Rejuvenated prop Sekope Kepu has pinpointed improved fitness and strength as the factors behind his remarkable rise from outside Australia's top 40 rugby players into the Wallabies starting 15.

Kepu's World Cup aspirations took a significant hit after he missed out on the Wallabies 2010 Spring tour.

He rebounded with a terrific campaign for NSW in the Super Rugby tournament, only to be laid low for several weeks by a knee injury.

Despite his lack of match fitness, Kepu wasn't forgotten by the Australian selectors when the Test season started.

The 25-year-old front rower, whose three previous Test appearances were all off the bench, has started all five of the Wallabies' 2011 fixtures.

Capable of playing on both sides of the scrum, the Australian-born New Zealand-raised forward has suddenly become a cornerstone of the all-important scrum.

With NSW teammate and scrum linchpin Benn Robinson injured, Kepu and Ben Alexander are literally shouldering plenty of the responsibility for holding up the much-scrutinised scrum.

World Cup squad selection vindicated Kepu's decision to return to the country of his birth after being schooled in New Zealand, who he represented at under-17 and under-19 levels as a loose forward.

He made the 2008 and 2009 Spring tours but was forced to review his physical condition after missing out on the 2010 trip.

"To have a setback at the end of last year, it really was a wake-up call for me and I knew I had to really work hard," Kepu told reporters on Tuesday.

"I sat down with the coaches at the Waratahs. (Wallabies coach) Robbie (Deans) and I spoke just before the naming of the Spring tour team.

"The bottom line was to get the match fitness and the general fitness up to scratch and I went away and just ran.

"I was stronger than ever and was fitter and that sort of allowed me to push a spot starting during the 'Tahs' season and I guess the more game time you get, the fitter you get and it's really helped me in the first half of the international season."

While some of his family still live in New Zealand, Kepu's allegiance to the country of his birth hasn't caused any angst within his own clan.

"They are 100 per cent behind the Wallabies. They are all in the green and gold now," Kepu said.

"They were at home (for last Saturday's Test) but they were all painted up, banners and everything, in the lounge."

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