Recalled after a four-year absence following an injury to Keiron Assiratti, Wainwright is back in the international set-up having last featured in the autumn of 2022.
But when the Wales call came to the Cardiff tight-head prop, his thoughts immediately turned to his father, who died two years ago and had been central to his son’s rugby journey.
“My Dad passed two years ago. We had aspirations together for me to get back to this position,” says Wainwright.
“I’ve always been hungry to get back into the squad. It’s just nice to be given another opportunity.”
Shaun Wainwright, a former rugby league player, was his son’s biggest supporter and sounding board.
From Sam’s early days juggling part-time rugby at RGC in North Wales to his rise through the professional game, his father made sure rugby always came first and other worries, particularly financial ones, were taken care of.
READ MORE: After Four-Year Break, Sam Wainwright is Back for Wales
“He put everything into it for me,” says the 27-year-old former RGC, Saracens and Scarlets forward.
“My Dad was a construction worker who worked very hard to ensure I had everything I needed to have a crack at this.”
Even when his son suggested combining rugby with work, the answer was firm.
“He said ‘I do this, not you – you just focus on the rugby’,” Wainwright recalls.
“He wanted me to focus on the rugby and just get to where I needed to be.”
That support carried Wainwright through an unconventional pathway to the top, including a formative spell at Saracens after moving there in 2019.
The step up from semi-professional rugby was steep, but one that accelerated his development.
“You go from playing semi-pro rugby, into full-time pro rugby. It’s a huge jump,” he said. “The way the boys played – the speed of it – it was night and day.”
Those Saracens years could soon take on added significance.
Wales open their Six Nations campaign against England at Twickenham on 7 February and, if selected, Wainwright is likely to come up against former team-mates such as Jamie George and Maro Itoje.
“He's a great man,” Wainwright says of George.
“He carries himself really well, he’s the ultimate professional.”
On Itoje, he added: “There wasn’t a bad person there at Saracens. Maro was a good bloke.”
Wainwright’s first taste of Test rugby came during Wales’ tour of South Africa, including the historic series win over the Springboks — an experience he still treasures, particularly because his family were there.
“It was unbelievable,” he says. “If I look back, it's one of the fondest memories I've got.”
But his early caps arrived when he had played barely 22 games for Saracens, and he accepts now that he was still learning his trade.
“I had those caps early in my career, but I understood I still had a lot to work on,” he says.
“It came early for me and I am a different player now to back then.”
That development has been shaped by regular rugby with the Scarlets and more recently Cardiff, where Wainwright feels his game has matured.
“It has been refreshing for me going to Cardiff,” he says. “The things that (head coach) Matt Sherratt installed at the club have been big for my game.”
His recall was confirmed earlier this week after Assiratti suffered a calf injury during Cardiff’s URC win over Benetton, ruling him out of the championship.
For Wainwright, when the phone rang to bring him back into the squad, the emotion was immediate as he remembered the man who had done more than anyone to help guide his career.
“When I got the call I thought about my dad and it was quite emotional,” he said.
“We’d speak about everything and he’d watch every game. He would have been proud of me – 1000 (thousand) per cent.”
