The sabbatical that paid off for David Pocock

When you put in the type of performance David Pocock delivered against Ireland last weekend, it becomes a little difficult to comprehend the Australian back-rower believed taking his one-year sabbatical from the game was something of a career risk.

Yet, as has been well documented, there is more to Wallaby #829 and Pocock was determined to gamble that his desire to broaden horizons outweighed the dangers of never being able to add to the 66 Test caps he had already collected.

Last Saturday at Suncorp Stadium confirmed he had made the right choice, Pocock returning to the gold jersey for the first time in 18 months and looking as if he had never missed a minute’s training as he tore into the breakdown and caused havoc on Irish ball, winning penalties, turnovers, and generally making a nuisance of himself as Australia took the opening game of this three-Test series 18-9 in Brisbane.