Daniel Herbert (born 6 February 1974) is an Australian

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 ...

administrator and former player who was appointed as the chair of

Rugby Australia Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

in November 2023. As a player, he played as a centre and won 67 caps for the Australia national team between 1994 and 2002, scoring 11 tries. Herbert was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. He was educated at

Marist College Ashgrove Marist College Ashgrove (abbreviated as MCA) is an Independent school, independent Roman Catholicism in Australia, Roman Catholic Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary school for Sin ...

, where he commenced his rugby career. Herbert won 67

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

playing at

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 eccentricity ...

for the Australian national team since 1994. He made his test debut at the age of 20 against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 11 June 1994. He battled Jason Little for a state and test spot alongside Tim Horan before displacing him in 1998. Herbert went on to establish himself as the world's premier outside centre and was a key member of the Australian side that won the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

. He also played several test matches at inside centre. Herbert was named in the 'Team of the World Cup 1999' alongside his centre partner, Tim Horan. Herbert was also awarded the coveted 'L'equipe International Player of the Year' in 1999. In 2001 Herbert was promoted to the role of Queensland Captain and Australian Vice-captain and in that same year scored a brace of tries in the third and deciding British Lions test and helped the Wallabies to their first ever series victory over the Lions. Known for his aggressive defence and line-breaking ability, Herbert revolutionised the role of a modern-day outside centre. He was a vital part of the 'Golden Era' of Australian Rugby, which celebrated a World Cup victory, a British Lions series victory, a Rugby Championship and five consecutive Bledisloe Cups. Herbert amassed 124 caps for

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 ...

before leaving for the French side

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, France' ...

for the season 2003–04. He only played 7 matches with Perpignan and suffered a very serious neck injury, which resulted in surgery in April 2004 and subsequently in Herbert's retirement from the game. His brother

Anthony Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the '' Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descenda ...

was also an Australian rugby union representative player. On November 19, 2023, Herbert replaced Hamish McLennan as the Chair of

, following McLennan's sacking from the position, and subsequent resignation from the RA board. bros famous

References

External links

Daniel Herbert on Sporting HeroesAudio interview on Australian rugby and the World Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Daniel Living people 1974 births People educated at Marist College Ashgrove Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Queensland Reds players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Brisbane 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players USA Perpignan players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France