| Date of birth | 27 June 1970 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | ||
| Height | 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) | ||
| Weight | 115 kg (18 st 2 lb) | ||
| School | Marist College Ashgrove | ||
| University | University of Queensland | ||
| Occupation(s) | Director and founder Mettle Group | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Lock | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| 1989-1996 | Brothers Rugby Club | ||
| correct as of 7 August 2001. | |||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1990-2001 | Queensland Reds | 112 | |
| correct as of 7 August 2006. | |||
| Super Rugby | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1996-2001 | Queensland Reds | (402) | |
| Current local club | Retired | ||
| correct as of 7 August 2006. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1991-2001 | Australia | 86 | (173) |
| correct as of 7 August 2006. | |||
John Eales AM (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby.
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He attended Marist College, Ashgrove. In his youth, Eales was also a very talented cricket all-rounder, and played first grade cricket for Queensland University in the Brisbane QCA cricket competition. Eales completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in psychology from the University of Queensland in 1991[1][2] prior to taking to the international rugby stage.
Eales played lock for Queensland Reds and Australia. He was given the nickname "Nobody" because "nobody's perfect".
Eales' 55-cap reign as captain marked an era of Australian success in world rugby. Eales played a major part in Australia’s victories at the Rugby World Cup twice in his illustrious career, first in 1991, and later skippering his country to victory in 1999.
John Eales scored 173 points for Australia - 2 tries (one valued at 4, one at 5), 34 penalties & 31 conversions - a total which places him 8th on the all-time scoring list for Australia. He is the highest scoring forward in test rugby history and only one of four forwards to have surpassed 100 points in test rugby (the others being Carlo Checchinato, Colin Charvis and Richie McCaw). This is largely because of his goal kicking, which is unusual for a forward; his two tries are unremarkable (in comparison, all of Checcinato's, Charvis's and McCaw's points have come from tries). His memorable kicks include a sideline penalty goal in the final minutes of a 2000 test to win the Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand.
Eales captained Australia a record 55 times. Only John Smit, Will Carling and George Gregan have been an international captain in more games than Eales. Eales' 86 caps make him the third most capped forward in Australia’s test rugby history, being recently surpassed by George Smith and Nathan Sharpe, and joint 7th on the overall list (level with Joe Roff, with George Smith, David Campese, Stephen Larkham, Nathan Sharpe, Matt Giteau and George Gregan ahead of him).
Eales is one of only 21 players to have represented the Queensland Reds in 100 or more state games. He represented his state in 112 games.
Eales scored a total of 402 points in the Super 12 competition with 6 tries, 66 conversions and 80 penalties for the Queensland Reds. No forward has scored more points than him in the competition's history.
He is one of a select group to have won the Rugby World Cup twice. The others are fellow Wallabies Dan Crowley, Jason Little, Phil Kearns and Tim Horan, plus South Africa's Os du Randt.
He retired as the most-capped lock of all time, with 84 test appearances in that position (his other two tests were as a number eight). Eales has since been surpassed in caps as a lock by several players.
Eales was a founder of the Mettle Group (a culture and leadership consultancy, which is now part of Chandler Macleod), and his personal company the JohnEales5 (now part of International Quarterback, a sports marketing and events company).[3] He is also a director of GRM International, a director of SAHOF (The Sport Australia Hall of Fame) and an Australian Financial Review columnist. He is also engaged as a consultant for BT Financial Group and Qantas.[1][2]
John is also an Ambassador of Bonville Golf Resort and a guest lecturer at the University of Notre Dame. He is also a director on the board of the Australian Rugby Union.
John has fulfilled the role as an a Athlete Liaison Office for the Australian Olympic Committee in the Athens and Beijing Olympics, and will also be involved in the upcoming London Olympics.
John Eales is also an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
Eales acted as a "rugby ambassador" at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, which involved a number of media duties.[4]
Eales has written 2 books, 'Learning From Legends', a Sport and a Business version. LFL Sports has a foreword by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and talks about different legends of Australian Sport including Peter Brock and Grant Hackett. LFL Business talks about different legends within the business world and the lessons that can be learned from them.
John Eales: The Biography by Peter Fitzsimons (2001)
| Rugby Union Captain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Phil Kearns |
Australian national rugby union captain 1996-2001 |
Succeeded by George Gregan |
| Preceded by Francois Pienaar (South Africa) |
IRB World Cup winning captain 1999 |
Succeeded by Martin Johnson (England) |
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