Impeccable pedigree, but Nick Champion de Crespigny will bring mongrel against Lions
After graduating, Champion de Crespigny found work in property development while trying and ultimately failing to nail down a spot with the Waratahs.
An offer to play as a full-time professional in France with Castres eventually followed, and the back-rower moved to the country of his forefathers.
Castres is home to just over 40,000 people, and most of them are well-acquainted with the town's rugby team.
Champion de Crespigny embraced life in France, helping his new side defeat an Antoine Dupont-led Toulouse in the Top 14 semi-finals in 2022 before playing in front of 78,245 fans at the Stade de France in the final against eventual champions Montpellier.
In front of a packed Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday, Champion de Crespigny will face the toughest challenge of his professional career when the Force go head-to-head with the Lions in the tourists' first match on Australian soil.
'I actually reflect most days. I had the privilege of not having the most linear path to professional rugby and I really appreciate it,' Champion de Crespigny said.
' I remember labouring during the day, training at night, and studying, and then getting up at 6am to get to the gym before having to go work in the city for another day.
'I've seen the other side of life where you're trying to balance it all, so I think every single day, wow, this is amazing. This week's been a bit of a whirlwind with everything going on. But I'm starting to really get excited and sit back and go, what a journey it's been.'
One of Champion de Crespigny's possible opponents on Saturday, Pierre Schoeman, is reflecting on his own unique journey to the Lions series. The prop moved from South Africa to Scotland seven years ago and qualified for his adopted country three years later.
Schoeman played for South Africa's under-20s, but has now fully embraced life as part of the British and Irish Lions squad.
'Scotland is home for us, my wife and myself, I know other players as well, like Mack Hansen has made Ireland home, you embrace that, you fully take that on,' Schoeman said.
Loading
'It's like the movie Outlander, you move to a different country, and now that's your house, you live there. If you work for one of the big four in finance, you get the opportunity, you're going to go for them and you can really make that home.
'But this is much different. You buy into the culture and now to represent the British and Irish Lions, you fully buy into that, you fully submerge into that, nothing else matters.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
13 minutes ago
- West Australian
Ace a trump card for Aussie as Young bags first PGA win
Australian rookie Karl Vilips has scored his first hole-in-one on the US PGA Tour to cap off a consistent tournament as American Cameron Young broke through for his first title at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. Vilips scored his ace with a 179-yard shot on the third hole using an eight iron. His final-day 67 followed earlier rounds of 67, 67 and 69 for a four-round total of 270, 10 under for the tournament, leaving him in a tie for 19th place. Vilips was the leading Australian at Greensboro, but finished a distant 12 shots behind first-time PGA winner Young. The American shot a two-under-par 68 in the final round and wasn't challenged on his way to his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday (local time). "It's the end of my fourth season and I've had my chances -never quite like this," Young said. "I wasn't going to let it get away from me." Young strung together five consecutive early birdies and cruised to a six-stroke triumph at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, where he matched the tournament scoring record. The American, who began the day with a five-stroke advantage, became the 1000th different winner in the history of the PGA Tour. He had previously been a seven-time runner-up. After tapping in the final putt, Young hugged his caddie and began to walk off the green. "Where do I go?" he said. "I've never done this before." Mac Meissner posted 66 to finish runner-up at 16 under. Mark Hubbard (63) and Sweden's Alex Noren (64) tied for third place at 15 under. Amateur Jackson Koivun (67), a junior golfer at Auburn University, Chris Kirk (68) and defending champion Aaron Rai (68) of England shared fifth place at 14 under. Playing not far from the Wake Forest campus where he went to college, Young was in control for most of the tournament. After a bogey on the first hole on Sunday, Young put together his string of birdies for what became a nine-stroke advantage. He then had pars on nine consecutive holes before bogeys on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th. He barely missed a birdie attempt on the last hole. The final margin marked the third-largest winning spread on the tour this year. He became the tour's 12th first-time winner of the season. "I've been waiting for this for a while," he said. Denny McCarthy matched Hubbard's 63 for the best score on Sunday and ended up at 12 under, tied for 11th place. Of the other Australians in the field, Cam Davis finished in a tie for 44th place at four under, a shot ahead of Adam Scott (tied for 55th), with Aaron Baddeley tied for 72nd spot at two over. The tournament marks the final regular-season event on the tour, with golfers needing to finish in the top 70 of the season standings to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs beginning on Thursday.
Perth Now
13 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Ace a trump card for Aussie as Young bags first PGA win
Australian rookie Karl Vilips has scored his first hole-in-one on the US PGA Tour to cap off a consistent tournament as American Cameron Young broke through for his first title at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. Vilips scored his ace with a 179-yard shot on the third hole using an eight iron. His final-day 67 followed earlier rounds of 67, 67 and 69 for a four-round total of 270, 10 under for the tournament, leaving him in a tie for 19th place. Vilips was the leading Australian at Greensboro, but finished a distant 12 shots behind first-time PGA winner Young. The American shot a two-under-par 68 in the final round and wasn't challenged on his way to his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday (local time). "It's the end of my fourth season and I've had my chances -never quite like this," Young said. "I wasn't going to let it get away from me." Young strung together five consecutive early birdies and cruised to a six-stroke triumph at 22-under 258 at Sedgefield Country Club, where he matched the tournament scoring record. The American, who began the day with a five-stroke advantage, became the 1000th different winner in the history of the PGA Tour. He had previously been a seven-time runner-up. After tapping in the final putt, Young hugged his caddie and began to walk off the green. "Where do I go?" he said. "I've never done this before." Mac Meissner posted 66 to finish runner-up at 16 under. Mark Hubbard (63) and Sweden's Alex Noren (64) tied for third place at 15 under. Amateur Jackson Koivun (67), a junior golfer at Auburn University, Chris Kirk (68) and defending champion Aaron Rai (68) of England shared fifth place at 14 under. Playing not far from the Wake Forest campus where he went to college, Young was in control for most of the tournament. After a bogey on the first hole on Sunday, Young put together his string of birdies for what became a nine-stroke advantage. He then had pars on nine consecutive holes before bogeys on the par-3 16th and par-4 17th. He barely missed a birdie attempt on the last hole. The final margin marked the third-largest winning spread on the tour this year. He became the tour's 12th first-time winner of the season. "I've been waiting for this for a while," he said. Denny McCarthy matched Hubbard's 63 for the best score on Sunday and ended up at 12 under, tied for 11th place. Of the other Australians in the field, Cam Davis finished in a tie for 44th place at four under, a shot ahead of Adam Scott (tied for 55th), with Aaron Baddeley tied for 72nd spot at two over. The tournament marks the final regular-season event on the tour, with golfers needing to finish in the top 70 of the season standings to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs beginning on Thursday.
Perth Now
43 minutes ago
- Perth Now
De Minaur hot-foots it to Canadian Open quarter-finals
Alex de Minaur has continued his hard-court heroics, the Australian showing trademark tenacity to motor his way into the quarter-finals at the Canadian Open. In a battle between two of the best movers on the men's circuit, ninth-seeded de Minaur fought off seventh-seeded American Frances Tiafoe 6-2 4-6 6-4 in their round-of-16 clash in Toronto on Sunday (local time). The Australian got off to a sizzling start, racing through the first set 6-2 before Tiafoe regrouped in the second to force the match into a decider. De Minaur's renowned return game held him in good stead as he converted five of the 10 break points he generated during the match, compared with the American's three of seven chances. However, the Australian will be looking for an improvement on his service game for his quarter-final, after landing just 42 per cent of his first deliveries. Tiafoe hit more aces than de Minaur (10 to six) and more winners (29 to 23), but the American also gave up more free points with unforced 49 errors, compared with 35 from his opponent. "It was never going to be easy, and Frances has the ability to turn the switch on whenever he wants, so it is always very tricky to put him away,'' de Minaur said after the match. "I think I battled him, myself and the conditions, and I am happy to sneak away with the win today.'' De Minaur has found a rich vein of form in the countdown to the year's final major, the US Open on the hard courts at Flushing Meadows in New York, which starts on August 24. The Australian is already a two-time US Open quarter-finalist (2020 and 2024) and has his sights set on making his first grand slam semi-final, having reached the quarters of all four majors. His timing could not be better, de Minaur coming to Toronto after clinching the Washington Open singles championship last week, his 10th ATP Tour title. The Washington event was also played on hard courts, making the Aussie one of the most in-form players on the surface. His win over Tiafoe stretched de Minaur's winning streak to eight matches. De Minaur has previously reached the Canadian Open final, losing the 2023 decider against Italy's Jannik Sinner, who has since risen to the top of the world rankings. De Minaur is not the only Australian left in the men's singles in Toronto, with 18th seed and defending champion Alexei Popyrin to take on top-seeded German Alexander Zverev. Both of the quarter-finals will be played on Monday (Tuesday AEST).
