Melbourne Rebels fly-half, Mason Gordon, says he’s looking forward to testing himself against the world’s best young players, with the Junior Wallabies’ opening clash of the Oceania Championship against Argentina now less than twenty-four hours away.
Gordon was yesterday named vice-captain of Australia’s under-20’s program and was joined in the match day 23 by Rebels’ teammates Lukas Ripley and Daniel Maiava.
Following two camps earlier in the year, Gordon says he and his teammates will be raring to go against a tough Argentinian outfit, in what will be the first Under-20’s Oceania Championships since 2019.
“Our preparation has been awesome over the last couple of weeks,”said Gordon.
“As a team we had a week in Longreach connecting with the regional rugby programs and training hard.
“We’re now based on the Sunshine Coast for the tournament and ready to rip in – I can’t wait!”
A product from the prestigious Brisbane Boys College, Gordon gained wide-spread recognition for an impressive final year of schoolboy rugby in 2020, with Quest Community News naming him as the second-best player in the Top 16 players rankings across the GPS, AIC, and Langer Cup schoolboy competitions.
After arriving at the Rebels at the beginning of the 2021 pre-season alongside older brother Carter, Gordon has grown from exciting schoolboy talent to someone repeatedly pushing for senior selection.
As he looks ahead to his third pre-season at the Rebels, Gordon believes the experience he’ll gain from the upcoming Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship’s will fast-track his preparation for Season 2023.
“No doubt it’s going to help me.”
“Playing more rugby on the under-20’s world stage and testing my craft against the world’s best 20-year old’s will definitely have an impact leading into pre-season in Melbourne.”
Mason and Carter are remarkably one of two pairs of siblings playing at the Rebels, joining fellow Under-20’s squad member, David Vaihu and his older brother Glen in Melbourne.
Gordon says moving to a new city alongside his brother has been a dream come true, and something which he believes made the transition much easier to navigate.
“Obviously having my Carter down with me in Melbourne has really helped me settle in.”
“Carter and I are very close, plus having someone with Super Rugby experience who can help me day and day out, that’s really assisted me in getting to where I am now.”
