Chris Whitaker (born 19 October 1974) is an Australian professional

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 ...

coach and former international player. he is head coach of the

Sydney Rays Sydney is an Australian rugby union team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). Formerly known as Sydney Rays, the team is one of two sides from New South Wales in the competition; the other being the NSW Country Eagles. T ...

in Australia's National Rugby Championship, and the interim head coach of

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 ...

side the

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, ...

, Whitaker began his professional playing career in 1997 as a scrum-half for the Waratahs, where he remained for ten seasons. He also played for the Wallabies, but his Test career there was constrained for many years by the incumbent scrum-half and Australian captain, George Gregan. As such, he got minimal international game time but was in the match-day squad for many a year. He captained the Wallabies in a World Cup Match against Namibia in Adelaide in 2003. In 2006 Whitaker moved to Ireland where he played four seasons for

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

before hanging up the boots and taking up coaching.

Early life and career

Whitaker was born in Sydney and started playing rugby at

Sydney Boys High School , motto_translation = With Truth and Courage , established = , location = Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , p ...

, where he graduated in 1992. He played his club rugby at Randwick.

Rugby career

Whitaker joined

side the

NSW 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 stat ...

in 1997, and gained his first Australian cap the next year. He played a total of 31 games for Australia and scored 10 points. Whitaker left the Waratahs in 2006, and joined

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby ...

in Ireland. He won the Celtic League in 2008 with Leinster before winning 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 vice-captain with the side in May, 2009. The final was, in fact, his last professional game before retirement.

Coaching

Whitaker began his coaching career as an assistant with Leinster before moving to France with his wife and three daughters in 2012 to become the defence coach under

Michael Cheika Michael Cheika (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian rugby union and rugby league coach, and former rugby union player. He is currently head coach of Argentina in rugby union and Lebanon in rugby league. Cheika was the coach of the Australi ...

for

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

, where he remained for two seasons. He joined Pro D2 club RC Narbonne as assistant coach under Justin Harrison in 2013. Whitaker was signed to coach

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, ...

in 2016. After a two-year stint there he left the co-head coach role at Montauban and returned to Australia. Whitaker took on the backs coaching role under Daryl Gibson at the Waratahs ahead of the 2019 Super Rugby season. He was also appointed head coach of the

for the 2018 NRC season. Whitaker was appointed as NSW Waratahs interim head coach alongside Jason Gilmore on 28 March 2021 after the sacking of head coach Rob Penney.

References

External links

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Waratahs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Chris 1974 births Living people Australian rugby union coaches Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union captains Australia international rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Rugby union scrum-halves Leinster Rugby players People educated at Sydney Boys High School Rugby union players from Sydney