Lincoln and Lisa Job with Jacob following an Australian Under 20s match against Fiji Under 20s before departing for the Under 20 Rugby Championship Tournament now underway in South Africa.

RAISED on his family’s Marellan Shorthorn Stud near Emerald in Central Queensland, Jacob Job is this month pulling on the green and gold for the Australian Under 20s rugby union team in South Africa.

Jacob, who was nicknamed ‘Buster’ from a young age, was selected at loosehead prop for the junior Wallabies and was in the run-on side that went within a bootlace earlier this week of doing something very few Australian rugby teams achieve – beating New Zealand in a Test.

The well-drilled Aussie Under 20s came within a whisker of a statement win over the ‘baby blacks’, surging to a 24–12 halftime lead and pushing the Kiwis all the way before falling 34–29 at the final whistle. A second-half red and yellow card turned the tide, as New Zealand capitalised on the two-man advantage to snatch victory in a frantic finish.

The assignment facing Jacob and his junior Wallabies teammates doesn’t get any easier this weekend, when they take on the tournament hosts South Africa on Sunday, before a final match against Argentina the following weekend.

Jacob is one of several country boys representing Australia in the tournament. Also in the squad are Bathurst’s Cooper Watters and Riley Whitfield – Riley’s father Mark is a respected agricultural teacher in the Central Tablelands’ town – and Ewald Kruger from Toowoomba. Team captain Tom Robinson is the grandson of John and Heather Robinson who helped to pioneer Queensland’s wine industry at Ballandean near Stanthorpe.

Jacob (middle row, right) pictured with some of his Junior Wallabies teammates.

For Jacob, who grew up on his family’s cattle operation at Shorthorn stud at Emerald, it’s a long way from his days as a junior player with the Nogoa Red Claws in the Central Highlands Junior Rugby Union comp.

Jacob’s dad Lincoln was also an accomplished rugby player who represented NSW Country as a winger against touring Test teams such as Ireland, Scotland and Canada.

Lincoln and wife Lisa are taking a rare holiday away from their Shorthorn stud at Emerald for the next few weeks to follow Jacob and the junior Wallabies in South Africa.

When contacted in Cape Town by Beef Central this week Lincoln said the Under 20s players were in good spirits despite their heart-breaking loss in round one.

“They were really glad in the way they played, but devastated in how the cookie crumbled,” he said.

“There is no point pointing fingers at referees, because everyone had other opportunities that they left there and you can only control what you can control.

“But how many times do you almost beat New Zealand, and deserve to beat them?”

Given where he now finds himself, it would be easy to assume that Jacob was always a standout on the rugby field, but that was not the case.

“He grew up in Emerald and played all his junior rugby there,” Lincoln said.

“We went to rep carnivals and he made no teams, he just played for fun.

“Our philosophy has always been, you play rugby for fun. And because you play for fun, I think that actually freed him up to work hard when he had to work hard, because he really enjoyed it.

Jacob continued his rugby in his secondary school years at Emerald State High School before going to Brisbane Boys College for years 10 to 12, where he was named Vice Captain of rugby, a House Captain, 2023 Valedictorian in his senior year, and graduated with an almost perfect ATAR score of 99.6.

A positional switch and a tireless work ethic were two factors that contributed to his success on the rugby field, Lincoln said.

“It was probably not until he was 14 that he started making any rep teams. He was a flanker then and then in Year 11 he moved to the front row, and that was the best move he could make.

“He is just a hard worker. His theory is in the front row it is hard for big blokes to stay fit, and a lot the backs, even if they’re not playing rugby, they’re going to the gym and they’re really fit. Whereas for a lot of the big blokes it is hard to stay fit and on top of your body, and that is why he has kept going up the food chain when others haven’t.”

Lincoln said Jacob also thrived under an exceptional Irish coach, Cain O’Connor, in his first years out of school, going on to win selection to the Queensland Reds Under 19s and 20s teams before being named in the Australian Under 20s team in March.

When asked how Jacob had reacted to his selection, Lincoln said he simply replied: “Dad I am just living my dream, it is just a dream.”

Dad I am just living my dream

Lincoln describes Jacob as a player as a “no frills hard worker”.

“I think the coaches would say the same, he is a dependable loosehead prop. He does a lot of hard work, the unseen work, but with a really high work rate. His travel stats around the field are very high for a front rower.”

Alongside his rugby, Jacob maintains a strong love of agriculture and the cattle industry.

He is currently studying a dual degree in business and engineering, and last year relished an opportunity to undertake an internship with the RNA working in the Ekka cattle section with respected cattle counsellor Gary Noller.

Lincoln said Jacob is particularly interested in the “business side” of cattle production.

Jacob put that interest to the commercial test at Beef 2024, where he and Ella (one his three sisters along with Estara and Lara), at just 18 and 17 years of age respectively, operated their own business, a food truck called “The Roan Bull” in Meat Street, selling innovative beef products including beef bacon made from brisket, organic Shorthorn beef and pulled rump.

Jacob and Ella serving a customer of The Roan Bull at Meat Street at Beef 2024 in Rockhampton.

“He reckons you learn more about business by doing business than studying business,” Lincoln said.

While in South Africa, Lincoln is looking forward to meeting with clients of his Marellan Shorthorn stud and visiting a number of Shorthorn, Bonsmara and Beefmaster cattle operations.

He is also very conscious of the major challenge South African livestock producers are currently facing from a devastating Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the country, and acutely aware of the biosecurity risks that presents for people from visiting countries. “I will be staying clear of any FMD areas and leaving my jeans and my boots at any farm I visit and will buy a new pair,” he said.

His son’s success as a prop has also prompted Lincoln to reconsider his own grasp of genetics. “I call myself a cattleman, and I know about genetics, but what I don’t understand is I was a winger that married a sprinter, and all I’ve done is bred a prop. My genetic knowledge is not nearly as good as I thought it was.”

The focus for now remains on a young prop from Central Queensland cattle country who has earned a place among the world’s best up and coming rugby players. As he told his father this week, he is exactly where he wants to be – living the dream.

“For us we’re very proud of his effort, and his achievement is exciting,” Lincoln said.

“I’d be just as proud of him if he was playing third grade in Brisbane and scored a try as a prop. One thing we have always been really clear with our kids, we just ask them to do their best, and nothing is better than their best.”

And it just so happens that his best is very, very good.

Watch the Junior Wallabies live in action on Stan Sport:

• Monday 4 May 12:00AM AEST: Australian U20s versus South Africa U20s
• Saturday 9 May 9:50PM AEST: Australian U20s versus Argentina U20s

The Job family at the Aus 20’s game versus Fiji 20’s in April: Left to Right. Ella, Lincoln, Jacob, Lisa, Lara and Estera.