Geoffrey Arnold Shaw (born 27 December 1948) is an Australian former national representative

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 who played for and captained 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 ...

. He made state representative appearances for both

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

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 ...

over an eleven-year period from 1969.

Rugby career

From the Illawarra region as a nineteen-year-old Shaw first represented for New South Wales Country against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1968. The following year he debuted for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 ...

. In that same year 1969, Shaw was selected to tour with the Wallabies on the 1969 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa. Shaw was one of the new boys in the squad and at 20 years old, the youngest. He played in sixteen of the twenty-six matches including one Test match. In 1970

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

toured Australia and Shaw went up against them for

, New South Wales Country and the

in one Test for a 23–3 victory. In 1971 Shaw played against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

for New South Wales and against the visiting

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

on the infamous tour which the subject of widespread anti-apartheid demonstrations. Shaw captained New South Wales Country against them, and was selected in the New South Wales side and the Australian side for all three Test matches. Shaw made the ten match 1971 Australia rugby union tour of France and played in both Tests and four tour matches. Shaw married in 1972 and took a long sabbatical with his wife to South Africa, the British Isles and Europe. He made the Eastern Currie Cup team and the Junior Springboks. Shaw played for London Scottish and picked up matches in France and Italy. On his return to Australian in 1973 he was selected for the nine-match

1973 Australia rugby union tour of Europe The 1973 Australia rugby union tour of Europe was a series of nine matches played by the Australia national rugby union team (the Wallabies) in England and Wales in October and November 1973. The Wallabies won only of three of their matches, lo ...

. He played in eight of the nine matches, including both Tests. In 1974 he matched up against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

five time when they visited Australia, for New South Wales Country, New South Wales and in all three Test matches. In 1975 when Japan visited Shaw played in both Tests and in the 2nd Test match with

John Hipwell John Noel Brian Hipwell (24 January 1948 – 23 September 2013) was an Australian national representative rugby union player who played and captained the Wallabies. He played the majority of his career at scrum half and his representative car ...

out, Shaw was first honoured the captaincy of the national side. He led them to a 50–25 victory in Brisbane. On the 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

was the squad captain. Hipwell would captain the team in two Tests (Scotland and Wales) and in nine mid-week matches. An injury he suffered in the North-Eastern Counties game resulted in serious damage to the cruciate ligaments in his leg, caused him to be replaced in the Wales Test and ended his playing involvement on tour. Geoff Shaw took over the captaincy from Hipwell and led the side in six mid-week matches as well as the England, Ireland and USA Tests. When Fiji arrived in 1976, Shaw captained the Wallabies three times securing three victories. This led to his selection as touring captain to France and Italy on the

1976 Australia rugby union tour of Europe The 1976 Australia rugby union tour of Europe was a series of ten matches played by the Australia national rugby union team (the Wallabies) in France and Italy in October and November 1976. The Wallabies won four and lost six of their matches; t ...

. France won both Tests. Following the tour Shaw relocated from New South Wales to Queensland and he eventually made forty-seven representative appearances for the state. He made tours with the

team to New Zealand in 1977; Japan, British Columbia & the US in 1978 and to The UK and Europe in 1980. At home he figured in representative appearances for Queensland against the New Zealand Maori, Ireland and the

. Howell quotes from Bret Harris' book ''Marauding Maroons'' when describing this twilight period of Shaw's career: In 1979 Shaw played his final Test for the

against the All Blacks in Sydney - a notable match which the Wallabies won 12-6. In total Shaw notched up sixty-eight matches for Australia, including twenty-seven Tests. He captained Australia on nine occasions as well as in a further twelve non-Test touring matches.Howell pp198-201

International career

*International Debut: Saturday, 21/06/1969 v Wales (Sydney) lost 16-19 - (Aged: 20) *Final Appearance: 28/07/1979 v New Zealand (Sydney) won 16-6 (Aged: 30) *Wallaby Number: 526 *27 Australian Caps: 1968-82 Played: 27, Won: 12, Drew: 1, Lost: 14. Test Points: 8. Tries: 27

Accolades

He was honoured as an ARU Classic Wallaby Statesman in 2011. He was the 25th inductee to the Wallaby Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2012.

References

Published sources

* Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Geoff 1948 births Australia national rugby union team captains Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Rugby union centres Living people Rugby union players from New South Wales Sportspeople from Kiama, New South Wales University of Queensland Rugby Club players New South Wales rugby union team players Queensland rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen