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Benn Robinson (born 19 July 1984) is a former Australian 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. He played as a loosehead prop for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

and for

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 ...

in international matches. He retired from rugby in June 2016 after suffering a serious eye injury, having made 72 test match and 151

appearances.

Early life

Robinson grew up in the town of Glenorie, on the outskirts of Sydney. He attended Glenorie Public School and played his junior rugby for the local Dural Rugby Club and Beecroft Cherrybrook Rugby Club. He was educated at The King's School, where he played for the First XV and went on to play for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in 2002. He was selected and played for the Australian under 21 side in 2005, and played every match for the team at the IRB under-21 World Championships in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Rugby career

The 2006 season became a ground-breaking one for Robinson. He made his

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

debut for the Waratahs against the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

in Brisbane on 11 February 2006, and went on to play in all 13 games for the Waratahs during the season. He also made his Test debut for the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

against South Africa in the TriNations. In 2009 he became the second winner of the People's Choice – Wallaby of the Year award, at the John Eales Medal awards night. This award is voted on by the Australian public. In 2011, Robinson's Rugby World Cup aspirations were dealt a cruel blow when he was ruled of the tournament with a season-ending knee injury. The blow was cruel luck for the popular 27-year-old, who had provided the Wallabies scrum with stability through much of the three seasons leading up to last year's Rugby World Cup. In 2012, Robinson became the 163rd player to captain New South Wales, leading the Waratahs side out for clashes with the Sharks and Chiefs. In 2014, Robinson won the Super Rugby title with the Waratahs.

Work in the media

Robinson has been utilised in various television media roles at different stages to date during his career. He was bestowed the nickname "Cat", due to his likeness to the former Australian Test cricketer and Channel Nine's The Footy Show personality, Greg "Fat Cat" Ritchie. While sidelined with injury in 2011, Robinson acted as an experts comments man for terrestrial broadcaster Channel Nine, during the key matches of the 2011 & 2015 Rugby World Cups. Benn has now commenced an Insurance career at a specialist sports Insurer SLE Worldwide Australia Pty Limited. Benn has commenced as an Underwriter to the stars.

Reference list

External links

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Benn Robinson's Twitter account

Video clips

60 seconds with Benn Robinson
video
FlashTahs – Benn Robinson dances in a take-off of a classic movie scene
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Benn Robinson on the Rugby Club
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The Rugby Club Piggies vs Princesses Round 12 2010
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Wallabies Dressing Room: Benn Robinson
video {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Benn 1984 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Greater Sydney Rams players Rugby union props Rugby union players from Sydney People educated at The King's School, Parramatta Living people Eastwood Rugby Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen