The Wallaby that converted his dad to Scottish cause

Former Wallaby flank Jack Dempsey has “fully converted” his father to the Scotland cause as he prepares for his second World Cup with a different team.

Dempsey admitted last year that his father was not too impressed with his decision to switch allegiances ahead of his debut for Gregor Townsend’s side in the year-end internationals.

The 29-year-old qualified for Scotland through his maternal grandfather, who hailed from Glasgow, and he joined the city’s Warriors in 2021 before extending his contract this year.

A trip to Edinburgh for two Six Nations games saw Dempsey’s father fully embrace the move.

“He is fully converted now. I brought him over. My uncle, my dad and my mum, they all came over during the Six Nations and got to experience that for the first time,” Dempsey said from Scotland’s pre-World Cup training camp in the south of France.

“Back in Australia, there is nothing like the Six Nations in terms of the spectacle and all the history of the rivalry for such a long time.

“To see that and be part of the atmosphere at Murrayfield, it was the Ireland and Italy games.

“My dad was fully kitted out, head to toe, I gave him all the kit. He was singing the anthem. He didn’t know the words but I think he was just making them up.

“He loved it, mate. He is fully on board. And mum, with her Scottish links, has always been on board.”

Dempsey is looking to banish painful memories of Japan 2019 and he is joined by many of his teammates.

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“It was disappointing in that campaign in ’19 with Australia. We got pretty beaten up in the quarter-final by England and sent home quick,” the back row forward, who is gearing up for pool games against Ireland, South Africa, Tonga and Romania, said.

“It’s something you have been building for since you were 12 or 13, and every four years you sit down with your family and watch the World Cup. It’s the pinnacle of the sport.

“You build as a professional with that as the aim and to get that far and fall so short and be disappointed, to get a second crack at that, obviously for me it’s a different environment completely, but it’s something you want to rectify.

“That’s what drives you, not only to make it but be successful and look back when you are 40, 50, 60 years old and have fond memories.”

Dempsey has been sharing World Cup memories with Scotland players who went out after the pool stage.

“I remember watching when Hamish [Watson] did his knee, we were all watching in the Australia squad,” he said.

“That was a big loss and they had some disappointing results against Ireland and Japan.

“A lot of people say those results are why we have such a hard group now. But we like being the underdog and be able to prove the haters wrong and we look forward to the challenge.”