Jack Dempsey’s old man is a ‘fair dinkum’ Australian who had serious doubts about his boy switching allegiance to Scotland last Autumn – but it is safe to say is now fully on board.
“I don’t think you’ll ever get him in a kilt, but he is rocking everything else possible,” revealed the back-rower. “Sometimes I have to pull him into line a bit because he starts putting on this fake accent and I don't know if its racist but ... it’s not exactly the done thing!”
“My parents [Michael and Rose] and brother [Michael junior] have been over for a few weeks now so they saw me play against Tonga and will be there this weekend for the Ireland game, which is better than the last World Cup when they came over for the Welsh and Fiji games in the pool which I didn't get picked for then they went home and I got picked for the next two games when they weren’t there," ” Dempsey added.
“It is good to see them. They are experiencing Europe and the spectacle that is the Rugby World Cup. I am stoked for them to be part of it and hopefully we can do it for them and everyone else at the weekend.” Of course, during that last World Cup, Dempsey wore the gold and green of Australia – for whom he earned 14 caps between 2017 and 2019 – and there was absolutely no prospect at that time of him having the opportunity to play for the country of his maternal grandfather’s birth at the next tournament. It was a change in World Rugby eligibility rules in November 2021 – to allow capped players to represent a second country to which they have “a close and credible link via birthright” so long as they complete a three-year stand-down period – which created this opportunity, but Dempsey still had to think long and hard about taking it. By that point, he had joined Glasgow Warriors searching a change of scene after his form and career had stalled in Australia, and he eventually decided that he fancied another crack at the international game, this time in the dark blue of Scotland. While the transfer of players between Tier One countries remains a contentious issue, Dempsey’s dynamic performances at No 8 for Gregor Townsend’s team over the last year have helped appease at least some traditionalists – and he points out that his situation is far from unique at this World Cup.
"I am lucky enough like a few other blokes in other teams doing similar things. We are all grateful for the opportunity, for a fresh start in a new environment and another chance in a World Cup."
He is asked to reveal the biggest game he played in for Australia and mulls it over before eventually answering. “Your first cap is always big but my first Bledisloe Cup match in 2017, which was my first game ever against New Zealand, is up there. I started at six, got the win at the Suncorp Stadium [in Brisbane] and was named man-of-the-match. “That was the biggest because as a kid growing up in Australia, the history of games against New Zealand is like the Scotland versus England rivalry. “How does it compare to this game? lt compares in basic ways like the momentous occasion of it all. At the time New Zealand were number one in the world, and Ireland are number one in the world now, so there are a lot of similarities.” However, Dempsey has been careful not to talk too much about that specific game, or more generally about his time in Australia, since making his Scotland debut last October. “I left that half of my career where it was,” he explains. “That is important to do, especially when you put another nation’s strip on. “For me, it is about the learnings of the occasion, of the big events. What technically and tactically I have learned from that.
“On a personal level, I am a very different player now to the guy I was back then in that New Zealand game, both physically and mentally. I viewed the game a bit differently back then. I was kind of a star-struck young buck, in my early twenties, going up against guys like Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read. I am not so much being held hostage by big stars like that anymore. I have been around long to deal with that. “It is no different to running out on the park as a 10-year-old to what it is now. The difference is the pressure. The way we deal with pressure here is to look on it as a privilege, representing the guys who don't get picked in our squad as well as all the boys and girls that play and support rugby that don't get to go out there with us. “That is what it comes down to. It is about doing it under pressure. And this is as much of a pressure game that exists.” While Dempsey’s conversion to Scotland could be interpreted as reducing opportunities for Scottish-reared back-rowers, he believes that he complements rather than blocks the likes of Matt Fagerson and Luke Crosbie, who both start on the bench tonight.
“One thing I’ve learned since moving over here is that Scotland back rowers need to have the best pedigree in the world in terms of what you illustrate a back-row to be – tough, hard-working grafters,” he said. “I single out Crosbie and Fagerson in particular. The selflessness with which they play and how hard they work. They are tough of nails. “The blessing for me is that I am a bit of a different type of player to what they are and from a different background and I add my tool to the tool chest, which is why we work so well together. “The same goes for Jamie Ritchie and the leadership and expertise he brings, and Rory Darge with his groundwork and defence. That is a great combination to start off the game. “At the same time, you could take one of us out and put a different guy in and get a different flavour but you would still get a good combination. This weekend it is all about bringing our own game and we complement each other very well.”
