Ken Catchpole
Encyclopedia
Ken Catchpole OAM
, (born 1939) is a former Australia
n 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
at only 19 years of age, then captaining Australia at age 21. He is considered one of the Australia's greatest scrumhalves.
Catchpole was schooled initially at Randwick Primary School before moving the Coogee Preparatory School. He excelled at sports and participated in rugby, swimming, tennis and boxing. From Coogee Prep he won an academic scholarship to The Scots College
for his high school years. His rugby prowess saw him play in the Scots First XV for three of his senior years. He won selection for
the GPS 3rds in his first senior year, then in the GPS 1sts in his two remaining years. He gained entrance to Sydney University to study science.
ahead of the Sydney Uni Rugby Club and debuted in 1958, aged eighteen in the under 21s. The following season he cemented a first grade spot and after just a few games he made his state representative debut for New South Wales
against the touring British Lions. He played alongside Arthur Summons
in the halves, scored a try and help New South Wales to an upset 18-14 win over the tourists to mark his state debut. The following year at age twenty he captained New South Wales in matches against the visiting All Blacks
.
In 1961 Catchpole made his Test debut
as captain, leading the Wallabies
to victory over Fiji
in a three game series. That same year, he captained Australia, on a tour to South Africa including two Tests and then in a Test at home against France
. In 1963 he again toured to South Africa playing in all three Tests under John Thornett
as captain.
Playing at scrum-half, partnered with Phil Hawthorne
at fly-half, the pair became one of rugby's most famous duos. Catchpole played South Africa in Australia in 1965, where the Wallabies won both tests in a two-game series over the Springboks
. He also toured the United Kingdom
in 1966 and 1967, captaining Australia to victory in Tests against England
and Wales
. He was also captain for the Tests against Scotland
and Ireland
and in a number of other tour matches. After the win against England the President of the English Rugby Union, Duggie Harrison described him as "the greatest halfback of all time".
Following his return from the tour he captained Australia, New South Wales and Sydney in matches against a touring Irish side in 1967. He was honored with the Australian captaincy later that year in the 75th Jubilee Test played to mark the anniversary of the New Zealand Rugby Union. The following year he was selected as captain again for a two test series against the All Blacks
. In the first of those Tests in 1968 he suffered a career ending injury when Colin "Pinetree" Meads
grabbed and wrenched Catchpole's leg while he was pinned under other players in a ruck, tearing his hamstring off the bone, and severely rupturing his groin muscles. He was aged twenty-eight and his rugby career was finished.
Wall of Fame. A plaque in the Walk of Honour at the Sydney Cricket Ground
commemorates his career. He is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia
. In 2005 he was honoured as one of the inaugural five inductees into the Australian Rugby Union
Hall of Fame..Upon his induction Australian Rugby Union
President Paul McLean referred to Catchpole as: "exuding grace and majesty".
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
, (born 1939) is a former Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer. A state
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...
and national
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...
representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through the ranks at the Randwick
Randwick DRUFC
Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club, also known as the Galloping Greens, is an Australian rugby union club which competes in the Sydney grade competition. The club was formed in 1882 and since then has won 31 first grade premierships and seven Australian club championships...
club as a young man, before making his debut for New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
at only 19 years of age, then captaining Australia at age 21. He is considered one of the Australia's greatest scrumhalves.
Early life
Born in Paddington, New South WalesPaddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
Catchpole was schooled initially at Randwick Primary School before moving the Coogee Preparatory School. He excelled at sports and participated in rugby, swimming, tennis and boxing. From Coogee Prep he won an academic scholarship to The Scots College
The Scots College
For other schools with a similar name see Scots College.The Scots College is an independent Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Bellevue Hill, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
for his high school years. His rugby prowess saw him play in the Scots First XV for three of his senior years. He won selection for
the GPS 3rds in his first senior year, then in the GPS 1sts in his two remaining years. He gained entrance to Sydney University to study science.
Rugby career
He was lured to his local Randwick DRUFCRandwick DRUFC
Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club, also known as the Galloping Greens, is an Australian rugby union club which competes in the Sydney grade competition. The club was formed in 1882 and since then has won 31 first grade premierships and seven Australian club championships...
ahead of the Sydney Uni Rugby Club and debuted in 1958, aged eighteen in the under 21s. The following season he cemented a first grade spot and after just a few games he made his state representative debut for New South Wales
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...
against the touring British Lions. He played alongside Arthur Summons
Arthur Summons
Arthur Summons is a former Australian representative rugby union and rugby league player, a dual-code rugby international fly-half or five-eighth...
in the halves, scored a try and help New South Wales to an upset 18-14 win over the tourists to mark his state debut. The following year at age twenty he captained New South Wales in matches against the visiting All Blacks
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....
.
In 1961 Catchpole made his Test debut
Test match (rugby union)
Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....
as captain, leading the Wallabies
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...
to victory over Fiji
Fiji national rugby union team
The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...
in a three game series. That same year, he captained Australia, on a tour to South Africa including two Tests and then in a Test at home against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
. In 1963 he again toured to South Africa playing in all three Tests under John Thornett
John Thornett
John Thornett is a former Australian rugby union player, having played 37 Tests for Australia between 1955 and 1967. He captained Australia on four of the eight occasions that he went on tour....
as captain.
Playing at scrum-half, partnered with Phil Hawthorne
Phil Hawthorne
Phil Hawthorne was an Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer - a dual-code international. He represented the Wallabies in 21 Tests and the Kangaroos in 3 Tests. He captained Australia in rugby league the 3rd Test of the 1970 Ashes series.-Rugby union career:Hawthorne was born in 1943...
at fly-half, the pair became one of rugby's most famous duos. Catchpole played South Africa in Australia in 1965, where the Wallabies won both tests in a two-game series over the Springboks
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
. He also toured the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1966 and 1967, captaining Australia to victory in Tests against England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
and Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
. He was also captain for the Tests against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
and Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
and in a number of other tour matches. After the win against England the President of the English Rugby Union, Duggie Harrison described him as "the greatest halfback of all time".
Following his return from the tour he captained Australia, New South Wales and Sydney in matches against a touring Irish side in 1967. He was honored with the Australian captaincy later that year in the 75th Jubilee Test played to mark the anniversary of the New Zealand Rugby Union. The following year he was selected as captain again for a two test series against the All Blacks
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....
. In the first of those Tests in 1968 he suffered a career ending injury when Colin "Pinetree" Meads
Colin Meads
Sir Colin Earl Meads, KNZM, MBE , is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played 55 test matches , most frequently in the lock forward position, for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, from 1957 until 1971.Meads is widely considered one of the greatest players in history...
grabbed and wrenched Catchpole's leg while he was pinned under other players in a ruck, tearing his hamstring off the bone, and severely rupturing his groin muscles. He was aged twenty-eight and his rugby career was finished.
Accolades
In 2004 he was inducted onto the Museum of RugbyMuseum of Rugby
The World Rugby Museum, previously the Museum of Rugby, is a museum concerned with the sport of rugby union located at the home of the England national rugby union team, Twickenham Stadium in West London, England. It was established in 1996....
Wall of Fame. A plaque in the Walk of Honour at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
commemorates his career. He is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
. In 2005 he was honoured as one of the inaugural five inductees into the Australian Rugby Union
Australian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
Hall of Fame..Upon his induction Australian Rugby Union
Australian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
President Paul McLean referred to Catchpole as: "exuding grace and majesty".
Published references
- Howell, Max (2005) Born to Lead - Wallaby Test Captains, Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
- Zavos, Spiro (2000) The Golden Wallabies, Penguin, Victoria