The decision to replace the injured Leon Brown with the 24-year-old Saracens tighthead will have shocked many but for Wainwright it will signal the culmination of 12 years of fighting against the odds. Wainwright hails from the town of Prestatyn in north Wales, and was first introduced to rugby as a youngster at Rhyl RFC.
From there he was picked up by Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) with the system in north Wales providing a launchpad into professional rugby while he also represented Wales Under 20s.
“I started playing rugby when I was 12-years-old,” he said. “I was never really into sport when I was growing up. My family come from a rugby league background, and my grandad, Jim Wainwright, played prop for St Helen’s back in the 1940’s before it went professional.
“My best friend Kyle asked me if I fancied going rugby training one day after school, and it went from there. I started off playing for Rhyl at under 12s, and played for them until I was 15 when I got picked up by RGC.
“There was a split, and you’d have north, east, and south. I played for east at under 15s, and was lucky enough to get through to under 16s which was a collection of east, south, and west.
“I went through to college, played for Llandrillo for a while, and then went to RGC in the Welsh Premiership. That was my first year of senior rugby at 18.
“The first year was a special year and we won the Welsh Premiership. I had some excellent coaching at RGC and, I owe a lot to Mark Jones and Phil John.
“Phil had a big impact on me, and was a massive mentor. With their help and guidance I was lucky enough to get picked up by Saracens.”
Sam Wainwright in his RGC days.
The growth of rugby in north Wales has grown significantly over the past decade, with RGC thriving in the Premiership. Wainwright is one of only two north Walians in the Wales squad to tour South Africa, the other being George North, and he is hoping he can be an inspiration to others.
“I’m very proud to be from north Wales, and I feel a lot of responsibility representing that area,” he said. “North Wales isn’t normally associated with rugby union but I think my selection can give people hope back home.
“I would never have made it this far without the support of my dad Shaun, mum Linda, and fiancé Ellie. My parents used to drive four hours to south Wales every other week to watch me play.
“There was a time I couldn’t get my weight up, and the amount of food they had to buy me so I could get to the right weight was unbelievable. I put 18 kilos on in 34 weeks, and given we were working class the price of the food made it tough.
“I remember once being on a family holiday in Southport and my dad had to drive me three hours down the road for me to train, and then three hours back. There’s a lot of rugby talent in north Wales, and I hope I can inspire any young kid back home who has aspirations of reaching the top.”
Wainwright has only made four appearances off the bench for Saracens this season due to the strength in depth at the club, and has played the majority of his rugby for Ampthill in the English Championship. Next month he will join Tomas Francis and Dillon Lewis as the tightheads in Pivac’s squad to take on the Springboks.
If he is lucky enough to get selected he will face one of the most feared scrums in world rugby, but the humble north Walian is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, and is over the moon to make the squad.
“It was a normal Tuesday in training, and we’d just finished forwards units,” said Wainwright when asked how he found out about his call-up. “I came into the changing room to a Whatsapp message from Wayne Pivac saying get in touch when you have a minute.
“I called him back and he asked me to join the squad for South Africa. It was a bit of a shock really, and I was very emotional on the phone because this means so much to me.
Sam Wainwright playing for Wales under 20s back in 2018.
“Listen, if I don’t back myself then no one will. I know I’ve had a lot of smoke, and a lot of heat with this selection. I was as shocked as everyone else.
“For me personally there’ll be no bad to come out of this tour. At the end of the day we are coming up against the best pack in the world, and either way I’ll get something good out of it.
“I don’t want a tough lesson but if that’s what comes then so be it but the important thing is I take the good out of that, and use it to get better. I’ll bring a strong work rate.
“I just want to get stuck in, and I love the contact, and the physicality. The aggression and physicality that I bring can hopefully benefit Wales.
“I just want to work hard and give my all to the team. If I can put a few hits in here and there that will be a bonus.”
Wainwright has benefitted greatly from working in a Saracens environment which is widely considered to be among the best in world rugby. Everyday he is training with and against the likes of Mako & Billy Vunipola, Vincent Koch, Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell, and Nick Tompkins.
And he is confident this experience will hold him in good stead moving forward. “Saracens training is so tough I’m scrummaging against the likes of Mako Vunipola, and get mentored by someone like Vincent Koch should benefit me in the long run,” he said.
“The way you earn respect at Saracens isn’t by talking but through your actions, and that’s the attitude I’ll bring to Wales. Every day I aspire to be better, get more game time, and kick on.”
