2 weeks Ago By Christy Doran
The first Test Harry Potter watched live in the flesh was at Twickenham when Robbie Deans’ Wallabies shocked England in 2008. Now, 18 years down the road, Potter – the new Wizard of Oz – could play his first Test match for the Wallabies at the same venue that inspired his journey into rugby. Potter, 26, was the genuine bolter in Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies squad this week for next month’s grand slam tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
While plenty knew his quality, a syndesmosis injury not only abruptly ended his Super Rugby season in late March. It also paved the way for Simon Cron to resurrect Kurtley Beale’s career. Harry Potter came from nowhere to be a star for the Tigers before being swooped on by the Western Force.
(Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images) For Joe Schmidt and his assistants, Potter’s injury was a frustrating blow given he had impressed them with his desire to take on the game during an up-and-down afternoon in the nation’s capital where he was shown a yellow card but was at the heart of the Force’s attack during their narrow loss to the Brumbies. It took until the highly sought-after Toyota Challenge against the Cheetahs earlier this month for Potter to explode back on the national radar. Potter scored two phenomenal tries and was defensively superb, producing two trysaving tackles.
Although the match was played in the middle of the night and few covered it, Schmidt was a keen observer. “We earmarked Harry probably around the middle of Super Rugby,” Schmidt told reporters after naming 34 players for the four Test, grand slam tour. “I was at a Brumbies game with (assistant coach) Laurie Fisher and we both thought Harry was really good on the day.
“He shone on the day and he picked up an injury on the back of that very involvement, I think the very next game, and was out for a fair period of time. “I watched his involvements in Bloemfontein with the Force, having played over there recently in the Toyota Cup and felt that a) he was back in the groove and b) a bit of versatility. He played 13 as well as on the wing.
And so it’s an opportunity for us to bring him into the squad and get to know him a little bit.” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt parachuted Harry Potter straight into his squad for the November Tests. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images for Rugby Australia) Potter is no stranger to the newly named Allianz Stadium, nor English rugby.
Two-and-a-half years ago the English-born winger, who moved to Australia aged 11 before moving to Leicester to take up an opportunity as a 22-year-old, played his part in the Tigers’ Premiership title. Along the way, Potter became a mainstay in Steve Borthwick’s side, scoring seven tries in 22 matches as the Tigers sat atop the Premiership standings at the end of every week. It was at Welford Road that Potter emerged as some of the glue at the Tigers holding the club together, especially when his star-studded teammates like George Ford, Ben Youngs, Freddie Steward, Julian Montoya and Dan Cole, were on international assignment.
It was the talent assembled by Borthwick, as well as the massive squads, that meant Potter could never rest on his laurels. “I think just because the squads are so big, I never felt comfortable that I was a shoo-in or going to be playing every week, or didn’t have a spot to compete for, there was so much talent that each week it was a battle to try and get into the team,” Potter told The Roar earlier in the year. “I don’t think I had a light bulb moment.
I got the hang of things and felt like I could do my job within the team and thought that I was doing that well, but it was tough to stay in the team.” Steve Borthwick celebrates with Harry Potter after their victory during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final against Saracens at Twickenham on June 18, 2022 in London. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images) Helping Potter feel comfortable was the onset of Covid, as well as Saracens’ sorry salary cap scandal, which allowed Borthwick the fortune of being able to build a team over time without the necessity of winning to keep out of the relegation zone.
“It was well timed with those guys being at Leicester,” Potter said. “They’re a really impressive coaching group. “I’m probably fortunate that Coronavirus was a real opportunity just to clean slate and start again.
It gave myself an opportunity to debut for a pro team without the fans and gave us a lot of opportunity for new players to start playing. “And then steadily as the months and years progressed, it just seemed like it was an environment of steady improvement. The proof of that was the steady rise up at the table, which fortunately ended up how it did a couple of years after Covid.
” So, no crowds helped? “I think so,” he said. “That was the last year where relegation was a thing in the Premiership, so relegation meant that even if you were 11th on the table, which we were, you would never want to lose the game but we luckily had Saracens bellow us by about 50 points because of the scandal, and it meant that even players like myself who weren’t in the best 23 at the time got a chance to have a crack, and slowly the younger players made their way into a much better Leicester Tigers in the years to come.” Harry Potter was a regular for Leicester during his time at Welford Road.
(Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images) Had Potter stayed in England, it’s more than possible the versatile back could have been wearing the white jersey against the Wallabies next month. Although Potter’s name stands out like a sore thumb, the Force flyer quietly goes about his business. He was encouraged by Simon Cron’s direction and recognised that a successful side that was regularly in the hunt would help put his name up in lights in front of the selectors.
It has. Now, prepare for the eye-rolling puns. “Just to clarify, Harry Potter wasn’t big when it came out in the early stages,” said the back, who was born six months after the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997.
“It’s hard to know whether it’s a blessing or a curse, I’m numb to it all now. “I just think it’s funny. Very rarely do I actually get pissed off by it or frustrated, I just think it’s sort of funny, and if makes people laugh, so be it.
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