Henry Speight's journey to Test debut takes him from Wallabies opponent to starting winger Henry Speight playing for the Wallabies against the Barbarians. IN many ways, Henry Speight - who plays his first Test for the Wallabies against Ireland tomorrow morning - has come a long way to get to where he is. In other ways, it's not far at all. Sitting in the foyer of the team hotel outside Dublin, Speight revealed the journey that took him from Lautoka, Fiji, to the most famous rugby stadias of Europe ­actually started about 165km to the north. "The first rugby tour I ever went on was to Belfast for the 2007 world championships with the Fiji under-19s," he said. We played Australia in a pool game - they had players like Ben McCalman, Rob Simmons and James Hanson. That was the first time I really thought about rugby as a pathway. To think that seven years later I'm playing alongside those guys for Australia, it's mind-blowing. Henry Speight got a taste of life in a Wallabies jersey against the Barbarians. But while geographically Speight's life may have followed a fairly straight line - albeit with detours for immigration issues, injury and ­eligibility rulings - spiritually and emotionally it has been as jagged as rocks in the Irish Sea. Speight's story has been told often: How he lost his mum to cancer when he was just 8. How his political activist father sought asylum in Australia, leaving Speight to be raised by his late wife's parents. And how his dream of playing for Australia turned into a four-year nightmare of red tape. But he is happy to have it told again and again if it can bring attention to the most ­important people in his life - a group of youngsters in Fiji suffering from cancer. Introduced to Walk Out Walk Strong - a Fiji-based foundation that supports children with serious illnesses - by his sister, Speight has become immersed in the cause. On December 5 in Canberra, he will shave his trademark afro hairdo in the hope of raising $10,000 for the foundation. Henry Speight talks tactics with Wallabies coach Michael Cheika. And while Speight is excited to be finally making his Test debut from a sporting point of view, he is equally pleased because of the benefits it will bring to his work with the children. "My passion for the kids is stronger than ever," he said. What inspired me was meeting them and seeing that no matter what they were going through, they still smiled. I'm thankful for the position I'm in. With it comes a bit of recognition and through that I can raise awareness of the plight of these kids. He is also well aware of the uplifting effect his on-field performances are having on the morale of the children. Last week Losena Qionibaravi, a 15-year-old cancer sufferer who was forced to drop out of school while having chemotherapy, told the Fiji Times "that man Henry Speight, the one with the hair," was her hero because of the work he was doing to help "children all over Fiji who are the same as me." Speight said: "I think it's the other way around. She's my hero.