When Eamon Doyle and Joey Fowler set foot on ‘terra firma’ in Tokyo tonight (Wednesday), it will mark the next step in their already burgeoning rugby union careers.
The two 19-year-olds were both selected this week for the twenty-five strong NSW Waratahs squad to play the Kubota Spears at Edogawa Stadium in Tokyo on Friday.
Doyle and Fowler, two of a growing pool of top talent in the NSW Waratahs Academy, have impressed during pre-season training with the NSW Waratahs squad that is preparing for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacifica competition that starts on February 14.
Despite being in the infancy of their careers, NSW Waratahs Head Coach Dan McKellar believes that Doyle and Fowler – both NSW Waratahs Under 19 and Australia Under 20s representatives - are now ready to test themselves further in a professional game.
Doyle’s progression has been even more remarkable considering he has come back from a meniscus tear last year that saw him miss most of his final season playing school rugby in Year 12 at St Joseph’s College in Sydney where Fowler also hails from.
Doyle, a backrower from Austinmer, near Wollongong where he began playing rugby union for Illawarra and the Woonoona Shamrocks, is up for the challenge in Tokyo.
“Both of us were not really expecting to go. We thought [we would be here for] some training,” Doyle said. “I get nervous for every game, but I am looking forward to it.
“Playing against a professional side … it is probably the best I've ever played against.”
“It is high level footy. So, I just want to play that standard and then move above it.” Doyle recognises his fortune in being signed up by the NSW Waratahs Academy and steered into the rugby Pathway that will hopefully guide him to new highs in the game.
Asked about his meniscus tear that saw him miss most of his final season of school rugby alongside Fowler, who plays five eighth and is from Narrabri in north-west NSW, Doyle said: “I was out four months. Lucky enough, ‘Clev’ [NSW Waratahs Interim General Manager] put me in the Academy; and from there, things have gone pretty fast.
“We have had some exposure by training with the main NSW Waratahs squad. “We have played the Under-age games and have been transitioning into playing for Sydney University against men, and from there making the Australian Under 20s.”
After Doyle and Fowler played for NSW Waratahs Under 19s in the 2024 Super Rugby Under 19s competition, they were called up by coach McKellar for NSW Waratahs pre-season training at their base at Daceyville, Sydney that kicked-off five weeks ago.
Doyle has since adapted to the added workload in intensity, analysis, and time. “We came straight from ‘nineteens.’ We landed [in Sydney at] midnight from Perth, and then started the next day, at 7:30am,” Doyle said.
“We did not have any break, but the first week was more about getting used to the longer days of training. I have been through it here [at Daceyille] for three or four hours here, but now it is seven, eight or nine hours.
“The first week was hardest to get used to, physically; then the climate builds and I am well used to it now, the body's adapting. It definitely feels like a full-time job.”
Asked to elaborate on specific differences in training to what he has experienced before, Doyle said: “There are very intense sessions with a lot of high speed, max effort, repeat efforts, off the deck stuff, but I now feel I am strong gest and fittest I ever have been.”
As what areas of the game he is currently focusing on, Doyle said: “Set piece, the line out more ... And then there is the game … the running, tackling, and hopefully winning.”
Doyle is showing maturity beyond his years when it comes to citing his ambition for this coming season. His rapid trajectory may indicate otherwise, but from having already experienced a meniscus injury and enduring the rehabilitation that followed, Doyle today wants a steady take-off. “I just want to stay healthy and injury free,” Doyle said.
The NSW Waratahs flew out for Tokyo on this morning (Wednesday) and return to Sydney on Sunday morning. They will then have a two-day break before resuming pre-season training on Tuesday in readiness for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacifica competition.
The NSW Waratahs game against Kubota will not be televised or streamed online; but kick off is at 2pm local time (4pm AEDT).
Jamie Adamson, Brad Amituanai, Sifa Amone, Adrian Brown, Ethan Dobbins, Eamon Doyle, Charlie Gamble ©, Clem Halaholo, Julian Heaven. Mesu Kunavalu, Tom Lambert, Fergus Lee-Warner, Hugh Sinclair ©, Leafi Talataina
Jack Bowen, Nick Chan, Joey Fowler, Jack Grant, James Hendren, Triston Reilly, Lukas Ripley, Jackson Ropata, Archie Saunders, Joey Walton, Teddy Wilson
