Full name | Anthony Morris Frederick Abrahams | ||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 28 March 1944 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
School | Cranbrook School | ||||||||||||||||
University | University of Sydney | ||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Lawyer | ||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Anthony Morris Frederick Abrahams AM (born 28 March 1944) is an Australian former rugby union international.
Educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney, Abrahams was a lock who was a reliable line-out jumper. He played first grade for Sydney University while studying for an Arts/Law degree. [1]
Abrahams was capped three times for the Wallabies. He debuted in the one-off Test in Wellington on the 1967 tour of New Zealand, opposite Colin Meads. His other appearances were in home Tests against the All Blacks in 1968 and Wales in 1969. He made the squad for the 1969 tour of South Africa. During the tour, Abrahams met with various anti-apartheid figures and opted out of an early tour match against Rhodesia to protest the regime of Ian Smith. [2] He became an outspoken apartheid critic and protested the 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia. [3]
A lawyer by profession, Abrahams spent over two decades working for Clifford Chance in Paris and served as vice-president of the Association France-Australie. He was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to Australia-France relations, and to the law". [4]
Abrahams is the grandson of Leonard Abrahams KC, a Sydney lawyer who was one of the fatalities of the 1938 Kyeema crash. [5]
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.
Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones AM is a former Australian rugby union footballer. His position was scrum-half. Farr-Jones debuted for the Australia national rugby union team during the 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, during which the Australia won the grand slam of rugby union when they defeated all four Home Nations. He was voted "Player of the Series" for the 1986 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand, during which Australia became the sixth team in history to win a rugby Test series in New Zealand. He was appointed captain of the Wallabies prior to the commencement of their 1988 international season. He is probably best remembered for captaining Australia to their the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Farr-Jones retired as captain of Australia after a victory against South Africa in 1992 and temporarily ceased playing international rugby. He came out of retirement in 1993 for the single Bledisloe Cup Test and a three-Test home series against South Africa, following which he retired from international rugby. He now works at Taurus Funds Management, appears as a TV rugby commentator on UK Sky Sports and is the chairman of the New South Wales Rugby Union.
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In total, around 700 people were arrested whilst the Springboks were on tour.
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