Moving abroad would put on ice any ambitions to play for England. Italy, who he also qualified for and who Louis now represents, would be tricky given the logistics.
All Lynagh’s chips would be on Aussie green and gold.
On Saturday, five years on from that video call, they pay out as he starts for Australia against the British and Irish Lions in Brisbane.
“We all sat down, he thought about it, spoke to all the relevant parties and made a sensible, mature and informed decision,” says Paul Burke, former Ireland and Harlequins fly-half and Lynagh’s director of rugby at Epsom College.
“He understood that his talent was recognised over here and that he had opportunities to stay in England, but he went with his heart, with what he wanted.
“It was a huge step out of his comfort zone, without his mum and dad, staying with his grandparents and establishing himself in a new environment.”
Lynagh travelled down under with baggage. His father Michael is a 24-carat, 72-cap Wallaby legend. Like Tom, he played fly-half. Michael was an ever-present on the touchlines of Tom’s school matches, quietly watching and supporting.
But it was an attitude, as much as inherited attributes, that marked Lynagh junior out to Burke.
“From the outset he was extremely talented,” Burke adds. “He was always going to be destined for greatness.
“He was a fantastic cricketer, an excellent footballer and a sublime rugby player.
“His functional movement and ability to read a game were very natural, but most of all it was his character and attitude.
“I said to him when he was leaving that it would hold him in good stead.”
