Sam BruceJan 21, 2026, 11:07 AM
CloseSam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPN after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage.
The player roundabout between Rugby Australia and the Sydney Roosters is poised to continue, with State of Origin and Australia back-rower Angus Crichton set to jump ship to the 15-player game.
Multiple media reports on Wednesday suggested Crichton’s deal with Rugby Australia [RA] was done, though with conflicting details on the exact length of the contract. Later Wednesday, RA confirmed that Crichton would join the Waratahs ahead of the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific season as part of a two-year deal.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be returning to the sport I played throughout my childhood,” Crichton said via an RA media release.
“Growing up in Young, I have great memories driving up on buses to Canberra with the other farmers and their families for the Tahs-Brumbies game every year. To have a chance to play in the same Waratahs jersey as Lote Tuqiri, my favourite Rugby player as a kid, is something special. I grew up with a Wallabies jersey and poster on the wall and my dream was to one day represent them.
“I’m in a position in 2027 to pursue that dream and I would like to thank Rugby Australia and the Waratahs for the opportunity, while also acknowledging and showing gratitude for the wonderful career I’ve had in the NRL.
“I am pleased to have confirmed my plans for beyond this season and look forward to fully focusing on the campaign ahead with my teammates and family at the Roosters.”
The 29-year-old had long spoken of his interest in at some point making a switch to rugby, with Crichton having starred in the game as a schoolboy at The Scots College in Sydney. He came close to a deal with Western Force in 2023, but negotiations fell apart with Crichton’s manager David Rawlings later hitting out at RA.
Crichton twice won the coveted GPS First XV premiership with the school, and later was chosen in the the Australian Schoolboys squad for their tour of New Zealand in 2014. A part of the Waratahs system through the junior grades, he sensationally first signed with the Rabbitohs having been told by rugby academy managers that he would first have to cut his teeth in Shute Shield rugby.
Crichton almost immediately proved those officials wrong, making his NRL debut as an 18-year-old, and has since gone on to win an NRL premiership with the Roosters, Origin campaigns for NSW, and the 2021 Rugby League World Cup with Australia.
“He wanted to challenge himself to break through probably sooner than we thought he would in rugby, and he’s done really well,” Ben Whitaker, then-Australian Rugby Union high performance manager, told ESPN of Crichton back in 2016.
“Would he have made a really good rugby player? For sure. We talked about you go away in those formative years — 18-21 — when you really learn the game; if you’re committed and you’re in a good system and program, you learn the game — particularly as a ball-running back-rower who needs to develop other skills. We pitched that to him, and I don’t know if that weighed into his decision.”
A decade on, Crichton will finally trade the NRL for rugby.
Crichton’s looming code-swap follows those of former Roosters teammate Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and former Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase, who went from rugby to league. Nawaqanitawase has also opted for a return to rugby to chase his World Cup dream, though the outside back will instead take up a two-year deal in Japan.
Crichton will meanwhile join the Waratahs, with the 29-year-old set to have just one Super Rugby Pacific season to relearn the game he played with aplomb as a youngster. There is the chance that he could be taken as a development player on the Wallabies’ spring tour later this year, just as Suaalii was by Joe Schmidt in 2024. RA and the Roosters have enjoyed a civil working relationship the past few years that has facilitated early releases for Suaalii and Nawaqanitawase.
“We are thrilled to be bringing Angus back to rugby ahead of a momentous 2027 season, highlighted by a once-in-a-generation home Rugby World Cup,” RA chief executive Phil Waugh said.
“Angus excelled as a rugby player through the schoolboy and junior ranks and we believe he will make a strong contribution to the performance and culture of Australian rugby.
“He has developed into an elite talent and leader in rugby league and now has the opportunity to showcase his talent on the unique global platform that rugby provides.”
But it will be another code-hopper of sorts, Les Kiss, who will determine whether Crichton can make a rapid transition back to rugby in time for next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia. Kiss will trade his Queensland Reds duties for the Wallabies job at the start of August, when Schmidt is due to finish up with Australia.
Crichton played both in the back-row and as an inside centre throughout his schoolboy days and could potentially fill a problem area for the Wallabies at No. 12, allowing star centre Len Ikitau to revert to his more favoured No. 13 jersey.
News of Crichton and Nawaqanitawase’s World Cup bids come as RA attempts to re-sign Max Jorgensen, with the star youngster off contract at the end of the year.
Angus Crichton is poised to jump ship and have a crack at playing the 2027 Rugby World Cup with the Wallabies Michael Steele/Getty Images
Jorgensen has hinted he is interested in following in the footsteps of his father, Peter, in jumping ship from rugby to league, with the Roosters having already had a crack at signing the winger before he recommitted to rugby in 2024.
While he is unlikely to spurn the chance of representing the Wallabies at next year’s World Cup, Jorgensen may seriously entertain a switch to the Roosters from 2028.
Wayward Parramatta Eels winger Zac Lomax had also been linked with a switch to Super Rugby following his failed dalliance with the delayed R360 project, but it is understood RA was not keen on providing a contract top-up to meet the NSW Origin star’s demands.