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British & Irish Lions
Boys from the Bush get their shot at Lions
Tom Hamilton in Newcastle
June 10, 2013
The Combined Country side go through their training session © ESPNscrum
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Newcastle, Australia's first commercial port and now home of the largest coal exporting harbour in the world. It is also the Newcastle Knights' base, where former Italy international Craig Gower and Willie Mason, who had a one-match cameo for Toulon, run out. You can also find cumbersome ex-England striker Emile Heskey here.

But on Tuesday night, all the attention will switch to the Hunter Stadium where Combined Country will take on the British & Irish Lions. It is a team constituting of players representing both Queensland and the New South Wales, it is a side focused on those living and playing away from the big cities and who may not have had a chance to showcase their ability in the past. For some, it will end up being the biggest game of their rugby career.

Within the 23-man squad set to face the Lions, there are nine amateurs, four professionals turning out at league level with the rest coming from a Super Rugby background. The 23 had to fulfil certain criteria to qualify for the team - they either had to be born in Queensland or New South Wales Country, have played there for at least three or four years, are currently playing premier grade semi-professional rugby or turning out for either of the Country sides.

Coaching the team is Cam Blades, the former prop who is the current boss of Sydney club Southern Districts and played twice against the Lions in 2001, for the Australia 'A' side and for the Waratahs. He is under no illusions to the magnitude of the task facing his team, the talk on the touchline before their Monday training session surrounded the Lions' win over the Reds and Blades was quick to earmark the threat of George North and Alex Cuthbert on the flanks. The Country coaches were hugely impressed with their speed over short distances.

 
For Blades, he sees it as a chance to give guys who are "based in the Bush, the chance to take the next step up the pathway"
 

The wingers will not have it easy though. Southern Districs' Alex Gibbon, who is not on the short side, will wear the No.14 shirt and is no stranger to hard work mixing his rugby duties with a course in plumbing while Tom Cox, contracted to the Brumbies, has piled on the kilos recently in an attempt to bulk up for the rigours of Super Rugby. It will be a team full of individuals keen to prove some doubters wrong.

Blades only met some of his team for the first time at midday on Monday but they have nothing to lose. They have an injection of experience with Melbourne Rebels' Tim Davidson likely to skipper the side at No.8 while Reds' Jarrod Butler takes his place at openside. And they possess a hooker, Brumbies' Josh Mann-Rae, with a penchant for goal-kicking.

But there is no false expectation in the Country side, they know they will be heavy underdogs. But they will be hungry. While the Force were lambasted for selecting a weakened XV and then conceding 69, the Combined Country side will not be exposed to the same criticism if they ship a host of points.

For some players it could be the biggest game in their career while for others, it is a chance to put themselves in the shop window or win a personal battle against their Super Rugby bosses who have left them on the sidelines this year. For Blades, he sees it as a chance to give guys who are "based in the Bush, the chance to take the next step up the pathway".

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Tom Hamilton is the Assistant Editor of ESPNscrum.
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Tom Hamilton was brought up near the stands of the Recreation Ground and joined ESPN in 2011. He is now Associate Editor of ESPNscrum.
Follow him on Twitter @tomESPNscrum