Sydney - Wallabies prop Tom Robertson says that his Test career comes first over his pursuit of a medical degree.
While he wants to juggle full-time medicine with the
Wallabies as long as he can, he said ultimately rugby would come first.
"The Wallabies come before anything," he told the
official Australian Rugby Union website.
"Uni's been very supportive and I'm sure they will be
in the future but you don't give up a Test cap with the Wallabies for anything.
"The Wallabies will be coming first no matter what but
I'm hoping uni will be affordable in that sense."
Robertson returned from Perth this week and was confronted
with a major medical exam, on respiratory and musculoskeletal systems, or in
layman's terms ‘lungs and muscles’, something he’d been spending his spare time
studying for in the west.
The Wallabies squad to travel to Pretoria and South Africa
will be announced later this week and Robertson is likely to be included, with
Allan Alaalatoa still under an injury cloud.
Being part of that would ‘mean the world’ to Robertson, who
could barely dim his smile when talking about his debut.
"All the boys just Sekope Kepu shook my hand as I was
going on and they were all smiling at me the whole time because they knew how
excited I was and how huge an occasion it was," he said.
"I think the South Africa Test in Pretoria, I've never
played there - and against the Argies in London - Twickenham's one of the best
rugby grounds in the world so it'd mean the world to me.
"Especially after a night like tonight you don't want
to get that taste for one Test you want it every week.
Unlike the first seven Wallabies debutants this season,
Robertson and Lopeti Timani had a win in their first Test, but Robertson was
quick to deflect any talk of guaranteed retention.
"Hopefully the coach thinks that (we’re a lucky charm) so he keeps us in the team but the boys were 21-0 up after however many minutes in the first half there, they'd set the platform and we just came up and finished it which is our job.