Mark Ella
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Mark Ella (born 5 June 1959 in La Perouse, Sydney) is a former Australian rugby union player often considered as one of his country's all-time greats in that sport. Capped for his country 25 times, Ella, a fly-half, was extremely gifted as a runner, passer, and kicker. He and his brothers Gary and Glen all played for the Australia national team, but he was generally regarded as the best of the three, earning 25 caps in a brief but brilliant career stretching from 1980 to 1984.
In the 1980 Bledisloe Cup series, one of Ella's most famous moments arose. Mark delivered a "round the body pass" in the third test which led to a try by Peter Grigg. In 1982, he was given the honour of captaining the Wallabies (Australia) against the All Blacks (New Zealand). During that tour, Mark linked up with David Campese for the first time and the two immediately formed a formidable on-field partnership.
In 1984 questions were asked of Mark's suitability to lead the Wallabies and so the Queenslander Andrew Slack was given the captaincy instead. After a narrow defeat against the All Blacks the Wallabies toured the UK and achieved victory in all 4 tests. Mark achieved a "Grand Slam" by scoring a try in every test match of the series, something that he had also accomplished on the 1977/78 Australian Schoolboys tour.
At age 25, Ella stunned the rugby world by announcing his retirement, turning down many big money offers in the process.
Mark is now a marketing and public relations specialist and a director of the Sports and Entertainment Group. He is also a role model for Indigenous Australian children.
