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The South Africa national rugby union team commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts. Their emblem is a native antelope, the Springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the number one ranked rugby team in the world and are the reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup on a record four occasions. They are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative 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.
Matthew Coleman Burke is an Australian former international rugby union player and sport presenter on Sydney's 10 News First.
The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Commission, the Kangaroos are ranked first in the IRL Men's World Rankings. The team is the most successful in Rugby League World Cup history, having won the competition 12 times, and contested 15 of the 16 finals, only failing to reach the final in the 1954 inaugural tournament. Only five nations have beaten Australia in test matches, and Australia has an overall win percentage of 69%.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
Tim Horan AM is a former Australian rugby union footballer. He played for the Queensland Reds in the Super 12, and represented Australia. He was one of the best centres in the world throughout the 1990s due to his attacking prowess, formidable defence and playmaking ability. He became one of only 43 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions.
South Queensland Crushers was an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional rugby league in Australia. The competition was re-branded the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995, which was the Crushers' first season.
Nathan Frederick Cayless is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and has coached in the 2010s. He played at representative level for New Zealand (captain), and at club level in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the Parramatta Eels, for whom he was a long-time captain, as a prop. He captained the New Zealand national team to a Rugby League World Cup victory over Australia in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and coached at club level in the Intrust Super Premiership for the Wentworthville Magpies from 2016 to 2018.
Bradley Carnegie Thorn is a New Zealand Australian rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union footballer. Born in New Zealand, he represented Australia in rugby league and New Zealand in rugby union in a twenty-two year career as a player, starting at age nineteen and finishing at age forty-one. He was the head coach of the Australian Super Rugby Pacific team, the Queensland Reds. Thorn is their second longest-serving coach in history and their longest serving coach in the professional era.
Nathan Sharpe is a retired professional Australian rugby union player. He began his rugby career at the Queensland Reds in 1999 before joining the newly created Western Force in 2006, where he captained the club until his retirement in 2012. He played 116 test matches for Australia, including 20 as captain. His usual position was lock.
Stephen Thomas Moore is an Australian former rugby union footballer, who played Super Rugby for the Brumbies and Queensland Reds and has 129 caps for Australia internationally, including 24 tests as captain.
Mike A. Ford is an English rugby union coach, and former professional rugby league footballer. He is currently the Head coach of the Belgian national rugby union 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.
Bob Lindner is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. An Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he is one of a handful of players to be named man-of-the-match in State of Origin football more than once. Fifteen years after his retirement from football in Australia, he had made the most appearances and scored the most tries of any forward in State of Origin history.
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.
David Fairleigh is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his club football in Australia for the North Sydney Bears, winning 1994's Rothmans Medal. This was followed by a season at the Newcastle Knights, and another in England at St. Helens, with whom he won the 2001 Challenge Cup Final before retiring. Since retiring in 2001 he has spent the last 19 years coaching in the NRL mainly as an Assistant Coach. Teams he has worked at include the Newcastle Knights, Parramatta Eels, New Zealand Warriors, Penrith Panthers and the Nth Queensland Cowboys.
George Fairbairn is a Scottish former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached rugby league in the 1980s and 1990s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Borders, and at club level for Kelso RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Wigan, winning the Man of Steel Award in 1980, and Hull Kingston Rovers, as a goal-kicking fullback, and coached at representative level rugby league for Scotland, and at club level Wigan, Hull Kingston Rovers, and Huddersfield.
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.
Nick Stiles is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former player for the Queensland Reds. He also played in twelve Tests for Australia as a loosehead prop.
Izack Rodda is an Australian professional rugby union player. He currently plays for the Western Force in Super Rugby. Rodda previously played for the Queensland Reds and French Top 14 team Lyon OU. He is capped for the Australian national team and played at the Rugby World Cup in 2019. His regular position is lock.
