12 months ago, Blake Schoupp was a teacher at a school for specific purposes in NSW's Hurlstone Park. Now, he's on the biggest stage in Rugby.
Schoupp has reflected on his rise to the Wallabies, having graduated from the classroom to the World Cup in stunning fashion.
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The health and physical education graduate started his teaching career at Edgeware School: a school for students who have been unsuccessful in mainstream schools whether that be because of expulsion, coming out of youth detention centres or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"I didn't even know those kind of schools existed," Schoupp told reporters.
"I applied for a different job as a teaching assistant because I was still at uni at the time and I applied online through whatever the online website was and the principal at the school was a supporter of Southern Districts at the time and he rang me and he said, ‘hey, mate, you know, I saw your application, I know your name through the rugby club. I think you'd be better suited to this role.’
"He got me in for the day and showed me around and then the rest is history.
"I'm trained in physical education but I can teach anything from 7-12. So at that school it was a multi-learning facility so you just create programs for kids depending on what their interests were because a lot of them were coming in and out of juvie."
Schoupp remains in touch with the school and knows if he wants an honest appraisal of his form, the kids are more than happy to help out.
"I still remember my last day when I was teaching, they all knew I was gonna quit teaching and go down to train with the Brumbies. I actually put up one of my games on the on the big screen because all the kids were asking me and they were all like criticizing me like because they saw they saw me walking around the field and were criticizing how I was going," he said with a smile.
"It was pretty cool to share that and then still be in contact with a few people at the school. The principal who I worked for, actually sent me a message the other day, which was pretty nice."
He said he hadn't turned his back on teaching again in the future with the kids keeping him grounded while also making him appreciate his own upbringing.
"A lot of the students hadn't had a lot of schooling in the periods before they came to our school ... it was about just being there and providing an environment for them to come to learn and get away from whatever was going on outside of their lives," he added.
"I wouldn't say more well-rounded but I do give credit to the job that I had because it gave me the opportunity to be appreciative of what I had at the time."
