Luke McLean (born 29 June 1987) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played as a fullback. Born in Australia to an Italian mother, he won 89 caps for the Italy national team.

Personal life

McLean was born in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. His mother's parents are both

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

; however, his grandfather had to give up his Italian

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

to buy land in Australia. McLean attended St. Laurence's College, in

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people. Geography South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...

, during his schooling years. He was College captain in 2004.

Career

Club career

McLean played for

Perth Spirit The Perth Spirit is a former rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, that played in the National Rugby Championship (NRC) from 2014 to 2017, winning the competition in 2016. The team was formed in 2007 to compete in the Australian Ru ...

in the

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, was a domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ran for onl ...

before joining Italian team

Calvisano Calvisano (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the Italian province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is the manufacturing base of Lones Spa, manufacturer of Fly Flot shoes. Agritech is a known fiberglass silos company. Sport Its rugby union Rugby ...

in 2007, turning down a training contract with

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

. McLean joined Benetton Treviso in 2009 where he played over 80 games. In mid 2014 he signed with the

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

on a two-year deal. McLean would then return to Benetton Treviso in Italy from the 2015–16 season. On 2 June 2017 it was announced he had signed for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

in the English Premiership. He retired at the conclusion of the 2018–19 season.

International career

McLean was eligible for both

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, being his country of birth, and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, due to his

grandmother. He represented the Australia under-19 side, helping the side to win the World under-19 championships. He made his international debut for Italy against

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

winners

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on 21 June 2008 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Italy were defeated 26–0. McLean scored his first international points on his Six Nations debut in the 36–11 defeat to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

on 7 February 2009. He scored two penalties in the first-half. He then played against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 15 February, scoring all of Italy's nine points, converting three penalties in the 38–9 defeat at

Stadio Flaminio The Stadio Flaminio is a stadium in Rome. It lies along the Via Flaminia, three kilometres northwest of the city centre, 300 metres away from the Parco di Villa Glori. The interior spaces include a covered swimming pool, rooms for fencing, amate ...

, Rome. McLean scored a further three points kicking a penalty in the 26–6 defeat to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

on 28 February. He featured in Italy's 20–15 loss to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 15 March 2008 at

, failing to score any of Italy's points. McLean played in Italy's last Six Nations 2009 match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 21 March, losing 50–8. McLean played a part in Italy's two match series on tour against

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 2009, scoring the majority of Italy's points. He scored a try against England in the 2013 Six Nations Championship. In 2017, McLean played in all of Italy's 6 Nations matches and took on the role as one of the team's primary play-makers, playing at inside centre.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Luke 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Townsville Australian rugby union players Italian rugby union players Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Italy international rugby union players Italian expatriate rugby union players in England Australian expatriate rugby union players in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Benetton Rugby players Sale Sharks players London Irish players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Italian people of Australian descent Australian emigrants to Italy Expatriate rugby league players in England Rugby union players from Queensland 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players People educated at St Laurence's College Australian expatriate rugby union players 21st-century Australian sportsmen