George Gregan

George Gregan

Player information
Full name	George Musarurwa Gregan
birthday	April 19, 1973
place of birth	Ndola , Zambia
Nickname	Greegs , The Guvnor
society
society	Suntory Sungoliath
position	Half of the crowd
Clubs as active
Years	society	Games (points)
1996-2007	Brumbies	136 (117)
2007-2008	RC Toulon	27 (5)
2008-2011	Suntory Sungoliath	13 (5)
National team
Years	National team	Games (points)
1994-2007	Australia	139 (99)
As of January 30, 2011 National team October 6, 2007

George Musarurwa Gregan (born April 19, 1973 in Ndola , Zambia ) is a former Australian rugby union player . For several years he held the record for the most international matches of all players in the history of the sport. He played in the scrum half position and was part of the Australian national team that won the 1999 World Cup . He played for the Brumbies for more than ten years before moving to France in 2007 for second division club RC Toulon , who had previously signed Tana Umaga , among others . After a season at Toulon, he moved to the Suntory Sungoliath in Japan, where he played another two years.

Career

Gregan belongs to the generation of players who were active in both the amateur and professional eras of rugby. He was born in Zambia to a Zimbabwean mother and an Australian father. His second name Musarurwa means something like "the chosen one". When he was a year old, his family moved to Canberra , where he first attended a Catholic school and later graduated from university with a Bachelor of Education degree in sports .

1994-1999

In 1994 Gregan first appeared for the Wallabies when they met Italy in Brisbane . That same year he was part of a historic moment in Australian rugby. In the game for the Bledisloe Cup , which has been played against New Zealand every year since 1931 , he managed to stop All Black Jeff Wilson just before the goal line by tackling ( “that tackling” ) and thus to win the cup to care. After two more games against Argentina , Australia went into the 1995 World Cup as defending champions . Gregan had not lost a game as a national player until the quarter-final defeat by England at Newlands Stadium .

After the World Cup in South Africa , rugby union became a professional sport. This was accompanied by the establishment of the Super 12 , a league with Australian, New Zealand and South African teams. Gregan became one of the key players in the Canberra Brumbies . Another consequence of the professionalization was the emergence of the Tri-Nations tournament , which is played between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa . In the first edition of the Tri Nations, Gregan played in three out of four games and scored one try .

In 1997 he was appointed vice-captain of the national team and was again part of the squad for the Tri Nations, in which the Wallabies could only win one game and were last. Despite mediocre performance in the coming months, Australia was still considered one of the contenders for the title at the 1999 World Championships . In the preliminary round, all three games were won against Romania , Ireland and the USA . In the quarterfinals they defeated hosts Wales at the Millennium Stadium . In this game, Gregan scored a try. Due to the success against the Welsh, the Wallabies met defending champions South Africa in the semifinals, who they beat with 27:21. In the final they won confidently with 35:12 against France and could thus book the second world championship title for themselves.

2001-2006

After John Eales' resignation in 2001, Gregan was named captain of the Wallabies. His ability to lead a team made him an ideal choice. At the World Championships in Australia in 2003 , he played in all six national team games. In the preliminary round he managed a drop goal in a narrow win against Ireland, in the quarter-finals against Scotland he scored an attempt. In the semi-finals, the Australians defeated their arch-rivals New Zealand, but failed in the final in the last minute of extra time to England. Following this defeat, the Wallabies started a winning streak and were able to return the favor, among other things, for their defeat in the final when they beat the English in Brisbane with 51:15. By the end of 2004, only three games were lost under Gregan's leadership. In June of that year he was awarded the Order of Australia medal for his performance in rugby .

On July 31, 2005 Gregan played his 100th international match at the Tri-Nations game of Australia in the Subiaco Oval against South Africa. In October 2004, he announced that his four-year-old son had epilepsy . He then started a campaign called “Get on the Team”, which, among other things, deals with first aid measures for epilepsy attacks.

Gregan missed much of the 2005 Super 12 season after breaking a leg in a game against the Waratahs . He returned to the international match against Italy, which Australia won 61:29. The Tri Nations 2005 was a low point in his career, however, as the Wallabies lost all games. With his appearance in the last game against the All Blacks in Eden Park Gregan came to 114 international matches and thus drew level with record holder Jason Leonard . Before the two teams ran up, he was allowed to enter the field alone and was duly received. On November 5, 2005, when Australia lost to France in Marseille , he overtook Leonard.

At the game for the Bledisloe Cup 2006 Gregan ran for the 55th time as captain of the Australian national team and thus reached the record of John Eales. In the following game against South Africa, he also took this record and has since been the player in Australia who played the most games as captain. He was given a rest period for the remainder of the season, with Matt Giteau replacing him.

2007-2010

In March 2007, the French second division club RC Toulon announced the commitment of Gregans for the 2007/08 season. Following the 2007 World Cup , he should start his contract worth € 400,000. On April 28, 2007 he played his last home game for the Brumbies. Alongside him, Stephen Larkham also left the Super 14 team. Both players were honored and said goodbye with the promise that a grandstand will be named after them. At the World Cup in France, Gregan was no longer appointed captain after six years, but remained vice-captain. The role of team captain was taken over by Stirling Mortlock , who led the team to the quarter-finals, where they again failed to England.

In Toulon, Gregan played alongside other top-class players such as Anton Oliver , Victor Matfield or Andrew Mehrtens . The team's coach is Tana Umaga . Following the successful promotion with Toulon, Gregan moved to the Japanese JLeague, to the Suntory Sungoliath.

After a season at Toulon, he moved to the Suntory Sungoliath in Japan, where he played another two years.

swell

1. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald: Wilson swaps a rugby jersey for a Black Cap
2. ↑ Australian Rugby Union: George Gregan to Play his 100th Test Match ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Get on the Team ( Memento of the original from June 15, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Epilepsy Queensland ( Memento of the original from August 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Planet Rugby: Gregan puts pen to paper with Toulon ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Daily Yomiuri Online: Top league special: Into the great unknown ( Memento from September 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

See also

• List of rugby union players with the most international matches

Web links

• Official website
• Profile with the wallabies
• Profile at Sporting Heroes
• Profile at itsrugby