Aussie wizard, the ‘Bradman of Rugby,’ and the ‘King of the Goose Step’ David Ian Campese sat down for an exclusive interview with The Sunday Morning Sports earlier this week. Fondly known as ‘Campo,’ he was in Sri Lanka as part of the rugby centenary celebrations of Zahira College, Colombo.
At an event held at Nuga Gama, Cinnamon Grand, Colombo recently, Campese met some of the former legendary players of Sri Lanka and club rugby fame to go down memory lane, recalling the glorious days of the past.
It was a fitting choice for Zahira to invite World Rugby Hall of Fame Inductee Campese as Chief Guest for its celebrations – a legend from the 1991 Australian World Cup winning team who has played 101 tests for the Wallabies at a time where they dominated world rugby. The legend also held some of his expert workshops, including the ‘Campese Coaching Master-Class,’ with school- and club-level coaches in Sri Lanka over the past week.
Campese has worldwide experience, having travelled over the world playing, coaching, and educating on rugby in every nook and cranny of all continents. He has played in rugby fields from Jerusalem and Cape Town to the busiest towns of South America and in Oceania and Europe – you name it, Campese has touched down there.
In 1991, Campese produced what most consider to be the greatest Haka challenge of all time: ‘Campo’ refused to entertain the All Blacks’ Haka, travelling back to the Aussie goal line instead and practising his kicking as his teammates faced off against the old enemy near halfway.
In an ABC documentary entitled ‘The Rise and Rise of Australian Rugby,’ Australia Head Coach Bob Dwyer stated: “I must say that throughout the 1991 World Cup and this semi-final match in particular, Campo was a standout performer. We all know what a great player he was over such a long period of time, but I’m sure that his first-half performance that day has never been beaten.”
Indeed, the 101-capped player both scored and set up the decisive tries in that very World Cup semi-final, as Australia beat the All Blacks 16-6 at Lansdowne Road. Irish out-half Tony Ward went on to declare Campese the ‘greatest rugby player of all time’ in the aftermath and the Aussies claimed their first Rugby World Cup, beating hosts England.
At a time when Sri Lanka is celebrating 150 years of playing rugby, Campese’s tour to Sri Lanka to educate, inculcate, and share his experiences not only with Zahira College but the whole of Sri Lanka’s rugby community is a great value addition in reaching new heights in the sport, especially since we as a nation seem to lack that extra push after school-level playing.
Following are excerpts of the interview:
How has your experience in Sri Lanka been so far?
I’ve been here for a couple of days. The people are very friendly; they’re amazing. If you think about Sri Lanka as a sporting country, over the years you guys have done unbelievably well for a small country – you’ve actually played above your weight. Coming here again, another rugby country, it’s a great opportunity for me to meet the locals. I think more people know me here than in Australia, so it’s amazing.
The reception you’ve had among school-level rugby players has been amazing. Could you tell us about that?
It’s been wonderful. I think Sri Lanka has got more schoolboy rugby players than Australia does. I was fascinated as I didn’t realise that. During my visit I met some of the players I played against in 1998 and at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1983/’84. It was interesting, because I actually wore a Sri Lanka Rugby tie from those days with the elephant emblem on it when I met Sri Lankan cricketing legend Aravinda de Silva. In fact my son is a huge cricket fan and a player.
Rugby is all about the memories and the people you meet. I’m just here to try and help out rugby in this beautiful island nation as much as I can and pass on some knowledge. We had a great turnout of about 70-80 coaches at our maiden coaching clinic held at the CR & FC.
What’s the story behind being dubbed as the ‘King of the Goose Step’?
My, my, it’s a long story. How long have you got? Well, I’ll try to keep it short! I did it when I was eight years old. I’ve played rugby league, which is huge Down Under. In Australia, we have rugby league, Aussie rules, rugby union, football, and cricket. We’ve got four football courts, but not a lot of players, so we were fortunate when we played that we entertained and the people followed. Aged eight, I was playing rugby league in a place called Yass in Canberra.
I got the ball, two kids ran at me. I did something totally out of the way and these kids knocked themselves out. It definitely worked and I never practised it since. That’s how it started. I didn’t name it either. I wish I had patented it.
What is your most memorable rugby moment?
My debut test is always important – my first time playing for Australia. I was 19 and drinking orange juice. I had no idea what I was doing and then you learn from there. Whether I was playing in my fifth test or 100th test, every time I played, I tried my best.
How has rugby impacted your life?
I come from a very small town. My dad was Italian. He never played sports. He had his grapes and vegetables. He probably came to watch two test matches out of the 101. When you get the chance, you have to make the most of it.
I lived in Italy playing rugby for 10 years. I travelled the world playing rugby and went to 47 countries. I lived in South Africa and coached. I mean, that’s what rugby is. It’s the experience, the opportunities you have to take if they come along.
What next with Campese and rugby in Sri Lanka?
The idea is to give the coaches some knowledge – ways of coaching the young kids coming through to play a style of rugby that everyone wants to watch and enjoy. Unfortunately, there’s a very structured game of rugby now after we went professional in the mid-’90s. The fun is gone as everything has changed.
I did some exercises with the Lankan coaches and they loved it. They were laughing because they really enjoyed themselves, so I said to them: ‘Guys, look! Look what happens, you’re really enjoying it, so try to tell the kids you coach to go out there and enjoy the moment. Love what you do.’
Really, the ball is in their court – the coaches. They’ve got to head back and try and coach what I tried to teach them, and, hopefully, they’ll have a style of rugby which is probably unique to Sri Lanka. You can’t follow anyone else, you’ve got to be who you are.
We have seen the Sri Lankan cricket team many years ago, the way they performed. They played a style of cricket that a lot of other countries couldn’t do. It’s an opportunity for Sri Lanka rugby and hopefully I can get involved down the track to try and get the Sri Lankan team to the next Commonwealth Games and create some great results too.
What’s the missing element in Sri Lanka schools rugby compared to the world to go the extra mile?
I think it’s knowledge, culture, and history. To create these elements, what I would be doing is to get a video made from all the former Sri Lanka national/club players about how they started rugby because that’s the history you have to play; you can’t just turn up and play for a club. Some lads have no idea why they’re playing. There’s history behind it and when you play for history and culture, you’re playing for something.
I think it’s important that maybe the seniors get together and make a short video titled ‘The History of Sri Lankan Rugby’. They should visit the schools all over the island to carry the message of how they played the oval ball game, the honour and prestige to their respective jerseys in those good old days, the sacrifices they made, and how the ones before them passed on knowledge, as well as touch base on the forefathers of Lankan rugby during the formative years.
If Sri Lanka can do that, you’ve got momentum to start. Coaching in this day and age is about the grassroots – you can’t build a house from the roof down. The foundation needs to be strong; with a bit of knowledge, a bit of money, a bit of excitement and opportunities, and having a goal – trying to picture the direction where you want to head is very important. I believe you guys have more schoolboy players in Sri Lanka than we do in Australia, but we’ve won two World Cups.
What’s your magic mantra to all the budding youngsters out there?
It’s a hard one. What I would say firstly is, you have to have a hero, someone you want to be like. In rugby, there’s many of those. Then you have to learn and watch and understand. If you want to be like that hero, what does he do that you don’t do?
The other important thing is, go and have fun! Sports is all about enjoying. It’s no good doing it if you don’t like it. You’ve got to have fun. I’m still having fun after retiring 20 years ago.