Greg Cornelsen (born 29 August 1952 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 ...

) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

footballer who was capped 25 times for the national team, 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 ...

, from 1974 to 1982. His usual position was flanker. His son

Jack Cornelsen is a professional rugby union player who plays as a number eight for Japan Rugby League One club Saitama Wild Knights. Born in Australia, he represents Japan at international level after qualifying on residency grounds. He is the son of former ...

is an international for

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Career

Greg played Australian schoolboys rugby in 1969. The team toured South Africa at the invitation of Danie Craven. Greg was one of two boys selected in this team from The Armidale School - the other was Brian Hayward. Cornelsen made his international debut for Australia at 21 years of age, when the Wallabies took on 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 ...

in 1974 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 ...

, which resulted in a 16-all draw. He was subsequently capped in the following match in Sydney, in which the All Blacks won 16 to 6. He next played for Australia against

in Brisbane, which the Wallabies won 50 to 25. Over the following two seasons, he played in matches against

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 ...

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

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 ...

; all were in Europe and the Wallabies had a tougher time winning. In 1978, Cornelsen played two matches against the Welsh in Australia, both of which the Wallabies won. They then faced the All Blacks in a three test series. After Australia lost the opening two matches in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, they faced a 3-0 whitewash if they lost the final game at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. In one of Cornelsen's greatest moments, he scored four tries in the third test, seeing Australia through to a 30-16 victory, as well as ending a long string of losses against the Kiwis. He was also the first forward from any country to score four tries in a major Test (i.e., involving two traditional top-tier nations) since 1881, and to this day remains the only Wallabies forward with four tries in a Test. The following year he played another five tests for Australia, the first of which were two losses 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 ...

at home, though the Wallabies then went on to defeat the All Blacks again, at home in Sydney. Cornelsen also played in the two tests against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. The series was tied 1 game each. In 1980 the Wallabies hosted the All Blacks for a three tests series. Australia entered the third game with the series at 1 each, winning the final game 26-10 in Sydney. Cornelsen was then capped on the 1981-82 Wallaby tour to Europe against Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England and his long test career came to a close in defeat 11-15 at the home of English rugby,

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

Honours

Cornelsen was inducted into the Rugby Australia Hall of Fame in 2017, alongside his former Wallaby coach

David Brockhoff John David "Brock" Brockhoff (8 June 1928 – 17 June 2011) was an Australian rugby union identity, a state and national representative who played eight Tests as flanker between 1949 and 1951. He was later coach of the national team from 1974 t ...

References

External links

Greg Cornelsen
on sporting-heroes.net

- Courier-Mail {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelsen, Greg 1952 births Australian rugby union players Rugby union flankers Living people Australia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Sydney People educated at The Armidale School Queensland rugby union team players New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen