Andrew Kellaway

Andrew Kellaway’s journey to the Wallabies is something of a cautionary tale. Star Australian schoolboy, star junior Wallaby, Waratah at 20, and Australian senior side development player at 21. Unfortunately, it was all “too much, too soon.”

Born in Sydney, Kellway played his first rugby for the Hunters Hill RC. He attended The Scots College and spent three years in the 1st XV (2011-13). From there he twice won selection for Australian Schools (2012-13) and then for Australian U20s (2014 & 2015 - as captain). In the 2014 World Championship, Kellaway scored a record ten tries - in just five matches - to break the previous mark held by two handy wingers, Julian Savea and Zac Guildford. He made his Waratah debut in 2016, against the Brumbies, and later that year was chosen as a development player on the Wallabies end-of-season Spring Tour. "It [success] came super quick," Kellaway later said. "That was great while it lasted, but the steepest learning curve was that it didn't last. Riding that wave is not a sustainable way to play, or to be. If I'm honest, the reality is that I wasn't ready to be playing Super Rugby. I wasn't ready mentally.”

Back-to-back injuries [2017 - throat; 2018 - foot] then sidelined Kellaway for the best part of two seasons. His Waratah contract now up, Kellaway faced an uncertain future. He moved to the U.K., signed with Northampton Saints and proceeded to learn a lot about himself. Kellaway recalled: “I look back now and that experience I had at Northampton was monumental for me in terms of the way I approached life and rugby.” After the U.K. he linked up with Counties Manakau in the New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship. Kellaway admitted that the Mitre 10 cup experience, alongside Sonny Bill Williams, was a huge addition to his rugby development. He rounded out his globetrotting with a stint in Japan at the NEC Green Rockets before the Melbourne Rebels convinced him to return home for the 2021 Trans-Tasman leg of Super Rugby.

That was the beginning of a most memorable year for Kellaway. He made his first Australian squad in five years, scored the second most tries (9) in a Wallabies’ debut season and walked away with Rugby Australia’s Rookie of the Year award.

Highlights

2012 Represented Australian Schools against Tongan Schools (70-13), Fijian Schools (W 29-12) and New Zealand Schools (W 16-14)

2013 Represented Australian Schools against Fijian U18s W 31-7), (New Zealand Schools (L 16-17), England U18s (W 23-3), Scotland U18s (W 29-5) and Ireland U18s (W 14-8)

2014 Represented Australian U20s at the seventh annual IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand.

2015 Captained Australian U20s at the eighth annual World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy.

2021 Kellaway won his first Test cap off the bench when he replaced Tom Wright in the 68th minute of the 23-21 win over France in Melbourne. He was not selected for the deciding Test of that French series but returned to earn his first run-on start, at left wing, in the 25-33 loss to New Zealand at Eden Park. Kellaway then started 10 of the year’s 11 remaining internationals on the wing and a single cap at fullback against Scotland.

2022 He started the years first international, against England in Pert but then missed four matches / seven weeks due to a hamstring tear suffered ahead of the second English fixture. Kellaway returned to the match day squad for seven of the next eight Tests before a fractured foot, during the 10-13 loss to Ireland, prematurely ended his season.