Samu set for Australia return with an eye on 2027 World Cup
SYDNEY :Loose forward Pete Samu will return to Australia at the end of the French season with Bordeaux-Begles determined to finally play for the Wallabies at a World Cup in two years' time.
Samu, who has signed a two-year deal with Rugby Australia (RA) and the New South Wales Waratahs, could yet get a call-up for the British & Irish Lions series in July and August.
The 33-year-old, however, said the 2027 World Cup in Australia was the main focus of his test ambitions after he was omitted from the Wallabies squad for the 2019 and 2023 editions.
"Missing out on a couple of World Cups, that's the big motivator for me, and I'm hoping to get one back at home," Samu, who won 33 caps before he moved to France in 2023, told reporters on Wednesday.
"I feel like everything happens for a reason and I'm just really excited to head back home to hopefully get another crack."
An athletic and physical back-row forward, Samu started his Super Rugby career at the Canterbury Crusaders before moving to Canberra with the ACT Brumbies.
At the Waratahs, he will reunite with his former coach at the Brumbies, Dan McKellar.
"He's a player who brings a real point of difference. He can open up a game, and has versatility to cover eight, seven or six," said McKellar.
"He has played the game at test level and obviously had a very good season with Bordeaux in France."
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt this month named Samu as one of the overseas-based Australians who might be considered for the Lions series, adding that he would prioritise players who had committed their future to RA.
Bordeaux-Begles face England's Northampton Saints in the European Champions Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.
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