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| Birth name | Stirling Austin Mortlock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1977-05-20)20 May 1977 (age 47) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 103 kg (16 st 3 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | The King's School, Parramatta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stirling Austin MortlockAM[1] (born 20 May 1977) is an Australian former professionalrugby union player. He has scored more than 1,000 points inSuper Rugby, and nearly 500 test points for theWallabies.[2] Mortlock is a former Wallaby,Melbourne Rebels andBrumbies captain.
Born in Sydney, Mortlock began playing rugby with Lindfield Juniors.[3] Mortlock was educated atThe King's School inParramatta Sydney. He represented Gordon Juniors at Colt level and still representsGordon at club level today.[4] He represented Australia at Under 19 and Under 21 level before pursuing a professional career with the Brumbies.[5]
In 1998, Mortlock joined the ACT Brumbies. He was part of the Brumbies Super Rugby championships team in 2001.[6] In 2004 he succeededGeorge Gregan as ACT Brumbies Captain and played every game that season except the final due to injury and thus was unable to lead the team to claim theSuper 12 title that year.[4][7]
Then Wallaby coachRod Macqueen plucked Mortlock out of club rugby at the young age of 20 to tour Argentina with the Wallabies in 1997.[4]
In 2000, he made his Test debut againstArgentina.[4]
2000 was a landmark year for Mortlock – he became the fastest Australian to reach 50 and 100 Test points, he scored the most points and highest number of penalties [16] by any Australian in his first five Tests and created history by becoming the first Australian to score 20 points or more in four consecutive Tests. With the Wallaby team, Mortlock was instrumental in the famous Bledisloe and Tri-Nation Series' Victories of 2000. He scored a sideline penalty goal in 2000 against South Africa inDurban to win Australia's firstTri Nations crown.[8]
Mortlock won man-of-the-match and had an 80-metre intercept try at then-Telstra Stadium to help knock theAll Blacks out of the2003 Rugby World Cup in the semi-final.[5]
In 2006, Mortlock became the 73rd player to captain the Wallabies.[2][4] In 2007, Mortlock was made co-captain withPhil Waugh.[9]
In February 2008, Mortlock announced that he hoped to continue playing with the Wallabies until at least the end of 2010. Australian Rugby Union CEOJohn O'Neill endorsed this decision saying that Mortlock is a "real captain courageous" and an "inspirational leader".[10]
He missed Wallabies' selection in October 2010. A press release from the Rebels said Mortlock was recuperating after surgery, and hoped to be "training in full by December."[2]
TheMelbourne Rebels signed Mortlock in March 2010, to a three-year deal for an undisclosed amount.[2][11][12]Mortlock was declared the Rebels inaugural Captain on 2 February 2011,[13][14][15][16][17] with former Wales internationalGareth Delve as Vice-Captain.
In June 2012, Mortlock announced he would retire as a player at the end of the2012 Super Rugby season,[6] However, in 2013 he continued with the Rebels in a supporting role.[18]
Mortlock was namedSuper Rugby player of the year in 2002.[19] In 2008, Mortlock's ability to score tries and kick goals positioned him third on the all-time list of Australian Test point scorers (with 473 points).[5] In May 2009, in the Super 14 match between theAuckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies Mortlock became the highest points scorer in Super Rugby history, surpassing New Zealand'sAndrew Mehrtens. He finished with on 1019 Super Rugby points for the Brumbies. He is the sixth player for the Brumbies to achieve 100 caps.[7]
Mortlock was made a Member of theOrder of Australia in the 2012 Australia Day Honours List.[20]
| Preceded by | Australian national rugby union captain 2006–07 | Succeeded by |