Stirling Mortlock

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Stirling Mortlock
Mortlock kicks a successful conversion for the Brumbies
Personal information
Full name	Stirling Austin Mortlock
Date of birth	20 May 1977 (1977-05-20) (age 31)
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	105 kg (16 st 7 lb)
Nickname	Stirlo, Snorky
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Centre
Super Rugby		Caps	(points)
1998-present	Brumbies	101	(840)
National team(s)
2000-present	Australia	63	(463)

Stirling Austin Mortlock (born 20 May 1977 in Sydney) is a professional rugby union player. He is the current Australian Wallabies and ACT Brumbies Captain.

[edit] Early life

Mortlock began playing rugby with Lindfield Juniors ^[1]. Mortlock was educated at King's School in Parramatta, Sydney. He represented Gordon Juniors at Colt level and still represents Gordon at club level today. ^[2] He represented Australia at Under 19 and Under 21 level before pursuing a professional career with the Brumbies. ^[3]

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Brumbies career

In 1998, Stirling joined the ACT Brumbies. Mortlock succeeded George Gregan as ACT Brumbies Captain in 2004 and played every game that season except the final due to injury and thus was unable to lead the team to claim the Super 12 title that year. ^{[2] [4]}

[edit] Wallabies career

Then Wallaby coach Rod McQueen plucked Mortlock out of club rugby at the young age of 20 to tour Argentina with the Wallabies in 1997. ^[2]

In 1998, Stirling made his Test debut v Argentina in 2000. ^[2]

The year 2000, was a landmark year for Stirling - 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 will be remembered for his sideline penalty goal in 2000 against South Africa in Durban to win Australia's first Tri Nations crown. ^[5]

A noted performance was his his man-of-the-match performance and and his 80-metre intercept try at the then Telstra Stadium to help knock the All Blacks out of the 2003 Rugby World Cup semi final. ^[3]

In 2006, Mortlock was passed the honour of becoming the 73rd player to captain the Wallabies. ^[2] In 2007, Mortlock was made co-captain with Phil Waugh. ^[6]

In 2007, he celebrated his 50th Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg, played an instrumental role in the Wallabies 20-15 upset over the All Blacks at the MCG, setting up Scott Staniforth for the match-winning try that was ultimately judged Try of the Year at the annual John Eales Medal dinner.^{[citation needed]}

Mortlock received his greatest honour when he was asked to captain the Wallabies at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

In February 2008, Mortlock announced that he will continue playing with the Wallabies until at least the end of 2010 knocking back sizable offers from overseas clubs. Australian Rugby Union CEO John O'Neill endorsed this decision saying that Mortlock is a "real captain courageous" and an "inspirational leader". ^[7]

[edit] Records

Mortlock's ability to score tries and kick goals has positioned him third on the all-time list of Australian Test point scorers (with 463 points) ^[3] and he holds the mantle as the highest ACT Brumbies all-time point-scorer (with 875 points) & third highest Super point scorer of all time.^{[citation needed]}

Mortlock is the sixth Brumby to reach over 100 caps. ^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.stirlingmortlock.com
• Wallabies profile
• RugbyFanz Profile
• Brumbies profile