Kiwi link for new Wallaby hooker

McIsaac dreamed of playing water polo at the Olympics. Chris McGrath / Getty Images

Tai McIsaac, the new Wallaby who gave up water polo to take up rugby at 24, has Maori heritage.

McIsaac, realising a late dream to become a Wallaby at 31, is Queensland-born, but his father's family hail from New Zealand.

He said McIsaac was an adopted surname going back three generations to when his great-grandfather enlisted in the Army in World War I.

"Our proper surname is actually Paul," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper, "but when my great-grandfather was too young to go to war, he had to make up a name to get into the Army and then made up an identification for himself.

"He pulled McIsaac out of ... I don't know where ... but it stuck.

"Some of my father's family back in New Zealand have gone back to the name of Paul but the majority have stayed with it [McIsaac]."

Interestingly, one of McIsaac's fellow hookers in the 33-man Wallaby squad is Jeremy Paul, who was born in Ngaruawahia. McIsaac said he hadn't worked out if they were related, but it wouldn't be a major surprise.

McIsaac's father, whose first name was Paul, died in January.

McIsaac, who has made the Wallabies from the Western Force franchise, initially dreamed of playing water polo for Australia at the Olympics. He was a national under-21 rep but gave the sport away at 22 after he knew he wasn't in the mix for the Atlanta Olympics.

"I quit water polo at about 22, I just got sick of being kicked, punched and drowned, so I thought, why not? I'll throw my head into a scrum," he said.

Now, he jokes, he just gets kicked and punched.

Two years after making his first grade debut on the Gold Coast, he was picked for the Queensland Reds.

After just five starts in four seasons, he moved to the fledgling Perth-based Force.

McIsaac has no hesitation in saying that if he had stayed in Queensland, he would have had no hope of being selected for an Australian squad.

"Things have gone pretty well with the Western Force, it's helped a few of us out," he said.

"The whole idea of the Force was to give guys a chance who weren't getting a chance with other provinces and it's done exactly what it set out to do, which is give other guys a pathway to the Wallabies. I'm thankful for it."

McIsaac still has a big job to make the 22 for the first test of the year, against England in Sydney on June 11.

Waratahs hooker Adam Freier has the front running, so it comes down to a battle between McIsaac and Paul for the remaining spot.

"It's really hard to say at this stage - it could go either way."

- NZPA