Rugby: Wing ready for Japan World Cup debut

Craig Wing in action for Japan during the international friendly match against the World 15. Photo/Getty.

The World Cup will bring players together from all over the world but few can match the unlikely journey of Craig Wing.

The former NRL premiership winner can hardly believe he will be wearing the No12 jersey for Japan when they play their opening World Cup pool game against South Africa in Brighton on Sunday.

"I'm still pinching myself," the 10-Test veteran told The Daily Telegraph.

"I never dreamt anything like this. If you'd said I'd be playing in a Rugby World Cup for Japan against the Springboks at the age of 35, I wouldn't have believed you."

Wing admits he never imagined he'd still be playing football five years after making his last NRL appearance for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, let alone turning out for Japan.

"The idea was I'd play two years of rugby overseas, see a bit of the world, then hang up the boots, come home and find a job," he said.

"I was talking to a couple of French clubs for four or five months but it was going backwards and forwards and then an offer came to play in Japan. I didn't even know they played rugby in Japan, but I did the deal and five years later here I am."

Sydney born and bred, Wing was a teenage footballing prodigy adept in both league and rugby.

He played in the 1997 Australian Schoolboys rugby side together with future Wallabies openside flankers George Smith and Phil Waugh, but after finishing his time at Sydney Boy's High found his opportunities were limited in the 15-man code.

"The Waratahs said I wouldn't play in the top grade until I was 23 or 24. At Souths I was training with the first grade team when I was still at school. I signed with them and was playing first grade a month later."

Two years later the Rabbitohs were thrown out of the NRL and Wing found himself the target of former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones who tried to lure him down to the ACT Brumbies.

"He was a great rugby player as a schoolboy," Jones said. "Smart, strong, aggressive. He would have revolutionised the way the Wallabies played."

But he wouldn't be swayed and Wing eventually signed with the Sydney Roosters and over the next eight seasons found himself playing in four grand finals, including the 2002 premiership win over the Warriors.

Rep honours also followed, with Wing becoming a regular presence in the New South Wales State of Origin and Kangaroos test sides, before finishing up with two years back at the Rabbitohs.

"In my last season I made the Origin side after a few years out but I'd had a couple of shoulder reconstructions and started to realise I was human and couldn't defy time," he said.

"I'd lived in Randwick or Bondi all my life. I was in that Sydney bubble and I thought I'd just like to go somewhere different.

"Japan couldn't be more different. It's been a great experience. There are some things that you love one day, and the same things get to you on different days, but overall it has been incredible."

Wing found Japanese rugby less physically demanding and six months into a two year contract, Jones again came knocking.

"Eddie told me after three years I was eligible to play for Japan," Wing said. "The chance of playing in a World Cup was huge motivation for me to keep going.

"I just can't wait to be out there and hear the national anthems. At 35 I think I'll probably be the oldest World Cup debutant, but I'll be as enthusiastic as anyone. I'm only going to get one chance at this."