Three weeks ago, Junior Wallabies lock Nick Frost was training with the Crusaders academy.
This weekend, he will go into camp with the Junior Wallabies after signing a Super Rugby deal with the Brumbies to return home.
Frost took up an offer to develop with the Christchurch Super Rugby outfit straight out of Schoolboys, at a time where he says he wasn’t sure what his rugby future held.
A chance to learn off their coaches and All Blacks like Sam Whitelock proved to be good an opportunity to pass up but 18 months in, he realised something was missing.
Frost saw the passion that some of his teammates had when it came to playing for the All Blacks and it sparked a change of heart in the promising lock.
“I realised by seeing their culture and how enjoyable and they all really want to play for the All Blacks and I thought this is my time and (eventually) I want to play for the Wallabies,” he said.
“At the time, I wasn't too sure when I went over there but then that was my main goal so coming back now gives me the best opportunity to be able to come back and represent the country."
The 19-year-old was rushed straight into the Junior Wallabies World Rugby U20s squad for next month’s championships and said he was focused on using some of the lessons he learned in New Zealand to excel back home.
“It's been a pretty smooth transition coming back,” he said.
“It's been quite quickly to come over but pretty happy with my decision to come over and get into it.”
Junior Wallabies forwards coach Ruaridh Murphy said Frost had slotted into the squad easily despite being absent for the past season and backed him to make an impact in Argentina.
“We're fortunate that he's spent a lot of time with most of the group in some capacity before, either through NSW or the schoolboys system,” he said.
“I think he'll just keep his head down and just jump straight in and the boys will feed off that.
“They're a tight group and just hard work will pay off for him - he doesn't have to do anything flash.”
Australia’s U20s will head to next month’s World Rugby U20s championships in Argentina buoyed with confidence after a dominant win over New Zealand at the Oceania U20s.
Last season, young guns like Jordan Petaia and Hamish Stewart were brought into the team at the last minute and by the time the linked up with the team, there was little time for them to truly gel.
Murphy said the bond between the 2019 group was proving to be a powerful connection, something he hoped would lay the foundation for international success.
“I think last year that group didn't knit as tightly early and it took us a little while to get there but this group have really hit the ground running with that and you can probably see in that last test, they are right into it and they're all in it together,” he said.
“Outside of that, winning big games is important and I think in the past we've maybe missed how important that was going to be when we get over there and especially that first Test.
“It's a tough tournament to win, that first Test is massive and losing that one last year really hurt our whole flow of the tournament.”
The Junior Wallabies have this year laid claim to more rising Super Rugby talent, with youngster Isaac Lucas taken into camp instead of featuring for the Reds this weekend..
Australia’s youngsters went into camp on Saturday and will spend the week in Sydney, including a live scrummaging session against the Waratahs next Tuesday and a trial match against a Barbarians side.
Australia’s World Rugby U20s campaign kicks off against Italy on June 4 at 9pm AEST.
