London: When it comes to the Canham household in Melbourne, the 1980s lyric “I am, you are, we are Australian” rings mostly true.
Two of the Canham boys play sport for Australia – Josh is a Wallabies second-rower and Ben is an Olympic rower – but their expat English parents, Jeremy and Julie, still have a smidge of the old country in them.
“They’re pretty Australian now, too,” Josh Canham says. “We’ve been there quite a while so, yeah … they’re 50-50, I’d say.”
That allegiance will face its sternest test – theoretically, at least – this weekend when Canham plays his first Test match in London against England at the home of rugby, Twickenham.
The 25-year-old second-rower has been a standout for the Wallabies in his first full year as a Test player, and proved his international calibre with three strong performances against Ireland, France and Italy in the opening three matches of the Nations Championship in July.
Canham was named man of the match against Italy, after a historic three-try performance, and earned selection in the “World XV” of former England five-eighth-turned-Times columnist Stuart Barnes.
But this weekend in London represents the first time Canham has played Test rugby in the northern hemisphere, and he’s eager to test himself against imposing second-rowers like England skipper Maro Itoje.
“I have been watching England for years now, so to finally get to play in the northern hemisphere at Twickenham is going to be amazing,” Canham said.
In one sliding-doors version of Canham’s life, the big second-rower might have been wearing white in this contest, after he was approached by leading England club Northampton early in his career at the Melbourne Rebels.
Father Jeremy was a back-rower for the Saints in the 1980s and, armed with a British passport and with many relatives still in the Midlands, Canham briefly considered moving.
The Canhams shifted all over the world due to Jeremy’s job – Josh was born in the US – before they settled in Melbourne 17 years ago.
“I talked to Northampton earlier in my career, and [it] was really appealing, but I wasn’t ready and there was so much opportunity in Australia,” he said.
“I didn’t want to give away the opportunity to play for the Wallabies. Although I have two English parents I felt Australian and I am Australian, so playing for the Wallabies has always been my dream.”
Canham held firm on the same dream when the Rebels closed in 2024 and he was offered big bucks to join a Japanese club. He moved to Brisbane instead, where he began playing at the Reds under now Wallabies coach Les Kiss.
Canham’s athletic game – honed by years of elite junior basketball – was a perfect fit for Kiss’ ambitious style, and the 202-centimetre, 120-kilogram second-rower made his Test debut last year, and moved into the Wallabies as a main character this year.
Strong performances against some northern-hemisphere heavyweights in July helped instil confidence in Canham that he belonged.
“It’s always something in the back of your head, impostor syndrome, but I try and just put that out of my head for those games and just focus on what I could do,” he said.
“Yeah, now that I’ve played OK at this level, it’s going to give me confidence to build on that. I’m not going to take a step back now and be comfortable; I just want to strive to be even better.”
Canham is expected to return to the Wallabies starting side – named tomorrow morning (AEDT) – in a team otherwise mostly unchanged from their last-start loss against New Zealand in Sydney.
Len Ikitau’s return from concussion is set to mean Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will play on the wing, where his aerial athleticism will be best put to use against England’s barrage of contestable kicks.
After a solid showing in Sydney, Declan Meredith is also set to retain the No.10 jersey ahead of Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson, who are both returning from injury.
Canham will be a big piece of the puzzle if the Wallabies beat England. He is already the team’s main lineout caller, and his capacity to use feet at the line – or offload – will also help Australia get front-foot ball.
That deception was missed in the Bledisloe series, when Canham was out with a hamstring injury and the Wallabies big men were smashed with predictable one-out carries.
Canham played the last half of the second Test, and it was the one in which Australia opened up the All Blacks and won the term 14-7.
There’ll be plenty of extended Canham family in the Twickenham stands. They may not be wearing gold but Josh is confident they’ll be in his corner. Probably.
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Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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