He was playing inside centre, a position he wasn't overly comfortable in, for his French Top14 club Bayonne and had little expectation of reaching representative levels.

He was overlooked for Six Nations selection for Italy the country he qualifies for through his Italian grandfather and assumed his chances of pulling on an Azzurri jersey any time soon were non-existent.

But on Saturday night at Canberra Stadium that will all change when Gower represents Italy against the Wallabies.

Gower credits his surprise call-up to the Italian team to Bayonne coaches Xavier Pemeja and Fre{aac}de{aac}ric Faragou, who gave him the chance to test his skills at flyhalf.

''I played outside centre in my first season there and moved to 12 for most of this year but then I finally got my chance at 10 for the last four games,'' Gower told The Sunday Canberra Times.

''The coach came to me and said, 'I think you're a 10' and I was like, 'No worries' because I'd wanted to play there all year but they wouldn't give me a shot. I finally got that opportunity and played okay I thought and really enjoyed it.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times