Justin Harrison (born 20 April 1974) is a former Australian international

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 lock forward and is currently the head of the Australian Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA).

Career

Discovered in 1993 by GoldRats Rugby Union Club of

Southern Cross University Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. In 2019, it was ranke ...

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area, it is also a regional centre in the Northern River ...

while studying coastal and fisheries management, he then moved onto the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, he made the 1994

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

(ACT) Under-21s and then the Australian Universities team. The following year, he played in the Australian U21s team and made his debut for the ACT against

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 ...

B. He made his

Super 12 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 ...

debut with the

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 feral horses which inh ...

in 1997. He made his international debut as

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 ...

took on the

British and 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 ...

in the third and final test of the 2001 series; at the time Harrison was a student studying for a

Bachelor of Applied Science A Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS or BASc) is an undergraduate academic degree of applied sciences. Usage In Canada, the Netherlands and other places the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) is equivalent to the Bachelor of Engineering, and is cl ...

in Sports Administration at the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

from which he graduated in 2001. A veteran of the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, Harrison joined 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 ...

at the beginning of 2004 for two seasons before moving to the northern hemisphere to play for

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. As of 23 May 2006, Harrison had played 25 games for Ulster, 19 of those in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

and 6 in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. Harrison proved an effective player in the Celtic League, a consistent winner of line-out possession and aggressive in rucks and mauls. Although regarded as inspiring by other Ulster players, his tendency to indulge in sledging led to confrontation with a number of opposing players and a number of off the pitch incidents. At the end of the 2008 season, Harrison moved to

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

. until his retirement after involvement with the cocaine scandal and a bar fight with Harlequins players at Bath at the end of the 2008/09 season. On Monday 30 November 2009, it was announced that Justin Harrison would return to play for the

in 2010 on a one-year deal, as coverage for Peter Kimlin. However, the ARU has not endorsed this contract.Harrison's Brumbies contract not endorsed by ARU
/ref> In July 2010 it was announced that Harrison would become forwards coach at

, agreeing a two-year deal with the club.

References

External links

Bath profileUlster profileRugby Heroes page 1Rugby Heroes page 2Brumbies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Justin Living people University of Canberra alumni Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union coaches Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players New South Wales Waratahs players Ulster Rugby players Bath Rugby players Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union locks 1974 births Doping cases in rugby union Southern Cross University alumni Rugby union players from Sydney 2003 Rugby World Cup players Australian expatriate rugby union players in England RC Narbonne players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France