Mike Hercus (born June 5, 1979) is an American 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 ...

player who played at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

and several top-level professional clubs around the globe. Hercus is the USA Eagles' all-time leading scorer with 465 points and is the leading scorer for the U.S. in Rugby World Cups with 77 points. At the time of his final match, Hercus was the Eagles' all-time most capped back.

Early life and career

Hercus was born in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...

, but his parents returned to their native Australia, where he was brought up and educated at

Shore School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

in North Sydney. He started in their first XV for two years and was captained by

Phil Waugh Phillip Waugh (born 22 September 1979) is the chief executive of Rugby Australia and a former rugby union footballer who played 136 matches in Super Rugby for the NSW Waratahs, and in 79 Test matches for the Wallabies. His usual position was op ...

when they were in year 12. He played for the Australian schoolboys rugby union team and later progressed to the Australian under-21 side.

Rugby career

2003–2007

The American national team, the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

, gave him a route into international rugby union. Hercus made his debut for the U.S. national team in 2002. Hercus played in the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, scoring 51 points for the Eagles. Hercus played at

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 ...

for two seasons as Charlie Hodgson's understudy before moving to Llanelli Scarlets. Hercus secured a starting position at fly-half during the season, which he maintained in the 2006

Powergen Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

final (which saw the Scarlets lose to London Wasps 26-10). Hercus moved to the Newport Gwent Dragons in the summer of 2006 after it was announced that Welsh international fly-half Stephen Jones was to move to the Scarlets. Also, in 2006, Hercus was invited to play for the prestigious

Barbarians FC The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, ...

. His Barbarians cap came in the annual clash vs

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

, in which he scored 17 points, including a try.

2007–2010

Hercus captained the Eagles in their 2006 qualifying matches against Uruguay for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He returned to the US for the start of the 2007 U.S. Rugby Super League season, where he played for Belmont Shore and was in the US Falcons NA4 squad. Hercus started all four matches for the U.S. in the

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 ...

. At the start of 2008, Hercus signed a contract to play for Japanese club IBM Big Blue. In 2009, after just one season, Hercus signed with the Australian club

Sunshine Coast Stingrays The Sunshine Coast Stingrays is an Australian rugby union football team that represents Queensland's Sunshine Coast region. The Stingrays played in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition from 2005 to 2013, but now focus on competing in the Q ...

, where he was the club's leading scorer in limited action. Hercus played with the USA Eagles during the 2009 summer internationals, including the Eagles against Canada and Uruguay in the 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying matches. These qualifying matches in 2009 were Hercus's last matches for the U.S. national team. In 2010, Hercus returned to Australia and his junior club, the Gordon Highlanders, to compete in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield, currently known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team fro ...

. To start the season, he was named Gordon's captain but saw limited action due to injury. By midseason, rumors began to leak out that he had retired or intended to retire from both international and club rugby due to persistent reoccurring injuries. Although no official announcement has ever been made, he has been presumed retired since summer 2010.

Personal life

Hercus is married to TV presenter Natalie Michaels. He works as a Portfolio Manager for

Soul Patts Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, trading as Soul Patts, is a publicly listed Australian investment company. History In 1872, Caleb Soul and his son Washington Handley opened a pharmacy store in Pitt Street, Sydney. In 1886, Lew ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hercus, Mike 1979 births Living people Rugby union fly-halves American expatriate rugby union players in Japan American emigrants to Australia Sale Sharks players Scarlets players Dragons RFC players Sportspeople from Falls Church, Virginia People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School United States international rugby union players American expatriate rugby union players in Wales American expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby union players from Virginia Rugby union players from Sydney American people of Australian descent 2003 Rugby World Cup players Gordon RFC players Australian rugby union players