Full name | Liam Wright | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 6 November 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 105 kg (16 st 7 lb; 231 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Anglican Church Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liam Wright (born 6 November 1997) is an Australian professional rugby union player who co-captains the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby. He also played for Queensland Country in Australia's NRC. [2] His usual position is flanker. He is also the current captain of Australia in international rugby, receiving the honour under coach Joe Schmidt for the Wallabies’ 2024 Test series against Wales and Georgia. [3] [4]
Wright began his senior rugby career with Easts Tigers, playing Queensland Premier Rugby in 2016. [5] He was selected in the Australian Under-20 team in 2016 and 2017 for the World Championships in Italy and Georgia. [6] Wright joined the Queensland Country team and made his debut in Australia's National Rugby Championship (NRC) in October 2016, playing against the NSW Country Eagles. [7]
In 2017, he signed a two-year professional contract with the Queensland Reds for the following two seasons. [8] After impressing national selectors during the NRC in 2017, Wright played for Australia against the Barbarians in Sydney, [9] and was then chosen as one of two development players in the Wallabies tour squad for the 2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals. [10] [11]
Wright made his Super Rugby debut for the Reds off the bench in the team's first match of the 2018 season, playing against the Rebels in Melbourne. [12]
He was selected in the Australia squad for the Bledisloe Cup in 2019, [13] and made his test debut against New Zealand at Eden Park in August that year. [3]
After suffering a run of injury, Wright returned to the Wallabies fold under newly-appointed coach Joe Schmidt. He was made captain for their first test against Wales. [3] [4]
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