working with the Waratahs Academy when he was surprised with the opportunity to sign a core contract with the sevens program.

“I was doing a bit of work with the Tahs Academy and I think one day they called my parents,” he added.

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“I remember the bloke, he pulled me out of training once and said, ‘We’re gonna sign you.’

“I remember getting into the meeting, they’d rumoured sevens or maybe a mixed (deal) and I sat down in the room and they said I was going to be in the core group of sevens.

“I was blown away, to be able to turn around so quickly from not playing at all and thinking my career was over to be in the core, full-time sevens gig was absolutely a dream come true.”

Lancaster made his debut on the Sevens World Series during last year’s leg in Malaga, Spain.

Since, the rising star has simply been getting better each and every time he dons the coveted gold jersey.

The Australian, who is the youngest player in the squad, has been named in the team for the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens this weekend.

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Lancaster has played in Hong Kong once before, but “copped some studs to the face” during the second match which “put me out for the tournament”

“It’s an absolutely unreal tournament.

“That south stand is pretty crazy so it’s going to be exciting to play in front of that again.

“Obviously Sydney for us is the one we really want to do well at, but Hong Kong with such a crowd, it’s such a festival of rugby.

“So many people around and such big crowds. It’s really something you want to do well in.”

Lancaster has been included in a star-studded squad for the Hong Kong Sevens, which includes the return of captain Nick Malouf from injury.

The Hong Kong Sevens will take place from Friday March 31 to Sunday April 2.

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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