The 2014 IRB Junior World Championship came to a close on Friday, with England becoming back-to-back winners of the tournament. The Australian U20s came 5th in the tournament, their best result in three years, after coming 7th in 2013 and 8th in 2012.
While they probably didn’t do as well as they would have hoped, there were a number of Australian players whose talent stood out, including the captain – and Melbourne Rebels player – Sean McMahon.
Australia’s Bright Spot – Sean McMahon
McMahon, who turned 20 in the closing days of the tournament, put in consistently good performances throughout the tournament, displaying exactly why the Melbourne Rebels contracted him for the 2014 Super Rugby season.
He saved the best for last though, running in two tries in 4 minutes against France, when Australia were 17-0 down, and effectively kick-started Australia’s comeback. Australia eventually won the playoff for 5th and 6th 34-27. In the first of his two tries, McMahon busted through five tackles to get over the tryline. The try was an example of his immense skill when running with ball in hand, as well as his amazing strength. Commentator Sumo Stevenson called him ‘the big beast’ – which is a fairly accurate description!
One thing that became blatantly obvious as the tournament progressed, is that in the not-so-distant future, McMahon WILL feature in the green and gold of the Wallabies jumper. Again.
At the age of just 17, right out of high school, Sean McMahon became the youngest player to ever represent the Australian 7s team. He went on to play with the 7s squad for two seasons, before moving to Melbourne to take up his Super Rugby contract, with the Rebels.
While he was initially named in the Melbourne Rebels extended training squad, he has regularly taken the field off the bench, as well as getting three starts in the number 6 jumper, against the Cheetahs (round 3), Crusaders (round 5) and Highlanders (round 8).
In accepting the contract with the Melbourne Rebels, McMahon effectively put an end to any hopes of having the chance to represent his country in 7s at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In an interview earlier this year, McMahon said (about his decision to leave 7s) “it was a decision I had to make carefully, to leave Sevens (with so much happening ahead of the Olympics), but playing Super Rugby is where I have wanted to be since I finished school and eventually playing for the Wallabies is my goal.” (SANZAR website, Jan 2014).
After witnessing his performances on the 7s circuit, in the 2014 Junior World Cup, and throughout the 2014 Super Rugby season, it seems that McMahon is well on his way to achieving his ultimate goal!
Sean McMahon has recently extended his contract with the Melbourne Rebels, signing through until the end of the 2016 season.
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