Full name | Robert Ian Templeton | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 27 July 1932 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Rockhampton, QLD, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 5 December 1999 67) | (aged||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Brisbane, QLD, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
School | Anglican Church Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
|
Robert Ian Templeton MBE (27 July 1932 — 5 December 1999) was an Australian rugby union coach who led the Wallabies in 29 Test matches during the 1970s and 1980s. [1] He also coached Queensland in 233 matches. [2]
The son of a grazier, Templeton was born in Rockhampton and educated at Anglican Church Grammar School. He spent his playing career as a forward for GPS during the 1950s and got his start in coaching at the same club. [3] After steering GPS to a premiership in 1961, Templeton was appointed Queensland coach and remained in that position until ascending to the Wallabies post in 1971, succeeding the retired Des Connor. [4]
Templeton's first assignment as national coach was the 1971 tour of France, with the Wallabies claiming a maiden win on French soil in the first Test in Toulouse, before France levelled the two-Test series in Colombes. [5] A loss to Tonga in 1973 was a long point of his coaching tenure and after some more poor results he lost his position in 1975 to NSW coach David Brockhoff. He returned in 1976 to lead the Wallabies to another tour of France, then held the role permanently from 1979 to 1981, with mixed results. Under Templeton, the Wallabies beat the All Blacks 2–1 in an away series in 1980 and the following year swept France 2–0 at home. [6] He was replaced by Bob Dwyer in 1982 after the Wallabies came back from the 1981–82 grand slam tour having won only one Test. [7] In 1991, Templeton was an assistant to Dwyer when the Wallabies won the Rugby World Cup. [8]
The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
David Ian Campese, AM, also known as Campo, is a former Australian rugby union player (1982–1996), who was capped by the Wallabies 101 times, and played 85 Tests at wing and 16 at fullback.
Michael Patrick Thomas Lynagh, is an Australian former rugby union player who played 66 Tests at fly-half and six Tests at inside centre between 1984 and 1995. Lynagh was capped 72 times for Australia, and was captain from 1993 to 1995.
Mark Gordon Ella, AM is an indigenous Australian former rugby union footballer. Ella played at flyhalf/five-eighth and was capped by the Wallabies 25 times, captaining Australia on 10 occasions.
Russell Lance Fairfax is an Australian former Rugby Union and Rugby League player. A precocious talent, he played his first rugby international while still at school. Having played eight tests for the Wallabies, he moved to Rugby League's Eastern Suburbs Roosters in 1974. Following his retirement from Rugby League, Fairfax coached in the 1989 and 1990 seasons.
Simon Paul Poidevin is a former Australian rugby union player who played as a flanker. Poidevin made his Test debut for Australia against Fiji during the 1980 tour of Fiji. He was a member of the Wallabies side that defeated New Zealand 2–1 in the 1980 Bledisloe Cup series. He toured with the Eighth Wallabies for the 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland that won rugby union's "grand slam", the first Australian side to defeat all four home nations, England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, on a tour. He debuted as captain of the Wallabies in a two-Test series against Argentina in 1986, substituting for the absent Andrew Slack. He was a member of the Wallabies on the 1986 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand that beat the All Blacks, one of six international teams and second Australian team to win a Test series in New Zealand. During the 1987 Rugby World Cup, he overtook Peter Johnson as Australia's most capped Test player against Japan, captaining the Wallabies for the third time in his 43rd cap. He captained the Wallabies on a fourth and final occasion on the 1987 Australia rugby union tour of Argentina before injury ended his tour prematurely. In 1988, he briefly retired from international rugby, reversing his decision 42 days later ahead of the 1988 Bledisloe Cup series. Following this series, Poidevin returned to the Australian side for the single 1989 Bledisloe Cup Test. He returned full-time to the Australian national squad for the 1991 season. Poidevin was a member of the Wallabies that won the 1991 Rugby World Cup, after which he retired from international rugby union.
Ricky John Stuart is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL) and a former rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
Kenneth William Catchpole was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through the ranks at the Randwick club as a young man, before making his debut for New South Wales at only 19 years of age, then captaining Australia at age 21. He is considered one of Australia's greatest rugby scrumhalves.
Dr Mark Edward Loane AM FRANZCO FRACS is an Australian ophthalmic surgeon and former rugby union player. He completed medical school and trained as an ophthalmologist in Queensland, where he continues to practice in both the public and private health systems. Loane was proclaimed Member of the Order of Australia in 2011 for his service to medicine, particularly Indigenous eye health.
The McLean family were an Australian rugby clan who between them played 77 Tests for the Australian national rugby union team and a number of Tests for the Australian national rugby league team.
Quade Santini Cooper is a professional rugby union player and occasional boxer. Although born in New Zealand, he has represented Australia in rugby at international level. He currently plays for Hanazono Liners in Japan, and is a former player for the Queensland Reds and the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby competition in Australia. His preferred position is fly-half.
Ewen James Andrew McKenzie is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played for Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 caps for the Wallabies during his test career. McKenzie was head coach of the Australian team from 2013 to 2014. He has coached in both southern and northern hemispheres, in Super Rugby for the Waratahs and Reds, and in France at Top 14 side Stade Français. During his playing days he was a prop and, in a representative career spanning from 1987 to 1997, he played nine seasons for the NSW Waratahs and two for the ACT Brumbies.
The Canberra Vikings, formerly the Canberra Kookaburras, is an Australian rugby union football team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is based at Viking Park in Wanniassa, and is backed by the Tuggeranong Vikings Group as the licence holder, with the Brumbies and University of Canberra as non-financial partners.
Anthony Alexander Shaw is an Australian former rugby union player. A Queensland state and national representative flanker, Shaw captained the national side consistently from 1978 to 1982.
John David "Brock" Brockhoff was an Australian rugby union identity, a state and national representative who played eight Tests as flanker between 1949 and 1951. He was later coach of the national team from 1974 to 1976, and in 1979. He maintained an active involvement in rugby union in Australia for his entire life.
The 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the United States was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against various invitational teams from Canada and the U.S, and also against the US national team.
Richard James Pickett Marks is an Australian former rugby union footballer, noted rugby administrator and author. He played 17 Tests for Australia between 1962 and 1967, and was a captain of Queensland, for whom he played from 1962 to 1972. He served as national coaching director from 1974 to 1995, and was a leading figure in lifting the standard of Australian rugby. He also served on the Board of Queensland Rugby and was an inaugural member of rugby's International Technical Committee and drafter of the Game’s Charter. He received the Joe French Award for his contributions to Australian rugby in 2014, and remains active in debates on governance of Australian rugby. In 2020, he was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. In 2024, he was honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia award for significant service to rugby as a player, coach, and administrator. He is the grandfather of Queensland Reds player Curtis Browning.
Kenneth John Donald is an Australian pathologist, academic and former rugby union player.
Dallas John O'Neill is an Australian former rugby union international who represented Australia in two Test matches. He also played rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
David Charles Crombie AM is an Australian former rugby union player.