Clyde Rathbone (born 23 July 1981 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

), nicknamed "Rattlebones", is an Australian

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. He plays for the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inhab ...

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 ...

. He also played internationally for Australia. He began his Australia career as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...

, but now mainly plays

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

. Clyde Rathbone is now retired

Career

He spent his entire childhood in Durban and played most of his rugby as a South African junior, representing South African Schools and even captaining the under-21

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

to victory in the 2002 U21 Rugby World Cup. In the same year, he made his debut in the then-Super 12 for the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

. However, at the end of 2002, he chose to move to Australia, for which he was qualified to play by virtue of having an Australia-born paternal grandmother. Rathbone joined the Brumbies for the 2003 season. After considerable speculation in the rugby world over which country he would represent at Test level, he opted for the Wallabies, which resulted in Rathbone being heavily criticised in much of the South African press. Rathbone made his Test debut in June 2004 against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, and went on to score a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

of tries 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 ...

the following week. His form in the June Tests earned him a starting wing position for that year's

Tri Nations Series The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a ...

. During that competition, he rubbed salt into the South African wounds by scoring a match-winning try against his former countrymen in Perth. When the Wallabies went on tour that November, he scored a pair of tries against Scotland at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

, but suffered a groin injury that kept him out of the year's final Test against England. In 2005, Rathbone was injured for most of the year, missing the Autumn series of Tests. In 2006 Rathbone married to his longtime girlfriend in their hometown of

. In 2008, after 15 months out of rugby due to knee surgery for a torn patellar tendon, Rathbone signed a Shute Shield contract with the east-Sydney based team, Easts. In 2009, after many injuries that have seen him sidelined, he decided to retire. On 23 August 2012, Rathbone announced his intention to return to professional Rugby after three years out of the game. Rathbone signed a one-year contract with his old club, the Brumbies, with an option to extend. Clyde and Dayne Rathbone on Rebel Wisdom

Clyde and Dayne Rathbone on Rebel Wisdom

In 2016, Rathbone co-founded the social media network Letter.wiki with brother Dayne Rathbone. In 2021 Letter.wiki was acquired by media platform

Substack Substack is an American Online platforms for collaborative consumption, online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters dir ...

References

External links

Brumbies profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathbone, Clyde 1981 births Living people Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Naturalised citizens of Australia Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Durban Rugby union wings Sharks (rugby union) players South African emigrants to Australia South African people of British descent South African rugby union players