New Wallabies call-up Tane Edmed is living out his dream in camp as he prepares to once again battle good mate Ben Donaldson for a spot in the side.
Edmed was one of the new faces in Joe Schmidt’s 34 player squad for the end-of-season tour, kicking off on November 10 against England.
Watch every game of the Wallabies Spring Tour live and exclusive on Stan Sport.
“Pretty stoked. It was a stressful 24 hours waiting to find out. I didn't sleep a lot the night before,” Edmed told reporters.
“When I got that message I was in, I was just over the moon. It’s been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and just being in the environment is a real blessing.
“We got it was going to be an email so a phone call is probably bad news, so I was hoping I didn’t get it….I got a text from the team manager Will Stuart, who used to be our manager at Tahs and I was pretty stoked.
“Obviously I rang the old man and he was over the moon and then my mum. It’s a pretty special moment for myself and my family.”
Edmed will compete with Noah Lolesio and Ben Donaldson, who Edmed has been battling ever since they were teenagers coming through the Randwick Colts system.
The two continued their friendly competition at Australia A level in 2022, with Donaldson eventually winning out and making his debut later in the year.
As the good mates prepare to potentially room together, Edmed is set on breaking his way into the side whilst learning from Donaldson.
“He was the first person I saw after I found out and we were just stoked to be in together,” Edmed said.
“We’re super close and have been for a long time. We’re so stoked that we’re going to the UK together and we’ll probably end up being roomies as well which will be cool.
“There’s always healthy competitiveness there and we want to help each other get better."
The Wallabies remain in camp in Coogee before heading to the UK in the coming days.
