Aussie upbringing gives Jack Dempsey extra motivation for claiming historic All Blacks scalp

Growing up in Australia, Jack Dempsey always felt like he had a chip on his shoulder when it came to taking on the All Blacks.

Whatever the Wallabies happened to be doing at any given moment, they would always be compared to their more illustrious neighbours.

New Zealand would always be the standout fixture, the one which got his blood pumping more than any other. In some respects, Dempsey feels it is not dissimilar to the relationship that exists between Scotland and England.

Perhaps that is why Dempsey has always tended to play his very best rugby any time he comes up against New Zealand.

He was absolutely magnificent for Scotland against the All Blacks at Murrayfield last year, a match where Gregor Townsend’s men threatened a famous win.

Scotland had fought back from 17-0 down to level the game at 17-17, only to be denied by a late try from Damian McKenzie.

Now, with another chance to claim a first-ever victory over the All Blacks on Saturday as the Nations Championship resumes, Dempsey’s fire burns as strongly as ever.

Asked whether it’s an opponent that fuels him with extra motivation, the Scotland back-rower said: ‘Oh, for sure, yeah.

‘Sione [Tuipulotu, Scotland captain] comes to mind in terms of chats we’ve had along the way, growing up as Australians, Australian schoolboys, Australian Under-20s. I played for the Wallabies as well.

‘You’re always compared to New Zealand. If I look at my career, if I say my top three Test games of all-time, I think two of them are probably against New Zealand, one for the Wallabies and one for Scotland.

‘So it’s something that I guess is similar to Scottish guys when they come up against England. I think that’s exactly the same feeling.

‘You just go to another level instinctively. But I think on top of that, if we look at last year’s game, the atmosphere that was there, the history of Scotland and New Zealand, we all know in terms of the (winless) streak. But it’s also the lack of opportunity Scotland have got against them, and now we’ve got two opportunities in two years.

‘So hopefully that continues with the new Nations Championship and we’re playing the All Blacks every year.’

Dempsey left Glasgow Warriors at the end of last season and headed to Japan to join Toshiba Brave Lupus.

Firmly established as a key player for Townsend’s side in the back row in recent years, Dempsey will be available for the remainder of the autumn campaign. He will then be unable to play in the Six Nations early next year due to his club commitments and how the calendar works in Japan. But he is determined to stick around and be part of Scotland’s World Cup squad next year for the tournament in Australia.

Given that he will be 33 by the time the tournament comes around, he feels that playing a World Cup in the country of his birth would be a neat full circle moment.

Whilst he is in no rush to retire, Dempsey hinted that it could be a natural juncture at which to call time on his Scotland career.

‘Yeah, it’s big,’ he said when asked about the prospect of the World Cup. ‘If you just look at my career, I’ve obviously had two World Cups, one for Scotland, one for Australia.

‘And you’re talking about a third and obviously final one, on Australian soil, with this crew. It would be a great way to go out in terms of international experience.

‘But, at the same time, you’ve got to earn every single week. I’ve learned through my own career that it can all be taken away very quickly, either through injury or selection or whatever,

‘So you can’t really look too far ahead, which is again all stuff that went into the move to Japan and everything like that. So we’ll see what happens.

‘It’s always hard to put the definitive word “end” to it. But I’m not under any illusion as to what my age is now, not playing in Scotland anymore and having that security of the Glasgow boys next to me every week, as well as obviously the international windows and the timing of the seasons and Six Nations and all that kind of stuff.

‘I’m not sure but, as a betting man, there’s probably less games coming (for me) than there has been. But I’m the last person who’s going to be ungrateful for what I’ve been given, especially by Scotland.

‘If I play against the All Blacks, it’ll be my 50th test cap (for Australia and Scotland combined), which you’d normally have a little ceremony and get given a little gift. But because it’s not for one nation, it’s just for us, me and my family, which is pretty unique and pretty special.

‘I think Scotland in particular, what they’ve given me in the second half of my career, it’s just making sure every cap — whether it’s All Blacks, World Cup, anything after or in between — just kind of play it like it’s your last, really.’

Dempsey was back at Scotstoun last weekend as a fan to watch Glasgow’s victory over the Lions. He still watches most of their games on TV whenever possible and is enjoying his new experience in Japan as he adjusts to the lifestyle and culture.

‘Yeah, the club have been really good with me,’ he added. ‘It’s been good to be back this week.

‘We had a long pre-season and we played a game a couple of weeks ago, which was good for me before coming here with Scotland.

‘Life in Japan is definitely different. It’s kind of similar to when I first moved to Glasgow, coming over from Sydney. It just kind of feels like you’ve dropped in on another planet and you’re re-learning the game in a way.

‘It’s obviously a different style over there, probably back more to Super Rugby, to what I used to play, learning all the new players and everything like that. But to come back here, it’s always a great environment, seeing friendly faces and stuff like that, so I’m really happy to be back.

‘My Japanese isn’t great! It’s actually really difficult, because you think you know how to do the greetings, but you’ve got to adapt to the accent and also the slang.

‘They’ll just say words that aren’t in the book that you’re trying to learn from. It’s been a bit tricky, but I enjoy it.’