Interview With....

Wallaby flanker Rocky Elsom is confident the Wallabies can win their second Grand Slam on their end of year tour. The Australians took their first Grand Slam 25 years ago, in 1984, when their fly half at the time, Mark Ella, picked up a personal grand slam, by scoring tries against the four home countries.

This year the Wallabies begin their tour with a Bledisloe Cup clash against the All Blacks in Tokyo on Saturday 31 October and then fly to London to kick off their Grand Slam campaign against England at Twickenham on Saturday 7 November. Then follow Six Nations Champions Ireland at Croke Park, Dublin on Sunday 15 November, Scotland at Edinburgh's Murrayfield on Saturday 21 November and, finally, Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday 28 November.

 “We can beat all four countries,” emphasised Elsom, ”but it will be a lot harder doing it over successive weeks. Challenges crop up when you are tour, such as injuries and refereeing performances. The referees control different competitions to what we are usually familiar with and you have to adapt quickly to their interpretations. While I am not over confident, I believe, if we play to our ability, we can achieve this goal and I want to be part of it."

 Elsom has been on the sidelines for a couple of months with bone bruising of the tibia. The 26 year old is just about ready to resume his 40 test career and is hopeful of playing late in the current Tri-nation tournament.

 "When the team returns from South Africa, I will discuss my position with coach Robbie Deans and the medical staff.  I would be fit enough to play when we meet the All Blacks in Sydney on 22 August and if Robbie decides to select me, I will be ready to go,” he said.

 Elsom has signed to play with the Brumbies in next year's Super Rugby competition. Along with George Smith (101 tests) and Stephen Hoiles (16 tests), the big and strong backrower  
(196 cms, 108 kgs), will complete a World class Brumby backrow.

 "I am looking forward to playing with the Brumbies in 2010, as they have a strong squad which I feel will have a great season,” he rightly pointed out.

In May this year at Murrayfield, Elsom dominated the torrid forward exchanges in the Heineken Cup Final. Playing in the Leinster backrow against Leicester, Elsom won the Man of the Match award in the 19-16 victory. After his consistent play during his 21 games for Leinster in the recent Northern Hemisphere season, the talented backrower was rated by many as the best forward in World Rugby.

 "I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ireland,” he said, "and I may go back in the future. Michael Cheika is an excellent coach who really knows the game and the team will have another good year in the coming season. Michael is a strong coach who runs the show at Leinster. He would be ideal for an new franchise, such as the fifth Australian rugby team, as he would instill the right culture required by any new side.”

 Elsom watched the South Africans defeat Australia 29-17 in Cape Town and said they deserved the victory as they controlled the match.

 "Our scrum did very well, as was evident when Benn Robinson popped John Smit in one engagement, while George Smith and a few other players more than held their own," he said. While South Africa are rightly rated the number one team in World Rugby, they can be beaten and this could happen when they have to play three successive matches on 29 August (Australia), 5 September (Australia) and 12 September (New Zealand) in our part of the World. It is always a lot harder on the road."

 When asked about Schalk Burger and his alleged gouging against the Lions, Elsom described the rugged backrower as a good bloke.

 "While I certainly don't condone gouging, I didn't see the incident so I shouldn't comment on it. He is about the same age as me and I know him well. He is a nice guy, with a good temperament for our game and I was really surprised when the gouging story surfaced." While he plays the game hard, as we all do, I have never come across things like this, when I have played against him."

Bob Dwyer gave him his start in Super Rugby with the Waratahs, as a 20 year old back in 2003.  He made his test debut against Samoa in June 2005 in Sydney and quickly established himself on the international scene. Before moving to Dublin, he started in 31 of the 32 Wallaby tests since the beginning of 2006, for which he was available. He has been a huge success with the Wallabies, the Waratahs and Leinster and he seems certain to take that form to the Brumbies next year. He is keen to regain his place with the Wallabies and has been working hard during the past two months.

 “I very much want to wear the Wallaby jumper again as soon as possible and I will do whatever it takes to achieve this,“ he enthused. "I have no doubt we are one of the World's best teams and I want to be part of the successes that are coming."