Early life

John Hipwell, born 24 January 1948 in Mayfield

Mayfield, New South Wales

Mayfield is a north-western suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, which takes its name from Ada May a daughter of the landowner there, John Scholey, J.P...

 (Australia), is a former rugby union player who played and captained the Australian national team

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 (Wallabies). He played the majority of his career at scrum half. Hipwell's Wallaby career spanned 14 season, from 1968 to 1981.

Rugby career

Hipwell's first international game was for NSW Country against the touring British Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 in 1966. He was then selected for the 1966-67 Australian tour of the UK, France and Canada. His first Test cap came in 1968 against New Zealand

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

, when he replaced Ken Catchpole

Ken Catchpole

Ken Catchpole OAM, is a former Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through the ranks at the Randwick club as a young man, before making his debut for New South Wales...

 who suffered a career-ending injury.

He became a regular selection touring to the UK in 1968, South Africa in 1969, France in 1971 and England and Wales in 1973

1973 Australia rugby union tour of England and Wales

The 1973 Australia rugby union tour of England and Wales was a series of eight matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in England and Wales in October and November 1973. The Wallabies won only of two of their matches, lost five and drew the other one; they lost both of their...

. In 1973 he was named as captain for the match against England at Twickenham

Twickenham Stadium

Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...

 in the absence of the injured tour captain, Peter Sullivan. Hipwell eventually captained Australia in nine Tests. He was the captain of the 1975-76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

1975-76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

The 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of matches played by the Australia national rugby union team...

 but a bad knee injury sustained in the match against North-East Counties recurred in the test against Wales, forcing him off the field and keeping him out of international rugby for three years. In 1978 he returned, playing in three tests against New Zealand. Hipwell's final international call-up came three years later, when he was selected in the 1981-82 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

1981-82 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

The 1981-82 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of matches played by the Australia national rugby union team . The touring team played twenty-three matches between October 1981 and January 1982, winning sixteen games, drawing one and losing six...

, playing three of the four test-matches - in the game against England in January 1982 he played his final international game at 33 years of age.

Accolades

He received the Order of Australia Medal in 1982. In 2006 he was honoured in the second set of inductees into the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.

International career

• International Debut: Saturday, 15/06/1968 v New Zealand (Sydney
  Sydney
  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
  
  ) lost 27-11 - (Aged: 20)
• Final Appearance: 02/01/1982 v England (Twickenham) lost 15-11 (Aged: 33)
• Wallaby Number: 519
• 36 Australian Caps: 1968-82 Played: 36, Won: 11, Drew: 2, Lost: 23. Test Points: 14. Tries: 4

External links

• List of matches played at Scrum.com