John Ulugia

Since the end of the 2008 Investec Super 14 season, CA Brumbies hooker John Ulugia has continued plying his trade at various levels. The 22 year old was selected in the Australia A squad for the Pacific Nations Cup before earning the call up for the Barbarians to play the Queensland Reds in July and finishing his season off playing Canberra club rugby for the Tuggeranong Vikings. Brumby Jack caught up with ‘Luge’ to see how he’s progressing in the lead-up to the 2009 Investec Super 14 pre-season and what his thoughts were in regards to this weekend’s John I Dent Cup finals action.

Brumby Jack: What did you take out of the Investec Super 14 this season?
John Ulugia: It was great getting some regular game time under my belt at the back end of the Super 14 season, particularly with Laurie [Fisher] backing me to start in the last two games. It was a good reward for the hard work I’ve put in during the pre-season and through the season. Obviously you’d like to be playing right through the year but seeing Huia [Edmonds] and Saia [Faingaa] playing well through the first half [of the Investec Super 14] only made me want to work harder to get into the side.

BJ: Following the season you were selected in the Australia A squad for the Pacific Nations Cup. What was that experience like?
JU: It was a tremendous experience and gave my confidence a big boost too. It was great playing with a lot of the top players like Timana Tahu, Hugh McMeniman and Guy Shepherdson, who I’ve obviously played a lot with at the Brumbies. But it was great to be able to take the next step after Super 14 and was a great experience.

BJ: Your were also selected in the Barbarians side to play the Reds last month. What did you take out of that match?
JU: It was great playing alongside a lot of the ‘old heads’, who have been retired for one or two years – guys like Toutai Kefu and Jeremy Paul, who’d only retired six months before the match. It was great being part of the way the Baa-Baa’s play and being part of that training as well.

BJ: You came back to play a few games with the Tuggeranong Vikings but missed the final few rounds through injury. What was the injury and where do you stand with it at the moment?
JU: I probably won’t be doing full training until the beginning of the pre-season when I’ll test my knee out. I tore my PCL [posterior cruciate ligament] so at the moment we’re waiting for that to settle down. Warren [McDonald] – the doctor – and Timmy [McGrath] – the physio – said if I pushed it then I risked doing more damage so I had to sit the end of the season out.

BJ: You’ve played the sides competing in this weekend’s major and minor semi finals – who are your tips for this weekend?
JU: I’ll tip Queanbeyan on Saturday [in the major semi final]. Easts looked good last week and will take a lot of confidence out of beating Tuggies by 60 points but I’ve watched Queanbeyan during the year and they’ve bonded together really well as a team and they’ve got some excellent attacking players. For Sunday’s game I’ll back Royals – they’ve picked up their game over the last few weeks and with a few players from the [Brumbies] Academy and Brent Hamlin, who’s been training with the main squad, I think they’ll win by 10 points.

BJ: Who’s you’re tip to win the John I Dent Cup in three weeks’ time?
JU: I’d have to tip Queanbeyan. They’ve been very consistent this year and they’ve got good physicality in the team with guys like James Stonham, Dan Penca and Lala Lam in the backrow.