Cameron Blades (born 16 April 1971) is an Australian international former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who played at the loosehead prop position, but could also cover at

tighthead prop 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– ...

and

hooker Hooker may refer to: People * Hooker (surname) Places Antarctica * Mount Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands) New Zealand * Hooker River * Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps * Hoo ...

. He played professionally for

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

and

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

Career

Blades was born in Sydney. He had one full international cap for Australia against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in Sydney on 12 July 1997. Australia won the match 25 - 6. He also played for the Australian Under 21s. His brother Andrew Blades also played for Australia and was a member of the 1999 Rugby World Cup winning team. He was signed for

in 2001 by coach Richie Dixon and entered the UK because of his Irish passport, leaving the New South Wales Waratahs. This meant he could play in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

as a non-foreigner. While not playing for Warriors, he played for Glasgow Hawks.

Coaching

Blades turned to rugby coaching after his playing career, and was head coach at

Southern Districts The Southern Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Crocs, is an Australian rules football club established in 1981. The club plays in the Northern Territory Football League at semi-professional level and represent the rural area of Litchfiel ...

for two seasons where his team finished as runner-up in the

Shute Shield The 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 from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...

grand final of 2012. He was appointed as forwards coach of the Australia U20 team in 2014, before joining the

as the set-piece coach for 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

season of 2016.

External links

ESPN ProfileGlasgow Warriors biographyStatbunker Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blades, Cameron Living people Australian rugby union players Glasgow Warriors players Glasgow Hawks players 1971 births Australia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union props