The 31-25 loss to the Western Force on Saturday night will be Andrew Kellaway’s final game for the Waratahs.
The Wallabies back is still undecided whether he will retire from professional rugby before the 2027 World Cup, but he will join up with the Barbarians invitational squad for games against South Africa and Wales in June.
Kellaway has played 49 games for the Waratahs and made three appearances for the Wallabies on the spring tour in November, against England, Italy and Ireland.
Kellaway played eight times for the Waratahs this season, winning his place back in the team after being dropped early in the campaign as young utilities James Hendren and Sid Harvey challenged him for his place in the side.
In March, Kellaway admitted that his decision to return to Sydney was based solely on family reasons, and he was still unsure whether to continue playing rugby professionally.
“Coming back to Sydney [from the Rebels ahead of last season] was solely about making sure my young family was around my extended family and my wife’s extended family,” Kellaway said in March.
“With the most respect, rugby was an afterthought in that decision, and I was just lucky enough that the Waratahs are where I’m from, and it’s a great club and a club that I love very much.”
Kellaway had also considered playing in the R360 competition before it was postponed until 2028 and could explore options to continue his career in Australia and abroad. The Wallaby also holds two degrees in accountancy and economics and has long been preparing for life after rugby.
Kellaway was a star Australian schoolboy and made his debut for the Waratahs at the age of 20 in 2016. He moved to Northampton in England, Green Rockets Tokatsu in Japan and the Melbourne Rebels before returning to Sydney for the 2025 season.
Kellaway’s NSW teammate Jake Gordon is set for at least nine months on the sidelines after rupturing his Achilles tendon in Perth against the Force. Gordon is the incumbent Wallabies halfback, starting all four Tests for Australia in November. Gordon had surgery on Monday.
Meanwhile, Australia’s men’s and women’s sevens teams have won titles in Spain, the first time both programs have collected gold at the same tournament since the Sydney sevens in 2018.
The men won their first title since 2022 when they beat South Africa in the final, while earlier the women’s team overcame New Zealand in the semi-final before defeating the USA in the decider.
The men led South Africa 26-14 with 90 seconds left in the final when James Turner was given a red card for a high tackle, but they held on to win.
Men’s captain Henry Hutchinson described the victory over South Africa as, “One of the toughest games I’ve played.”
“South Africa have made it to so many finals for a reason, but we had a lot of confidence going into this game that if we stuck to what we were good at, we’d be a hard team to stop,” he said.
“I feel like the group is in a really good place. We know we’re not consistently the best in the world, but we’re knocking on the door. There’s been a huge amount of growth from last season to this season.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
