Daniel Joseph Vickerman (4 June 1979 – 18 February 2017) was a 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 ...

player. The 204 cm, 119 kg

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

played 63 Tests with 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 ...

, the national team of his adopted country of Australia. After seven seasons with the Wallabies, and having played

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 ...

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 ...

and

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 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 brumby, feral horses wh ...

, Vickerman left his successful international rugby career in 2008. He attended the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he read a degree in Land Economy at

Hughes Hall Hughes Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The majority of students are postgraduate, although nearly one-fifth of the student population comprises individuals aged 21 and above who are studying undergraduate ...

. While in England, he played rugby for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. In 2011, he returned to Australia and played again for the Wallabies, including at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

, before he retired from the game.

Early life

Vickerman was born in South Africa and played his early rugby in South Africa. He attended Bishops College in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and played for their First XV. When he was 17 he spent a year in England playing for Cheltenham Colts (under 19) where he would play with, amongst others, Peter Buxton who himself went on to have a successful professional career, most notably with Premiership club

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. Vickerman and Buxton took a year out together to visit and play rugby for the

University of Queensland Rugby Club The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union, rugby club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. They were formed in 1911, as rug ...

, Australia. This started Vickerman on the path to representing Australia, first at Under 21 level. After representing South Africa at Under-21 level in 1999, Vickerman arrived in Australia the following year and played for Australia at the 2000 SANZAR-UAR Under-21 tournament.

Rugby career

In 2001, Vickerman was contracted by the Brumbies and made his debut that season in a Super 12 match against the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. He played a total of seven Super 12 games that season. In 2002, he was selected to play for Australia A in Canada that year. He went on to make his test debut that year in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in a match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Vickerman became a regular for the Wallabies in 2003, either as a starter or off the bench. He signed with the Waratahs for the 2004 season. Vickerman was a replacement in all the domestic Wallaby tests in 2004, but became the starting lock on the end of year tour to the United Kingdom and France. In 2006 he started in all but one match for the Waratahs who made it to the finals of the

2006 Super 14 season The 2006 Super 14 season started on 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial rugby union competition with 14 teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This season was the first of the expansion, ...

. He was subsequently named in John Connolly's Wallaby squad. Later that season he injured his shoulder and underwent reconstruction surgery in November 2006. Although missing most of the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rug ...

through injury recovery, Vickerman returned to the Test scene in a test match against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

coming off the bench, and cemented his place back in the Wallaby starting line up for the Wallabies

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

squad. Vickerman raised his 50th Test cap against Wales during the 2007 World Cup, but managed just three appearances during the 2008 international because of another shoulder injury he sustained in the 2008

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 ...

final. In the autumn of 2008 Vickerman left Australia for England to study at Cambridge University, where he read Land Economy for three years. He played for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in the 2008

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

. The following year, he combined his studies with a renewed professional career at

. He signed a one-year deal in May 2009 to play with Northampton in the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

for the 2009–10 season, but arranged to delay his arrival with the team until after the 2009

in December, in which he captained

to a 31–27 victory over eternal rival

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. His first match for the Saints was against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

on 7 March 2010. Vickerman returned to Australia in 2011 to play again for the Waratahs and press his claims for national selection. He was chosen in the Wallabies team which won the

2011 Tri Nations Series The 2011 Tri Nations Series was the sixteenth annual Tri Nations rugby union series between the national rugby union teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, respectively nicknamed the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks. It was also t ...

and claimed third place at the

. A persistent injury problem with stress fractures in the tibia of his right leg forced his retirement from the game in 2012. He worked for the Rugby Union Players' Association after his retirement.

Death

Vickerman died on the night of 18 February 2017 at his

home, at the age of 37. The cause of death was confirmed as suicide. He was survived by his wife and two young children.

Reference list

External links

* * *
2007 RWC profile2003 RWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vickerman, Daniel 1979 births 2017 suicides 2017 deaths Alumni of Hughes Hall, Cambridge Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Northampton Saints players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players New South Wales Waratahs players Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town Rugby union locks South African emigrants to Australia South African rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby union players from Cape Town 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players Suicides in New South Wales Australian sportspeople who committed suicide South African expatriate rugby union players