Schatz answers Cheika’s SOS after spate of Wallaby injuries

On another day, Jake Schatz would have been a great story.

An unheralded back row with the Queensland Reds, he was on holiday in Thailand last week when a spate of injuries prompted Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika to deliver an SOS that resulted in a two-day dash to Dublin.

Schatz has gone above and beyond to answer the call of duty before. In 2011, he lined out for the Reds in a crucial Super Rugby encounter against the Crusaders just days after the passing of his mother Alison from cancer. Thing is, he hasn’t been the only late arrival to this Wallabies tour party. Schatz was an onlooker at Sydney Airport as fellow traveller Kurtley Beale spoke to reporters about repaying the faith Cheika had shown in him with his recall after recent controversies.